Winter Storm Outages

[Ryan Williams]

As of Sunday night many Austin-area translators are still off the air from the winter storm earlier in the week:

92.9 Radio Nueva Vida
95.1 La Raza
98.5 Koke-FM
101.1 The Bridge
101.9 Horn FM (transmitter on but no program audio)
105.3 The Bat
106.5 Keilah Radio

In addition, full-power station 99.3 KOKE-FM was off the air as well.

 

[Ryan Williams]

As of Sunday night many Austin-area translators are still off the air from the winter storm earlier in the week:

92.9 Radio Nueva Vida
95.1 La Raza
98.5 Koke-FM
101.1 The Bridge
101.9 Horn FM (transmitter on but no program audio)
105.3 The Bat
106.5 Keilah Radio

In addition, full-power station 99.3 KOKE-FM was off the air as well.

This might not even be an exhaustive list. I didn't hear 103.1 (Austin's 80s Station), which i think might have been off the air or 97.5 (Alt), but I was too far north to get it.

I didn't have time to check AM or all the non-commercial stations, but my radio did land on 88.1.

All the big full-power stations that transmit from the tower farm seemed to be on. 104.3 Que Buena was broadcasting a carrier but no program audio, that could have just been a momentary problem though, which is why I didn't list it with the initial post.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Also, KLBJ 590 is currently off the air. I am not sure if that is just right now or if it has been off since the storm. 99.7 has been on though.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Also, KLBJ 590 is currently off the air. I am not sure if that is just right now or if it has been off since the storm. 99.7 has been on though.

I should probably stop replying to myself...

590 AM is still off the air as of tonight. I did see some mentions online from a few days ago as being off from the storm, but I am not sure if it was in reference to 590 or the 99.7 translator and I am not sure if it has been a continuous outage or just briefly today. I typically listen on 99.7

Austin Energy shows two customers in the vicinity of the AM transmitter site as being without power. One since February 2nd and the other the 4th. Has it really been off the air for days?!

What is odd is that KLBJ's own website and social media pages don't mention the AM outage and I haven't heard it talked about on-air either (although I am not an all day listener).

590 has historically been one of the highest billing stations in town. I can't remember it ever being off the air for days at a time.

If this is the case, I wonder if there has been any thought the past couple of days about putting KLBJ on 93.3 and moving Lucy to 99.7. Maybe it is time...

 

[011nerve]

With all that goes on in Houston with the FCC not doing anything and translators originating their own programming, 590 not being on might not bother them too much.
Maybe they'll use an HD2 to feed 99.7 though.

 

[davideduardo]

With all that goes on in Houston with the FCC not doing anything and translators originating their own programming, 590 not being on might not bother them too much.
Maybe they'll use an HD2 to feed 99.7 though.

The FCC does not regulate stations temporarily off the air due to storms, equipment failures and the like. Only if this goes on for prolonged periods must the FCC be notified.

 

[Ryan Williams]

With all that goes on in Houston with the FCC not doing anything and translators originating their own programming, 590 not being on might not bother them too much.
Maybe they'll use an HD2 to feed 99.7 though.

I wasn't even thinking about that angle. Regardless, they could feed 99.7 through one of their HD channels if needed.

99.7 continuing to broadcast is absolutely in the public interest.

It does make one wonder though how much of the audience is still listening on 590 if they don't make any mention of it being off the air for days a day online or on-air. And no one (nearly) is mentioning it online either. I wonder if there is any second guessing if the move to Metric is even worth it.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Austin Energy has restore powered apparently and 590 is back on the air.

 

[stan]

What’s amazing in this discussion about 590 is that they apparently have no generator to stay on during a power outage.

 

[davideduardo]

What’s amazing in this discussion about 590 is that they apparently have no generator to stay on during a power outage.

Or the generator failed. Or, due to the change in the AM transmission system, they were in a situation where the genny had not been reinstalled.

 

[Krash Kelly]

(apologies for duplicate post - posted this to wrong thread earlier)

There was significant damage in Austin's Westlake Hills tower farm. Antenna elements have separated, cables snapped, backup generators failed and even the collapse of an older 500ft tower which I understand was the primary for National Weather Service radios. More damage occurred as the ice began to thaw, dropping hundred pound blocks of ice through transmitter buildings. I believe that is what took the main NBC affiliate (KXAN) off the air, and why it is currently on a subchannel of KNVA 54. I wouldn't be surprised if many folks will be running on reduced power or from backup facilities for awhile.

For those of us that remained on the air, and with minimal impact - it came down to luck, and great engineering folks who kept monitoring equipment to keep the ice buildup from burning up transmitters.

They design systems in the north do deal with these sort of situations - not sure it's worth the expense to do the same here, but I'd bet there is some rethinking of this at the moment.

Can't speak to why 590 went down, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed. Have not had a chance to see our Chief Engineer as he's been quite busy in the field. The infrastructure and back up generators at the Waterloo Media building worked as advertised... but we lost Spectrum and phones. In 2023, Internet connectivity plays a much larger role in broadcasting than one might think.

 

[Mediafrog+]

More damage occurred as the ice began to thaw, dropping hundred pound blocks of ice through transmitter buildings. I believe that is what took the main NBC affiliate (KXAN) off the air, and why it is currently on a subchannel of KNVA 54.

KXAN has filed an STA to channel share with KNVA while the RF21 signal is off the air. The filing referred to damage that resulted in the need to acquire and install a new transmittter. Although not specifically stated, I figured it was due to falling ice destroying the transmitter.

They design systems in the north do deal with these sort of situations - not sure it's worth the expense to do the same here, but I'd bet there is some rethinking of this at the moment.

A station that I worked at in Amarillo decades ago had a large chain link “net” above the transmitter building to catch falling ice.

 

[stan]

Can't speak to why 590 went down, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed. Have not had a chance to see our Chief Engineer as he's been quite busy in the field. The infrastructure and back up generators at the Waterloo Media building worked as advertised... but we lost Spectrum and phones. In 2023, Internet connectivity plays a much larger role in broadcasting than one might think.

I’m surprised businesses are using Spectrum for internet since there are more robust and reliable alternatives available.

 

[Ryan Williams]

I’m surprised businesses are using Spectrum for internet since there are more robust and reliable alternatives available.

Really, such as? Spectrum is basically available everywhere inside their footprint and have a wide variety of speeds and agreements (Georgetown/Pflugerville is not Spectrum but Altice/Optimum). AT&T has fiber in some areas of Austin. Grande is in a few areas. And Google is in even fewer areas.

I don't know anything about Waterloo's setup, but they very well might have a higher-end active ethernet setup with Spectrum and not just a coaxial connection like many of us have to our homes.

There are also a handful of other telco areas that have their own private "rings" in dense areas, but unless you are in precisely the right area it isn't an option and is typically exponentially more expensive.