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Status of WFME 1560?
- Thread starter MarcB
- Start date
I am unable to pick up WFME on my portable radio here in Lower Manhattan. However, I have been able to pick it up via the WebSDR that is based in Northeastern Pennsylvania, near the border with New Jersey. Reception on the WebSDR is variable, ranging from good to fair, with another station faintly heard in the background since I am listening during critical hours.
youre too far for groundwave and too close for skywave for the operation with a long wire and a few KW
The last I heard, WFME was operating with a power of one kilowatt. Since that receiver in Pennsylvania is able to pick it up, I am guessing that WFME's antenna is directional toward the west. (I did listen to the station via the WebSDR once before in the early afternoon.)
It can't be directional to the west as it protects a station in CA. However, the difference in noise levels in an urban and more rural location make a big difference. In fact, as you hit Manhattan and go east on Long Island you have about the worst signal conductivity of anywhere in the country.
I am assuming that's because LI is just a "gravel pile" left behind by the glaciers 21,000 years ago?
I posted back in June here in NYC, radio-discussion . . . this in the title as indicated below. If WFME found a power that is now working I do not know what that power is, you'd have to ask the station . . . also WFME 1560 is now using a slant wire antenna up on First Mountain, in West Orange, NJ. This location is where the original WFME-FM transmitter site was ( when they were on 94.7 before they owned 1560 ) that was their FM site before they sold the FM in 2012.
They purchased 1560 in 2015.
Right now they operate with 1kw day & night from this slant wire. They want to go to 10 kw day & night and will do so in increments, seeing if any interference complaints are received.
1.0 kw to 2.5 kw for 2 weeks, then 2.5 kw to 5 kw for 4 weeks, then to 10 kw, again day & night for all from the slant wire.
If they get no complaints, they will stay at 10 kw.
Al
They purchased 1560 in 2015.
WFME 1560 to increase power from temporary antenna
- Thread starteralok
- Start dateJun 30, 2022
alok
Frequent Participant
Looks like Family Stations has requested power increases on the temporary slant wire they are using in West Orange,NJ., up on the hill.Right now they operate with 1kw day & night from this slant wire. They want to go to 10 kw day & night and will do so in increments, seeing if any interference complaints are received.
1.0 kw to 2.5 kw for 2 weeks, then 2.5 kw to 5 kw for 4 weeks, then to 10 kw, again day & night for all from the slant wire.
If they get no complaints, they will stay at 10 kw.
Al
The station probably has a usable range of less than 5 miles. It's barely receivable 15 miles out where it sounds like a very distant DX catch, and is basically nonexistent in the 5 boroughs of NYC. If they have raised the power in recent weeks it has barely made any perceivable difference, at least toward the East.
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Thought I'd throw this in, for those that don't know . . .
here is the site, I remember this site as a kid in the 50's & 60's . . . there was only one or two towers then, only the two tallest you see . . . WFME-FM was on one of them.
At this location at one time was also Z-100, for a short time WHTZ-FM right before they moved to The Empire State Building and right after they purchased WVNJ-FM 100.3, back I think in 1983.
Also at that site was Channel 13 WATV, Newark,NJ ( long before it became PBS ) when they went on the air in the late 40's,
they moved to The Empire State Building in 1953, if I recall correctly.
WATV also owned WAAT 970 AM prior to the 60's and WAAT-FM 94.7. These went thru call changes when Channel 13 was sold in 1958, then again in 1962 . . . around 1962 Channel 13 became WNDT ( PBS ).
This site has a clear shot overlooking out over Newark & NYC to the east, it is about 500 feet ASL.
WFME 1560 slant wire is mounted somewhere in there but is not in this picture taken in 2021.
here is site . . . looking NE . . .
www.google.com
Al
here is the site, I remember this site as a kid in the 50's & 60's . . . there was only one or two towers then, only the two tallest you see . . . WFME-FM was on one of them.
At this location at one time was also Z-100, for a short time WHTZ-FM right before they moved to The Empire State Building and right after they purchased WVNJ-FM 100.3, back I think in 1983.
Also at that site was Channel 13 WATV, Newark,NJ ( long before it became PBS ) when they went on the air in the late 40's,
they moved to The Empire State Building in 1953, if I recall correctly.
WATV also owned WAAT 970 AM prior to the 60's and WAAT-FM 94.7. These went thru call changes when Channel 13 was sold in 1958, then again in 1962 . . . around 1962 Channel 13 became WNDT ( PBS ).
This site has a clear shot overlooking out over Newark & NYC to the east, it is about 500 feet ASL.
WFME 1560 slant wire is mounted somewhere in there but is not in this picture taken in 2021.
here is site . . . looking NE . . .
Google Maps
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Al
Of course, that was at night only. And the night audience for radio is very small, and smaller still for AM. Night radio listening pretty much disappeared with the advent of TV around 70 years ago
It was a very tough catch in the "Midwest" as it's licensed to be highly protective of the co-channel station in Bakersfield, CA. It has an extreme null towards CA and the West in general.
I seem to recall WFME (WQEW, WQXR) being able to stay on day facilities until Bakersfield sunset? It was available nightly in Ohio. The signal in New York I'm sure left a lot to be desired
True, but all the rest of the night... which might be as early at around 7 PM in winter months... is directional.
