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WTWW shuts down
- Thread starter BomberOtt
- Start date
Latest postings on SWDX forums have George McClintock stating that he is the owner of Leap of Faith and WTWW, not Ted Randall, who has been given the boot.
McClintock plans to reactivate WTWW with Scriptures for America broadcasts along with other religious programming. Apparently the transmitter physical plant is not in good shape.
McClintock is also planning to sell WTWW to Scriptures for America, which would need to go through the FCC.
Bizarre and wacky series of events, but this is where U.S. private shortwave broadcasting is these days, as we witness the dying gasps of the SW distribution platform.
Strange for sure ... leap of faith appears to be owned by ted and holly when you check the TN sec of state.
Lots of chatter about WTWW on SW listener forums. Apparently the transmitter facility was left in very bad shape by the previous operating personnel and extensive repairs are being made. Sounds as if the equipment was pretty trashed.
Thread bump: Being reported (via Glenn Hauser) that the attempt to sell WTWW has fallen through. George McClintock says the transmitters will likely be scrapped and the land put up for sale, and that “some other U.S. shortwave stations might not survive much longer, either.”
Not surprised if this happens. Canada will soon be down to one shortwave station (CFRX 6070 Toronto), and I believe Mexico is also down to one (XEPPM 6185 Mexico City). Both are weak but audible in Arizona.
Also being reported that CFVP and parent CKMX are now completely off the air as of June 15, so CFRX is now indeed Canada’s last shortwave broadcaster.
Here in the U.S. I would think KVOH, WRNO and WEWN are a tossup as to who will be the next to shut down. Allan Weiner may finally tire of keeping WBCQ going, flat-earthers or not. WWCR and WRMI will likely hang in there for a while longer. Won’t hazard a guess on WINB or WMLK, no idea.
You are correct that XEPPM is the only remaining SW outlet in Mexico. And nothing left anywhere in Central America.
And, don't forget to have enough cash laying around to pay the utility bill...
WINB has been DRM testing with rumors of some data being used for stock trading data, so a slight lifeline. WMLK has been in a constant state of repairs for as long as I can remember, usually off air. When they do come back it seems to only be for a few weeks before something else breaks.
IIRC the WTWW transmitters are all 1980s era units, and as George McClintock has repeatedly reported, a maintenance PITA. Scrapping them is probably the best option. Appears no one wants the facility.
Electricity costs were a major reason for the demise of WHRI, as well as the age of the transmitters. Allan Weiner is said to frequently complain on air about power costs for WBCQ in rural Maine. And KVOH recently reduced its output due to soaring electric rates.
WINB installed a new digital transmitter a few years ago that transits a combination of DRM audio along with a datacasting stream, presumably time sensitive market info. Several other companies are trying to get in on this game, but licensing of such operations is an undefined gray area under current FCC regulations. Those players are pushing for fresh rulemaking.
WPBC in the Chicago area and WIPE in New Jersey are proposed calls for two of those operations. Several other businesses in the mix with similar plans, no calls yet.
WMLK recently activated a new Ampegon transmitter after a delay of several years. The project was held up by Ampegon’s bankruptcy and subsequent reorganization under a new corporate parent. I heard this transmitter on the air during early tests, but haven’t checked recently. Still seems to be sporadic operation, according to various reports in SWDX forums.
Ive never heard WMLK on the air.... im way in the wrong direction of their main beam, but at some point youd think id hear something off the back or the long path trip... and ive heard nothing, not even a carrier
WMLK is registered using 15150 between 04 and 09 UTC, and 9275 from 17 to 22 UTC, supposedly 300kw beamed 53 degrees. Only the 9275 frequency has been reported since the new transmitter was installed. Might check some SDRs in the northeast U.S.; direct reception for me in Texas was poor the few times I’ve heard it.
Those two frequencies would do better if reversed, given day/night propagation differences.
I think these frequencies work well for whatever area theyre intending to serve
WMLK appears to be targeting Europe.
9275 is much too low for what is mostly a daylight path on the current schedule. 19 or 16 meters would get through.
15150 at those hours is mostly a nighttime path. Might work, given the increased solar cycle, but 22, 25 or 31 meters would be preferable.
i think they might be going after the middle east too, but your point still stands.. at some point, if theyre on, they should take the long path across europe and russia to me... would be more likely on 15mhz but 9 might work too
Haven't heard CKMX on 6030 like I used to. The dive in sunspots in 2018 killed their signal here and the new, "improved" solar cycle is turning out to be mostly a dud, so any time I've heard them it's been under Marti.
KVOH cut their schedule because of electricity cost increases, according to one of their broadcasters. WEWN I haven't heard in English since the 1990s or early 2000s, and Radio Catolica is mostly MIA on the SW bands. I have heard them once or twice at night, though, broadcasting to Central and South America apparently.
It's not just the dying of the medium, it's the solar cycle has made signals even more marginal than they are naturally. I know on the ham forums it's all 'rah rah rah!' and raging about how great the new solar cycle has been, but it's not. Actually, the peak of Cycle 24 hit the irradiance level of the minima of Cycles 21 and 22. Solar irradiance is dropping. NASA has a chart on it buried somewhere in their website. It's possible Solar Irradiance doesn't actually affect the ionosphere. But there does seem to be a correlation in SW reception in there somewhere.
The WEWN transmitters are the originals from 1992 and are apparently in bad shape. Last I checked (and I have not seen any reports to the contrary since then) the only remaining broadcast is the Spanish language service during the day on 12050. Supposedly they are wanting to make repairs, but it is a familiar case of aged equipment, expensive parts that are hard to find and take a long time to ship.
Wouldn’t surprise me if this is the next U.S. SW station to pull the plug. Increasingly pointless to keep it going.
It seems like they're concentrating more on their EWTN TV and local US radio services. They also have a SiriusXM channel and are on IHeart's streaming service. They also have competition in the Catholic radio marketplace in the US, and I'm sure that affects revenues to a certain extent.
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