• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

1390 in Gainesville

J

Jeff2

I saw a blurb somewhere that Gillen is buying a translator for 1390. I was stuck in traffic this afternoon so checked in with 1390 and they were broadcasting an irritating tone that sounded like a stuck CD. I don't know if that is what it was or some kind of test of the transmitter.

I wonder why all of a sudden they are doing something with the AM after years of neglect.
 
Jeff2 said:
I saw a blurb somewhere that Gillen is buying a translator for 1390....
I wonder why all of a sudden they are doing something with the AM after years of neglect.
Click to expand...


To be fair, Doug has spent some money on that AM over the years. Within the last 10 years, he spent a fortune on a Gates-5 transmitter that promptly blew up after about a month. For its entire history 1390 was never better than an "also ran", no matter how hard anyone tried. It had a few periods of sputtering life in the '60s and 70's, but it's a poor signal centered on an economically challenging area of town. Now that it can be an FM, too with a very nice signal that will cover the entire community. Assuming the translator works as expected, WYKS should have a nice sister station.
 
To give proper credit, the report I saw was on Central Florida Radio and they reported $35,000 as the price for the translator. I wonder if they will go back to the liberal talk format for the election season or maybe go after Magic if the FM signal is decent.
 
Last edited:
Jeff2 said:
To give proper credit, the report I saw was on Central Florida Radio and they reported $35,000 as the price for the translator. I wonder if they will go back to the liberal talk format for the election season or maybe go after Magic if the FM signal is decent.
Click to expand...

The report is accurate. The translator was a CP down near Sarasota.

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1720263

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1720337
 
WAJD probably performed at its peak in the late 70s and early 80s as WAKA "14K" and later as Adult Radio AM 14". For a while 14K was programming a hybrid adult contemporary and album cuts contemporary format, later transforming to Top 40, competing direct against number one WGGG-AM 1230.

I'm not sure what Gillen has in mind format wise for WAJD once the FM signal is added, but the translator should help tremendously in making WAJD a better player in the highly competitive Gainesville radio market.
 
I never can remember what Gainesville AM frequency played heavy metal circa 1990. I thought it was close to 1400? The signal was so weak it didn't reach I-75.
 
seedless said:
I never can remember what Gainesville AM frequency played heavy metal circa 1990. I thought it was close to 1400? The signal was so weak it didn't reach I-75.
Click to expand...

That was WAJD. Gillen owned it and the audio was played out on a couple of hifi VCRs.
 
I tuned in today and they are back to the Motown and R&B format they had for awhile.

It is a dim memory from the early 60's but 1390 started as WPUP with a country format (their studios were in an old house on East University). Later in the 60's they became Top 40 WUWU (with studios in the Gainesville Mall) and competed with WDVH, the first Top 40 station in town. When WGGG came along with a 24 hour Top 40, WDVH moved on to a very successful run with a country format and then after GC-101 took the country audience WDVH became WLUS and had a nice run with adult standards.

As noted earlier, 1390 never seemed to find a niche for themselves post-WUWU. In recent years they have mostly been off the air.

The brain started working. Bob White was the guy at WUWU. Here is a link to an old Gainesville Sun story where he talks about local radio back in the day.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20040823/BUSINESS/40822005
 
Last edited:
The Woo Woo (WUWU) was definitely an interesting little Top 40 AM radio station. Since WUWU, it has been WAKA (Beautiful Music/album music/Top 40); WKGR (Adult contemporary); WMGI (Urban/jazz); WDVH (country); WAJD (All news, Heavy Metal, WYKS simulcast, Radio Disney, Motown, progressive talk, etc.) Originally country as WPUP, so was WGVL 105.5 for its first year of existence (1970) which was the first country formatted FM in the market years before WYGC 100.9 and WRUF-FM 103.7.
 
I remember WUWU well. I was hired to find out why the station sounded so bad.
I discovered that the telephone lines which delivered their audio to the transmitter were not equalized.
The frequency response didn't go much higher than 3kHz.
I advised the station to order an equalized program circuit.
I'm not sure whether they followed my suggestion. As I recall, I never got paid either.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom