A day in the life of a lamptimer

[DrAkbar]

KSLX-FM is on their license. Check their page in the FCC FM Query:

While they could have had it removed after the AM side dumped the KSLX calls,
Gumpdusky never has. Guess if they can't get a lamptimer that works properly
for Lumberyard 1440 (and 1060 as it turns out), they're also too cheap to do a
call letters change filing to drop the suffix.

KOOL-FM does it right (even though the Nurse and I stopped listening around Halloween). Whoever owned them when KOOL Gold 9~Sixty was blown up didn't think it was worth the time to drop the FM from KOOL-FM.

We can all rest easier as so far no one has struck a deal with Gumpdusky to hang the KAZG calls on an FM. Guess the Lumberyard 14 in a row Goldmine format hasn't quite caught on yet 8)

 

[justthenumbers]

KOOL-FM does it right (even though the Nurse and I stopped listening around Halloween). Whoever owned them when KOOL Gold 9~Sixty was blown up didn't think it was worth the time to drop the FM from KOOL-FM.

So if a station has the “FM” removed from the FCC’s database, but still includes the “FM” in the legal ID (the reverse of what KSLX is doing), is that also technically a violation?

 

[DrAkbar]

So if a station has the “FM” removed from the FCC’s database, but still includes the “FM” in the legal ID (the reverse of what KSLX is doing), is that also technically a violation?

If the FCC put as much time into enforcing that one as we do in discussing Lumberyard 14~Forty, then maybe so. But they don't and won't!

 

[oldiesfan6479]

So if a station has the “FM” removed from the FCC’s database, but still includes the “FM” in the legal ID (the reverse of what KSLX is doing), is that also technically a violation?

Hmmm, that's a good one. Paging Scott Fybush, our part 73.1201 guru.

You can insert only a couple of things between the calls and COL, one of which
is the frequency, but if you verbalize the frequency as "FM 100.7" or "100.7 FM,"
rather than just "100.7," is that technically wrong? I'd say yes. I'd also say that
inserting just "FM" when it's not on the license is even more wrong...technically.

In the real world of IDing however, Uncle Charlie seems to not really care, as long as
you make some effort to be in the ballpark, or "close enough for government work."

Then there's the still-unresolved situation of how to do the HD part of it in the legal.
We had a big discussion on the Frisco board after KFRC-FM flipped to a simulcast of
KCBS. The FM and AM each have an analog and an HD to ID.

Not sure if K-Slacks is HDing, but, -FM suffix or no, they're not IDing any HD channel,
at least not the last time (recently) I heard "KSLX Scottsdale/Phoenix" near the TOH.

 

[fybush]

So if a station has the “FM” removed from the FCC’s database, but still includes the “FM” in the legal ID (the reverse of what KSLX is doing), is that also technically a violation?

Hmmm, that's a good one. Paging Scott Fybush, our part 73.1201 guru.

You can insert only a couple of things between the calls and COL, one of which
is the frequency, but if you verbalize the frequency as "FM 100.7" or "100.7 FM,"
rather than just "100.7," is that technically wrong? I'd say yes. I'd also say that
inserting just "FM" when it's not on the license is even more wrong...technically.

In the real world of IDing however, Uncle Charlie seems to not really care, as long as
you make some effort to be in the ballpark, or "close enough for government work."

Howdy!

I think oldiesfan has it pretty much right - while, yes, 100.7 should technically be IDing as "KSLX-FM Scottsdale," they're not likely to get busted for "KSLX Scottsdale," "KSLX FM 100.7 Scottsdale," "KSLX 100.7 FM Scottsdale," or anything similar.

The rules, especially in their latest revision, are frighteningly unclear. To keep this Arizona-relevant, I don't know if KUAZ(AM) down in Tucson (or is it still KUAT(AM)?) is still doing this, but many public radio stations on AM seem compelled to add the nonexistent "-AM" suffix when they ID (eg, "WNYC-AM New York," "WOSU-AM Columbus," "WNED-AM Buffalo.") Does adding the frequency (eg, "WOSU AM 820 Columbus") meet the letter of the law? I'm thinking, maybe, yes...but it's certainly not anywhere on the FCC's enforcement radar in any event.

 

[Tom Wells]

I think oldiesfan has it pretty much right - while, yes, 100.7 should technically be IDing as "KSLX-FM Scottsdale," they're not likely to get busted for "KSLX Scottsdale," "KSLX FM 100.7 Scottsdale," "KSLX 100.7 FM Scottsdale," or anything similar.

