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610 WFNZ Begins Transmission On FM Transponder @ 102.5 MHz...

S

Steve.Gates

This might be the reason that Fox 98.7 was deep-sixed... then again... maybe not. Perhaps just a "co-incidence"....

Today: Logged 102.5 MHz today and found Solid Station operating in Charlotte Metro Area.

It was 610 AM WFNZ operating on the FM Band. 102.5 MHz. Really bad sounding Audio too. Sometimes it even broke apart, much like Satelite Radio Reception does. Real ''Tinny'' Sound as well.

Can't ANYONE do anything right these days? Audio Quality is leaving something to be desired.

And... of course... as a result, this will mean no more "My 102.5" in the Charlotte Metro Area........

Not that it made it to East Charlotte that well, but still...

Steve.
 
I think it is just a coincidence that FOX Sport went away around the time of the WFNZ Translator turnup. I don't believe iHeart had any long term plans for sports on 98.7. I know of at least two local area sports networks that approached iHeart about clearing their programming and they flat out said no. They were sticking to the Network...

Technically the WFNZ translator is rebroadcasting 103.7 HD-2. It is located at the WSOC-TV tower I believe. Beasley is leasing the signal from Educational Media Foundation.

Audio quality these days does leave something to be desired...The AMs sound particularly bad. They are running a device called Voltair which is designed to help with the PPM signal. It causes the audio to sound awful. 610 and 1660 both suffer from this.

I haven't listened to 102.5 that much but when I have I didn't notice the audio being too bad. Translators normally use transmitters where the audio processor is built in. No way it would be as good as the Optimods and Omnias running on the full power stations. They may be running a less than high quality Studio to Transmitter link as well. They have no other stations at the WSOC-TV site so some type of IP based STL maybe used...I don't know anything about the station so I am just speculating...

t123
 
Maybe it is just a coincidence then.

Thanks for clarifying that the translator is actually broadcasting 103.7 HD 2. That explains why the transmission sounded as it was breaking apart. It had an intermittent semi-weak lock on the HD Signal that day. I know it wasn't my car radio because that day I was in a car that did not have HD Radio Capabilities.

The Voltair makes AM Sound absolutely awful then. My ears are very sensitive to sound (much to my surprise, after all these years). I have asked people twenty years' my elder how they can stand that awful sound. They tell me they can't hear it. Whether that is due to actualy hearing loss, or not just being keen on observing audio quality, or both, remains to be seen.

Steve.

test123 said:
I think it is just a coincidence that FOX Sport went away around the time of the WFNZ Translator turnup. I don't believe iHeart had any long term plans for sports on 98.7. I know of at least two local area sports networks that approached iHeart about clearing their programming and they flat out said no. They were sticking to the Network...

Technically the WFNZ translator is rebroadcasting 103.7 HD-2. It is located at the WSOC-TV tower I believe. Beasley is leasing the signal from Educational Media Foundation.

Audio quality these days does leave something to be desired...The AMs sound particularly bad. They are running a device called Voltair which is designed to help with the PPM signal. It causes the audio to sound awful. 610 and 1660 both suffer from this.

I haven't listened to 102.5 that much but when I have I didn't notice the audio being too bad. Translators normally use transmitters where the audio processor is built in. No way it would be as good as the Optimods and Omnias running on the full power stations. They may be running a less than high quality Studio to Transmitter link as well. They have no other stations at the WSOC-TV site so some type of IP based STL maybe used...I don't know anything about the station so I am just speculating...

t123
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I would guess this translator signal may suffer mutual interference in Gaston and Cleveland counties due to My 102.5. Here again translators are causing mutual interference with the full power distant stations. But apparently the Charlotte and Greenville- Spartanburg broadcasters don't really care about reaching adjacent markets anymore. Or more correctly, the giant corporations that own them certainly do not. I remember listening to 99.9 and 106.9 from Asheville while on I-75 in Knoxville, Tennessee and into Kentucky. These stations used to brag about reaching multiple states well beyond their primary market areas. Today's focus seems much more local and limited.
 
tylerSC said:
I remember listening to 99.9 and 106.9 from Asheville while on I-75 in Knoxville, Tennessee and into Kentucky. These stations used to brag about reaching multiple states well beyond their primary market areas. Today's focus seems much more local and limited.
Click to expand...
I can remember back in the 80s WMIT at 106.9 would do news at the top of the hour. "In Virginia news ..." "In Georgia news". They must surely have said "In Tennessee news" but I don't remember it.
 
Updated reception report: From I-85, the WFNZ sports translator on 102.5 wipes out My 102.5 in Gaston County, and there is bad mutual interference in Cleveland County. My 102.5 does not really start coming in until Blacksburg, SC as you enter Cherokee County. And the HD drops in and out between Blacksburg and Gaffney.

But now that Entercom has acquired WFNZ-610AM, will they also operate the 102.5 translator? I am guessing WFNZ will be dropped from 103.7-HD2, which is still owned by Beasley.
 
An FM translator, presumably for WFNZ, was included in the deal with Entercom. Not sure if it's 102.5 or another one.
 
Kent said:
An FM translator, presumably for WFNZ, was included in the deal with Entercom. Not sure if it's 102.5 or another one.
Click to expand...

The WFNZ translator simulcast is also still being carried on Beasley station WSOC 103.7HD-2. I wonder when this will change since Entercom now owns WFNZ.
 
tylerSC said:
The WFNZ translator simulcast is also still being carried on Beasley station WSOC 103.7HD-2. I wonder when this will change since Entercom now owns WFNZ.
Click to expand...

I believe it will be switched to the HD-3 of 107.9 on or about January 1st. Studios will move then too.

t123
 
test123 said:
I believe it will be switched to the HD-3 of 107.9 on or about January 1st. Studios will move then too.

t123
Click to expand...

Yes indeed the WFNZ translator is now WLNK-107.9HD3. I get it clear on my home radio receiver. But unfortunately a local low power FM creates interference in the car such that 107.9-HD signal will no longer lock in. Here in Greenville, SC where WLNK-HD used to be clear. And WBT is still simulcast on WLNK-107.9H2.
 
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