{"id":8597,"date":"2015-06-30T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/?p=8597"},"modified":"2023-09-28T07:04:18","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T11:04:18","slug":"pittsfield-massachusetts-newest-metro-station-1033-w277cj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2015\/06\/pittsfield-massachusetts-newest-metro-station-1033-w277cj\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsfield Massachusetts&#8217; newest &#8220;Metro-Station&#8221; 103.3, W277CJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We have been poking away at this one for the last year or so.&nbsp; It seems that the previous owners of Berkshire Broadcasting had filed for a translator to rebroadcast WNMB, (100.1 WUPE-FM) North Adams in downtown Pittsfield, during the great translator rush of 2003.&nbsp; When the CP showed up in the mail last March, the current owners were quite surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After looking at the Construction Permit, we made some modifications;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Moved the transmitter location from 100 North Street to 1 West Street (Crowne Plaza Hotel) which is the tallest building in Pittsfield.&nbsp; Antenna AGL is 44 meters (145 feet).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changed the rebroadcasting station from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WUPE-FM\">WUPE-FM<\/a>, North Adams to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WUPE_%28AM%29\">WUPE-AM<\/a> Pittsfield<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changed the antenna to non-directional<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changed the ERP from 48 watts to 100 watts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We were able to make those antenna and power changes because we changed the parent station to the local AM station, WUPE, 1,110 KHz.&nbsp; The previous power\/pattern was submitted to keep the translator signal within the 60 dBu contour of the FM station in North Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This, I feel, is the best use for an AM to FM translator.&nbsp; WUPE-AM is a class D station with no nighttime service.&nbsp; Adding a nighttime service greatly increases the station&#8217;s value to the community.&nbsp; While the 100 Watt translator does not cover nearly as much as the 5,000-watt AM station, the transmitter location is right in the center of Pittsfield, so coverage of the population center is excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The view from the top of the Crowne Plaza is quite spectacular.&nbsp; I am pretty sure I will have a lot of transmitter maintenance to do right about the middle of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-650x406.jpg\" alt=\"W277CJ 60 dBu contour\" class=\"wp-image-8610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-650x406.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-400x250.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-50x31.jpg 50w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu-900x563.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-60dBu.jpg 966w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">W277CJ 60 dBu contour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The installation is fairly straightforward:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-450x600.jpg\" alt=\"W277CJ installation, roof of Crowne Plaza, Pittsfield, MA\" class=\"wp-image-8611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-400x533.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-38x50.jpg 38w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit-900x1200.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-antenna-and-transmit.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">W277CJ installation, roof of Crowne Plaza, Pittsfield, MA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-650x488.jpg\" alt=\"W277CJ transmitter in outdoor enclosure\" class=\"wp-image-8612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-650x488.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-50x38.jpg 50w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-transmitter.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">W277CJ transmitter in an outdoor enclosure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The outdoor enclosure is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddbunlimited.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DDB POD-16DXC<\/a> which is rather nice, it comes with rack rails and a thermostatically controlled fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-650x488.jpg\" alt=\"W277CJ Shively 6812B antenna\" class=\"wp-image-8613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-650x488.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-50x38.jpg 50w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/W277CJ-shively-antenna.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">W277CJ Shively 6812B antenna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The antenna is a Shively 6812B with RADOMES. The transmitter is a BW Broadcast TX600v2.&nbsp; I really like these transmitters, they are well-designed and rugged.&nbsp; We have yet to have a single failure of one of these units in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The station ERP is 100 watts, so a small bit of calculating is required to arrive at the proper station TPO.&nbsp; I find it easier to make all these calculations in the decibels per milliwatt (dBm) unit domain, then convert them back to watts.&nbsp; Thus, the ERP is 100 watts or 50 dBm.&nbsp; The antenna has a gain of -3.4 dBm.&nbsp; We used 25 feet of LMR-400, which at 103.3 MHz, has a loss of -0.26 dBm.&nbsp; The total losses are -3.66 dBm, making the necessary TPO 53.66 dBm, 232.27 watts, or rounding down to 232 watts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have been poking away at this one for the last year or so.&nbsp; It seems that the previous owners of Berkshire Broadcasting had filed for a translator to rebroadcast WNMB, (100.1 WUPE-FM) North Adams in downtown Pittsfield, during the great translator rush of 2003.&nbsp; When the CP showed up in the mail last March, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2015\/06\/pittsfield-massachusetts-newest-metro-station-1033-w277cj\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pittsfield Massachusetts&#8217; newest &#8220;Metro-Station&#8221; 103.3, W277CJ<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337,4],"tags":[82,217],"class_list":["post-8597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-installations","category-tech-stuff","tag-fm","tag-translators"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8597"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11201,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597\/revisions\/11201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}