850 WQST-AM goes dark

[radioagaga]

WQST was doomed when mr hooks kids sold it to AFR. When they juiced it up to 100k the sales potential was quite nice with a signal booming into Jackson, heck i live in Laurel and it comes in good here, and reaches into Meridian as well. It had a fairly large following back in the day too.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Realize this board is supposed to be about WQST, tho we've wandered off onto the 1550 debacle. About which, I thought back some more, having researched this matter extensively as an independent FM operator back in the 70s, determined to bring WOKJ down. The night signal, known to be horrid in Jackson, though capable of generating a following in Albany GA, was not even audible at our (WKXI) studio/xmtr site in south Jackson (Terry Rd at Elton Rd), and it disappeared at the Tougaloo campus going to the north of town. You engineering types will appreciate this: the engineering data for the night DA specified 8.5 mv/m as its RSS interference-free contour ... in other words you could be at a site receiving a signal of, say, 7 mv/m and it was subject to interference. I was surprised the FCC even accepted Jackson as the city-of-license, as it did not put the required signal level throughout the corporate limits. The day pattern BTW used 5 towers, while the night one used all 6.

I remember meeting Arthur Holt, who bought WJMI in the 80s... he discarded 1550 and acquired 1400 AM black gospel facility ... told me once that the latter, puny Class IV facility, covered the city better at a fraction of the operating overhead.

 

[K4WRF]

Realize this board is supposed to be about WQST, tho we've wandered off onto the 1550 debacle.    About which, I thought back some more, having researched this matter extensively as an independent FM operator back in the 70s, determined to bring WOKJ down.  The night signal, known to be horrid in Jackson, though capable of generating a following in Albany GA, was not even audible at our (WKXI) studio/xmtr site in south Jackson (Terry Rd at Elton Rd), and it disappeared at the Tougaloo campus going to the north of town.    You engineering types will appreciate this:  the engineering data for the night DA specified 8.5 mv/m as its RSS interference-free contour ... in other words you could be at a site receiving a signal of, say, 7 mv/m and it was subject to interference.    I was surprised the FCC even accepted Jackson as the city-of-license, as it did not put the required signal level throughout the corporate limits. The day pattern BTW used 5 towers, while the night one used all 6.

I remember meeting Arthur Holt, who bought WJMI in the 80s... he discarded 1550 and acquired 1400 AM black gospel facility ... told me once that the latter, puny Class IV facility,  covered the city better at a fraction of the operating overhead.

Many moon ago, I think what may have been defined as city coverage was 25mv/m over the city center and perhaps the city limits of Jackson at the time (early 60's) was considerably smaller. I don't recall if there was 85% requirement at that time. 8.5 mv/m nif where the interfering signal was 20db below the desired signal. McLendon had other stations and was interested in agencies looking at the 50,000 watts. Also a GRAND plan for a super power AM from central America that would blanket the Gulf Coast at night. Now that the "WQST-AM goes dark" thread is really-well hi-jacked now might can summon up the knowledge and comment of JBI from the land-mass of Panola.....
All the best... BTW 1400 was better coverage of the demo area...

wwh

 

[davideduardo]

McLendon had other stations and was interested in agencies looking at the 50,000 watts. Also a GRAND plan for a super power AM from central America that would blanket the Gulf Coast at night.

I was not aware that McLendon had any involvement with the 625 AM TIRICA La Voz de la Víctor project.

McLendon was "buying", around late 1969, a group of Costa Rican AM stations. He was looking for a manager, and he contacted me for an interview "right after I return from a meeting in San José".

A week or so later, I got a call from an assistant at the Ebony Stations group saying that Mr McLendon would not be meeting with me as he had died while in Costa Rica.

It came out in the Costa Rican press that the particulars of his death were less than usual.

The megawatt on 625 was being built by a group that wanted to do "Radio Free Dixie" to "counter" all the "pro-segregation" material on US media. Because it was essentially a "hate crime" with a transmitter, I never really saw who owned it. But I'd doubt that an FCC licensee with a group of stations targeting Black communities in the South would be involved.

Fortunately, the 625 AM facility only got to the testing stage, where it overloaded the local electric facility and interfered with telephones and communications for miles around. It never started fulltime broadcasting and the transmitter eventually went to Venezuela for a government station on 1240 that, similarly, only lasted a short time.

 

[K4WRF]

McLendon had other stations and was interested in agencies looking at the 50,000 watts. Also a GRAND plan for a super power AM from central America that would blanket the Gulf Coast at night.

I was not aware that McLendon had any involvement with the 625 AM TIRICA La Voz de la Víctor project.

McLendon was "buying", around late 1969, a group of Costa Rican AM stations. He was looking for a manager, and he contacted me for an interview "right after I return from a meeting in San José".

A week or so later, I got a call from an assistant at the Ebony Stations group saying that Mr McLendon would not be meeting with me as he had died while in Costa Rica.

It came out in the Costa Rican press that the particulars of his death were less than usual.

The megawatt on 625 was being built by a group that wanted to do "Radio Free Dixie" to "counter" all the "pro-segregation" material on US media. Because it was essentially a "hate crime" with a transmitter, I never really saw who owned it. But I'd doubt that an FCC licensee with a group of stations targeting Black communities in the South would be involved.

Fortunately, the 625 AM facility only got to the testing stage, where it overloaded the local electric facility and interfered with telephones and communications for miles around. It never started fulltime broadcasting and the transmitter eventually went to Venezuela for a government station on 1240 that, similarly, only lasted a short time.

That's him.... Lengthy story regarding where he actually died....

 

[jboyd]

Thanks , Watt, all I can say is it remains a mystery. Mr. McClendon was a powerhouse in his time, and is buried in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. Tnx JBI

 

[davideduardo]

That's him.... Lengthy story regarding where he actually died....

Let's say it gives a new definition to the term "action figure".

 

[J Alex Bowab]

I believe back then the requirement to be licensed to a city was 25 mv/m over the business district and 5 mv/m contour had to encompass the corporate limits (with exception for unpopulated areas). Later the 25 mv/m was dropped - suppose someone realized no one in the business district was there to listen at night.