AM 1110 Off The Air?

[vchimpanzee]

Raleigh’s 680 WPTF had much better coverage of its market with the lower frequency signal performing much better in the poorly conductive soil of the Carolinas’ Piedmont.

One night many years ago a caller said he was north of Raleigh and wasn't getting a good signal. The host said, "They pick us up really well in Cuba."

 

[KyleSmith1988]

I've never gotten a really good signal from WBT. KMOX sounded better at night, and so did a station In Cleveland.

1110 WBT at night here is weak and sometimes barely detectable, but can be somewhat audible, just above the noise floor, about 50 miles west of Charlotte NC.

Much better nightly signal from adjacent KMOX.

 

[tylerSC]

Still picking it up on the car radio in Carthage, NC, day and night, roughly some 90-100 miles away.

Yes the daytime signal is decent, despite what some may say. I have heard 1110 in Columbia, Greenville, SC and Winston- Salem, reaching some distant areas where 107.9 may not. And I have heard the nighttime skywave clearly in Orlando, DC/MD/VA, and NYC. But I know you say that has no economic value these days, but I just appreciate the nostalgia of the legacy signal.

 

[Josh Owens]

way too hot to come to pik n pig this holiday weekend. but that's some awesome 'Q, and we'll be thee when it's a little cooler.
to the rest of you: you need to try this place. it's at the carthage airport. 10/10

Sounds good, Amos, but the best Barbecue and fixin's is Stameys in Greensboro, hands-down, IMHO.

 

[Josh Owens]

Getting a little closer to the market, I remember Bridges in Shelby being good, too. They were closed a while back, saw online. Have they reopened?

 

[amos1001]

Sounds good, Amos, but the best Barbecue and fixin's is Stameys in Greensboro, hands-down, IMHO.

i love stameys too josh. but that place at the carthage airport is worth the drive. i've heard red bridges is good in shelby, but i've never been. there are so many GREAT bbq joints in NC, both lexington and eastern style. but the only reason i mentioned bbq in the first place was the poster was from carthage, where you wouldn't expect to find such an awesome bbq joint at the local airport. sometimes there will be several different pilots flying in to eat when i'm there.

 

[IM42A]

Yes the daytime signal is decent, despite what some may say. I have heard 1110 in Columbia, Greenville, SC and Winston- Salem, reaching some distant areas where 107.9 may not. And I have heard the nighttime skywave clearly in Orlando, DC/MD/VA, and NYC. But I know you say that has no economic value these days, but I just appreciate the nostalgia of the legacy signal.

I have always been able to listen to 1110 with no problem, at least during the daytime. 107.9 is hit-or-miss here on a car radio, not least because there is a Christian LPFM on 107.9 out in Lexington County.

I actually got an outdoor FM antenna to try and pick up WBT 107.9 with my Deepelec DP-666, which has a chip in it similar to those used in car radios, but the results are disappointing. I barely get any signal at all. I do have an inline amp that is used for TV, and I have to wonder if it blocks or impairs FM. I disengaged it just now and it made no real difference, the signal is there but not listenable. Perhaps I can adjust the antenna.

 

[Josh Owens]

i love stameys too josh. but that place at the carthage airport is worth the drive. i've heard red bridges is good in shelby, but i've never been. there are so many GREAT bbq joints in NC, both lexington and eastern style. but the only reason i mentioned bbq in the first place was the poster was from carthage, where you wouldn't expect to find such an awesome bbq joint at the local airport. sometimes there will be several different pilots flying in to eat when i'm there.

LOL, I caught your drift, Amos and totally understand. I remember the old Pigs 'R' Us in Martinsville, VA, being good, as well, while we're on the subject. I love good barbecue and Lewis Compton, The Mouth Of The South did some great spots for Pigs, just had to go there. )

 

[charlestondxman]

Let's sum up the points being discussed:

1. WBT is a heritage station. My answer is that it is not as at this moment it has no audience and the "name" has been moved to the FM for whatever value the name may have.
2. WBT has huge coverage part 1. At night, the skywave covers much of the areas southeast of it to the NE, east, SW and SW. But there is absolutely no ad revenue attached to night coverage outside the market as defined by Nielsen and the industry.
3. WBT has huge coverage part 2. No, it does not. It is so directional at night that in "the good old days" they had a synchronous repeater on 1100 to the west of Charlotte to fill in the area that had a bad signal.
4. WBT has a big local signal. Yes, daytime it is pretty good, but with current noise levels, 50 kw barely covers the metro area with a 10 mV/m to 15 mV/m daytime signal which is what is needed today to overcome urban noise according the EBU (European Broadcast Union).
5. AM is dead in the Piedmont. Conductivity is so bad that there are few stations that cover their market, so those AMs that do exist can't even cover their own market in many cases. If there is not a variety of good stations on AM, the average person will not visit the band at all.
6. AM is dead because it does not sound very good, even at its best. The last generations of radios made since the 80's have poor audio quality and frequency response, and the FCC h as imposed a hard cut-off at 10 kHz to avoid heterodyne squeals. But that limits even more the "fidelity" of AM overall.

From my perspective, why would anyone want to buy or invest in an AM today?

In the Carolinas AM radio is pretty much on its last legs. Columbia has lost 2 or 3 AMs in the last 5 years, Charleston had 2 AMs sign off in the last couple, what's going on with WBT, 730 AM in Charlotte, and most of the remaining AMs that exist are tied to FM translators. The only one I can really think of that isn't tied to one is WTMA in Charleston, which is a Cumulus news-talker that barely has any local programming now.

