[BC] WTOP-AM DA

[Xen Scott]

At 10:02 AM 7/9/05 -0400, Bob carpenter wrote:
>Thanks Xen, I hoped you would come through.  Their FM is surely sited
>to serve your direction - while only 30 kW, it's probably a full,Class
>B because of the 646 ft HAAT (1171 above MSL)

The height helps along with using a Shively 6810 4 bay circular pattern
antenna. Audio processing is done with an Omnia-6ex according to their
DOE, Dave Garner.

>WTOP-FM doesn't work well on the eastern side of DC even within the
>beltway because of WFSI on 107.9 (1st adjacent). WFSI is only 11.5
>miles from the Beltway and runs around 30 kW @ 500 ft toward the
>nearest part of the beltway,  (but 50 kW in their max to the SSW)..

Yes, but for that area, WTOP-AM provides coverage with the main lobe
of their DA.  WTOP-FM is a nice way of filling in the null required
for WTOP-AM.  There should be a number of situations where a simulcast
FM is used to fill in an AM DA null.  WBT-AM and WBT-FM is one I can
think of.  Perhaps we'll come full circle back to the days when there
were a lot of AM-FM simulcasts with the secondary station being used
to fill in the gaps of the primary station's coverage.

I haven't noticed any analog reception problems with WTOP-AM-FM now
that the stations are running IBOC.  I wonder if FM IBOC reception is
possible at my distant location.  The limiting factors for my reception
of WTOP-FM in analog are adjacent channel stations and terrain.

Xen Scott