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Indeed while some will have problems, most of the area will be covered. Had Glenn Beck on for awhile this morning on my clock radio and it came in just fine here in Beverly. Many will get the signal; sad for some who
wish to do so but can't, but you can only do so much 'round here.
wish to do so but can't, but you can only do so much 'round here.
Don Juan said:
If an AM station is being designed to maximize its coverage area--as opposed to maximizing the population served (remember that maximizing the coverage area is hardly ever an objective--and it makes sense that it shouldn't be), a nondirectional signal will ALWAYS serve the largest area. In fact, everything else being equal (frequency, power, antenna efficiency), the more directional the antenna pattern, the smaller the coverage area. The old WKOX 1200 Framingham was ND days and although it was "only" 10 kW (vs 50 kW for the new WXKS 1200 Newton), the antenna efficiency was very high, thanks to the very tall towers, which were also top-loaded. The inverse-distance field at 1 km was 436 mV/m/kW, which is 99% of the theoretical maximum for non-segmented radiators. The much shorter towers in Newton yield an inverse-distance RMS field of 331 mV/m/kW @ 1 km. In other words, the hit that WKOX took in efficiency by using shorter towers reduced the _effective_power increase to ~3:1 vs the nominal 5:1. WXKS takes another hit in area served by being closer to the coast; a larger portion of the available coverage is "lost" over open water. In addition, WXKS is directional days whereas WKOX was not. Finally, had WKOX remained in Framingham, remained ND days (assuming that could have been done, which I doubt), and continued using one of the tall towers at 100 Mt Wayte Ave, so that the ONLY change had been the power increase to 50 kW-D, you would be amazed at the small amount of coverage area it would have gained. The area enclosed by the field-intensity contour of your choice would not have increased by more than about 20%, if that. The only conditions in which an n-times power increase increases the coverage area by anything close to n is when the coverage area is nothing but salt water, and even then, because salt water has finite (that is, not perfect) conductivity, an n-times power increase increases the area covered by something less than n. Also, the higher you go on the AM dial, the greater is the effect of finite soil conductivity on coverage area.
raccoonradio said:
I'm sure that's exactly what CCU's game-plan was. I'm not all that sure they care about fringe listening in the outer suburbs, when there are stations in adjacent markets that carry the Premiere lineup.
Make no mistake......the big prize was to get clearance for the entire Premiere lineup in Metro Boston.
aerie said:
It should be, though I would expect WWZN to be a bit stronger than WXKS (AM).
BRNout said:
Even in So. Nashua, near the Mass./NH state line, WXKS is unlistenable. AM 610, WGIR, is borderline OK in So. Nashua but gets better quickly as you head north toward Manchester.
Today, I was in Salem, NH for lunch. WXKS was nonexistent, but WGIR sounded good. I listened to Rush on WGIR as I drove back roads from Salem through Plaistow on into Dracut and Lowell. As I approached downtown Lowell, WGIR faded, and I clicked over to AM 1200. I was pleasantly surprised that WXKS did a reasonable job of delivering a static-free Limbaugh along the Lowell Connector, then down Route 495 to Westford.
Here we are eleven years later and RKO's signal is still crappy, SMH.
WRKO has the second best AM signal in Boston.
It has a great signal North/South....but pulls in from the west at night.
What do you want them to do? Interfere with their neighbors? Your aware that you can also listen on WZLX HD2.
well Mr/Ms Tired, why don't you tell us how they can improve it
without interfering with 690 in Montreal, on the same footprint in Burlington, without costing a ton of money they will never get back.... after 7:00 the ad rates and income do not justify a huge capital outlay, and even in the winter months the same applies when there are early sunsets.
without interfering with 690 in Montreal, on the same footprint in Burlington, without costing a ton of money they will never get back.... after 7:00 the ad rates and income do not justify a huge capital outlay, and even in the winter months the same applies when there are early sunsets.
Well aren't you charming. I'm not an engineer, etc. I have no idea how to improve it, that's why I reposted this thread from 2010, I figure you so-called know it all geniuses must have an answer and I can see you don't...NEXT......
Oh LQQK, another charming person. SMH. I don't want to listen to WZLX HD. SMH. I want to listen to WRKO at ntie without all the nonsense with the antenna - one minute the modulation is so damn LOUD and the next you can't even hear what's being said. SMH.
The restrictions that limit the signal to the west are the same as they have been, save adjustments and the like over time, since WLAW in Lawrence upgraded in the later 40's. It would be virtually impossible and prohibitively costly to make any improvement in the signal or coverage.
As mentioned in another response, there is nothing practical the station can do to improve coverage. first, it is at the highest power level allowed in the US. Second, it shares 680 with other stations and can't, therefore, send signal towards the West. There are other stations on 680, with principal ones as near as Baltimore. And there is the dominant one in San Francisco which, on its own, limits the signal to the west. Plus there are stations in Canada on 690 that require protection. In other words, they are hemmed in and can't improve the signal (this is simplified as what I want you to understand is that AM stations share frequencies around the country and the Boston station in 680 has to prevent interference with other 680 stations and even those on adjacent channels).
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