• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WMEX Updates??

DavidZ said:
If the cross-ownership rules are changed by the FCC as expected at their next meeting, would the Herald try to buy WMEX bringing it back as an outlet for Herald radio?
Click to expand...

The last thing the Herald needs is another money-losing venture. They can't even afford to run their own printing plant. The Globe prints the Herald.
 
nowradioguy said:
iHat downgrades Providence's 101.5 for its Boston 101.7
Click to expand...

101.5 is a mere shell of its once great self. 10 years ago I could ride throughout southeastern New England on my Harley and never change the station from B101.

Today, its scratchy and oftentimes in the noise floor at my house, 11.5 air-miles from downtown Providence.
 
Methuselah said:
101.5 is a mere shell of its once great self. 10 years ago I could ride throughout southeastern New England on my Harley and never change the station from B101.
Click to expand...

101.7 has matured and finally is somewhat competitive in Boston.

I can drive all over Northeastern MA, NH and Maine and get it fine.

And since the upgrade, I can get it reliably at my house!
 
Methuselah said:
101.5 is a mere shell of its once great self. 10 years ago I could ride throughout southeastern New England on my Harley and never change the station from B101.

Today, its scratchy and oftentimes in the noise floor at my house, 11.5 air-miles from downtown Providence.
Click to expand...

Nice going, iHat.

Maybe iHat could buy 1110 AM in Providence (the former great WHIM), 1000 watts non-directional; talk about one powerful signal, albeit a daytimer, when I lived in RI. They, too, are merely a shell of what they once were.

My point, however lame, is that a good non-directional 1-KW AM signal can reach pretty far, and, perhaps where you live, might come in great. Would you kindly let me know if 1110 reaches your house? I'm betting it does, although it may not be something we'd tune in to (don't know, really).
 
nowradioguy said:
Nice going, iHat.

Maybe iHat could buy 1110 AM in Providence (the former great WHIM), 1000 watts non-directional; talk about one powerful signal, albeit a daytimer, when I lived in RI. They, too, are merely a shell of what they once were.

My point, however lame, is that a good non-directional 1-KW AM signal can reach pretty far, and, perhaps where you live, might come in great. Would you kindly let me know if 1110 reaches your house? I'm betting it does, although it may not be something we'd tune in to (don't know, really).
Click to expand...

1110 WPMZ is 5 kW, directional. I’m sure all they care about these days is their new 102.1 translator.
 
Eli Polonsky said:
For discontinued sites, don't know if they could use the former original WNTN site. The tower is still there for now, but I think someone wants to do something else with the land and property.

It's only one tower, so it couldn't be directional from there. It could maybe have a fair day signal from there, but it would have to go low power at night where it would get eaten up by the strong adjacent skywaves from Wash. DC and Buffalo.

Could they afford to piggyback onto (rent) any other currently operating AM station sites around greater Boston that could work technically?
Click to expand...

I doubt that much can be done with the old 1570 site, as far as development goes. It sits alongside a contaminated "Superfund" site. From Google Earth, it appears that the old studio building is still there, with the roof caved in. I can't see the tower, but it could be there somewhere.

This is a long way from Waltham, but an existing tower gives you something to work with, under STA. I shudder to think what power WMEX would have Non-D. 500 watts?
 
At a quick glance, no formal study, but it looks like you could get around 25kw non directional on a quarter wave stick licensed and around 1kw critical hours, but only flea power less than 10 watts night on the same tower. However, BIG IF, you could get a good translator or two (good luck) you could probably cover the market using 25 mile radius rule. Thee FCC usually grants STA's of 25% power, (in this case 12.5KW) for non directional operation. There are stations that have been operating under such STA for many years by telling the commission that a suitable is site is unavailable. I know but WHY?
 
vacuum tube said:
At a quick glance, no formal study, but it looks like you could get around 25kw non directional on a quarter wave stick licensed and around 1kw critical hours, but only flea power less than 10 watts night on the same tower. However, BIG IF, you could get a good translator or two (good luck) you could probably cover the market using 25 mile radius rule. Thee FCC usually grants STA's of 25% power, (in this case 12.5KW) for non directional operation. There are stations that have been operating under such STA for many years by telling the commission that a suitable is site is unavailable. I know but WHY?
Click to expand...

The chances of a Translator are zero, in this market every possible frequency is used, and the ones that are not are filled with a pirate... even some licensed translators are competing with pirates who are interfering with them.

