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A day in the life of a lamptimer
- Thread starter DrAkbar
- Start date
To badly paraphrase the late Victor Diaz, perhaps Mexican watts are different from American watts.
To paraphrase John Fred of the Playboy Band fame, perhaps those Mexican watts are like cantaloupe eyes when they come our direction at night.
Muchos años pasados, Nurse Jeff and I proposed Gumpdusky build out the nighttime service area of KAZG by erecting a tower tribute to Gordon Mc Lendon's 12 stick masterpiece in Rockwall, Tx. The Goldminers could put up 13 towers of pow-pow-power and protect just about any station on or close to 14~Forty. Unfortunately the land for such a scheme is now spoken for as condos are going up where once Paddock Pools sold see-mint ponds.
All we can do is cross our hearts with a Living Bra.
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K.M. Richards
Guest
I am remembering fuzzily some decision made by the SCT -- might have been in the late 1970s -- that from that point forward all newly-licensed FMs were to be assigned five-letter calls beginning with "XH". David, help me here ...
The only XE station I know where the callsign decision is after the 1970s is actually on TV! It's XEIMT-TV 22 (calls assigned 1985). The reason why was because XHIMT-TV was assigned at the same time to a higher-profile new VHF station. XEIMT had been XHTRM-TV since its 1982 launch (it was the first UHF in Mexico City, and its signal kinda sucked).
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K.M. Richards
Guest
Raymie, I was just today pointed at your excellent thread on the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association message board on the analog-to-digital television conversion process in Mexico, and there near the end was your excellent explanation about the changing of FM call letters.
I am posting a link to it here for those who want to read it:
http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?9113-OPMA-is-changing&p=36394#post36394
Nicely done, sir.
I am posting a link to it here for those who want to read it:
http://forums.wtfda.org/showthread.php?9113-OPMA-is-changing&p=36394#post36394
Nicely done, sir.
Thanks. I'm proud of the work I've done; it's erased lots of bad conventional wisdom. There was a serious lack of good FM and TV information in the DX community until recently, not helped by the recent few years of seismic change in Mexican broadcasting. I also do a lot of historical research — the type that told me with certainty that there was never an XEFCD, for instance.
There are three tools I use to do serious Mexico research:
#1. The IFT Infraestructura tables — every AM, FM and TV in the country, with ERPs, locations (coordinates on TV!) and concessionaires/permittees (what we'd call licensees in the US).
#2. The RPC, Public Registry of Concessions. Not much current technical information, but you can see the historical evolution of a station's ownership, callsign, and technical parameters. (Also, typewritten documents as old as the 30s!) They're even starting to show information on TV shadow channels, which was my main research revolution when I came into the DX community; nobody understood them, not even the top Mexico DXers, and it didn't help that technical documentation was nearly nonexistent.
#3. The DOF, for those times when the RPC just doesn't have what you're looking for.
Mexico's broadcasting environment is a riot. Localism is hard to find on TV, state and national governments play a much larger role on TV and radio (all but a few states have TV and/or radio state networks), many "stations" are little more than satellite-fed transmitters of Mexico City stations, the AM-FM migration has left some mid-size cities without any AM radio stations to speak of, and the IFT is really doing good work not just in broadcasting but also in telecommunications.
And yes, Mexico is actually doing a digital transition, and in the last year, it's done it very well. Most commercial stations in the country now are on in digital and analog, we've already had a few markets experience full switchover, and the whole thing will allow one new national network to come to air and generally increase the broadcast offerings nationwide.
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Now if someone could conduct this type of research as to why the Lamptimer drifted so much, then perhaps this thread could vanish from cyberspace and we'd all go on happily living our non-productive lives here in Buckeye!
Some of us would be despondent if this thread vanished from cyberspace. It fills that hole in our hearts that opened up when the concept of "entertainment value" became a much lower priority in our beloved radio business. I find I must check the Lamptimer thread at least twice weekly for a non-reality check, or I risk the severe pain and anguish caused by taking the biz too seriously.
