[BC] WKOX site

Thu Apr 26 15:42:07 CDT 2007

I've gotta tell you....

WSRO (650 kHz, 250 watts) has a signal to beat the band! In terms of raw
coverage, it's much better then WJIB's.  It radiates off the tower that's
furthest from the studio building. If the trees were really hurting the ground
system, their sugnal would suck. It simply doesn't suck-especially when you
consider the original (1200) ground system is about half the length of that
which is optimum for 650. 

-D

------ Original Message ------
Received: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:24:03 PM EDT
From: "Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg at att.net>
To: <broadcast at radiolists.net>Cc: 
Subject: Re: [BC] WKOX site

Richard Johnson objected to my complaints about the arial photo of the WKOX
array.

I never said that the photo misrepresented the location of the trees
relative to the towers. But the photo DOES give a decidedly false impression
about the orientation of the array. And BTW (you must know this; you work
for Analogic, so presumably you are in the Boston area), the array now
serves three stations (WKOX--until it moves to Newton later this year, at
which point CCU will probably license the Mt Wayte site as an auxiliary for
WKOX, WBIX (days only but two patterns), and WSRO. I believe the major
factor affecting the conformance of the three measured patterns (two for
WBIX, one for WKOX) with the corresponding standard patterns is the tall
smoke stack at the Framingham Municipal Incinerator across Mt Wayte Ave on
the north side of the property. (Must be beyond the edge of the photo.) That
stack must have a greater effect on the patterns than that of all of the
trees in the photo combined. Of the three patterns, only WBIX's CH pattern
has any augmentations and that pattern is augmented in the region of its
minimum to the south, suggesting that the smoke stack to the north probably
does reradiate the signal. Moreover, the installation of the WBIX array
about five years ago involved some first-class engineering people. If they
felt that the patterns were affected in any important way by the trees, you
can bet that they would have gotten CCU to clear the trees--unless the Town
of Framingham objected--a definite possibility.

I can't believe that trees growing in the middle of the ground system do
anything good for the way an AM station gets out, but I suspect that the
effects of such trees are generally rather minor. So the root system breaks
a radial or two. How many AM arrays even BEGIN life with 120 full-length
radials around each tower (counting as full length those radials bonded to a
copper strap at the intersction with another tower's ground system)?
Probably 90% of new arrays have at least 25% of their radials foreshortened
at the property boundaries. Except for taking into account the effect on
efficiency of the AVERAGE length of the radials, the FCC rules do not even
suggest that the designer of an AM DA should in any way account for the
non-circular field around a tower that must result from foreshortened
radials. Do you know of anyone who has measured the effect of
trees on an AM proof of performance? I bet nobody has because I suspect
that, of the many threats to AM ground systems, trees and roots don't make
(or at most just barely make) the top ten.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg at att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: <RichardBJohnson at comcast.net>
To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Cc: "Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg at att.net>; <rcarpen1 at verizon.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [BC] WKOX site

> True v.s. magnetic heading? The photo is not misleading. It shows the
trees where they are.  They are right near the towers, right in the
ground-system. That site would never have passed an inspection in the '60s
when Nathan Hallenstein was the engineering in charge of the radio district.
You can read the NAB Engineering handbook about keeping the entire area
around directional antenna sites clear of vegetation as far away from the
bases of the towers as the length of the towers.
> --
> Cheers,
> Richard B. Johnson
> Read about my book
> http://www.LymanSchool.org
>
>
>  -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg at att.net>
> > Bill Smith wrote:
> >
> > > Message: 25
> > > Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:39:49 -0500
> > > From: "Bill Smith" <brscomm at charter.net>
> > > Subject: RE: [BC] Negativity
> > > To: "'Broadcasters' Mailing List'" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
> > > Message-ID: <006301c78771$7cf677d0$6701a8c0 at wesels>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> > >
> > > Try this aerial view of the WKOX site. A better perspective on the
trees I
> > > think.
> > > http://tinyurl.com/2c74wj
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> > ----------------
> >
> > There seems to be something wrong with the aerial view. According to
CDBS,
> > the azimuth of the line between the two towers is 216 degrees. Yet the
photo
> > makes the line of the towers appear to be close to east-west (270
degrees).
> > Maybe someone can explain this apparent discrepancy. I do not think that
> > this is a case of an error in CDBS. I suspect that the photo is
misleading.
> >
> > --
> > Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg at att.net
> > eFax 707-215-6367
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
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>

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