Ok, what the hell happened last night just after 11? The station was off for nearly 40 minutes. ???
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700 WLW xmtr takes a dump during 11 inning reds game?
- Thread starter stereolane
- Start date
Hard to say. I wonder if that outlet is monitored as poorly as WCKY & WSAI are in those later hours? Also interesting how many listeners tune in to the FM outlet for Reds' games as opposed to WLW.
I was driving on I-70 in Indiana when i heard it. Perhaps it was storm related, but 40 minutes is a long time to be off.
They got it back on for the end of the game, barely
microbob said:
Funny that you mention that, I was just noticing that WLW fades just a little bit when under overpasses around Sharonville/Blue Ash and it never used to do that. Could be a different radio or the HD or a multitude of other factors, but still.
Noticed the WLW signal strength was much weaker then normal last night at around 12:15 AM. In fact, this was the weakest signal from WLW in over eight years I have listened to them here in downtown Columbus. The overall signal from WLW was very good until they stated broadcasting in IBOC again several months ago.
Could they be using the auxiliary tower? A major fault in the tuning house when the original failure occurred would have necessitated a hands on switch over, thus the 40 minutes off the air. If the tuning assembly needed replacement they could be on the shorter back up antenna.
I do recall that while i was living in LA and KFI was on the auxiliary after a plane took out their bigger main tower they were harder to receive in some areas.
I do recall that while i was living in LA and KFI was on the auxiliary after a plane took out their bigger main tower they were harder to receive in some areas.
I am not familiar WLW's set up but, I am sure that somewhere they would have a Xmitter with a "tube" final as a back up. Tube transmitters are very forgiving when it comes to impedance mismatches. but they do require a 'warm up". 20 minutes assuming the crystal is 'warmed up". I would guess the STL goes to both towers. It could have been an issue with STL, studio, or remote control. WLW is a class act and it most likely was something weird.
Coverage degradation has several suspects. A common one is ground system aging, and a "new" close tower (most likely cell) can do strange things to a AM signal.
Coverage degradation has several suspects. A common one is ground system aging, and a "new" close tower (most likely cell) can do strange things to a AM signal.
If lightning also takes out control circuitry then someone would have to manually move switches or plumb around damaged components.
Been there done that several times.
"...signal has really deteriorated through the years."
Take a set of FCC measurements then get back to us on that.
Been there done that several times.
"...signal has really deteriorated through the years."
Take a set of FCC measurements then get back to us on that.
Co-owned 810-WGY Schenectady/Albany NY has had serious signal degradation in recent years too. JUST CURIOUS....any DXers pull in anything on 700 during WLW's disappearance??? I lived in Cincinnati in the '60s....and 700 was a monster signal in those days...
Is the transmitter site still manned? Whatever happened had to be catastrophic as there are back up of the back ups there.
Does WLW have redundant STLs?
Time Traveler said:
I was listening to the Reds game while driving on I-70 near New Castle, Indiana when it went off. All that I could hear were the lightning strikes from a distant T-storm.
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