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Reception report for 107.1

A

Avid Listener

Guest
In the Duluth/Norcross area of Gwinnett County, reception of 107.1 wasn't very good.

Actually, I don't much care about the station one way or another, but seeing as how there are four different threads about 107.1, I didn't want to be the only participant that didn't launch a whole new thread to talk about it.
 
Avid Listener said:
In the Duluth/Norcross area of Gwinnett County, reception of 107.1 wasn't very good.

Actually, I don't much care about the station one way or another, but seeing as how there are four different threads about 107.1, I didn't want to be the only participant that didn't launch a whole new thread to talk about it.
Click to expand...
Agreed. It sounds like it's coming in worse than before. Is that the "sour spot" where WTSH and the translator are most likely to interfere with each other?
 
The signal matches it's tired, washed out format.

Marginal signal in South Cobb near East-West Connector to I-285, gets better as you go north towards Marietta.

If this station is going to rimshot into Atlanta, they need to unleash the ponies. And I don't use POS crap radios either. So the average listener would probably not even bother on their $9 drugstore brand boom box.
 
MRFLASHPORT said:
The signal matches it's tired, washed out format.

Marginal signal in South Cobb near East-West Connector to I-285, gets better as you go north towards Marietta.

If this station is going to rimshot into Atlanta, they need to unleash the ponies. And I don't use POS crap radios either. So the average listener would probably not even bother on their $9 drugstore brand boom box.
Click to expand...

Do people still listen to tabletop radios any more? I don't know anyone who listens much to the radio anywhere other than in their car, unless they have a radio turned on at work as background noise.
 
Avid Listener said:
Do people still listen to tabletop radios any more? I don't know anyone who listens much to the radio anywhere other than in their car, unless they have a radio turned on at work as background noise.
Click to expand...

I still listen to my battery-powered AM/FM radio whenever storms come into the area, and I have to unplug my laptop. As for the new X107.1, what a bummer. It'll be a miracle if this station becomes a long-lasting station. No, I don't wish the station would be long-lasting. I wish it would be short-lived, and we end up seeing a repeat of what 97.1 did from flipping from Hip-Hop 97.1 Jamz to Classic Hits 97.1 The River. Anything but Alternative Rock & Hip-Hop would work. Radio 105.7/96.7 is enough for Alternative Rock, and like I said in a different thread, HOT 107.9 is enough for Hip-Hop. That is all.
 
Driving on I-285 today towards Sandy Springs, I saw a billboard ad for 107.1. Tuned in, nothing but interference...what a disgrace for a city like Atlanta to have no 'listenable' radio outlets...what must tourist/visitors driving thru think...
 
Or maybe they should turn off the 107.1 in Rome and leave the translator on....
 
Re:

You know, I think that translator might be hurting more than helping things. Sandy Springs should be getting the main transmitter from Rome pretty good. The problem is the interference from the translator.
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100% correct.

They (Cox) are trying to use the translator as an on-frequency booster.

This strategy NEVER works in areas with relatively flat terrain. The reason why? The two signals cancel out each other at locations where both are within range. Any engineer worth his salt will tell you this.

Any claims of "synchronization" technology that will eliminate or greatly reduce such interference is nothing more than marketing hype. The best move would be turn off the 107.1 translator altogether or find a translator on a different frequency to serve the immediate Atlanta area.

Unfortunately, what I think might happen instead is this: the corporate clowns at Cox will decide to downgrade the 107.1 Rome signal to something like a highly directional Class C2 to pave the way for the 107.1 Atlanta translator to become omnidirectional. This is pure speculation on my part; I have no connection with Cox. Such a move would shift the zone of interference to a less densely populated region.
 
That "on channel booster" crap is just that. I know of a couple of stations out in a "arid" state, that have on channel boosters. They actually are "happy" when the main goes off because the interference goes away (The translator then covers the city without noise) They have been known to operate on a non-authorized STA, running the main at 10-20 percent power so that the interference falls in a area where they dont care.

The 107.1 "booster" beats up the main pretty bad going north on I-75, starting at the River and beyond the "loop". 107.1 had a good or even great signal in that area previously.
 