When Rush Limbaugh went to FM in Myrtle Beach in the early 90s and then Charleston in 2004 that effectively killed most listenership to AM unless it was niche like sports radio or an oddball format.

 

[101tm]

In the Carolinas AM radio is pretty much on its last legs. Columbia has lost 2 or 3 AMs in the last 5 years, Charleston had 2 AMs sign off in the last couple, what's going on with WBT, 730 AM in Charlotte, and most of the remaining AMs that exist are tied to FM translators. The only one I can really think of that isn't tied to one is WTMA in Charleston, which is a Cumulus news-talker that barely has any local programming now.

When Rush Limbaugh went to FM in Myrtle Beach in the early 90s and then Charleston in 2004 that effectively killed most listenership to AM unless it was niche like sports radio or an oddball format.

I hit scan on AM outside of Greenville the other day and it stopped on one station, the 5kw daytime only 660 WESC which is pointless because it simulcasts 92.5 WESC-FM’s country format. Even its signal was weak. I tried again and did get it to stop on 950 WORD too. This was in a suburban area of the market. It’s totally gone here.

 

[Josh Owens]

I hit scan on AM outside of Greenville the other day and it stopped on one station, the 5kw daytime only 660 WESC which is pointless because it simulcasts 92.5 WESC-FM’s country format. Even its signal was weak. I tried again and did get it to stop on 950 WORD too. This was in a suburban area of the market. It’s totally gone here.

Is 1540 in Greenville still on the air? I remember a while back, Tabernacle spun it off to a local Spanish church, maybe in the Berea area.

 

[101tm]

Is 1540 in Greenville still on the air? I remember a while back, Tabernacle spun it off to a local Spanish church, maybe in the Berea area.

Yeah, it’s known as WBPB now and its tower site is near Pickens in a bit of a hole. It’s never put a very good signal over any area other than Pickens, Easley, and west Greenville (which ironically is where all of the Greenville AM’s have their tower sites). 10kw at 1540 in a hole ain’t gonna do much.

 

[Josh Owens]

Yeah, it’s known as WBPB now and its tower site is near Pickens in a bit of a hole. It’s never put a very good signal over any area other than Pickens, Easley, and west Greenville (which ironically is where all of the Greenville AM’s have their tower sites). 10kw at 1540 in a hole ain’t gonna do much.

Roger on that. Haven't they always been there, done that? I mean, all due respect to one of my heroes, Dr. Sightler, reckon they had to start somewhere, radio-station-wise and the LORD did bless them there, 91.7 and now, 91.5.

 

[101tm]

Roger on that. Haven't they always been there, done that? I mean, all due respect to one of my heroes, Dr. Sightler, reckon they had to start somewhere, radio-station-wise and the LORD did bless them there, 91.7 and now, 91.5.

I believe WTBI initially signed on in 1991 at 91.7 with a pretty weak signal that mainly covered Greenville and parts of Anderson/Pickens counties with the rest being fringe. 1540 still served some purpose in the northern mountainous terrain. WSGE in Gastonia (also at 91.7) moved closer to Charlotte in the mid-2000s which allowed for WTBI’s very beneficial signal upgrade and move to 91.5. By then, the AM was pointless. I like the “down home” feeling the station has.

 

[Josh Owens]

I believe WTBI initially signed on in 1991 at 91.7 with a pretty weak signal that mainly covered Greenville and parts of Anderson/Pickens counties with the rest being fringe. 1540 still served some purpose in the northern mountainous terrain. WSGE in Gastonia (also at 91.7) moved closer to Charlotte in the mid-2000s which allowed for WTBI’s very beneficial signal upgrade and move to 91.5. By then, the AM was pointless. I like the “down home” feeling the station has.

Gotcha and yes, I even remember WSGE, from my days at Camp Dogwood. Weren't they licensed to Dallas? Yeah, I've always enjoyed WTBI, a good station. I thought the AM came on first though.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Gotcha and yes, I even remember WSGE, from my days at Camp Dogwood. Weren't they licensed to Dallas? Yeah, I've always enjoyed WTBI, a good station. I thought the AM came on first though.

We were driving someone home and passed through the area where Camp Dogwood was located. My parents and I used to live in the area. He was confused when he saw the sign pointing to the right, when Lake Norman was on the left. In fact, Lake Norman was on both sides of the road.

 

[Josh Owens]

We were driving someone home and passed through the area where Camp Dogwood was located. My parents and I used to live in the area. He was confused when he saw the sign pointing to the right, when Lake Norman was on the left. In fact, Lake Norman was on both sides of the road.

) Is the camp still there? Those were the days, close to forty years ago. Re: radio, I'll never forget hearing a spot for a place called Lemons Peach Shed on Big Waggy (for those who are searching via call sign, that's WAGI), gotta love it! Had some good times and heard some good stuff, with only one scary experience.

 

[101tm]

Gotcha and yes, I even remember WSGE, from my days at Camp Dogwood. Weren't they licensed to Dallas? Yeah, I've always enjoyed WTBI, a good station. I thought the AM came on first though.

Yep, and they’re still licensed to Dallas. WTBI AM did come on first in the early 1980s I believe. 91.7 FM signed on in 1991.

WTBI was a bit ahead of their time. My dad had some relatives that went to their church and I remember my parents trying to connect to their share-a-thon programming online in 1997 or 1998 over 56kbps dial up. The connection and quality were awful, but they were ahead of many stations with streaming!