50,000 Watt Stations on North American Clear Channel Frequencies

[K4WRF]

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The het on 1140 was caused by two (or more... we were never sure) stations in Cuba on the high side of 1140, with the desired result of blocking landfall of WQBA, one of the more anti-Castro stations in Miami.
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I *definitely* recall that het on 1140 all through the 60's and it did sound like two hets, doesn't seem to exist any longer. There are still a few drifters around; 1100 and 1210 come to mind...

Best regards,
w/

 

[davideduardo]

I *definitely* recall that het on 1140 all through the 60's and it did sound like two hets, doesn't seem to exist any longer. There are still a few drifters around; 1100 and 1210 come to mind...

We fortunately lost the 1140 het generators somewhere in the mid to late 80's. I recall driving to Key Biscayne around '95 and noticing I could get WQBA nicely in the daytime, while in the past it had really been mangled along the coastal areas. Apparently, the new signal from Krome and 8th had less punch towards Cuba, and they gave up. Not so with Mambí, which they jam even today.

 

[w9wi]

There are still a few drifters around; 1100 and 1210 come to mind...

DXers believe the 1210 drifter is domestic. (Dahlonega, Georgia)

 

[richllewis]

Every now and then in Mississippi I get WPHT out of Philadelphia. This is before they had the IBOC noise generator on their signal. And long time ago, we used to have on 1550 in Jackson, MS WOKJ which got out prety well at night.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

The FCC does not recognize any legal Cuban operation on 1180, so there is nothing for WJNT to protect. However, they must protect operations on 1170 and 1190 as well as several Mexican operations on 1180, too. It's obvious from the pattern that they protect Rochester most severely, with a flattened pattern towards Mexico and the major lobes heading right at Cuba and towards, roughly, the NW.

I hit "post" before adding: "Of course, it is in nobody's interest in DC to have any station interfere with the reception of Radio Martí. Any additional power towards Cuba would likely meet objection from USIS; of course no more power can go towards Mexico and even Kalispell requires protection from higher power levels.

Minor, but US Information Service, as the US Information Agency was more typicallly known outside the US, hasn't been around since October 1, 1999. On that date, USIA was folded when its information (but not broadcasting) and exchange functions were folded into the Department of State under the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy.

 

[davideduardo]

Minor, but US Information Service, as the US Information Agency was more typicallly known outside the US, hasn't been around since October 1, 1999. On that date, USIA was folded when its information (but not broadcasting) and exchange functions were folded into the Department of State under the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy.

I know that... it's who I bill for Martí work (which is actually the OCB under the VOA)... but most people still think of the agency as the USIS, whatever they call or will call it in the future.

And few have ever heard of the USSPAPD.

Of course, I learned very young that the Commercial Attaché at US Embassy posts in Latin America were almost always really the Station Chief for The Company... no matter what they called them.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

Minor, but US Information Service, as the US Information Agency was more typicallly known outside the US, hasn't been around since October 1, 1999. On that date, USIA was folded when its information (but not broadcasting) and exchange functions were folded into the Department of State under the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy.

I know that... it's who I bill for Martí work (which is actually the OCB under the VOA)... but most people still think of the agency as the USIS, whatever they call or will call it in the future.

And few have ever heard of the USSPAPD.

Of course, I learned very young that the Commercial Attaché at US Embassy posts in Latin America were almost always really the Station Chief for The Company... no matter what they called them.

I figured you did.


Re OCB being under VOA, that might come as a surprise to OCB's Carlos A. García-Pérez, that he reports to VOA's David Ensor. OCB is parallel to VOA and both heads report to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

As for most people still thinking the broadcast services of the US government are USIS, well, I guess there is still an educational challenge, isn't there. Considering USIS disappeared 12 years ago, old habits die hard. I sometimes refer to the DOD as the War Department.

As for few have ever heard of the USSPAPD, remember that USSPAPD is actually one person, currently Ann Stock is in that position.

I would not bet the farm on the Commercial Attaché always being the station chief. Maybe, maybe not. If the public is aware of whom the station chief is at a post, I suspect that information is either released on purpose or the individual has been outed. In most cases, most of the embassy staff doesn't know who is or who is not agency, but there can be some good guesses, but remember, I will not confirm nor deny....

 

[davideduardo]

"

Re OCB being under VOA, that might come as a surprise to OCB's Carlos A. García-Pérez, that he reports to VOA's David Ensor. OCB is parallel to VOA and both heads report to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Here you are reading the org chart, which is just not reality. The OCB has to follow the VOA standards and in many things is subservient to VOA... or simply integrated at many levels, such as the operation of the SW transmitters, etc.

As for most people still thinking the broadcast services of the US government are USIS, well, I guess there is still an educational challenge, isn't there. Considering USIS disappeared 12 years ago, old habits die hard. I sometimes refer to the DOD as the War Department.

That reminds me of diary entries in Arbitron I have seen for talent that not only has not been on a station for a decade or more, but which is also deceased.

