Radio Roots Discovered at Tampa Bay
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Radio Guide May-2003 Page - 1 Radio Guide Radio’s Technology Resource May 2003 Volume 11 Issue 5 www.radio-guide.com — www.radio-classifieds.com Including Radio Shopper Radio Roots Discovered at Tampa Bay 620 Site – 1932 Current 620 Site – Gandy Causeway, Tampa Bay Radio Guide May-2003 Page - 3 Departments Columns & Articles Radio Guide Volume 11 Issue 5 May 2003 Tower Topics . 10 Radio History by the Bay Past, Present and Future It has often been said, correctly, that a society FCC Focus . 16 Page 4 – Is there time to save an historic site can never understand where it is going unless it where major aspects of understands how it arrived at this point and place in EAS Q&A . 18 broadcasting started 80 time. The same principle is true in regards broadcast years ago? technology. Full Duplex . 22 As we move into the more complex transmission This month our Radio issues presented by IBOC, for example, one of the Radio Products & Services . 23 Road Trip brings us to most important keys to understanding our jobs is the original site of the grasping the concepts that underlie the technology. first AM broadcast directional antenna. We need to learn about the technology and tech- Radio Guide niques involved in tuning our facilities to achieve Radio’s Technology Resource Radio Towers the best possible air product. Unfortunately, as has been often lamented, a Page 8 – Richard Haskey continues with part major effect of deregulation has been a marked (Publisher) two of his series on towers. Here, we learn how Ray Topp reduction in staffing levels at stations all over the Email: [email protected] best to handle the contractor, accurate tower country, as well as the loss of many experienced site location, and materials delivery. Barry Mishkind (Editor) broadcast engineers. That cannot have a positive Email: [email protected] effect on the level of technical knowledge available at Automation on a Budget many stations. In plain English: When one engineer is PO Box 20975, Sedona, AZ 86341 Page 12 – Donna Halper took an informal tasked to care for six or eight stations all by himself, 928-284-3700 Fax: 866-728-5764 survey, and the results may help find the right there is precious little time to think, study, and learn Publication Website: www.radio-guide.com automation system, for those on a budget. about the entire system. The workweeks of many engineers are consumed merely putting out “fires.” Radio History Website: www.oldradio.com Audio Processing – Part 5 With fewer and fewer people really understand- Used Gear Website: www.radio-classifieds.com ing things like directional antennas, who is left to train Page 14 – Cornelius Gould discusses some the next generation? Whether the industry is “up to” Advertising Information: considerations and effects of bandwidth limit- developing workable solutions is up for debate. www.radio-guide.com/rates.pdf ing on the processed audio signal. One thing is clear. Radio Guide sees its mission to be here to help make sense of the technologies, Radio Guide, ISSN 1061-7027, is published monthly, 12 Networking 101 – Part 4 pressures and needs of the working engineers as we times a year, by Media Magazines Inc., PO Box 20975, move into the future. Sedona, AZ 86341. Radio Guide is copyright 2003, Page 20 – Tren Barnett completes the initial What do you see as the issues ahead? What do Media Magazines Inc., and may not be copied, repro- settings of the server, by setting up a Dynamic duced, or stored in any format, without the written you want to know? Take a moment and let us know permission of the publisher. Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). at [email protected]. Let us grow together! 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The RF circuit was quite simple, with the transmission lines cut to quarter- Radio History by the Bay wavelength, and routed in a curved way to the towers. One tower was coupled from the transmitter with a coil by Barry Mishkind to shift the signal -45 degrees; the other was coupled with a condensor, to shift the signal +45 degrees. The phase angle between the two towers was 90 degrees.The result was a tight cardioid pattern, with the null at 346 Broadcasting Roots Uncovered at Tampa Bay degrees, toward Milwaukee. [Is there time yet to save an historic site where a WFLA did not operate alone for long. Although it major aspect of broadcasting started 80 years ago? Ron had a good allocation on 850 kHz, in addition to the Rackley has been hoping to get permission for an half dozen other area stations like WDAE, WFLA had Milwaukee historical marker to be placed there, before the site and to justify its existence to the Federal Radio Commission installation which started a revolution in station con- (FRC). Since all stations were essentially non-direc- 346 Degrees struction is lost to the developer’s blade. Read on for tional at the time, only a limited number of stations the details.] could operate at night without excessive interference. Atlanta [TAMPA, Florida - May 2003] Directional Antennas There was tremendous pressure on the FRC to eliminate are common in broadcasting. We use them for signal those stations operating only part time, and replace enhancement or signal reduction. From the yagi type them with facilities that promised to use the increas- antennas used for auxiliary services to the multi-tower ingly crowded dial to the full. Clearwater arrays used to “shoehorn” AM stations into markets The solution at the time was to sell a half interest in with ever increasing power, directional antennas per- the station to a neighboring Chamber of Commerce. An engineer was sent out in the field with such mit operation where non-directional activity just could The St. Petersburg C of C quickly agreed to pay $6,000 meters as existed then, as well as radios. Even with such not accomplish the technical requirements. to share the transmitter. Taking the calls WSUN (Why a simple array, the tune-up did not go as quickly or as Unfortunately, once installed, most directional an- Stay Up North?) to lure visitors, the St. Petersburg easily as expected. It soon became apparent the con- tennas seem to be given little attention. They work so station was permitted three days a week, and alternate structors had not fully taken mutual impedance factors well, one consultant suggested we might soon run out Sundays for their operation on the new, and better into account, as even the relatively primitive bridges of engineers who truly understand them. frequency of 590 kHz. From there, the sister stations, available showed different antenna base impedances. Yet in a true “they said it couldn’t be done” story, now WFLA-WSUN, were moved to 620 kHz with So, much of the “tuning” was done by making adjust- the very first directional antenna used in broadcasting 2,500 watts daytime, and 1,000 watts at night, beckon- ments until the signal “faded out” at the location of the was almost not finished. Nay Sayers thought it was ing Northerners to enjoy the sun and warm Gulf waters. monitoring engineers. impossible to set up and run; it would be just a vain Although there were few other stations on the 620 In the end, it turned out Wilmotte was right in his pursuit. frequency, one of them belonged to the Milwaukee calculations, and a deep minima was obtained. In fact, Journal. Seeking to increase its signal to 5,000 watts, the antenna worked so well that the FRC inspector in DUNEDIN DAYS WTMJ asked the FRC to either abolish WFLA-WSUN, Atlanta, who was to measure the frequency of the The story begins in 1925 with George H. Bowles, or cut its power. Eventually WTMJ went to court, and station, instead had to ask if WFLA-WSUN had author- a Real Estate entrepreneur in Dunedin, Florida. As the the US Court of Appeals directed the FRC to adjust ity to be off the air. He could not hear the station at all! West Coast of Florida began to be developed, there was WFLA-WSUN to protect WTMJ’s service area. The a need to get people to buy property and move down FRC, an agency with limited control over the broadcast WILMOTTE’S SUCCESS to retire in the sun. industry, responded by reducing WFLA-WSUN’s power The two tower WFLA-WSUN directional antenna Bowles somehow learned about Walter Tison, a to 500 watts daytime and 250 watts night, essentially was a real success. And it ham operator who had been instrumental in providing depriving them of their desired listeners. operated for 18 years from the first transmitter for WSB in Atlanta.