WCMQ & WDAE Vs. Cuba!

Just a few weeks ago I read that 620 WDAE-AM in Tampa was tearing down their old tower in Tampa Bay. ...and when I say "bay" I really mean bay. WDAE broadcasts from two big Blaw-Knox towers that straddled the Gandy causeway between Tampa and St. Petersburg. It had great line-of sight but all that salt water left the current owners with no choice but to take 'em down.

620 used to be known as WSUN and was (as the marker states) the first radio station in Florida. It's history is very colorful as I am about to get into. the new towers will be shorter but will also run at a higher power. That’s to make up for the shorter and therefore less efficient towers. But in reality, regardless of their license, WDAE will continue using twice as much power, under a long-running STA to mitigate interference from Cuba! A little info here.

They like WCMQ Miami had a little problem with Cuba. Cuba was blasting radio signals at Florida. And of course the US military was blasting VOA at them on AM and shortwave. I don't know who upped the ante but the end result was that we have several station on the same frequency for signal cancellation purposes. As Cubans left Cuba escaping Castro's Socialist revolution certain Miami stations became havens for Cuban expatriates. WCMQ then became a vocal anti-Castro media outlets. Their call sign mimics Havana's own CMQ outlet, providing lots of nostalgic Spanish oldies for ex-Cubans now resettled in the area.

1210 WCMQ used to be audible all the way to D.C. under certain night time conditions. So, if you can receive it in Washington D.C., people across the gulf in Cuba also should also be able to hear it. The distance to D.C. is slightly greater but also is across land. AM signals travel much further across water. Would Cuba try to jam reception? Of course they would!

For most of its history, 1220 WCMQ was a music station with no political programming at all. It began as a daytimer in about 1968 and didn't switch to a talk format until after SBS purchased them. (WCMQ moved to 1210 in 1984) It was not until SBS brought in a strong political commentator and newsman that the station became an Anti-Castro outlet)

This tendency lasts thru to this very day. In 1996 Cuba was decimated by a hurricane. Many charitable group mounted humane relief efforts. WCMQ told their listeners to withhold donations, because they would only help Castro's government. They stated that Castro's government would steal any donations that were meant for the people of Cuba. at the time this put them somewhat at odds with WQBA who was taking the opposite stance. Even this day WCMQ radio host Caridad Roque and Ninoska Perez speak frequently about politics relating to Cuba. Check it out here.

The First Directional Antenna

Directional broadcasts were very desirable in AM radio. Previously if two stations interfered with each other the only solutions were lowering tower heights and lowering the power. Both cut coverage area.

The first Directional broadcast Antenna was designed by Ray Wilmotte. This was for 620 WFLA (dayshare with WSUN) in Tampa back in 1932. It was the right solution for a specific problem. By 1947 there were 646 AM radio stations on air in America, and 39 of them were using directional antennas.

Interestingly enough the whole ordeal had to go to court. When WFLA powered up 620 WTMJ lost coverage. On appeal it was ruled that the earlier coverage area of 620 WTMJ Milwaukee should be restored. Thus the system was installed to avoid a power reduction. Coverage map Here. [WFLA moved to 940 AM in 1941 leaving 620 to WSUN which in turn changed called to WDAE.] The purpose of the WFLA antenna was two fold:

1. Protect the contour of Milwaukee station, WTMJ.

2. Reduce wasted power sent out over the Atlantic ocean. Then redirect it over land.

Its success began a series of conversions. In 1934, 700 WLW-AM, Cincinnati used a directional antenna to protect CFRB Toronto, Ontario, about 375 miles away. The FCC restricted their power output to 50 kW toward the North East.

Other early directional stations include, WOR, WADO and WEAF. All were experimenting with Bell Labs on this approach. None of them have any indications of experiments prior to 1933.

Ray Wilmotte was actually born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University in England. He moved to the U.S. to work to work on blind landing equipment for aircraft. During the second World War he worked on direction finding systems for airports and radar. Later at RCA on the development of communications satellites. In the 1970s he became a full time FCC consultant. There at the age of 78 he directed a UHF task force that developed a high-performance tuner that permitted greater use of the UHF spectrum. He died January 27th 2000 at the age of 98.