1150 -- wassup w/those guys??

[Adman4120]

I do not know if they are considered a Super "B", but I would have to assume so.  I can tell you that YES, they are running 100,000 watts, and YES, they were grand-fathered.

[JustPastBuffalo]

Went to the Pastrick Archives (aka, the radio junk in the basement) and pulled out the 1976 Broadcasting Yearbook. There's WRUN-FM @ 104.3 with 100 kw Horizontal and 33 kw vertical.

If I have this right, back in the day FCC rules and licenses addressed FM radiation in the horizontal plane (much like early television) and treated radiation in the vertical plane as an option. It wasn't uncommon to find FM stations that radiated only horizontally. So WRUN-FM would have been a 100 kw FM, much like WSYR-FM (WYYY) and WBEN-FM (WTSS) in Buffalo.

Some of the early FM antennas, aside from the tuned cavity pylons used by the Rural Radio Network FM stations (read Scot Fybush's outstanding history here) employed radiators (bays) which were horizontal only. The elements (bays) looked like a flat "C".

Some of the early FM pioneers that wanted to reach listeners in cars (a novel idea in the mid 60s) or get their signals into hand-held "12 transistor" radios (owned by hipsters and radio geeks like me) employed antennas that had separate vertical elements (bays) which look like a "T" flipped 45 degrees to the right, along with their mandatory horizontal radiating elements (the flat "C.")

In the mid to late 60s, FM stations upgraded their antennas and began using circular polarized antennas (antennae?) which combined horizontal and vertical elements (a flat "C" and a sideways "T") or a looked like a helical loop.

The sign-on's and sign-off's of these early FM stations, regardless of the format, always fascinated me as a listener. My first paying job in radio was doing weekends at a Buffalo FM and I got to read the "official" sign off. "WBNY Buffalo operates on an assigned frequency of 96 point 1 megahertz with 50 thousand watts horizontal radiation and 50 thousand watts vertical radiation, as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C."

It should be noted that 50 kw horizontal and 50 kw vertical did not equal 100 kw and all that techno-speak-chest-thumping wasn't really necessary, it's just what stations did at the time. All that was required at sign-on and sign-off was the legal ID. Carrier on + WRUN-FM Utica at sign on and WRUN-FM Utica, carrier off at sign off.

Followed by SHHHHHHHH, aka, Pink Noise (which might make a cool name for an Active Rock Jock.)         

[therealjm12]

I did 7 -midnight at WTLB on Sunday nights in the late 60's/early 70's (I was a mere 5 year old).  WTLB- a 24 hour operation, like many stations at the time  signed off Sunday nights at midnight, supposedly for transmitter maintenance.  I being the radical that I was, carted the sign off.  I guess I was supposed to do it live for some reason.  After a couple weeks I was called in and was read the riot act.  For some reason it was about the worst thing anyone could ever do.  Being very young and really wanting to keep the job, I apologized for the horrid act and bulked the cart.  I was too frightened to ask why this was such a felony. I read it live from that time on.  Just a memory.

More on the subject: WKGW (WRUN-FM), also, signed off at midnight on Sunday nights in the mid 70's otherwise was on 24 hours.  The sign off cart, again was my voice. However, it was cleared by management.  All it said was "KG-104 is WKGW, Utica.  A service of Woods Communications. Good Night".   No Star Spangled Banner. Management wanted it short because they didn't want draw attention to the fact we were shutting down.  I think John Carucci was on WRUN's signoff, the same short & sweet.

After I left the operation, I believe, Regional, the owner at the time did put some money into KG's antenna. It was described to me as circular polarization. I left on good terms, but moved out of the market.  Once in a while, when I was back in town I would stop in and say hello and catch up.  Fred Horton remained a close friend of mine right up to his death.

Kevin, I do remember you.  It is good to hear from you.

[gary adams]

Thanks guys for all the info, and thanks jim for your technical. I did go to broadcast engineering school back in 80's, almost ready to take the test for my 1rst class(before deregulation). But i had to leave due to family obligations. I will say this with their big signal,and the froggy country format their engineers need to work on the prossesing.They need the orban 9200, and somebody that knows how to set it up right then they'll sound like they have balls

[Adman4120]

Hello Gary...I can tell you this....I agree with you 100% on The FROG and all of the TownSquare stations need better processing.  They are the worst on the FM and AM in the market.   I'm not 100% sure if it's because they lack the equipment or not.  But if I were a betting person, I would feel very safe to say it is because of people responsible for making it sound good.

When you have someone who thinks they are a know-it-all and will only do things their way, you end up with problems.  Regent never took any action.  Maybe Townsquare will, if someone points out to them this poor attitude.  Anyone with any intelligence would not keep someone who acts this way in the building and employed.  So, no one should expect any changes unless certain people get told to do it this way or else.

All the FM stations sound bad.  WODZ is the worst of the three FM's and WIBX-AM-950 is all messed up.  I may not be an engineer, but my ears are as sharp as sharp can be as I have been the ears for several radio stations processing settings.

Actually the old WRCK at 107.3 seems to kick the most which is surprising for a religious format.

[JustPastBuffalo]

Some of the early FM pioneers... ...employed antennas that had separate vertical elements (bays) which look like a "T" flipped 45 degrees to the right, along with their mandatory horizontal radiating elements (the flat "C.")

Correction: Should read ...which look like a "T" flipped 90 degrees to the right... 

[yugoidar]

Hello Gary...I can tell you this....I agree with you 100% on The FROG and all of the TownSquare stations need better processing.  They are the worst on the FM and AM in the market.   

Inexcusable!  TownSquare has one of the best at processing, Bill Stachowiak, working as Chief of their Buffalo cluster.  If they have the gear, Bill could have them sounding like a million bucks in no time.

[gary adams]

In response to yugoidar, you should check it out yourself. Punch in 104.3 then punch in 104.7( they have the 9200) and you can clearly hear the difference, if you know their engineer then you should give him the heads up

[JustPastBuffalo]

Yes, "Blind Bill" is a brilliant engineer (many of us Buffalo guys worked with and know him personally), probably one of the best in the country, who could make an FM with and Optimod 8100A sound clean, bright and loud, proving it isn't always the equipment, rather the way it's set up.

I've heard FM stations with Omnia's and the newest digital Optimod processors that sound absolutely smashed and harsh, "loudness and bottom end thump wars" carried to an extreme.

Stations use all sorts of digitally compressed audio these days because most commercials are moderate to high bit rate mp3s downloaded from FTP sites, but some locally produced stuff comes in at 128kbps which is dreadful. Some production guys over compress and brick-wall limit their commercials. Run those through an Omnia that's set up properly and listen. Even the best processing can't cure those issues.

And some stations are using mp3 audio for music. There's no excuse for this. Some PDs, especially in CHR, need a song "yesterday" because their competition is playing it, so they download it from iTunes or other sites.

To insure the best quality and consistency, music, jingles and imaging should be uncompressed WAV only. Given the affordability of hard drive space these days, there's no reason not to "import or rip and save as wave."

[Adman4120]

Hello...I do not disagree that Bill from Buffalo is a great engineer.  Problem seems to me anyway, that they never ask fo r his advice or help here.  If they did, and paid attention to the Utica cluster, he would probably have a stroke at how bad it is and how stubborn the person or person in Utica is.

So, my evaluation was not directed to anyone outside of the Utica building.