Furthermore, the 200-page milestone is not that far away.
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K.M. Richards
Guest
Thanks. I'm proud of the work I've done; it's erased lots of bad conventional wisdom. There was a serious lack of good FM and TV information in the DX community until recently, not helped by the recent few years of seismic change in Mexican broadcasting. I also do a lot of historical research — the type that told me with certainty that there was never an XEFCD, for instance.
(remaining post quote edited ... it's only two above this one if you want to read it)
Your process reminds me of what I go through with the History of UHF Television site, which I pretty much manage for Clarke Ingram and for which a couple dozen articles are my handiwork (in addition to the master "channels" list).
One of my prouder achievements was debunking a popular myth about KAAR/39 in San Diego when I researched and wrote that article. It seems that for decades people believed they had gone off the air due to a fire at the transmitter site, but I found plenty of evidence to the contrary (the clincher was an article in the San Diego Union about a fire in the vicinity of the transmitter which prevented their engineer from getting there to sign the station on one day) and now the actual facts are out there for everyone to read.
The article even touches your interests, Raymie, as I discuss XETV/6 Tijuana's futile legal battles to keep their ABC network affiliation once 39 changed owners after a brief (and not fire-related) dark period. I even have rare video of a 1966 KAAR news brief, in glorious black-and-white!
http://www.uhftelevision.com/articles/kaar.html
Will the Colorado Gold goop sent our direction by the EPA affect Lumberyard 14~Forty's canal side xmttr? Nurse Jeff and I have offered catfish (lower case "c", please) the use of our '76 Gremlin to haul sand bags if needed. We've also contacted Diane Douglas' office in case a larger sand bag is needed. Stay tuned to Action Central News for further updates on the coming catastrophe - brought to you by Al, your trees pal.
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Aren't you guys forgetting the Yugo?
You're right! Most people who bought Yugos are still trying to forget that abomination.
What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a goin' on with Lumberyard 14~Forty's playlist? This morning Nurse Jeff and I heard "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly on the same station best known for such Sixties classics as "Dizzy", "Sugar, Sugar" and "Bang 545". Gotta get a hold of catfish (lower case "c") and make sure he cuts down the hemp plants around the Tower of Pow-Pow-Power. YIKES!!
Can't forget "Kookie Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)"!
The Loco-Motion by Grand Funk Wailwoad on Lumberyard 14~Forty/92~Seven? WTF????? Keep those damned hippies from 100~Seven away from the Goldminers' music scheduler. Little Eva has the only version that should be played. A '76 Gremlin might accidenatlly drive through their doors if they dare play Kylie Minogue's version. YIKES!!
Maricopa Gold 1440, where all your dreams go up in smoke.
This is so neat (and messed up) Try the zoom in/out feature to visualize whirled peas & the pow-pow-power of KAZG!
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KAZG-AM&h=D
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KAZG-AM&h=N
You may have to reload, or retype KAZG in the search. Like the Buckeye Media Hut, these guys have some problems.
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KAZG-AM&h=D
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KAZG-AM&h=N
You may have to reload, or retype KAZG in the search. Like the Buckeye Media Hut, these guys have some problems.
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Groove1670
Guest
So is the Lamptimer FM on? What does it sound like?.
Like the Lamptimer AM but with better sound quality.
Seriously, I can hear them in far-NE Mesa on a couple of my radios with a fair signal. Of course being at 1500' ASL helps.
Agree with that, but Nurse Jeff and I are even higher than that thanks to an endless supply of Media Hut egg nog! For 52 watts of nighttime pow-pow-power, that sucker can get out there. If Gumpdusky still owned the station, and if the old xmttr didn't crap out, Lumberyard 14~Forty would most likely kill the carrier with the drifting lamptimer at sunset.
To think the Goldminers have hit a 0.6 share with those wornout oldies boggles the fez!
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