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WMEX 1510 Boston

A

alok

Frequent Participant
When WMEX was a Top 40 station ,where was their transmitter site ,what was power day/night and how many towers did there use day/night ?

Al
 
http://bostonradio.org/stations/12789

bostonradio.org's entry on the station, which was WWZN at the time, includes:
"WWZN's earliest ancestor is WMEX 1500, which went on the air in 1934 with 500 W day, 100 W night from a site off West Squantum Road in Quincy, near the then-WNAC/WAAB (now WBIX) site in the Neponset River valley. ..In the 1960s, WMEX received a power upgrade to 50 kW daytime, still with 5 kW at night. Station engineers had to constantly adjust the phasing network as tides in the Neponset River would play havoc with the pattern...In 1981, new ownership decided to increase night power to 50 kW, by building a new transmitter plant in Waltham, west of Boston. Although the new signal had more power, it is very directional, and the owners had to spend millions to eliminate RFI in the office park over whose parking lot the new towers had been erected. In short, they would have done better staying with the 5-kW at the old site. "

Don't know how many towers.
 
Monday morning about 3:45 A.M. WATD FM was playing some WMEX clips of Arnie Woo Woo.
Didn't listen that long so don't know if the whole show was like that or not.
 
I think this was 63/64 and he was talking about wearing a green wig for the St.Patrick's Day parade.
 
alok said:
When WMEX was a Top 40 station ,where was their transmitter site ,what was power day/night and how many towers did there use day/night ?

Al
Click to expand...

When WMEX was a Top 40 station from the late '50s to the mid '70s, the transmitter was in North Quincy near the Neponset River Valley. If I remember correctly, it had three towers. It was 5,000 watts day and night until 1969, I don't know whether the directional pattern differed from day to night, or how many towers were used day or night. It always seemed weak west of Boston (I grew up in Newton).

In 1969 it was granted 50,000 watts in the daytime only, still 5,000 at night. Again, I don't know whether the directional pattern changed day to night, or only the wattage. Even with 50,000 watts in the daytime it wasn't very strong west of Boston, only somewhat improved from the previous 5,000 watts.
 
freqlost said:
Monday morning about 3:45 A.M. WATD FM was playing some WMEX clips of Arnie Woo Woo.
Didn't listen that long so don't know if the whole show was like that or not.
Click to expand...

I believe WATD's overnight DJ's fully program their own (mostly oldies) shows, so this may have been just the DJ's idea, not a station-wide directive.
 
Am near Portland right now but admittedly some Boston AMs come in up here.Getting an unmodulated carrier on 1510..is Perry's station testing?
 
inorm99 said:
Any news as to when this year they will go back on the air again?
Click to expand...

About the same time as the Old Troll of Rock and Roll gets 1460 WATD AM Brockton on the air?

Ed has 2 AM's that are in STA (dark) with the clock running out.... and quickly, and one of those AM's has a translator grant that could be in trouble if the AM doesn't get on the air.
 
raccoonradio said:
Am near Portland right now but admittedly some Boston AMs come in up here.Getting an unmodulated carrier on 1510..is Perry's station testing?
Click to expand...

I thought I heard an unmodulated signal on 1510 a few months ago, but it turned out to be a power hum from nearby electrical lines that somehow seemed to zero in close to 1510. When I drove away from the power lines it faded away.
 
Yes though I thought I heard something (a rumor) about the date being extended when Perry officially got the station in March. FCC notices say "granted with conditions" (but didn't explain conditions, which could well be "you own it but had better get back on by June 30") Have not heard anything about tower moves etc Something could be happening to get back on but we're 2 months away from the original deadline.

I have picked up unmodulated carriers before--could be hobbyists or some kind of transmitter for a pirate.Or as Eli said some kind of interference/power hum. This signal I was getting was on I-95 around Wells, for several miles, and again I had been scanning the dial and getting some Boston AMs.
 
Last edited:
raccoonradio said:
Thanks! for reference here is where the WBIX tower is (they are 5 kW not 1 kW but this is just to show where tower is)

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WBIX-AM&h=D
Click to expand...

Basically almost across the street from the original transmitter site of WMEX on 1510 until 1981!

Though this temporary 1 kw daytime signal will be weak in the inland suburbs (it will be similar to the daytime coverage of 1300 WJDA), it should come in very well in the Boston neighborhoods just over the Neponset Bridge, and up and down the Shores, fairly well in downtown Boston, and travel up the immediate coasts of NH and southern ME conducted by the water.

Building out on this site with a power increase to 5 kW directional and a night pattern could mimic the signal of WMEX in its late '50s/'60s Top 40 heyday. Still weak inland, but decent coverage of Boston proper, and a New England coastal powerhouse!
 
1Kw that high up on the spectrum is useless.

5 or 10K might get you some sort of coverage, but IMHO 1KW is flea power that far up on the dial.
 
MRBIboredop said:
1Kw that high up on the spectrum is useless.

5 or 10K might get you some sort of coverage, but IMHO 1KW is flea power that far up on the dial.
Click to expand...

Is there much difference in propagation between 1300 and 1510? WJDA covers pretty well with 1 kW by day from that area.
 
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