A day in the life of a lamptimer

[landtuna]

I think I did that by accident but it does have a nice ring to it.

 

[justthenumbers]

8~Sixty is in escrow for $3m (price adjusted for TMISU's move of the xmttr site - plus we have doubts about whether this deal will close)

I heard the ASU basketball game last night on 860. What other sports, if any, have they been carrying on there lately?

 

[jefflaurence]

A station i once worked for in the 70's actually HAD a real honest-to-god LAMP TIMER that would power off the main xmtr, and power on an old LPB Am transmitter. The OFF lamptimer would trigger a small relay that would trigger a larger relay to kill the carrier but leave the heaters on the Collins Power Rock..the ON lamptimer actually applied 110AC power to the LPB tube transmitter..that you could hear warming up and hitting it's 30 watts just before the 1000w dropped out. There were six lamptimers..

One set to turn off the carrier with the small relays connected to the pushbutton terminals that turned on the plate

Same one set to turn ON the carrier of the 1000w at sunrise

Another set to turn ON the little LPB xmtr at sunset..same one turns it OFF at sunrise.

Yet another that triggered a servo motor that rotated the big, klunky gang switch that switched the antenna feed..from the Collins to the LPB, and yes..another that made the servo motor turn that big shaft again to the "daytime position"

One day the antenna lamptimer stoped mid-contact, and burned out the whole thing. Big flames, fire department etc..

they finally hired a guy to do it manually.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I worked for one station whos 1KW Solid state transmitter,(powered down to 250W as that was what the station was licensed for) was controlled by...

..a Radio Shack 24 hour Digital Timer.. we had no pre sunrise, post sunset authority or any night power.. and the wire for the time went into the back of a serial port on the transmitter and would simply turn this thing on and at at the right time.

THe computer would be set to start playing music 1 minute later.

The station used Winamp for automation (we were all music) and the programming would be started by saving the entire days playlist as a .pls file and telling Windows to start that pls playlist file at a certain time. It would open in Winamp and automatically start playing.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...and would simply turn this thing on and at at the right time.
THe computer would be set to start playing music 1 minute later.

But did it play a sign-on announcement, or at the very least a legal ID,
when it kicked it on or before programming started a minute later?

Or did that station subscribe to the Gumpdusky "Gold Hat" theory:
"We don't got to play you any stinking IDs at sign-on and sign-off!" ;D

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

...and would simply turn this thing on and at at the right time.
THe computer would be set to start playing music 1 minute later.

But did it play a sign-on announcement, or at the very least a legal ID,
when it kicked it on or before programming started a minute later?

Or did that station subscribe to the Gumpdusky "Gold Hat" theory:
"We don't got to play you any stinking IDs at sign-on and sign-off!" ;D

The very first thing in the playlist at the beginning of the day was a 30 second "intense" instrumental bed, followed by the legal id.... and the legal id was the last thing playing before the carrier went off.. I made damn sure of it.

 

[DrAkbar]

8~Sixty is in escrow for $3m (price adjusted for TMISU's move of the xmttr site - plus we have doubts about whether this deal will close)

I heard the ASU basketball game last night on 860. What other sports, if any, have they been carrying on there lately?

While KMVP is usually in espanol, the station is still owned by TMISU and on occasion they use Sports Parkinglot 8~Sixty for games that can't clear Sports Parkinglot 6~Twenty with permission of the LMA operator. One of these days when he has nothing better to do, I'll have Nurse Jeff comb that purchase contract to see if there's a clause about renegotiating the sales price based on market conditions. $3m is a lot of dough for that station in these times.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...Sports Parkinglot 8~Sixty...

Doc,

The ice cream with the pie must have given you a brain freeze,
as it's Sports Siberia 860 (backing up Sports Parking Lot 620).
I think you even gave it that nick.

And for those keeping score...

Our target subject at the lumberyard signed on yesterday (Saturday)
at 7:00:13 with Jackie DeShannon in progress (the earlier hit). The
legal ID ran afterwards--programmed per normal automation, not for
sign-on--at 7:02:45. Cold sign-off was at 5:30:07. How cold was it?
It was so cold, the ID machine didn't work! Course it never does. ;D

Today (Sunday), on at 7:00:02 with Herman's Hermits (second hit) JIP.
ID at 7:00:44--again only by the luck of a TOH sign-on, but not prior
to the commencement of regular programming. Unfortunately I missed
today's sign-off. :-[ It's probably lost forever in the ether.