I would not bet the farm on the Commercial Attaché always being the station chief. Maybe, maybe not. If the public is aware of whom the station chief is at a post, I suspect that information is either released on purpose or the individual has been outed. In most cases, most of the embassy staff doesn't know who is or who is not agency, but there can be some good guesses, but remember, I will not confirm nor deny....

Generally, the station chiefs were "outed" after they left by some rather blatant act, like removing them from the Consular Service's directory or by their showing up on some list in Langly that was not confidential. I ran into a half dozen commercial attachés or similar posts that were cover for the company, often revealed by questions I was asked that were not very commercial in nature. They just were not well disguised... unlike Mossad operatives in Latin America who were cloaked in all kinds of convincing covers, like "Bureau Chief / Andean Zone" for Newsweek and things like that... only revealed if you had somehow proven to be of considerable use to them... or if they were retiring. Spooks are like vampires... under the light of day, they don't do too well.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

Re: "

Here you are reading the org chart, which is just not reality. The OCB has to follow the VOA standards and in many things is subservient to VOA... or simply integrated at many levels, such as the operation of the SW transmitters, etc.

David,

Actually, the organizational charts are the reality, contrary to popular belief.

OCB follows the VOA standards not because OCB is under VOA, but because the VOA broadcast standards have been adopted by the Broadcasting Board of Governors as the standard for all of the broadcasting services under the BBG.

OCB isn't subservient to VOA in any form or fashion, as no line of authority within OCB falls under the authority of the director of the Voice of America. This is also a reality.

As for OCB being integrated into the operation of the SW transmitters, that simply isn't true at the operational level. OCB, for the purposes of the relationship with the SW transmitters operated by the International Broadcasting Bureau, is a program service customer of the IBB. That is the same for the Voice of America programming. There isn't a single OCB or VOA employee at any of the IBB transmitting sites.

I will agree, from the outside, all of the programming services under the BBG appear to be one large overlapping cloud of broadcasting, and you may believe these to be subtle differences, but within the organization, it is extremely important because it details operational control authority of the various elements under the BBG.

Basically, no one in OCB or VOA has any direct authority to change any programming or operation at any IBB operated transmitter site on behalf of OCB or VOA program services. The one exception to this might be the 1180 kHz Marathon site, and this really isn't an exception, as that location if not an IBB operated transmitter site, but one operated by OCB.

If there is a need to change any OCB or VOA programming on any of the IBB operated transmitters, any changes will be coordinated, validated and verified by existing IBB operational procedures. There should never be an directly contract between anyone in either the OCB programming side or the VOA programming side with the transmitter personnel at the IBB transmitter sites. Not a single transmitter tech at any of the IBB sites is going to make any operational changes to any transmitter based simply on a phone call or email from anyone within OCB and VOA, up to and including the director of OCB or VOA.

 

[cyberdad]

I have to add WJNT, Jackson, MS. They are 50,000 watts daytime on 1180 but night time they have to reduce power in order to placate the Cuban Government who uses their 200 KW transmitters to jam R. Marti. If it wasn't for the Cuban's WJNT would also be 50,000 watts at night. For more information go to my post on the Mississippi board how the Cubans have been using their R. Rebelde network to jam R. Marti

The FCC does not recognize any legal Cuban operation on 1180, so there is nothing for WJNT to protect. However, they must protect operations on 1170 and 1190 as well as several Mexican operations on 1180, too. It's obvious from the pattern that they protect Rochester most severely, with a flattened pattern towards Mexico and the major lobes heading right at Cuba and towards, roughly, the NW.

Quickie update: I spent last night in Jackson. I was in the northern part of the metro area....about six miles from downtown where all the growth and development is taking place. WJNT had a so-so nighttime signal at my hotel there. Listenable, but R. Rebelde was clearly audible underneath. No trace of WHAM. WJNT is simulcasting...at least partially....on a class A FM. (103.9).

 

[jd]

WJNT is simulcasting...at least partially....on a class A FM. (103.9).

That's a very interesting situation, one that I've followed for years. "WJNT-FM1" is allowed to operate only during nighttime hours under an STA granted in 1999 which has been extended numerous times. Not to split hairs, but it doesn't qualify as a Class A FM (or a translator, for that matter). At 500 watts ERP and just under 250 feet HAAT, the FCC labels it as an "FM booster."

 

[cyberdad]

WJNT is simulcasting...at least partially....on a class A FM. (103.9).

That's a very interesting situation, one that I've followed for years. "WJNT-FM1" is allowed to operate only during nighttime hours under an STA granted in 1999 which has been extended numerous times. Not to split hairs, but it doesn't qualify as a Class A FM (or a translator, for that matter). At 500 watts ERP and just under 250 feet HAAT, the FCC labels it as an "FM booster."

R-L shows it as 5kw (typo perhaps?), so I assumed it was a class A.

 

[jd]

R-L shows it as 5kw (typo perhaps?), so I assumed it was a class A.

No, not a typo. The station you're referring to is WYAB, licensed to Flora (ex-Benton, ex-Yazoo City) with 5,000 watts. Sorry for any confusion, but for some reason I still associate that frequency with WJNT-FM1. They had to switch to 103.3 when the station in Flora moved in a few years ago.