The AM Forum

I have been looking for WBCQ this week and it is not where I left it. What's up? Anybody know? I hope they get it fixed before "This Week In Amateur Radio" airs.

Mike

OOPS I better check too!!
I didn't know that Allen was having problems.

Fred Flintstone

There's nothing to fix that I know of. I just spoke with Tim and he's planning a two-hour show tonight from HLR mountain.

7415 might just be skipping right over you. You didn't specify which frequency you were talking about.

There have been some recent programming changes and the like, but last I knew all four transmitters are functioning normally.

--Thom
Kraft Advertisement One Zesty Grated Cheese

Sorry Tom, 7.415 is where I always find it. If it is skipping over me it will be a first.

Mike

I just rechecked. It is in now. TNX

Mike

I've listened to BCQ (7415k) nearly every day this week at different times of day, including the past 2 days...

Hadn't listened today... but it's there... very strap-escent in Verminmont for this time of day.
Can't hear it by the time Timtron does his show though.... THAT bites!

Yeah, hate to trail your posts like this...

but first time I heard Tim on 7415, I tuned in during the middle of a program, heard his voice.. and , wow, thought he'd gone off the deep end and was pirating waaaay out of the hambands... or that I had a second harmonic of his 80 meter sig...  but then even that might be below advanced priv. at the time...
then finally woke up after listening to the dead give-away of commercial type chatter.

Great signal pretty much all evening here.

Hi All
I talked to the board op and 'BCQ is switched off the air between long breaks in programming. If there is not any schedule for over 1 hour the TX is switched off or STDBY. The electric rates are killing Allan and the lousy propagation is discouraging any clients to buy air time.
I guess before all this craziness started Allan would just have dead air.
50kw has a tough time burning through the stubborn ether.
Next year should start a little more activity.

G'day from Flintstone.

Wait till next year, the Electric rates will be through the roof...

I would also like to mention that the Allan Weiner enterprises (How many 50KW stations and a BC AM station 5KW(?) are running off of single phase power. So, he's consuming prolly twice the KWH's.
The electric utility had to build a small regulating station coz the residents in Monticello were complaining about the lights flickering and dimming when Allan is on the air with all of those beasts making RF.
I would think that Allan is a steady heavy user of electricity that, they would run three phase power to his plant. The story goes that the nearest three phase power is over a mile away and they want Allan to pay $1M to make three phase possible.
I guess wire, poles and pole pigs.
Happy listening

Fred

Tim's 2 hour program was FBOM here in Ohio last night..........Bill

I could see their point if they had to run the 3-phase line 15 miles to reach the station.  But just one mile?

They run 11 or 14 kv three phase right by my house here, for residential customers.  No special poles, just the same size poles they use for single phase, with cross-arms added on top.  Four wires altogether, with one for the neutral. Of course, each house has the pole pig connected to just one of the phases.  I have never inquired to see how much it would cost to get all three phase delivered, since I have no need for it.

Fur years when I wus in the industrial battery & charger business, I preached the benefits of running three phase chargers over single phase chargers. It turns out that when you do the math, the three phase chargers saved the customer just penny's over single phase. At the end of the day (month) you are buying KWH's and there is little saved with three phase . If they had three phase, they would also have to pay a demand rate as well. I have been to the station. The HV is single phase at 7200 vac. He has two 100 KVA pole pegs. It's about 800 amps at 208 volts.

YEP, WBCQ does NOT sign on until 5Pm on Saturdays. The other paying programs that were on earlier on Saturday went away. To my knowledge This week in Amateur radio is on Sundays. The electric utility in Northern Maine that supplies power to WBCQ has been uncooperative on a number of issues. Therefore we suck the sngle phase tit that they give us dry. It has been said that when 7.415 fires up the lights in town DO dim slightly.
DeTim WA1HnyLR

if I had the money I'd do a political show each week. Just cant afford it.

Yea Tim
Do the James Brown thing.

Phred