dragon48
Member
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?
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.
The KWO35 transmitter on 162.550 is now located on top of the ESB, broadcasting at 750 watts.
The KWO35 transmitter on 162.550 is now located on top of the ESB, broadcasting at 750 watts.
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.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?
must have had a great view!Back in it's early days it was atop the Rockefeller Center building with a living, breathing announcer.
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").must have had a great view!