101.9 Radio Now

[tomservo]

I think they all operate about the same Zach. It's a circuit board radio that pretty much comes off the line just like the rest of them. The one I have isn't very good either.

I'm sure there's one guy on the HD forum who'd disagree with you with claims of pristine HD reception from three time zones away.

I just don't understand why it works so well in HD mode but so poorly in analog mode, and then only sometimes. A master reset usually clears it up for a few days.

As we move to ever smaller portable devices, stations like this 101.9 with little power and height are at a competitive disadvantage on these devices compared to the full C's in the market. I've got FM radios in several devices besides the Insignia. There's one in my cell phone (with RDS) and one in my iRiver Rockbox player and there's the AMAX Walkman and none of them are very robust at keeping images off the dial, especially when moving in an RF-dense environment such as the area around I-40 and Sam Cooper, up through Bartlett.

 

[anotherguyTN]

When did the signal from Memphis come on? I was working in Covington yesterday at Noon and heard Jonesboro sign off, but I was driving back toward Brownsville and I guess I tuned away too soon.

 

[radiosaur]

I once did a field strength measurement of FM 100 with a couple of miles of the transmitter, which would cover I-40 and Sam Cooper. It was scary.

 

[mikl73]

I can believe it. I previously lived in an 18 floor apartment in Midtown facing the 100 stick and I could hear them on some computer speakers just by holding the line in cable the right way.

Does 100 use beam tilt at all?

 

[CleanAudio]

I had a chance to drive into and thru Memphis this morning I listened to the new 101.9, I have to say they obviously were working on the audio yesterday at sign on, as it sounds really really good now. I did not hear the digital aliasing that was described earlier in this post. The audio on 101.9 sure makes 107.5 sound like a ball of mud. The RF signal was good on the east side in the Germantown area, I had good signal driving thru downtown was obviously good with the stick on the west side of the river. I had to go all the way up to Luxora Arkansas and heard the station up there. I think the signal is pretty darn good for an 8.5kw ERP radio station.

 

[tomservo]

I can believe it. I previously lived in an 18 floor apartment in Midtown facing the 100 stick and I could hear them on some computer speakers just by holding the line in cable the right way.

Does 100 use beam tilt at all?

According to the FCC, they do.

Effective Radiated Power (ERP):	290.	96.	kW ERP
     	ERP with Beam Tilt:	300.	100.	kW ERP

 

[DeadElvis]

I have been generally impressed with 101.9's signal thus far. But...

We had some light enhancement this morning. When I left LifeTime Fitness in Collierville about 645 this morning, the signal was simply being torn up by the C2 in Tupelo. Several times on my short ride back to Germantown, WFTA's signal would beat out KIYS's. I suppose this is to be expected since the stations are actually slightly short-spaced.

I wonder how much worse it will be with heavy ducting out in eastern Shelby County.

DE

 

[mikl73]

Yeah I heard WFTA bleeping in even in Cordova this morning.

The signal does better out in Cordova than I thought it would. Not really scratchy at all. I just hear the high blend on my deck having fits when I'm remotely near the KNO stick, WMC stick, and even WHBQ TV seems to give the FM band a little trouble when passing by the tower but only when very close in.

I am staying at a friends house in Cordova for a couple days while they are out of town and tried a clock radio and got 98.9 bleading over and no 101.9. This is off Dexter less than a mile from the KNO tower though. The other signals off that tower seems to cover up a good bit of the dial at that location also. Crappy radios are just not going to get 101.9 out there under all that RF.

 

[DeadElvis]

95.7 tends to have the same problems on enhanced mornings. With them, it's Little Rock that's the issue. When 94.9 upgrades, it, too, will have issues with incoming signals from a big class C near Little Rock. But, in both those cases, the signal degrades in parts of town less than important than others -- WHAL is not too concerned, I wouldn't think, with Germantown/Collierville and K-Love need not worry too much about Whitehaven. It's just basic demographics.

101.9 will have trouble in the suburbs, which might be a problem. We'll have to see.

I wasn't surprised that WFTA caused issues. I was just surprised how much on a fairly mediocre morning. The Spring could be tough.

DE

 

[radiosaur]

It appears the Flinn folks were quick on the uptake. The Delta Fair was covered with banners with Q107.5 / 96.1 – All the Hits Now.

Good reaction - take ownership of the word ‘now” and create a little confusion.

 

[mikl73]

Glad to hear the playlist growing and the processing finally sounds a bit better.

I like that most of the playlist tends to be uptempo songs. It sounds pretty fresh except that I have heard 2 Katie Perry Songs about 657 millions times this week.

I heard 3 Ga Ga songs in less than 90 mins one day. I hope this is just early on Cume building activities and not a format clock like the old late 80s WAVA in DC where you'd hear the really hot tracks replay again in 30-45 mins. The burn comes very quickly. Not something you can listen to for very long.

 

[mikl73]

Ok some weird stuff randomly playing

a few days ago The Beatles - Ill be on my way played. It sound quality of it was absolutely terrible too. I thought it was just a fluke in the playlist maybe.

This afternoon Living in the USA by Steve Miller played.

Yes.com didn't pick up either of the songs.