dragon48
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I'm glad the station is back on the air. I pick it up, but reception isn't great. Where is it broadcasting from these days and at what power?
KWO35 162.5500 Weather
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NC1
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If I remember correctly, they were at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton NY.
That was years ago and may have moved location since then. I don't know if they still do it, but they basically had a recording of someone reading from a script and recorded it on an endless loop until it needed updating. When they made a mistake reading the script, it would just play until they had to update.
That was years ago and may have moved location since then. I don't know if they still do it, but they basically had a recording of someone reading from a script and recorded it on an endless loop until it needed updating. When they made a mistake reading the script, it would just play until they had to update.
GTR, wasn't that part of the reason for shut down? The move off of The Rock/Central Park?
They ran into issues with the lease, and had to find a new location for the transmitter. I also recall something about interference with the Coast Guard/marine channels? I honestly haven't paid much attention to the long drawn out drama.
dragon48
Member
The voice keeps stating that the broadcast originates from the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton NY, but perhaps the NOAA lacks the budget or caring to change that recorded loop.
Also the voice sounds mechanical. Is this even a recording of a human voice, or is it some text-to-speech AI?
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It does originate at Brookhaven...that's the NWS Forecast office. The actual forecast, as is the text to speech, is generated there. The final audio is then transported via leased line/microwave/internet/whatever to the transmitter site (the Empire State Building in this case) where the RF transmitter is. So to them, "originate" means the location the forecast/text/voice is created, not the RF launch point.
I can't hear that specific transmitter here, but my experience with NWR is that usually they will also have something of a station ID in the recording cycle that says "You are listening to National Weather Service station KWO1234, transmitting from the top of mount highspot, with the cooperation of WXYZ TV. This station provides yadayada..."
Maybe in this case, if they are still in a testing phase, they haven't added a location to the loop yet.
must have had a great view!
n2nov
Active Member
In the 80s, I visited Ed at the NWS office on the mezzanine of Rockefeller Center. He lived in Queens and was the voice that many of us in the 70s/80s associated with KWO35 that broadcast from that building. The announcements were starting to shift to a digital voice in the late 90s that went through a few iterations (remembering "Perfect Paul").
Used to listen to KHB47 in the summer, and I remember the first time I heard Perfect Paul (summer of 97 or 98) and they would still do the looped in live recording of a human voice for much of the forecasting...but the more static long term informaton was definitely via the CRS.
I always got a chuckle when the recording would have a mistake or an awkward pause, and you'd hear it a couple of times an hour the exact same way.
I always got a chuckle when the recording would have a mistake or an awkward pause, and you'd hear it a couple of times an hour the exact same way.
dragon48
Member
I'm getting perfect reception in my apartment now. According to this page though, (National Weather Service New York, NY All Hazards NOAA Weather Radio Page) the station is still operating at reduced power. I'm thinking that the page needs to be updated, as I haven't upgraded any antennas.
Anybody else notice KWO35 bleeding onto other frequencies? I noticed i'm picking it up on .525 and even a step above on .575 (even though it's not a NOAA frequency) Mostly on .525. I at first thought it was my base scanner at home but I tried it on our scanner at work and the same thing.
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