[BC] Re: TIS Transmitters...

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

John,

I have actually seen the Glastonbury, CT TIS Setup, up close and personal!
WPII600, at 1570Khz as I recall (and I didn't even look it up!)

I heard them on a car radio in in downtown Hartford one day and decided to
look them up. I got ahold of the town department that ran the station and
called them up, mainly because I was amazed how far I was able to pick them
up. (Downtown Hartford, in the middle of a bunch of tall buildings, is about
20 miles from the WPII600 transmitter site.. RUNNING 10 WATTS!!)

I asked if I could come by for a peak around and was told I was more then
welcome. If I recall correctly, WPII600 is in what was an old Ambulance
building, with the station itself in an old Ambulance bay. They have an
actual studio, microphone and small hard drive n all... fed directly to the
transmitter. The audio was superb!

They also have a "mobile" studio, which I think.. is an OLD ambulance!They
could disconnect from the antenna on the roof of the building and go mobile!

The WPII600 was a bit iffy NE of Glastonbury, mainly as we drive by the
Channel 47 transmitter, but the station was quite clear all the way down to
the highway in Norwich! (Almost 30 miles from the WPII600 transmitter site,
which is smackdab next to the police station, in their back parking lot!)

Paul Walker
www.onairdj.com

From: "WLOYPROD WLOYPROD" <WLOYPROD at loyola.edu>

I used to try to explain to clients that they would get better audio if they
did not have someone with a lisp, standing beside the highway, in a
windstorm, on a bad cell connection, doing their audio recording.  Few
listened.  It's like the ones that feed NOAA weather info on the systems.
 No one understands it or wants to listen.

The system at LAX has always been one of the best run for audio.  There are
others (Glastonbury, CT was very active), but the problem generally stems
from state agencies using federal highway money to buy stuff they don't
understand and then handing it off to subcontractors that understand it less
and care still less...

The real FCC Part 90.242 limits are the 3kHz roll-off filter, field strength
of 1mV/m @ 1.5km and the actual content being voice-only non-commercial
information.  As Burt points out, you can still make it sound very good if
you actually try!  GIGO applies.  The limitations have nothing to do with
pirates and were implemented to make the systems distinct from commercial
operations on the dial.

John