Here we go again, now 105.3

[tylerSC]

Here we go again, another Low Power FM interfering with a full power station. Some religious broadcaster has just signed on 105.3 near Greenville, interfering with 105.3-WOSF which is still licensed to Gaffney. Although that former Gaffney station moved to the WBTV tower near Gastonia to better serve Charlotte as now acquired by Radio One. When it was in Gaffney it had a strong, clear signal in Greenville. Once they moved the tower, they still reached Spartanburg but became spotty in parts of Greenville. But somehow it is still licensed to Gaffney, so you would think they would not allow interference in Greenville. Must be some sort of loophole. But this seems to be commonplace everywhere, with more LPFMs and translators blocking long distance reception of full power stations. Used to be you could get 107.9 good in Greenville, but not really anymore. And now 105.3. Both stations now owned by Radio One, but they probably don't care anymore, unlike the former owners back in the day. Oh well, times change I guess. But still not happy about it.

Just like when you get close to Charlotte, there is interference on 93.7 and 102.5, as low power Charlotte signals now operate on the same channel as the Greenville stations. But if 105.3 still had their tower near Gaffney, it could still serve both Charlotte and Greenville, although it would not reach total portions of both markets. I guess that was no longer the desired option, and they chose Charlotte over Greenville since it is the larger market.

 

[knoxbob]

It does look like that WOSF downgraded a bit when it moved closer to Charlotte. They were 100kw @ 1200 FT and after the move they went to 51kw at 1300ft.

 

[101tm]

Dual market stations generally do not work well as they’re very difficult to sell. Radio One chose to move 105.3 to the market where more $$$ could be made. WZTK in Burlington has always been a case of a station that covers portions of two markets (RDU and the Triad), but neither clearly metro fully and they’ve always failed outside of niche programming like Regional Mexican or talk that can’t be heard elsewhere. The old 94.1 (I forget the calls, but it was last WTHZ) in Lexington, NC was another case of a station that covered Charlotte and the triad, but neither really well overall. They’re now a K-Love Station which is listener supported so the signal doesn’t matter as much.

Honestly, I’m a DX’er myself and enjoy trying to get stations from other markets. I remember 15 years ago getting the Charlotte stations and even some from Atlanta. But the sad reality (for us) is that as long as the advertisers of these stations in Charlotte aren’t affected, they really don’t care if a few people in Greenville or spartanburg can no longer get their signal or not as they aren’t trying to sell to us. I used to could get 97.1 from
Gainesville/Atlanta clearly in Greenville a lot of times but the 97.1 translator in Spartanburg ruined that.

 

[ngriffin]

Probably W287DF a translator for WCKI 1300. It's hemmed in by WOSF and WCCP 105.5. https://www.fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=201562

 

[PTBoardOp94]

When it was in Gaffney it had a strong, clear signal in Greenville. Once they moved the tower, they still reached Spartanburg but became spotty in parts of Greenville. But somehow it is still licensed to Gaffney, so you would think they would not allow interference in Greenville. Must be some sort of loophole.

Community of license is not a factor in station protection, only the distance from the transmit facilities, station classes, and (when used) directional antennas.

But this seems to be commonplace everywhere, with more LPFMs and translators blocking long distance reception of full power stations. Used to be you could get 107.9 good in Greenville, but not really anymore. And now 105.3. Both stations now owned by Radio One, but they probably don't care anymore, unlike the former owners back in the day. Oh well, times change I guess. But still not happy about it.

Urban One doesn't get a say in the matter. 105.3 WOSF has protection in the direction of Greenville out to about Lake Blalock, north of Spartanburg. If you're on a boat there and are hearing the new translator reliably, then there may be a problem such as the translator operating from the wrong transmitter site or with too much power.

 

[tylerSC]

I used to get 107.9 from Charlotte all the way past White Horse Rd. going down I-85. Now due to local interference you can barely get it to Woodruff Rd. And 105.3 used to make it to Laurens Rd. and even parts of Augusta Rd, but not anymore. From Charlotte you can still get 95.1, 96.1, and 101.9 in Greenville, to about Augusta Rd. I sometimes switch to 95.1 and 96.1, although I prefer a variety hits AC format more to my liking. So I normally listen to 103.3, 102.5, 98.9, and 99.5. When I get north of Woodruff Rd. I will also sample 107.9 from Charlotte, although Bob and Sheri have moved to K-104.7 which doesn't make it past Gaffney due to short spacing with WNOK in Columbia. I can also add in 102.9 from Charlotte getting into Spartanburg, which has a similar Lake format to 102.5 in Greenville. But here again another translator interferes with 102.9, playing Spanish music. I wish we could go back to the days when we didn't have all these interfering translators.

 

[tylerSC]

I remember back when 97.1 from Atlanta could be heard clearly in Greenville, as mentioned above. But then they added the Spartanburg sports station on the same channel and that was the end of that. And at times you can also pick up WSB on 750AM from Atlanta, but sometimes there is too much static. And during the day WBT Charlotte on 11.10AM comes in better, but their 99.3 station is now blocked due to interference from a Georgia station.