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87.7 testing

D

DrC

Heard a lot of interference over my in car FM modulator at 87.7 at around 11:30am. Thought it was just another FM modulator in a nearby car until I drove a few miles and realized 87.7 was still loud and clear. Sounds like the soon-to-come 87.7 using TV 6 audio is testing.

87.7 signal was in mono at 11:30am, now it's in stereo. They're broadcasting dead air.

Very strong signal with little static in Mayfield Heights and Willoughby Hills...
 
Sounds like it will be stronger than the new 99.1. What have they been playing or broadcasting? This will be exciting to hear what the station will become.
 
CleveFan said:
Sounds like it will be stronger than the new 99.1. What have they been playing or broadcasting? This will be exciting to hear what the station will become.
Click to expand...

Nothing but dead air as of this morning, but yeah, their signal definitely sounds clearer than 99.1 to the north. Will check out how far south they reach on my drive home. I've been trying to think of potential formats...really have no idea which direction this station will go. Would guess Spanish-language format if I was forced to guess. Would have guessed alternative before 99.1 happened.

I was surprised to see the stereo light on 87.7 later in the morning. I thought these 87.7 stations could only broadcast in mono over the FM spectrum per analog broadcast TV specs, which broadcast stereo using MTS (which FM tuners don't recognize) instead of the FM stereo pilot.
 
87.7 is playing the Cleveland Indians' old 'Indian Fever' song right now. First actual programming I've heard. This should be interesting.

Station comes in loud and clear all the way to Aurora. Very decent signal, this.

EDIT: and now, 'Come On Cavs'.

Announcer just now: 'this is WLFM, 87.7 FM Cleveland'. Followed by My Town by Michael Stanley.
 
Spanish sounds ideal, but not sure if they're pursuing that since Cleveland doesn't have as big of an Hispanic population as New York, LA and Chicago among other cities.

I can also throw in AAA (may as well), maybe another Alternative to knock off 99.1 (face it, the signal is NOT cutting it in Cleveland) or maybe a Rhythmic/Dance CHR or AC. Those are possibilities.
 
Playing "C'mon Cavs" right now. Strong at W 150/Puritas, but volume level a little less than other FM stations, but that's to be expected with this type set-up. Not getting analog channel 6 on my TV though.

Now playing MSB "This is My Town".
 
Male voice at 6:29 "This is WLFM 87.7 Cleveland" and then MSB "My Town" again, playing same few songs.

I tried an old 5 inch portable TV in my attic with a built in VHF rod antenna, and no blue screen mute for weak stations, not even a blip on analog channel 6.

They're stepping on the Spanish pirate on 87.9 real hard!
 
Seeing how this is off the 88.1 to 91.9 FM band, can this be a commercial operation, or was that squelched as the commercial broadcasters would not want more competition for those elusive ad dollars that are that much harder to come by during a sagging economy.
 
I'm assuming 87.7 would be fine for commercial use, since channel 6s all over (most of which were commercial and not PBS or another non-comm service) broadcast audibly on 87.7 until the digital conversion.

Also, there's an 87.7 starting in Chicago owned (or operated) by Merlin which is going to run an alternative format (ostensibly with commercials, since Merlin runs it). That would tell me it passes the FCC test, but it'll be interesting to see this play out over the next few years...especially when these 87.7 stations are required to shut down along with all other analog LPTVs.
 
DrC said:
I'm assuming 87.7 would be fine for commercial use, since channel 6s all over (most of which were commercial and not PBS or another non-comm service) broadcast audibly on 87.7 until the digital conversion.

Also, there's an 87.7 starting in Chicago owned (or operated) by Merlin which is going to run an alternative format (ostensibly with commercials, since Merlin runs it). That would tell me it passes the FCC test, but it'll be interesting to see this play out over the next few years...especially when these 87.7 stations are required to shut down along with all other analog LPTVs.
Click to expand...

Actually our new 87.7 calls, WLFM, were used at Chicago's 87.7 and they closed down end of April, and the calls came to Cleveland. So if something's going on 87.7 in Chicago, a new station, can't remember if Merlin was the owner of WLFM.
 
