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WMFN to begin testing on 640 from new location

cyberdad

cyberdad

About 5-6 months ago, I posted about seeing a four tower site being built about an hour southwest of Chicago along I-57 near Kankakee, IL. WMFN, which had been broadcasting from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, had gone dark and had a CP to move to that location.

Subsequently, I had been checking 640 every 2-4 weeks for some sign of a new station. Nothing there until I checked it on a car radio yesterday. There was a carrier only. Not particularly robust here where I am, but strong enough to trip the scan button. WOI was in and out VERY faintly audible underneath. I didn't hear it last night, but it was back this morning.

The CP is for 4400 watts days/1600 watts nights aimed primarily north-northwest (towards Chicago). Looking at the R-L maps, the real-world result is just about the same as the R-L prediction.

Have any of you guys heard this carrier yet? If not, you might want to check it out and see how thing unfold. I expect Radioman will bet a slightly better signal than me. It's aimed directly at him!
 
I haven't checked yet, but I will. This is usually the best time of year to hear KFI in the midwest, pre sunrise, but if WMFN is back and testing that will trash that plan.
 
I meant to put a question mark after my title line. I'm not sure if they're getting ready to test. So far I'm just hearing a carrier. Which theoretically could be anything. But everything appears to fit with the WMFN construction permit.

@radioman... When I checked 640 this morning, WOI was comfortably on top with a fair signal. I did hear stuff underneath. Possibly KFI was part of that, but the only thing I could remotely make out sounded like sports, so my guess is Oklahoma City.
 
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From what you're saying it seems like they are getting ready. Anyway, I checked 640 late this afternoon and heard nothing, but i'll keep checking.
 
cyberdad said:
WMFN, which had been broadcasting from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area,
had gone dark and had a CP to move to that location.
Click to expand...
I must be getting dyslexic.
When I first read the title,
I thought you were referring to a non-com in Tampa-St.Petersberg, FL on 88½.
 
I wonder what format WMFN will air. Probably something ethnic or brokered.
 
icybluelake said:
I'm wondering how this will affect WOI. Maybe it won't.
Click to expand...

Although these areas are out of the two stations' fringe coverage areas according their Radio-Locator maps, probably enough to still make a two-station mess on 640 on the I-74 corridor between Peoria and Galesburg (a la what already goes on with 1230 in that area due to WFXN Moline and WJBC Bloomington). And the same deal on I-80 between the Quad Cities and LaSalle-Peru.

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WMFN-AM&s=C&h=D

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WOI-AM&h=D
 
crainbebo said:
I wonder what format WMFN will air. Probably something ethnic or brokered.
Click to expand...

Seems likely. 2/3 of Birach's stations are either ethnic or brokered. They must have spent a fortune on this station, buying out at least two other stations on 640 and building this new TX site...
 
Tim from Springfield said:
Although these areas are out of the two stations' fringe coverage areas according their Radio-Locator maps, probably enough to still make a two-station mess on 640 on the I-74 corridor between Peoria and Galesburg (a la what already goes on with 1230 in that area due to WFXN Moline and WJBC Bloomington). And the same deal on I-80 between the Quad Cities and LaSalle-Peru.

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WMFN-AM&s=C&h=D

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WOI-AM&h=D
Click to expand...

I was going to say something similar, but I doubt either WOI or WMFN cares about the I-74 corridor. I also doubt WMFN will be much of an issue for WOI at night. I'm wondering what....if any....nighttime protection WOI might be entitled to. Either way, I think a null in the direction of KFI also has the effect of protecting WOI. And for that matter, will also protect the Oklahoma City station.

And you mentioned 1230 WFXN and WJBC mixing for a time along I-74, I experienced that many times when WFXN was WQUA. It happened between Galesburg and Peoria, where once again, I don't think it mattered to either station. WQUA (nowWFXN) also got into it with KFJB (Marshalltown, IA) on the Iowa side of the river.
 
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WOI may have had a golden opportunity to expand the daytime coverage of 640 when they started night service and added the second tower. Looking at what was on the air in 1990 on 640 KHz, its nearest co-channel neighbors were in Moore OK at 1 kW ND day, Colliersville (Memphis) TN at 10 kW ND day, and the original WMFN license at Zeeland MI at 1 kW ND(?) day.

With an expanded WOI, WMFN would have stayed at Zeeland MI, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

What I don't know is whether the two tower DA WOI installed for the 1 kW night service could have been used to make a broad cardioid pattern to protect the old 5 kW KDWB DA at St. Paul. If so, WOI could have bumped day power to 10 kW or more, though I doubt 25 kW would have been possible without additional towers, and at 25 kw most of that power would have had to go west.

So, golden opportunity? Maybe silver opportunity...