The rules, especially in their latest revision, are frighteningly unclear. To keep this Arizona-relevant, I don't know if KUAZ(AM) down in Tucson (or is it still KUAT(AM)?) is still doing this, but many public radio stations on AM seem compelled to add the nonexistent "-AM" suffix when they ID (eg, "WNYC-AM New York," "WOSU-AM Columbus," "WNED-AM Buffalo.") Does adding the frequency (eg, "WOSU AM 820 Columbus") meet the letter of the law? I'm thinking, maybe, yes...but it's certainly not anywhere on the FCC's enforcement radar in any event.

Part 15's are not required to announce anything, but since I run 24/7 automated, I have top and bottom IDs.
Top of hour, I grabbed an airchecked live ID, before it was standard, when I was making a podcast.
I don't really see myself as a likely good candidate for a dj, so I don't crack the mike often, but somehow, after 40-some years
of listening to many kinds of radio, I identified as:

" This is.. W Nuthin, Nuthin, Nuthin. AM 1620, Almost Nowhere. "
Some how this seems like the most natural and proper ID form, and one that dx'ers certainly appreciate.


Bottom of hour is an edited Larry Lujack clip from the intro of Nothin' from Nothin' leaves Nothin'.
Along with a similarly delivered "W", at :30 we hear "W Nuthin, Nuthin, Nuthin!

More information is always better, and it only takes 1 or 2 seconds longer.

 

[DrAkbar]

Hmmmm....like the beloved lamptimer, we seem to be drifting away from topic. So as a public service, Nurse Jeff and I reign in discussions on legal IDs with a Lumberyard 14~Forty update: Tuesday afternoon around 5:15 the Gold Mine paid tribute to Mr Boss Radio hisself by yanking the carrier during Sonny & Cher's The Beat Goes On. A touching remembrance from the Good Guys at Gumpdusky!

 

[Tom Wells]

Didn't someone say a canal runs right past the shack? Maybe it's good old corrosion in the lamptimer, and not my earlier
asssumption of a laboring and slowing lamptimer. How's your humidity been these days in PHX?
When I worked at the Ringier Printing plant on the west side ( now closed) back in late 80's and early 90's they said the humidity
had been getting worse every year. It must be fairly tropical now, hence my concern for the soft-steel shaft and
who-knows what kind of bushing the fractional horsepower lamptimer has.....
If the humidity is going up, is it showing yet on the Gremlin?
Can you still use the "Desert ONLY" setting or does it just freeze right up these days ( in the summer)?
By the way, has anyone checked what line frequency drift has been recently?
Checking a line-synched wall clock with NIST updates to this computer over the last week or two showed line frequency
fell behind 4-5 seconds a week ago and now is only 2-3 seconds behind. Think +/- 60hz over timescale=long.
But that wouldn't account for continous drift in one direction.
It couldn't possibly be that PHX is on 59.9999999 hz, could it? Someone calculate the frequency required for the
documented drift. I am bushed after a trip to Little Rock. G'night.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

It couldn't possibly be that PHX is on 59.9999999 hz, could it?

I don't know, but PHX is an hour earlier for approx. eight months of the year...
or is everyone else an hour later? Maybe we can convince the Guv-to-be
(Jan B.) that DST doesn't give us an "extra hour of sun."

Since Akbar mandated we get back on topic (glad to oblige!), here is this morning's
report of the drifting lamptimers for their 7:30am target:

KDUS powered up at 7:20:15.

KAZG popped on at 7:27:38. Have heard no legal ID yet (as of 7:50) and don't
really expect one until +/- 8:00.

 

[Gusto]

U guys are seriously still talking about this? 15 pages on 1440?!

 

[DrAkbar]

Didn't someone say a canal runs right past the shack? Maybe it's good old corrosion in the lamptimer, and not my earlier
asssumption of a laboring and slowing lamptimer. How's your humidity been these days in PHX?

Well, it did rain where we are on Thanksgiving...but Buckeye is a fur piece from the canal sided Lumberyard! While your humidity theory is interesting, the Nurse and I suspect Gumpdusky picked up their lamptimer at a dollar store bargain bin and is living with the consequence.

