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WVOX lives on (for now)
- Thread starter RadioGuy1864
- Start date
The owner, allegedly, may be abusing the STA system, but who is he hurting at this point? Personally, I would cut him some slack and see if he actually gets on the air. Now, if he was "feeding" a Translator, that would be a different story.
The owner, Jeff Chang, is in the business of buying for dirt cheap, the license of a nearly dead radio station, works to get it back on the air, and then resells the station for much more than he paid for, making a profit.
He's doing the same right now for KRPH-FM, a distant rimshot in Phoenix. We'll see if he can bring back WVOX.
You say that like its a bad thing.
KRPH got lots of discussion on RD here about the format.... with some people putting alot of thought into something thats only temporary
Not a bad thing at all. Just stating what to expect if WVOX comes back on the air. As I said, we'll have to see if he can bring back WVOX.
STA-scam issues aside, Chang surrendered the license for the WVOX translator, W252DX, back in February. It was on the WFAS tower in Hartsdale, which will now be going away. But he couldn’t have known that at the time. It also had terrible coverage, which he likely would have known.
Still, why ditch the translator, which many would say is the only reason to keep a dying low-power, high dial position AM on the air anyway?
It was a poor translator, very low power. But, as you say, it would have been better to keep it. Perhaps with some creative engineering, it could have been moved both in location and frequency and gotten a little better signal
Perhaps Mr. Chang shut down the translator to avoid having to pay rent for the tower site for months, while the station was not even on the air. And I disagree that he could not have known Cumulus was in the process of selling the WFAS real estate.
Perhaps once/if the AM station is operational, the owner can apply for a translator.
Perhaps once/if the AM station is operational, the owner can apply for a translator.
Okay, maybe Chang has a crystal ball that even the suits at Cumulus do not. There had been a lot of “what if” speculation here and elsewhere about what the fate of WFAS would be, but it was just that. Speculation. True, it was a matter of when, not if something happened, but that’s about all anyone here can say.
As for regaining that or any translator, the FCC has filing windows for such applications. Right now, that window is closed. You’ve heard the expression, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, haven’t you? Just try and squeeze in a translator into this market. It’s the stuff FCC auctions are made of. Let the bidding begin.
W252DX was a lousy facility, but it did exist. And now it does not.
If Cumulus had the WFAS real estate up for sale for quite some time, as seems likely, that is probably not a secret. Interested parties, such as someone paying rent for a translator attached to the WFAS antenna, have opportunities to find this out. Indeed Cumulus itself may have informed Mr. Chang of this. No crystal ball needed for these situations.
But even putting all this aside, the fact is the translator was not even audible in the WVOX primary service area. Nearby WGCH 1490 AM in Greenwich CT had rented a translator to try and supplement their very modest signal. They stopped using it after a few months. Most likely that was because its signal was much stronger in Stamford CT than in Greenwich. And WGCH's programming is very local.
And as I mentioned in my previous post, had he not shut it down, the owner of WFAS would be paying rent for months, for a translator he could not even use, as there was no signal to feed it.
no window to do that, hed have to buy one and itd be expensive
and the whole reason the wvox translator was so bad is because thats all there was room for.. you think thered be much differnce with anything they applied for today?
What I had forgotten is that the translator license was given a short renewal, last October. It was for one year. The reason? The station had spent the majority of its prior license term plus extension, off the air, rather than on.
With the primary station under a silent STA, Chang likely figured he’d lose the translator license anyway, because without WVOX on the air, the translator couldn’t come back on.
Still, he could’ve done the smoke-and mirrors 75-foot long wire for WVOX a year ago, couldn’t he?
With the primary station under a silent STA, Chang likely figured he’d lose the translator license anyway, because without WVOX on the air, the translator couldn’t come back on.
Still, he could’ve done the smoke-and mirrors 75-foot long wire for WVOX a year ago, couldn’t he?
Absolutely. If that was the plan, he could have done the long wire last year. Unless money was so tight he could not afford to rent a rooftop in Mt Vernon--not prime real estate by anyone's calculus. More likely, what would he program? Programmers are not exactly "taking a number" to buy time on a 10 watt high dial AM signal.
The translator--if he found one available---would probably cost more than 20x what he paid for WVOX.
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Bumping this thread. It's been around 3 months, has anyone in the market heard WVOX on the air? And, if so, what are they airing?
I was in Westchester on Thursday helping to clean out the remnants of WFAS, and there was no sign of anything on 1460 at all.
I drove past the supposed location of the WVOX longwire antenna in Mount Vernon a few times in December, and saw nothing installed. Maybe it was there temporarily, just long enough to activate the station so the clock can be restarted.
**My chief engineer was at WFAS on Thursday as well, and brought us cool swag in the form of some new chairs and something with the ABC logo in a frame. 😆 Hope you got something there, too.
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Today WVOX filed for an extension of their 10 watt long wire STA on 1460. Their supporting statement says they are negotiating with the present STA-site’s landlord regarding possible use of the site as a permanent one. They’ve got to be kidding. They also claimed to be negotiating / investigating two other locations.
The Latest from WVOX
Has anyone to date actually HEARD “Chang’s Folly” on 1460?
The Latest from WVOX
Has anyone to date actually HEARD “Chang’s Folly” on 1460?
WGCH 1490 AM, in nearby Greenwich CT is a similar situation. They are also searching for a place to build a tower, having lost their lease for their former site. According to FCC filings, they have remained on the air for quite some time using this "temporary" antenna.
It's probably more effective than the long wire the owner of WFAS wants to use while searching for a permanent site, and appears to be rather inexpensive. It's also probably easier to install than a long wire antenna.
WGCH Temporary Antenna
It's probably more effective than the long wire the owner of WFAS wants to use while searching for a permanent site, and appears to be rather inexpensive. It's also probably easier to install than a long wire antenna.
WGCH Temporary Antenna
Is making false statements to the FCC a crime? Just asking.