 

[asugeorge1]

...Sports Parkinglot 8~Sixty...

Doc,

The ice cream with the pie must have given you a brain freeze,
as it's Sports Siberia 860 (backing up Sports Parking Lot 620).
I think you even gave it that nick.

And for those keeping score...

Our target subject at the lumberyard signed on yesterday (Saturday)
at 7:00:13 with Jackie DeShannon in progress (the earlier hit). The
legal ID ran afterwards--programmed per normal automation, not for
sign-on--at 7:02:45. Cold sign-off was at 5:30:07. How cold was it?
It was so cold, the ID machine didn't work! Course it never does. ;D

Today (Sunday), on at 7:00:02 with Herman's Hermits (second hit) JIP.
ID at 7:00:44--again only by the luck of a TOH sign-on, but not prior
to the commencement of regular programming. Unfortunately I missed
today's sign-off. :-[ It's probably lost forever in the ether.

I was listening this evening at sign-off and it was at 5:29:59 or at 5:30:00 exactly. The Isley Brothers' "Shout" was in progress and went off, coincidentally, just as the Isley Brothers got done saying, "Now wait a minute!"

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I was listening this evening at sign-off and it was at 5:29:59 or at 5:30:00 exactly. The Isley Brothers' "Shout" was in progress and went off, coincidentally, just as the Isley Brothers got done saying, "Now wait a minute!"
[/quote]

It makes me wonder if sometimes the "lamptimer" is being controlled by a real human being.

 

[asugeorge1]

I was listening this evening at sign-off and it was at 5:29:59 or at 5:30:00 exactly. The Isley Brothers' "Shout" was in progress and went off, coincidentally, just as the Isley Brothers got done saying, "Now wait a minute!"

It makes me wonder if sometimes the "lamptimer" is being controlled by a real human being.
[/quote]

I think if it was being controlled by a real person, then they wouldn't let the station cut off right in the middle of a song. They would let the song play out, play the station bumper and then sign-off. Maybe that makes too much sense, though. :

There's got to be someone out there who knows exactly how the station is run and why they don't air at night. I mean, if they're allowed to run all night, why not do it, even if the transmitter is only 52 watts. We would still be able to pick it up in the East Valley.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

There's got to be someone out there who knows exactly how the station is run
and why they don't air at night.

Gumpdusky management knows, but I guess they're not talking. They may be
a bit thin-skinned after all the grief we've given them in this and a number of
previous Lumberyard 1440 threads...however I can't believe they're unaware
of this board. Someone in the Londen Tower must read R-I.

I don't want to speak for the Old Gringo (hey David--come in and speak for
yourself! ) but he'd probably offer the opinion that, based on how they
operate during daytime hours, it wouldn't be cost-effective to blast the
52-watt "lowtorch" at night due to the greatly reduced coverage area and
not enough spots could be sold in the "marginal" dayparts of evenings and
overnights with its reduced listenership. Assuming KAZG has some listeners
(other than us on the board) during the day. Has the lumberyard ever
shown up in the ArbyTrons? I can't believe they come in below Energy! ;D

 

[DrAkbar]

I don't want to speak for the Old Gringo (hey David--come in and speak for
yourself! ) but he'd probably offer the opinion that, based on how they
operate during daytime hours, it wouldn't be cost-effective to blast the
52-watt "lowtorch" at night due to the greatly reduced coverage area and
not enough spots could be sold in the "marginal" dayparts of evenings and
overnights with its reduced listenership. Assuming KAZG has some listeners
(other than us on the board) during the day. Has the lumberyard ever
shown up in the ArbyTrons? I can't believe they come in below Energy! ;D

Until the Old Gringo picks up the Batphone, we'll give your our two cents worth: 52 watts is better than KXEG's (12~Eighty) 49 and they keep it on after sunset. In fact KASA (15~Forty) has been known to stay on with their even lowertorch 19 watts. As Nurse Jeff and I said several pages back, with paid programming no one really cares about nightime coverage. C'mon Gumpdusky, give us 14 in a row from the Goldmine 24/7 and trash the lamptimer!

