[BC] Re: WPEN

[Dan Strassberg]

WPEN is now a two-site operation. The new night site is also the long-time
site of the 10-kW 860 daytimer, currently Beasley's WWDB. WPEN's 21-kW night
operation from that four-tower in-line site has been on the air for only
about a year. This is not a diplex; since WWDB is a daytimer and WPEN uses
the site only at night, the two stations do not use the array
simultaneously. WPEN's day site (formerly its only site) has just received a
license to cover as WPEN's auxiliary night site using 5 kW and the old
three-tower night array.

WPEN was also recently granted a CP to increase its day power from the
current 5 kW ND to 25 kW DA-D using the same three towers that now
constitute the auxiliary night facility. The new day pattern will produce
the equivalent of just about 5 kW ND around an arc of about 210 degrees to
the west-northwest (so Philadelphia's western sububs will not notice much
change) and close to the equivalent of 100 kW to the east-southeast, putting
a HUGE signal over Philadephia and South Jersey.

Since the WWDB towers are top loaded to more than 90 degrees at 950 and
WPEN's old towers are less than 90 degrees, the RMS of the new three-tower
day pattern running 25 kW is almost identical to the RMS of the four-tower
night pattern running 21 kW.

This upgrade was in the making for at least six or seven years. WPEN had
held a CP to move to a site about four miles west of WWDB's site and
increase to 50 kW-U DA-2 using six towers by day and five towers by night.
The site was to have a total of eight 600' towers, three of which would have
been common to the day and night arrays. As is common nowadays, they could
not secure local building permits. The new two-site setup involved no tower
construction, but from what I've heard, Greater Media nevertheless spared no
expense and will doubtless spare none in upgrading the day site for higher
power.

Now, if the company could just find something worthwhile to program on the
station... The sports-talk format, whose debut happened to coincide with the
debut of the new night signal, reportedly is not setting Philadelphia on
fire.

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