There is supposedly new technology that enables the primary signal and translator to work almost seamlessly. But I agree with the comments above that the translator signal is full of interference almost everywhere. Cox has top-notch engineering so I'm sure if it can be corrected, it will be.
 
I'm all for merging all these threads into one regarding X107.1. Whoever has the power to do that, do it.

In an unrelated comment, I wanted to point out lots of complaints about the signal from Atlanta. The response from X107.1 is the app (of course) but their wording "for now" seems to suggest there will be changes made to the signal. There are other key words that suggest there will be changes made to the signal. Not sure what they can do being on 107.1. Can FM be directional? I've never seen a directional FM signal. I know AM can but not sure about FM.
 
Who Really Cares about all of this ?

Like Mike Rafone said earlier on this blog:

How sad, the depths to which this board has sunk.
If this kind of conversation is all that you folks can come up with, then it proves my earlier point elsewhere:
THE ATLANTA RADIO MARKET IS IN A BIG BLACK HOLE.
 
The 107.1 translator already uses a directional antenna with the main signal lobe pointing away from the 107.1 main site near Rome.
It seems to me that Cox may want to operate the main signal at reduced power under a STA. That may help the signal on I-75 and I-20 between Marietta/Douglasville and downtown Atlanta. Then again....it may not help without a dramatic reduction of main site power.
The Sync-cast technology Roddey spoke of is Harris technology. They once claimed they could steer the interference zone to any desired area and minimize it to less than a couple of hundred feet. Since FM RF propagation is not static but is variable depending on environmental conditions, it is impossible to accomplish this with any stability or precision. The WSB guys may be smart but they can not change the laws of physics!
The signal on both I-20 and I-75 is un-listenable and has got worse since Cox changed the format.
 
secondchoice said:
Yes FM can be directional like 100.5 WNNX:

https://maps.google.com/?q=http://t...0.5&contour=60&city=COLLEGE_PARK&state=GA.kml



Here is a cool direction pattern:

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WAOM&service=FM&status=C&hours=U
Click to expand...

WREK is also directional...that was part of the deal when they went to 100kW.

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WREK&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

This might be clearer for WNNX. Note the null towards the NE to protect cochannel WSSL in Greenville/Spartanburg: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNNX&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

My daughter points out that the 98.9 translator is also directional: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=W255CJ&service=FX&status=L&hours=U
 
Thanks! I see the directional signal in the drawings now you point it out. I guess it's just not as pronounced as I was expecting it to be. Makes me wonder if 107.1 did in fact go directional towards Atlanta - If that would even make a big impact considering the directional signals you pointed out above really make little difference in coverage in one direction vs the other.
 
acheron82 said:
Makes me wonder if 107.1 did in fact go directional towards Atlanta - If that would even make a big impact considering the directional signals you pointed out above really make little difference in coverage in one direction vs the other.
Click to expand...

Upgrading 107.1 WSTH Aragon to what it is now has been a couple of decades project for the former Class A station that once was in Rockmart. They are hampered by 106.7's full class C second channel protection and 107.5. I just noticed on FCC site that WSTH is Horizontally polarized only which is surprising:

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=100679675&qnum=5320&copynum=1&exhcnum=2

IMHO: If (really big if) the FCC allows Class A, B and C to "accept" interference like translators, then possibly a "deal" with 106.7 and 107.5 could be worked out. Cox could write a couple of really big checks. I have heard of a 106.5 (Chattanooga) and 106.7 WYAY interference agreement but neither were direct competitors. I do not see Cumulus or Radio One allowing 107.1 full market access with out some serious cash changing hands. Atlanta was not a top ten market when the original FM allocation tables were issued. Heck two of the original inside 285 8 full power commercial stations are licensed to Cities in Cobb County 94.1 & 101.5.
 
secondchoice said:
Upgrading 107.1 WSTH Aragon to what it is now has been a couple of decades project for the former Class A station that once was in Rockmart. They are hampered by 106.7's full class C second channel protection and 107.5.
Click to expand...

107.1's various moves were also dependent on 107.5 moving its tower from the Perimeter Mall area to the former location of the "Gwinnett Is Great" water towers, and it butts up right up against 107.5's contour.

I'm not an engineer (I'll ask my daughter) but I think the only way 107.1 can pick up any more of the ATL with its main signal is to move due south, and I don't know what lies there.
 
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