 

[landtuna]

If the Lumberyard stayed on overnight I might actually be able to hear it in the East Valley (without it sounding like I was DXing Guam).

With KOOL swirling the bowl now is the time for the GumpDumpSky to fire it up!!!!

 

[davideduardo]

There's got to be someone out there who knows exactly how the station is run
and why they don't air at night.

I don't want to speak for the Old Gringo (hey David--come in and speak for
yourself! ) but he'd probably offer the opinion that, based on how they
operate during daytime hours, it wouldn't be cost-effective to blast the
52-watt "lowtorch" at night due to the greatly reduced coverage area and
not enough spots could be sold in the "marginal" dayparts of evenings and
overnights with its reduced listenership. Assuming KAZG has some listeners
(other than us on the board) during the day. Has the lumberyard ever
shown up in the ArbyTrons? I can't believe they come in below Energy! ;D

KAZG had a 0.1 in Spring. That is below the MRS (Minimum Reporting Standards) so it is a no show in the "book."

Anyway, Arbitron has a daytimer rule which is that data is calculated based only on hours on the air. So, the off air hours do not count against you even in 6 AM to Midnight. With a horrible night signal, it is better not to broadcast at all, as otherwise the low power bad signal hours will be part of the average.

 

[landtuna]

KAZG had a 0.1 in Spring. That is below the MRS (Minimum Reporting Standards) so it is a no show in the "book."

Anyway, Arbitron has a daytimer rule which is that data is calculated based only on hours on the air. So, the off air hours do not count against you even in 6 AM to Midnight. With a horrible night signal, it is better not to broadcast at all, as otherwise the low power bad signal hours will be part of the average.

DE, this is a serious question.....if they had a .1 in Spring and didn't meet the MRS how would a further drop affect them (assuming their nighttime signal isn't up to their pow-pow-power daytime flamethrower)? Isn't it already about as low as it can go? What have they got to lose?

 

[DrAkbar]

KAZG had a 0.1 in Spring. That is below the MRS (Minimum Reporting Standards) so it is a no show in the "book."

Okay, which one of you was responsible for the 0.1??? Was it LandTuna? OldiesFan? ASUGeorge1? RadioGuyBroadcasting? KeithE4? or KOOLlistenerLauren? Ooops...the finger of guilt is pointed right toward Nurse Jeff and his employer

As we've said before, Lumberyard 14~Forty should not be playing burned out oldies. The highest and best use is brokered programming coupled with 52 watts at night. It'll make money and won't be sucking wind when it comes to ratings!

 

[The Beave]

Cue Burn makes the lamptimer go 'round and 'round.... 8)

I agree Nurse Jeff is to blame.

 

[KeithE4]

KAZG had a 0.1 in Spring. That is below the MRS (Minimum Reporting Standards) so it is a no show in the "book."

Okay, which one of you was responsible for the 0.1??? Was it LandTuna? OldiesFan? ASUGeorge1? RadioGuyBroadcasting? KeithE4? or KOOLlistenerLauren? Ooops...the finger of guilt is pointed right toward Nurse Jeff and his employer

Only blame me for PM drive ratings. Can't listen at work and they're not on the air when I'm driving in the AM. So I'm only good for 0.01. ;D

As we've said before, Lumberyard 14~Forty should not be playing burned out oldies. The highest and best use is brokered programming coupled with 52 watts at night. It'll make money and won't be sucking wind when it comes to ratings!

Or, like I've said for many years, sell or lease it to ASU. KASC will have to move off of 1260 once the peanut-whistle in Wickenburg moves to AJ (whenever that is). Those 52 watts in the lumberyard will cover much more than their on-campus 7 watts (officially : ) does now.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

The earlier-each-day lamptimer kicked the plate on the air
this morning at 6:59:45.


I was also curious about Gumpdusky's KDUS, as on several
recent occasions while waiting for the lumberyard to open
I dialed over to 1060 and they were already on day power.

Turned them on today about 6:45 to wait it out and lo and
behold they powered up at 6:51:30.

A little too early for operating properly within the terms of
your license, but since the FCC doesn't seem to care, I
guess it's close enough for government work!