But in 1990, storm clouds were brewing at Iowa State University and WOI-TV, the commercially operated sister to non-comm WOI. There was always a rivalry between WOI and WSUI/KSUI, the University of Iowa stations. An expanded WOI would just stir up trouble on that front. And political interests that were partisan to the University of Iowa, especially the state governor at the time, Terry Branstad, were scheming to sell off WOI-TV. They were ultimately successful, and WOI-TV was sold off by 1995.

While the University of Iowa was an early experimental licensee in television dating back to the mechanical scanning days in the 1930s, by the late 40s the UI had ended experimental TV broadcasts. Meanwhile Iowa State College was flush with money after World War II as they helped enrich uranium with the Manhattan Project. From that slush fund WOI-TV was born. That stuck in the craw of the cross-state Hawkeye compatriots of the UI.

Silver opportunity?...maybe tarnished Copper opportunity? ISU had bigger fish to fry, namely keeping the state of Iowa from selling off WOI radio's golden goose, commercially operated channel 5 which supported the non-comm WOI radio operations.

To-may-to, to-mah-to, if an expanded WOI 640 was even considered, they probably threw a rotten tomato at the idea and called the whole thing off.
 
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joebtsflk1 said:
What I don't know is whether the two tower DA WOI installed for the 1 kW night service could have been used to make a broad cardioid pattern to protect the old 5 kW KDWB DA at St. Paul. If so, WOI could have bumped day power to 10 kW or more, though I doubt 25 kW would have been possible without additional towers, and at 25 kw most of that power would have had to go west.
Click to expand...

Good stuff, Joe....

As posted a few months ago, WOI caused significant splatter on KDWB in the far southern suburbs of The Twin Cities. I had two customers in the Burnsville-Lakeville area, and remember WOI as being quite a pest when I'd drive there. So, at least based on that anecdotal experience, I think more day power for WOI would have been easier said than done. I'm guessing the existing second tower might not have been enough to handle 10kw and still keep the amount of signal going north to an acceptable level.
 
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I'm going to agree on that one. When what became WDGY 630 went dark in 1994, WOI had no trouble getting into the Twin Cities during the day. I could pick up WOI during the day on my little Walkman (remember those?) in the basement of my apartment complex. Granted that was 1994 B.C., Before Computers were in every home. Summer of '94, talked to the tower crews cutting down the old WDGY rusty and and not trusty towers, that's another story.

Even if it was possible to use the two towers to create a cardioid day pattern and protect St. Paul, I'm sure Iowa State didn't need to stir up any more political intrigue by beefing or maybe "porking" up WOInk (cue Dr. Don's "moo-oooo00-OO"). I'm sure it wouldn't have been popular at The Big Pig.
 
joebtsflk1 said:
But in 1990, storm clouds were brewing at Iowa State University and WOI-TV, the commercially operated sister to non-comm WOI. There was always a rivalry between WOI and WSUI/KSUI, the University of Iowa stations. An expanded WOI would just stir up trouble on that front. And political interests that were partisan to the University of Iowa, especially the state governor at the time, Terry Branstad, were scheming to sell off WOI-TV. They were ultimately successful, and WOI-TV was sold off by 1995.

While the University of Iowa was an early experimental licensee in television dating back to the mechanical scanning days in the 1930s, by the late 40s the UI had ended experimental TV broadcasts. Meanwhile Iowa State College was flush with money after World War II as they helped enrich uranium with the Manhattan Project. From that slush fund WOI-TV was born. That stuck in the craw of the cross-state Hawkeye compatriots of the UI.
Click to expand...

I never realized such a rivalry existed between WOI and WSUI. (I never thought of WOInk, either.) Eastern Iowans can be blithely unaware of what goes on in central and western Iowa, I guess.

Also I wonder if there wasn't much thought given to such an opportunity because WOI's daytime signal already served the state so well, some fringe areas along the Mississippi River perhaps notwithstanding -- i.e. serving the state being a priority rather than points beyond.
 
Yeah, WMFN has been on with just a carrier for a few days. Signal up here in Kenosha is just OK. Of course, A) We don't know if they're on full power, and B) it's kind of hard to gauge listenability with no audio.

I had been checking 640 every few days thinking maybe they were close to firing up their new site. One morning last week on my way to work, WWLS (OK) was on top of the frequency, all alone. Haven't heard them clearly in quite a while.

I can imagine this is going to greatly lessen my chances of ever hearing KFI again.
 
billmich said:
which stations were bought out?
Click to expand...

At least 640 in Terre Haute (I think their last calls were WBOW), and the station in Michigan which is being "moved" to Chicago, WMFN. Maybe others.
 
KenoGuy said:
I can imagine this is going to greatly lessen my chances of ever hearing KFI again.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's my feeling and early mornings in the 2nd half of October is usually prime time for hearing KFI in the midwest. Having said that, I haven't heard KFI in several years. Don't know why that is, but I remember several of us having a discussion last year as to whether KFI's signal is what it used to be.
 
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