Is Family Radio is getting some skywave donors from their slant-wire signal? It reaches hardly anyone locally now, but there are reports on this site from DXers who are catching it at night. The programming is super old-school and targets elderly people. Maybe in this case the experiment is turning out to be a match made in...heaven.
I think that slant-wire signal is there as a place holder until Family Radio can upgrade it. The FCC doesn't look kindly on stations that stay off the air for long periods, even if there is hardship. And in Family Radio's case, the hardship was a suitcase full of money to sell the old transmitter site in Maspeth, Queens. It was an offer too good to pass up, even though Family Radio didn't know where to relocate the station. First you sell the old site and pocket a ton of cash. They you figure out where to put the AM transmitter.
As I was driving around in NJ the other day, I tuned in 1560 kHz. I can hear it in some places, not in others. It's fairly weak. I wasn't aware that Family Radio is trying to diplex on an existing AM station's tower(s) in NJ. It may not be your cup of tea. But it is one of six NYC Class A stations (660, 710, 770, 880, 1130, 1560). I wouldn't want to see it disappear.
As I was driving around in NJ the other day, I tuned in 1560 kHz. I can hear it in some places, not in others. It's fairly weak. I wasn't aware that Family Radio is trying to diplex on an existing AM station's tower(s) in NJ. It may not be your cup of tea. But it is one of six NYC Class A stations (660, 710, 770, 880, 1130, 1560). I wouldn't want to see it disappear.
When I listened to Family Radio yesterday, I heard contemporary Christian music. Among the songs they played were "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe (2001) and "It is Well with My Soul" by Audrey Assad (2016). Therefore, Family Radio is not as old-school as it used to be.
Here in central Ontario, Canada, WFME now has a fairly stable signal at night. I'm sure the time of year is helping but I have to imagine that they must be broadcasting at the 10,000 watts new limit at this point because the skywave fading is fairly minimal (vs. the 1kW early days of their return) and the signal is markedly less noisy.
Having a soft spot for non-commercial radio, I often listen off and on at night, and, comparing their signal to the old 50kW days:
During the good signal periods at night at their current broadcast power, there is a moderate amount of noise in the background but still quite listenable. There are still some moderately lengthy fades and periods of bad reception but much shorter fades than before, and the good periods last much longer.
In the full power days, there was only a negligible amount of regular AM noise--not the fairly black background of a local AM--but very listenable with minimal fading (especially nighttime winter).
Also recently, because the WFME fades are not as lengthy, the co-channel interruptions from 1560 WGLB out of Milwaukee (I think a 250-watter with an easterly lobe straight out across Lake Michigan--aimed right at me), have also decrease significantly.
I'm generally using a Yamaha TX-1000 tuner with a simple AM loop antenna with good nulling ability, but get even better results with a RADIWOW R-108. So, nothing world class just regular home stuff.
Not knowing much of anything about the engineering of their slant-wire feed, I'd say kudos to the WFME team as I think, at least from a nighttime DX'er perspective, they're getting a pretty fine signal out for (assuming) 10kW, obviously keeping in mind that they're operating on a clear channel frequency and nighttime conditions are getting increasingly better.
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I have been able to get WFME 1560 from Nashua NH (near Boston) using an "audiophile" radio (a Denon AM tuner) which I suppose has a very good tuned RF stage. Not "good" reception; lots of noise including local electrical noise. So I suppose they are operating at their proposed 10 KW from their slant wire temporary facility as their last special temporary authority specified.
I would want to question what their future could be. Would they be permitted to stay at 10 KW on the slant wire "permanently"? Would they be required to downgrade to Class B to do so? Would they be required to find and move to another frequency (probably nearby, or slightly above 1600 KHz) to do so? If the FCC took back 1560 what would it be auctioned off as? The same thing WFME used to have, 50 KW DA2?
If they stayed on 1560 (at 10 KW) they could always apply for a new antenna location and power increase at a later date.
Historically WFME 1560 (as WQXR) was 10 KW ND day/night and sharing a frequency with the same California station (now KNZR) as they applied for Class A (then I-B) status. Their past and last directional patterns suggested they continued to put out roughly 10 KW in the direction of KNZR. Their last pattern suggested to me that they had trouble proofing their antenna at one point and had to pull in the pattern to the west but some augmentations still reached west at about 10 KW
I would want to question what their future could be. Would they be permitted to stay at 10 KW on the slant wire "permanently"? Would they be required to downgrade to Class B to do so? Would they be required to find and move to another frequency (probably nearby, or slightly above 1600 KHz) to do so? If the FCC took back 1560 what would it be auctioned off as? The same thing WFME used to have, 50 KW DA2?
If they stayed on 1560 (at 10 KW) they could always apply for a new antenna location and power increase at a later date.
Historically WFME 1560 (as WQXR) was 10 KW ND day/night and sharing a frequency with the same California station (now KNZR) as they applied for Class A (then I-B) status. Their past and last directional patterns suggested they continued to put out roughly 10 KW in the direction of KNZR. Their last pattern suggested to me that they had trouble proofing their antenna at one point and had to pull in the pattern to the west but some augmentations still reached west at about 10 KW
There will not be a frequency change. That could only occur as a new filing during a filing window. Eventually they could end up in KAAY's position with something like 80 watts at night.
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