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WNDZ 750 audio distortion
- Thread starter r388yh
- Start date
Have they installed IBOC AM digital?
It sounds like possibly a tube is going bad. There are some newer TX's (before wholly solid state units) that still use at least one tube
BUT, its also possible some caps/filters have gone bad. Back before we owned KHAT and it was still operating from its licensed site, it often sounded like dog stuff..very muddy and distorted because something was going bad in the transmitter and its been 15 plus years since anyone, including the old management, listened to the AM.
BUT, its also possible some caps/filters have gone bad. Back before we owned KHAT and it was still operating from its licensed site, it often sounded like dog stuff..very muddy and distorted because something was going bad in the transmitter and its been 15 plus years since anyone, including the old management, listened to the AM.
its funny. people will spend 10x the amount of time on here kvetching about a station but wont take 30 seconds to email a station. ("Not my job", "they should be monitoring their own signal")
However, i just did.. literally took less than a minute to type a 2 line email and send the station a link to this thread.
Did the same thing last night after a thread on a KDFC Repeater about being dead air went on for a day or two. Guess what? Within an hour or two of the email, the station rebooted the internet router remotely and audio was back up.. and because I asked nicely, I found out what the problem was!
However, i just did.. literally took less than a minute to type a 2 line email and send the station a link to this thread.
Did the same thing last night after a thread on a KDFC Repeater about being dead air went on for a day or two. Guess what? Within an hour or two of the email, the station rebooted the internet router remotely and audio was back up.. and because I asked nicely, I found out what the problem was!
From Justin at NewsWeb (received by email)
We are aware of the audio distortion and have been chasing the issue. We recently upgraded the remote control system and had to fix a transmitter issue but that has now led to the distortion, no matter which audio air chain we use. Kind of like chasing a ghost sometimes. And as we all know, when you upgrade 20 year old control systems, something is abound to go wrong. We are hoping to have a team out there next week so we can trace everything down.
We are aware of the audio distortion and have been chasing the issue. We recently upgraded the remote control system and had to fix a transmitter issue but that has now led to the distortion, no matter which audio air chain we use. Kind of like chasing a ghost sometimes. And as we all know, when you upgrade 20 year old control systems, something is abound to go wrong. We are hoping to have a team out there next week so we can trace everything down.
Larry Langford, is WAKE 1500 on the air? Are they getting interference? Have you measured WNDZ on 1500 with an FI meter?
Being the fact that it's a daytime only station generating zero revenue, why wouldn't you just leave it silent until the problem is fixed instead of having it on the air sounding like garbage? Then again the larger question is that since it's been two years without any brokered programming to pay expenses, why is it ever still on the air?
I'm pretty sure its one of those problems that has to be occurring to be found. We've had a few issues like that here.. minor.. but wouldnt have been able to fix them if we werent on the air. its like pulling wires or breaks to see when the problem disappears.
AS to why its still on, I dont know... when they sold the other stations, 750 was brought fully in house... it had been operated by someoe else and theyre doing lots of clean up
I dont kow what other businesses they own/operate
WAKE was on the air a few weeks ago when I went through on my way to Kalamazoo. Very puny signal.
The WNDZ problem is more than just audio distortion; it is splattering across 3 channels.
WNDZ was late getting on the air this morning. As of 9AM, its back on with a cleaner signal but some distortion is still detected.
NewsWeb spun off WCPT and WSBC into a separate Heartland Signal ownership which I believe is designed to keep these stations on air post Fred Eychaner with funding from an organization called The States Project. Heartland Signal has been producing videos on progressive political action for key swing states that are identified by The States Project. Heartland Signal is also receiving leasing income off of WMVP's use of the WCPT night time site in Joliet.
Fred Eychaner has sole ownership of WNDZ under NewsWeb, maybe as a hobby of just keeping the station on the air because he can.
Apparently newsweb is a printing company, i see.. and thats what helps prop up WNDZ.. and i think youre kinda right about why its still here.
In addition to the printing company, Fred Eychaner was the former owner of WPWR TV Channel 50 in Chicago. It was the intial home of paid TV Sports Vision which was the first pay sports channel for the Chicago White Sox. It was sold to a cable TV interest which in latter years became NBC Sports Chicago. WPWR became a regular commercial TV Station after that with its biggest program Star Trek Next Generation. He sold WPWR to News Corp (Fox) in 2002 for $432 million dollars although some reports state the sale price being north of $500 million.
Part of that money was used to start WNDZ 750AM, purchase of WAIT 850 AM in Crystal Lake, IL now off the air, 820 WYPA now WCPT 820 AM in Chicago, and the purchase of WSBC 1240 AM Chicago. The city of license for WCPT 820 was changed from Chicago to Willow Springs, IL in 2009 with the launch of night time operation from the WCPT night site in Joliet, IL, day transmission from the old WEDC studio and transmitter site on Chicago's northwest side. Both WCPT and WSBC diplex from the legacy WEDC location during the day, WSBC 24 hours from that site.
WCPT was originally paired with WCPT FM 92.5 DeKalb, IL, WCPY 92.7 FM Arlington Heights, IL and WCPQ in Park Forest, IL. The FM's were sold off in the mid teens.
WNDZ was basically a brokered time foreign language station similar to WSBC but also provided leased time Catholic religious programing as well. WNDZ is the last station under News Web ownership with WCPT and WSBC being under Heartland Signal ownership.
WSBC does brokered foreign language by day, simulcasts WCPT after 10PM. WSBC is better copy on Chicago's northwest side at night than that of WCPT's night signal from Joliet being only 1.5kW.
Actually WNDZ was first put on the air as a Christian station in 1987 by Universal Broadcasting and had a couple of other owners after that, until Newsweb purchased it in 2004.
During my time in Chicago (late 1990s), Douglas Broadcasting owned it and ran brokered programming. One notable fact from that time: WNDZ had a daily morning-drive show targeted to LGBT listeners. This may have been one of the first such daily shows in the country, but there were a few problems with it. One, not all gay men care for dance music but the program used it as filler; second, the program was actually rather boring - there's probably enough LGBT-specific content to sustain a weekly show but I think that's about it; third, few people knew about it. You could hear WNDZ on the North Side near the lake but there wasn't much reason to do so.