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810 in Simpson County still off the air
- Thread starter danfling
- Start date
drove by there the other day, they have a gate across the driveway and the station looks pretty lonely. Someone ought to get a low power FM translator and put it back on the air. They could cover magee with the FM station since they have no other stations in Magee and the AM can get a signal in both Jackson and Hattiesburg.
It is very sad , what has happened to that station. During the mid 1970's, WSJC was known state-wide in the radio broadcasting arena. WSJC-AM was 50,000 watts Non-Directional during the day . They could put a signal from New Orleans to Pennsicola and as far north as Memphis. The FM was a kicker as well . WSJC-FM was 100,000 watts at 107.5 mhz .
Everything changed for WSJC when the station was sold in 1987. The new owners only cared about the FM frequency and moved it to Jackson. What was then WSJC-FM became WMJW (Magic 107 FM "The Magic Of Jackson") The poor AM side was basically thrown away and passed off from one buyer to another for several yrs.
The FM frequency eventually became what is now WKXI-FM but is still licensed to the City of Magee. Of course, we all know they don't give a tinker's damn about Magee, but because of all this the nice citizens of Magee and Simpson County are now left without ANY broadcast station.
Everything changed for WSJC when the station was sold in 1987. The new owners only cared about the FM frequency and moved it to Jackson. What was then WSJC-FM became WMJW (Magic 107 FM "The Magic Of Jackson") The poor AM side was basically thrown away and passed off from one buyer to another for several yrs.
The FM frequency eventually became what is now WKXI-FM but is still licensed to the City of Magee. Of course, we all know they don't give a tinker's damn about Magee, but because of all this the nice citizens of Magee and Simpson County are now left without ANY broadcast station.
One of the problems for this station is it takes at least $5,000 per month in electric costs just to run the 50,000 watt transmitter. That is assuming that they still have Harris DX-50 they reportedly purchased about 10 years ago to replace the ITA that would have run 30% to 40% more for electricity and not counting maintenance costs.
Perhaps if an owner/operator could take a downgrade to 10,000 watts and do very local programming they might make a go of it. I will bet the present owner believes they can sell someone a 50,000 watt "Jackson" station so it will sit silent, except to go on the air long enough to keep the license, until a buyer ($$$) can be found.
BTW, in the 1970's I worked for the Mathis Family who owned WSJC and the daytime signal never went as far north as Memphis. More like Grenada and south.
Bob
Bob
Perhaps if an owner/operator could take a downgrade to 10,000 watts and do very local programming they might make a go of it. I will bet the present owner believes they can sell someone a 50,000 watt "Jackson" station so it will sit silent, except to go on the air long enough to keep the license, until a buyer ($$$) can be found.
BTW, in the 1970's I worked for the Mathis Family who owned WSJC and the daytime signal never went as far north as Memphis. More like Grenada and south.
Bob
Bob
It certainly hasn't had that kind of reach in recent years. I lived in Grenada for four long years and never heard anything on 810 during the day. I don't recall hearing 810 from Magee until somewhere south of Jackson on 49. It must have really been running on flea power or something was seriously, seriously wrong.
Since Magee is without a local voice already, could it be moved to Hattiesburg or Jackson with lower power? Magee just didn't like a big enough place to even support a class A FM.
Since Magee is without a local voice already, could it be moved to Hattiesburg or Jackson with lower power? Magee just didn't like a big enough place to even support a class A FM.
When they were running 50,000 watts it could put out a pretty mean signal. I remember hearing it in the Delta and across the river in Lousiana back in the 70's and 80's. I remember them mentioning on the air that they could get into alabama also. After the FM was sold they started going downhill and running on reduced power some or most of the time. 500 watts or so. It spent a lot of time being silent until the Adventists took over and cranked it back to 50,000 watts. But for a long time after it had serious audio problems and you could barely make out what was being said. Often times the audio was so low you'd have to turn the radio all the way up just to hear it.
Post-Adventist (sounds slightly creepy for some reason) is when I must have heard it. Audio was definitely low and often inaudible.
I don't understand how someone, even someone with no knowledge of running a station properly, could have (not) heard that and at least known something was wrong and needed fixin'.
I don't understand how someone, even someone with no knowledge of running a station properly, could have (not) heard that and at least known something was wrong and needed fixin'.
Zach, I assume you didn't live in Grenada during the 70's. That was when you could hear WSJC south of Grenada on a car radio. I remember doing so many times while traveling to Jackson on I-55. Also, someone else can chime in as I'm not up to date on this section of the FCC rules, but I don't think anyone can move the station as it would leave Magee without local service.
I was advocating a downgrade to 10 kW much like 740 in Montgomery, AL did back in the 80's to lower operating costs and concentrate on Simpson County (high school sports, swap shop, weather warnings, etc.). You might not get rich but you might make a living as others have done, J Boyd being but one example.
Bob
I was advocating a downgrade to 10 kW much like 740 in Montgomery, AL did back in the 80's to lower operating costs and concentrate on Simpson County (high school sports, swap shop, weather warnings, etc.). You might not get rich but you might make a living as others have done, J Boyd being but one example.
Bob
I'd go even further - downgrade it to 1 kw, which would still cover Magee pretty well. They already have a Gates One solid state transmitter, so the 3DX-50 could be sold. Then, lots of local programming - community news, funeral announcements, police / fire calls, swap shop, Sunday church services, etc. You could carry Magee HS sports, since they have a decent night pattern. You might be able to run it lean enough, along with a good salesperson that is well connected with the local community, to make a go of it.
RFB
RFB
jboyd said:
FM tower is near Pelahatchie - it is a few miles from Jackson, but still puts a respectible signal into the Jackson Metro area along with city-grade coverage over Magee. The problem with moving WSJC would be having to wait for the FCC to open a major change window for AM... plus you would probably lose most if not all the night power. It could eventually be done, but I'm not sure how cost - effective it would be.
RFB
I lived in Grenada from 2006-2010, although in some ways it was probably just like the 70s there. Mississippi has a lot of fine people and a lot of fine towns, but Grenada isn't really one of them in my opinion.
And for the record, I would definitely prefer the old mighty 810 to stay in and play to Magee with lower power, but was curious as to how feasable it would be to move it and retain as much day power as possible. It's fun to ponder.
And for the record, I would definitely prefer the old mighty 810 to stay in and play to Magee with lower power, but was curious as to how feasable it would be to move it and retain as much day power as possible. It's fun to ponder.
I'd still go with 5 to 10 kW, 1 kW is too low these days with all the man made noise and go give good building penetration. Also, you still retain the possibility of an FM translator at some point in the future.
As for moving it, not only would you need to wait until an AM application window opens but you would be subject to the present interference rules are much more strict than when the station was origionally licensed.
J Boyd, in a lot of ways small town broadcasters are like small town doctors. Not as common as they used to be. They may not make as much money as their big city brethren but they provide a valuable service to their community and people respect that.
Bob
As for moving it, not only would you need to wait until an AM application window opens but you would be subject to the present interference rules are much more strict than when the station was origionally licensed.
J Boyd, in a lot of ways small town broadcasters are like small town doctors. Not as common as they used to be. They may not make as much money as their big city brethren but they provide a valuable service to their community and people respect that.
Bob
It was just pointed out to me that the people who run WSJC in Magee also run several other stations. One of them is WSJL in Northport (Birmingham), AL, which has been off the air since February. I wonder how many of their other 5 stations are even on at all?
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