Norsan Media Acquires Magic 106.3

[101tm]

A perfect example of a great translator signal would be 98.5 and 99.5 in Greenville. Over 1k feet HAAT on Paris Mtn. running 220-250 watts and no major directional nulls. The signals carry well in to Laurens County before other stations start to interfere (98.5 translator in Greenwood, WKXC in Augusta). 97.7 is very good too, helped by the fact it’s in mono.

The other GSP translator signals aren’t as good, they’re either directional or not as high up. 96.9 is good but doesn’t reach well to the east due to having to protect WKKT in Charlotte.

 

[KyleSmith1988]

Yea, Hard to believe it but that WCSZ AM station (50kw Daytime) has a 2 mV/m signal contour reaching up to Hendersonville NC (and up to parts of Spartanburg and Anderson). So, Las Jefa also has W221EO fully within that contour. Besides their 94.9 from Paris Mountain, there is another (different) 94.9 signal near Hendersonville already (W235CA / WGCR) so maybe 92.1 is helpful in that respect / for that reason 🤷‍♂️ but either way, W221EO has quite a setup / signal getting out. The local terrain is definitely playing a huge roll in this signal's predicted coverage and actual results. It Looks like they somehow made this signal fit and "legal" by barely staying in that contour...

Another nice example of that is WOXL 96.5 's signal not making it outta the mountains into Gaffney and most of Spartanburg, but there is a sweet spot for WOXL in Greer where, just for those few square miles the mountains don't block, but help the signal there, but going a few miles west or east of there, not so much.

How a station like this can add/need/use a 2nd signal in this fashion legally seemed off, but necessary or legal or not somehow they did it.

Also to note how their 94.9 (W235BM) lists a decent signal out to the east, but even in nearby Greer / into Spartanburg county its very weak at best, obviously protecting/due to adjacent Kiss 95.1 .

 

[charlestondxman]

A perfect example of a great translator signal would be 98.5 and 99.5 in Greenville. Over 1k feet HAAT on Paris Mtn. running 220-250 watts and no major directional nulls. The signals carry well in to Laurens County before other stations start to interfere (98.5 translator in Greenwood, WKXC in Augusta). 97.7 is very good too, helped by the fact it’s in mono.

The other GSP translator signals aren’t as good, they’re either directional or not as high up. 96.9 is good but doesn’t reach well to the east due to having to protect WKKT in Charlotte.

Same in Charleston with 98.5 and 94.7. 250 watt signals which can be heard basically everywhere in the metro. There is no close signal unlike most of the other translators in the area. 88.1 also effectively covers the metro with their Effect Radio format that has been there over 20 years.

 

[101tm]

Same in Charleston with 98.5 and 94.7. 250 watt signals which can be heard basically everywhere in the metro. There is no close signal unlike most of the other translators in the area. 88.1 also effectively covers the metro with their Effect Radio format that has been there over 20 years.

98.5 and 99.5 (actually, long story, but 99.5 started at 97.7) were two of the first HD-fed translators to move in to the GSP market over a decade ago so they got the best frequencies and signals. The newer translators that came after, like 96.3, 96.9, and especially 102.9 and 105.3 have deficiencies due to the lack of decent, clear frequencies in the market requiring them to have interference with stronger signals, lower power, and directional patterns.

 

[KyleSmith1988]

98.5 and 99.5 (actually, long story, but 99.5 started at 97.7) were two of the first HD-fed translators to move in to the GSP market over a decade ago so they got the best frequencies and signals. The newer translators that came after, like 96.3, 96.9, and especially 102.9 and 105.3 have deficiencies due to the lack of decent, clear frequencies in the market requiring them to have interference with stronger signals, lower power, and directional patterns.

96.9 in Greenville seemed to have just as much as a limit to the East (weak past Greer) as much as to West and Southwest (west of Easley & Piedmont & into Anderson County) due to bleeding over of a strong signal on 96.7 (WJNA) in the area, up to West Greenville.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Paul's right. If the frequency is clear, a translator up high in the mountains can travel, and that one is nearly 2000 feet higher than Gaffney. I used to receive a 10 watt FM translator from Brevard faintly at my old house in jsut south of downtown Spartanburg. Turned out the mountain peak was line of sight to me with no obstructions. Once the translator was displaced to a more crowded frequency (WQNS move to 105.1), it was never heard again.