Last night we were awaken from a terrible dream. Because KOOL-FM dumped Oldies for All Annoying Xmas Music after Halloween, those listeners had to go somewhere. Nurse Jeff and I dreamed Lumberyard 14~Forty was the primary beneficiary of the audience and actually showed up in the latest trend! Real ratings would create big problemas for Gumpdusky as they'd pretty much be forced to power down to 52 watts at night to fill the need of an Oldies starved market!

Fortunately we woke up in time to hear Edd Byrnes say "baby, you're the ginchiest"* to Connie Stevens and realized no diary keeper in his right mind would admit listening to the Gold Mine!


* Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb - as heard daily on Lumberyard 14~Forty

 

[asugeorge1]

If I were a diary keeper, I would be more than happy to write in 1440 for the time between 7:20 A.M. and 5:13 P.M. Not nearly 10 hours, especially with the frequent moments of dead air, but still better than what KOOL is giving us these days. Maybe it is time to bring back KOOL AM!

 

[pattiwacki]

Great idea, asugeorge1! And Doc, while "Kookie.." does sound pretty bad, just put Connie's "Sixteen Reasons" on the ipod and it sounds better than ever!

 

[landtuna]

Or Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia as she was known in da 'hood.

 

[DrAkbar]

Great idea, asugeorge1! And Doc, while "Kookie.." does sound pretty bad, just put Connie's "Sixteen Reasons" on the ipod and it sounds better than ever!

YIKES! The thought of that is almost as sickening as the possibility this topic could exceed the number of hits Jim Sharpe Has Left The Building has received! What mental midget height limited individual put Edd Byrnes on the Gold Mine playlist? Nurse Jeff and I demand a recount of Lumberyard 14~Forty's claim to play 14 in a row whenever a clunker like that is included. And anyway, has any KAZG P1-er actually counted 14 songs in a row to make certain Gumpdusky aint cheatin' us??

 

[pattiwacki]

I heard they've added Brown Eyed Girl just for you and Nurse Jeff!

 

[asugeorge1]

Great idea, asugeorge1! And Doc, while "Kookie.." does sound pretty bad, just put Connie's "Sixteen Reasons" on the ipod and it sounds better than ever!

YIKES! The thought of that is almost as sickening as the possibility this topic could exceed the number of hits Jim Sharpe Has Left The Building has received! What mental midget height limited individual put Edd Byrnes on the Gold Mine playlist? Nurse Jeff and I demand a recount of Lumberyard 14~Forty's claim to play 14 in a row whenever a clunker like that is included. And anyway, has any KAZG P1-er actually counted 14 songs in a row to make certain Gumpdusky aint cheatin' us??

Don't worry, Doc, they are not cheating us with the 14 in a row. This afternoon from 12:05 to 12:45 I counted 14 songs in a row, then one commercial on parking illegally in handicap spots in the city of Phoenix and then back to 14 in a row. I hope your not one of those people parking illegally with your Gremlin, Doc!

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...then one commercial on parking illegally in handicap spots in the city of Phoenix......
I hope your not one of those people parking illegally with your Gremlin, Doc!

Nah, the Mesa Public Schools special education guy is taking care of that for us. :

 

[DrAkbar]

This afternoon from 12:05 to 12:45 I counted 14 songs in a row, then one commercial on parking illegally in handicap spots in the city of Phoenix and then back to 14 in a row. I hope your not one of those people parking illegally with your Gremlin, Doc!

If listening to Ancient Modulation doesn't qualify us for a handicap sticker, then what does?

This evening Nurse Jeff and I drove the Gremlin past Cactus Radio's HQ at 44th & Camelback. The sign outside by the Circle K only mentions KSLX, leading us to wonder if the Gold Mine studios of Lumberyard 14~Forty are there as well. Perhaps they're underground (it is a Gold Mine afterall) or tucked away in the block building behind the Lumberyard? And if they are broadcasting from a Gold Mine, how come we don't hear reverberation? There are a lot more mysteries to solve before Nurse Jeff and I close the page on the last daytimer in the Valley!

 

[justthenumbers]

This evening Nurse Jeff and I drove the Gremlin past Cactus Radio's HQ at 44th & Camelback. The sign outside by the Circle K only mentions KSLX, leading us to wonder if the Gold Mine studios of Lumberyard 14~Forty are there as well. Perhaps they're underground (it is a Gold Mine afterall) or tucked away in the block building behind the Lumberyard?

Quoting the post from 'catfish' on Page 14 of this thread:

Want your questions asked? Pick up the phone and call them. Ask.. Call KSLX, that's where the 1440 studios are