For months I've suspected that the Delaware Department of Transportation had put up a new transmitter on 1380 in the Smyrna DE area. They run their main transmitter out of Wilmington, WTMC, with HAR stations in Dover and Rehoboth Beach, all on 1380.
Recently, 1380 has been MUCH stronger, even at night. No way the Wilmington station is putting that strong into Smyrna (at 30 miles) with 14 watts night power. The Dover station probably runs 10 watts, so it can't be them. FCC searches and listening to WTMC fail to turn up anything in Smyrna. Even this morning, WTMC is still only announcing transmitters in Wilmington, Dover and Rehoboth Beach. On my commute this morning, I notice a new antenna at exit 104 off Delaware Route 1, on the southbound ramp to Route 1. It is about 25 feet tall, with a loop at the top and about a dozen radials. I never noticed it before. I turned on 1380 and the WTMC programming was simply overpowering. As I drove south on Route 1 toward Dover, the signal faded and I began betting the echo effect, as the Dover outlet began to come in. I'm convinced that DelDOT has put a transmitter in Smyrna on 1380, with the transmitter at Exit 104 (South Smyrna exit) off Delaware Route 1. But I can't find it in the FCC database and DelDOT is not mentioning it. But that's not unusual. I sniffed out the Dover transmitter several weeks before it showed up in the FCC records and before DelDOT confirmed it. John Cereghin Smyrna DE _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
