106.5 FM Warminster

[John1]

Driving in Warminster (Bucks Co.) on Norristown Road between Street Road & York Road there is a loud and very overmodulated signal on 106.5 (which I use for Sirius in the car). It is someone singing to a Casio-type background old standards and sing-along songs ("Has Anybody Seen My Gal", etc.). I only go by Friday afternoons about 3:30 pm and it's always on. Went by on a Sunday and heard hymns playing. I'd have to guess its from the Masonic retirement home next to the Log College school. Anyone know if this is on all the time? It seems to put out a pretty strong signal - seems to carry a mile or so. It's unlistenable on at least a car radio because of the overmodulation, maybe its better inside. Does that seem 'legal'?Anyone know anything about this?

 

[Stuart]

You may find your answer here.... www.wrdv.org

Did you go to William Tennent? I graduated in 1980

Stuart
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

 

[John1]

My first thought when I heard 106.5 was that it had to do with WRDV's signal, but I tuned over and it was not the same programming. This sounds recorded, but not a 'recording' - more like a presentation recorded to get an audience to sing along with the music - but it isn't 'live' because I've heard the same song intorduction several times. RDV is big bands, this is a guy with a Casio.

I wish I could say I graduated in 1980 but it was a decade before from Upper Moreland. I live a few miles from Tennant, close enough I can hear the bands and drone of the P.A. system from football games.

 

[LocalRadio]

Maybe someone in the retirement home has a killer wireless microphone. I had one once with a pretty amazing range. ("Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later.") Or, maybe a hobbiest with a Part 15 station lives there. Probably legal stuff.

Interesting find.

 

[buzzrock]

I work and live near Davisville Road on the Warminster, Southampton boarder and listen to G-Rock 106.5 NJ loud and somewhat clear never heard this station.

 

[John1]

Davisville Road is too far away - its basically audible from the shopping center where ShopRite is, across Norristown Road & dies out about K-mart on York Road. It can be heard in the parking lot of Waterloo Gardens. Once you go farther G-Rock takes over. (106.5 was the clearest open frequency in the Hatboro-Warminster area for a Sirius signal until G-Rock moved there, but I'm still able to use it locally most days.)

I realize for anyone outside of that brief range this may not be too interesting. Then again, this might have more listeners thann some pay for play WNJC shows or WFYL! (Now I've opened the floodgates!)

 

[cyber]

Speaking of WRDV......that's what WPEN should be doing.

 

[Rockin Rob]

Driving in Warminster (Bucks Co.) on Norristown Road between Street Road & York Road there is a loud and very overmodulated signal on 106.5 (which I use for Sirius in the car). It is someone singing to a Casio-type background old standards and sing-along songs ("Has Anybody Seen My Gal", etc.). I only go by Friday afternoons about 3:30 pm and it's always on. Went by on a Sunday and heard hymns playing. I'd have to guess its from the Masonic retirement home next to the Log College school. Anyone know if this is on all the time? It seems to put out a pretty strong signal - seems to carry a mile or so. It's unlistenable on at least a car radio because of the overmodulation, maybe its better inside. Does that seem 'legal'?Anyone know anything about this?

Check if its a mono signal. If so, then it is a Companion Radio system, www.companionradio.com/. They offer three different channels: standards, new age/easy listening (no vocals) and an instructional channel for staff. These things have monster signals, one retirement community in Lansdale (I want to say St. Mary's, but not sure of the name off-hand) is strong enough to hit the parking lot at Montgomery Mall on most days. I believe they have the standards on 98.5 and the easy one on 106.5.

 

[Play Freebird]

Check if its a mono signal. If so, then it is a Companion Radio system, www.companionradio.com/. They offer three different channels: standards, new age/easy listening (no vocals) and an instructional channel for staff.

That would also be my guess. Several years ago, Companion Radio had an installation at the Dunwoody Village retirement home in Newtown Square and one of the channels was on 106.5, but they had the transmit power set a bit too high and got busted by the FCC. This notice mentions only the 105.7 operation, but IIRC, there were a few other channels in use there:

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2002/DOC-239154A1.html

I'm not sure that they ever turned it back on at Dunwoody. I could copy it almost a mile away -- and yes, it was interfering with WQXA (big deal) -- but I wasn't the guy who squealed.

Actually, it would be nice if there were a reasonable provision to relax the Part 15 limit in the FM band on privately-owned real estate. 250 uV/m at 3 meters is far too restrictive to cover a large building. (The FCC Notice incorrectly cites the 3-meter Part 15 limit as 250 millivolts/meter, but what do they know?) As long as the field strength does not exceed 34 dBu (50 uV/m) or less at the property line, there shouldn't be an interference problem to any licensed station's protected contour.

By the way, New Zealand has a rather liberal, but practical approach to LPFM. You simply apply for a "general" broadcast license and then you're are allowed 1/2 watt EIRP on any frequency between 88.1 and 88.7 or 106.7 to 107.7, regardless of height. The service is self-regulated; channels are assigned by volunteer coordinators, in much the same way that amateur repeaters are coordinated here in the US:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-power_broadcasting#New_Zealand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LPFM_stations_in_New_Zealand