Out here in Vermilion, I'm picking 87.75 up as clear as 98.5, 102.1, 99.5, etc. Tecsun PL-390 radio with whip antenna registers high as 38 dBu with this signal. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the 87.9 pirate.
 
dannykewl said:
DrC said:
I'm assuming 87.7 would be fine for commercial use, since channel 6s all over (most of which were commercial and not PBS or another non-comm service) broadcast audibly on 87.7 until the digital conversion.

Also, there's an 87.7 starting in Chicago owned (or operated) by Merlin which is going to run an alternative format (ostensibly with commercials, since Merlin runs it). That would tell me it passes the FCC test, but it'll be interesting to see this play out over the next few years...especially when these 87.7 stations are required to shut down along with all other analog LPTVs.
Click to expand...

Actually our new 87.7 calls, WLFM, were used at Chicago's 87.7 and they closed down end of April, and the calls came to Cleveland. So if something's going on 87.7 in Chicago, a new station, can't remember if Merlin was the owner of WLFM.
Click to expand...

Here's the article I read about the alternative 87.7 in Chicago (from early May...looks like they had the calls officially changed to those of heritage Chicago alt rock WKQX, freeing WLFM for Cleveland):

http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2450942

Just realized now, from that article, that Merlin is running 87.7 in Chicago as an LMA with Venture. Venture of course is running our 87.7, as well.

I have absolutely no idea what they're going to do, but I'm intrigued.
 
I can actually get this pretty well in Elyria, which is more than I can say for 99X, which does not come in at all here. If 88.7 was initially planning to run a modern rock format and got beat to it be Clear Channel's weak signal, I will be ticked.

Not sure what to make of the sport themed testing, the only way sports programming would work if it was a simulcast of WKNR.
 
Thanks for posting that!

Still not figuring out how they're broadcasting in FM stereo on 87.7 on an LpTV whose (mono) audio carrier is at 87.75 (while still being fully audible over tv ch 6, per that clip) but maybe someone's built some custom equipment to allow such a thing.

Between the on-screen text and the audio, there is not a single thing about this station that doesn't seem straight out of the 70s or early 80s. It's kind of charming.
 
There are other "Franken FMs" doing full-on FM stereo on the TV audio signal. I forget which device is used to accomplish this.

And as I stated in one of my items today, the "WKNR LMAs 87.7" thing is NOT a rumor. It's just some speculation by our readers re: the sports fight songs being aired now on WLFM-LP. I do hear that GKB is getting an FM compliment to its Palm Beach AM station, though I don't know how far along that is...or if it means anything for Cleveland.

GKB could likely afford the LMA of the audio carrier of a TV station. Karmazin said on one of his "Ask the Owner" shows that buying an FM signal "was not in the cards", but this may be more his speed (or rather, budget).

Still, I want to repeat AGAIN that I've heard no rumors one way or the other, out of the Galleria or anywhere else. It's just me and my blog readers pushing chess pieces around.

Interesting how this thing is getting out. It's probably using more power for audio than video (it's licensed for 3,000 watts). I'm told that may be allowed under LPTV rules, or rather, not prohibited.

Of course, the whole shooting match blows up on 9/1/2015.
 
The picture looks good here in Parma. As previously reported my stereo pilot is lit on my car radio, also it does NOT light on my analog TV. Since the FM Stereo standard pilot is being used I bet the audio carrier is 87.7 and not 87.75. I recall years ago listening to a TV Ch 6 on my old '83 Buick digital FM tuner. 87.9 was the lowest frequency it could tune, I could hear the Johnstown PA WJAC-TV while driving through western PA.

Does anybody know the location of that 87.9 Spanish pirate station? I could just barely get it before WLFM-LP began testing. BTW: I looked up 87.9 on the FCC FM website. There are only 2 licensed stations on 87.9, none here in Ohio. I found a website for that pirate station (it's a Christian format that may have some licensed stations elsewhere).
 
I'm now getting a pic on analog 6, well, was a few minutes ago, now dead carrier. Had the slide show and Tribe song. I was getting it on my little B&W 5 inch portable with just a little snow up in the attic. However, the attic antenna for my HDTV and DVR won't pull it in. But that's just a UHF bowtie.
 
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