WQNS had its tower so high it had the same power as a translator but supposedly covered the same area as a normal class A.

However, by moving to Asheville, it lost its signal in the area where I go in the mountains.

What they should have done was keep the tower where it was and call itself The Dam, for the dam at nearby Lake Junaluska. An active rock station in Florence SC used that name (the best Dam rock station) but I'm not aware of any dams in that area.

Yeah, I know, with that location it probably couldn't be heard very well in Asheville.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Same in Charleston with 98.5 and 94.7. 250 watt signals which can be heard basically everywhere in the metro. There is no close signal unlike most of the other translators in the area. 88.1 also effectively covers the metro with their Effect Radio format that has been there over 20 years.

Really? WDAI (hip hop) is in Myrtle Beach and I think Pawleys Island is the city of license. It's class A but I would think it's close enough to cause problems.

There is a rock station in the Florence area at 94.7.

 

[KyleSmith1988]

Really? WDAI (hip hop) is in Myrtle Beach and I think Pawleys Island is the city of license. It's class A but I would think it's close enough to cause problems.

Long ago when we stayed in North Myrtle, we tried listening to WDAI, but it was so tough to hear them over a strong LP station that was on 98.7 (WNMI) ? I think that station is gone now. I don't know how that was ever a thing with 98.5 just right down the road. (WDAI was more like an R&B station in 2008 similar to WBAV in Charlotte as I remember). I guess WDAI isn't / wasn't strong enough to reach "all of" the Grand Strand, or is their stick just too far South?
Maybe that's no longer an issue now.


BTW, the 98.5 in Charleston, Classic Country sounded great recently in that area, even with lots of overloading RF on cheap radios from many strong signals.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Long ago when we stayed in North Myrtle, we tried listening to WDAI, but it was so tough to hear them over a strong LP station that was on 98.7 (WNMI) ? I think that station is gone now. I don't know how that was ever a thing with 98.5 just right down the road. (WDAI was more like an R&B station in 2008 similar to WBAV in Charlotte as I remember). I guess WDAI isn't / wasn't strong enough to reach "all of" the Grand Strand, or is their stick just too far South?
Maybe that's no longer an issue now.


BTW, the 98.5 in Charleston, Classic Country sounded great recently in that area, even with lots of overloading RF on cheap radios from many strong signals.

I remember North Myrtle having the 98.7 frequency, but don't know how I knew about it. I remember thinking that was a bad thing because it meant WDAI couldn't reach that far north. I always believed that was a poor signal but the 12-plus numbers seemed high so there was no reason to do anything.

I remember also that WDAI started out as urban AC and several stations tried hip hop and it didn't work. During my visits to Myrtle Beach I never heard anything but rap on WDAI, so despite the market not having its own urban AC, they apparently thought that was a good idea. I once saw Florence's Magic 94.3 mentioned with news coverage of Black Bike Week but Talk 94.5 would cause problems with that station, if not the Wilmington station on 94.5 on the north end. Wilmington's Coast 97.3 seems more conservative.

 

[The Beat]

When I was Ops manager at WDAI, I arrived to an urban AC (I heard Freddy's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield in PM Drive) - no wonder the numbers were bad. WHSL in Wilmington, which was co-owned, was beating us in important demos. We hired Kenny Smoov to be our PD and he and I made a commitment to be a station for the people and to turn up the jamz in the afternoon into mix shows at night. Station went from a 3-4 share to a 10 share, #1 in most demos, in one book.,, where it stayed for years.

 

[charlestondxman]

Really? WDAI (hip hop) is in Myrtle Beach and I think Pawleys Island is the city of license. It's class A but I would think it's close enough to cause problems.

There is a rock station in the Florence area at 94.7.

98.5 only causes issues when there’s major tropo. It’s only 6.1kw. 94.7 Sumter does once you get north of Goose Creek but that is a sports format in mono where you don’t have all the artifacts of stereo.

Not like 102.1 where you have the 100kw K-Love from Savannah and WMXT both close-by. The City gets slammed on John’s Island and especially Kiawah/Seabrook by K-Love. And the only other way to get that format is WJNI’s dodgy HD. Weird how probably the two weakest full-power FMs in the market (100.5 and 106.3) have HD in Charleston.