Eli Polonsky
Walk of Fame Participant
Oldbones said:I'm not sure I'd refer to WMEX as a "gem of the market", even in it's heyday. They always had a pretty bad signal, especially at night...came in better in Nova Scotia than in any suburb west of Rt. 128. The 50kW upgrade in the late 60s didn't help either...all the signal still went NE.
I think he meant a "gem" programming-wise, not technically. Despite the signal deficiencies in the west suburbs, it was Boston's legendary Top 40 station in the late '50s and '60s, with incredible and innovative talent like Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg. They also had talkmasters at night like Larry Glick and Jerry Williams.
Oldbones said:Weren't there some serious problems at the old Quincy (?) site that forced them to move? Nearby development that made it impossible to maintain their pattern ISTR. Not many places left where you can put a multi-tower array.
I thought I heard at the time that it was a potentially lucrative contract for WITS to air Red Sox games, with a stipulation that they must be heard well in the west suburbs WITHIN Route 128, where the Quincy transmitter barely reached at night.
The pattern of the Waltham transmitter still didn't do well west of Route 128 at night, but it DID bring their signal loud and clear WITHIN 128 to Newton, Waltham, Watertown, Needham, Brookline, Lexington, Belmont, Arlington, Winchester, Woburn... all areas where the Quincy transmitter could barely be heard at night. Having grown up in Newton, I remember the very faint Quincy night signal, then the Waltham signal coming in like gangbusters there. It still does.
But, as soon as you cross 128 west into Wellesley, Weston, Lincoln, etc... it's like it suddenly falls off a cliff and practically disappears at night. I remember being parked on a hill in Wellesley at night where I could see the towers less than ten miles away in Waltham, but it was barely coming in.