The chances of 1510 being economically viable are zero. Nobody has been able to do it in decades.

Even if you got the license for next to nothing ( like the current license holders did) you can not generate the revenue to support an engineering study, tower repair/upkeep/construction, getting the box moved, utilities connected, and studio space.

My money is on the STA expiring on December 1, 2017.

There have been no bona fide offers for the station, nobody in their right mind is going to buy a dark station with no transmitter site and no FCC approvals on AM.
 
If it's expiring after 6 months without a 6 mo renewal it would be at the very end of Dec or very start of Jan.Went off 6 pm on June 30

Those who want to resurrect WMEX-- WKOX1430 is available, for a price.Put it there. That at least is still on air.
 
MRBIboredop said:
The chances of a Translator are zero, in this market every possible frequency is used, and the ones that are not are filled with a pirate... even some licensed translators are competing with pirates who are interfering with them.

The chances of 1510 being economically viable are zero. Nobody has been able to do it in decades.

Even if you got the license for next to nothing ( like the current license holders did) you can not generate the revenue to support an engineering study, tower repair/upkeep/construction, getting the box moved, utilities connected, and studio space.

My money is on the STA expiring on December 1, 2017.

There have been no bona fide offers for the station, nobody in their right mind is going to buy a dark station with no transmitter site and no FCC approvals on AM.
Click to expand...

25kw? That's better than I expected. There are no winners in this one. The owner or buyer of the station loses, because there's no transmitter site. The transmitter site owner loses, because he has the daunting task of removing all of that equipment, for which there is only 1 unique user. Did WMEX own the Waltham transmitter site when they originally moved there?
 
ZFunny, this afternoon after the sun went down....I hit the button for 1510AM....and heard Dave Ramsey.

I wondered....What is this?

Turns out it was WLAC coming in clear as a bell on 1510AM.

Never figure WLAC would have a signal in DT Boston!
 
nowradioguy said:
My point, however lame, is that a good non-directional 1-KW AM signal can reach pretty far, and, perhaps where you live, might come in great. Would you kindly let me know if 1110 reaches your house? I'm betting it does, although it may not be something we'd tune in to (don't know, really).
Click to expand...

I just noticed this, and wanted to comment.

In today's RF interference-filled environment, 1 kw on 1510 goes nowhere. It would put a 10 mV/m signal over only about 400,000 persons in a market of 5 million in the daytime. At night, even 500 watts non-directional looks hard, and with morning drive and afternoon drive having considerable night hours in winter, the station could only work if there was a niche market living "within sight" of the tower.
 
raccoonradio said:
If it's expiring after 6 months without a 6 mo renewal it would be at the very end of Dec or very start of Jan.Went off 6 pm on June 30

Those who want to resurrect WMEX-- WKOX1430 is available, for a price.Put it there. That at least is still on air.
Click to expand...

Now, remember, all you nay-sayers, I'm not a "radio pro", so I know (next to) nothing, but, hey, this sounds like a sensible enough idea, so I want to weigh in and compliment Raccooner Man for this.
 
nowradioguy said:
Now, remember, all you nay-sayers, I'm not a "radio pro", so I know (next to) nothing, but, hey, this sounds like a sensible enough idea, so I want to weigh in and compliment Raccooner Man for this.
Click to expand...

Why would anyone want to resurrect WMEX?

What is there to resurrect, anyway?
 
DavidEduardo said:


In today's RF interference-filled environment, 1 kw on 1510 goes nowhere. It would put a 10 mV/m signal over only about 400,000 persons in a market of 5 million in the daytime. At night, even 500 watts non-directional looks hard, and with morning drive and afternoon drive having considerable night hours in winter, the station could only work if there was a niche market living "within sight" of the tower.
Click to expand...

Also, 1510 in the Boston/New England area at night suffers from powerful first adjacent 50kW skywaves beamed this way on both sides, 1500 from Wash. DC, and 1520 from Buffalo. A nighttime 500w or even 1kw signal on 1510 would be only a very local service to its transmitter at best, really not more than a few miles around before it got buried between those two adjacent nighttime blowtorches.

I remember how difficult it was to eke out the original 1510 WMEX between those two adjacents where I grew up in Newton just seven miles west of Boston at night (ten miles from the Quincy transmitter) to hear "Woo-Woo" Ginsberg, and even if you could pinpoint it, it was heard with lots of high-frequency artifacts from the adjacents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom