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A visit to KFUO

T

Tom Wells

I ran radio locator on KFUO, as it was 2 miles from where I was working this week, and as their am 850 is still
100 khz wide on the IBOC, I paid them a visit before I left town.
When at home my workplace is approximately the same distance to WBBM am 780's IBOC 50kw, ten times louder,
and only the 50-60 khz wide that a "good" installation is expected to be. ( ahem )
All parties were gracious, and I left my cell number if the engineer had any need of my input.
I suggested they call ibiquity to have little closer look at their particular installation, given their expensive license.


As I left,I took a good look at that tower, and gosh, it's short.
All 4 corner insulators at the base of the the tower had been PAINTED, and SOME (15%) of the paint had been scraped
off in a ring on each to effect "less" leakage.
Couldn't be anything funny with stray capacitances un-accounted for at the tower base having something to do with
unusual harmonics, especially at high data rates, could there? What if the paint leakage is permitting arcing at the
2" glass surface gap? I did not hear any, and it sits in a 20 foot fence box you park right next to on the little seminary.
The engineer has not called.
 
Tom... Did you catch a peak at their AM rig. I would expect (by 2006) that a transmitter much newer than the one I saw in residence there back in the mid 90s would be online... Especially since IBOC has been fired up there.
 
Tom Wells said:
I ran radio locator on KFUO... I paid them a visit before I left town... All parties were gracious... I suggested they call ibiquity to have little closer look at their particular installation...

I took a good look at that tower... All 4 corner insulators at the base of the the tower had been PAINTED, and SOME (15%) of the paint had been scraped off in a ring on each to effect "less" leakage. Couldn't be anything funny with stray capacitances un-accounted for at the tower base having something to do with unusual harmonics, especially at high data rates, could there?
Click to expand...

Tom... Earlier this morning, I Emailed a link to your post to an engineer living in St Charles, MO. He is familiar with much of St Louis radio. He just replied, and I'll paraphrase a few of his points...

*Your observations on 850's "occupied spectrum" with IBOC has NOT gone unnoticed by others in that area--especially with the WIJR folks who operate 880 in the far-east 'burbs of STL. He has observed periods in the KFUO transmission--when IBOC has been deactivated--and the effect you describe disappears.

*The AM tower you mention at KFUO is indeed a self-supporter, but is just over 90-degrees (or quarter-wave) at 850khz.

*He typed the boldest "LOL" I have ever seen in an Email in ragards to the painting of the base insulators on their tower... "ONLY at KFOU could something like that be allowed to happen" was his remark. We may read into that whatever we wish ::)

*While not getting into specifics, he commented "KFUO AM isn't all that good a candidate for HD anyway. Sometimes they have too much money and NPR attitude for their own good. You know how they are".

So Tom... Your not alone in your observations!
 
KFUO is a longtime "heritage" station.

Are they still in the "house?" Do they still run the "information" oriented morning show they did in the 70's/80's when I was around?

Do they still sign on with "A Mighty Fortress?" Lots of memories there. Is KFUO-fm still classical? The used to play "Rhapsody in Blue" twice weekly. I believe it was in the log.
 
tjthedj said:
KFUO is a longtime "heritage" station.

Are they still in the "house?" Do they still run the "information" oriented morning show they did in the 70's/80's when I was around?

Do they still sign on with "A Mighty Fortress?" Lots of memories there. Is KFUO-fm still classical? The used to play "Rhapsody in Blue" twice weekly. I believe it was in the log.
Click to expand...

First (as a disclaimer)... I would NOT be a person in line for a PR position on behalf of KFUO... That having been conceded...

KFUO IS a “heritage station”... In the late 80s they aired a program “Songs from our children at Lutheran camp” featuring tenor adolescents singing the following verse: “Good ole Marty Luther... Good old Marty Luther... Played by the Reformation band... He left the Catholic Church... He didn’t care for Perch... I think the Reformation’s grand...”

KFOU’s AM and FM licenses were designated by FCC staff for REVOCATION due to “lack of candor” on an EOE issue back in the 90s. They survived on appeal only to the Commissioners.

I’m not sure today what populates the KFUO sign-on log... The FM does continue to broadcast classical music WITH ADVERTISEMENTS although KFUO-FM eschews“commercial status” and labels itself a “non-profit” in its community while operating on a commercial frequency (99.1) that it is free to sell for a fortune at any time in the corporate marketplace.

They still broadcast from studios on the Seminary grounds in Clayton, MO.

They currently offer HD Radio service on their 850 AM frequency, which according to some with technical expertise—has an occupied bandwidth of just shy of TWICE that of the typical well-engineered AM station broadcasting an IBOC signal.
 
I am back in St Louis again this week, and today the KFUO engineer called. He asked about my observations, and I described what I have described in the earlier posts. He said that they had received a direct lightning strike 2-3 months ago, and the system had not been right since. I related that the BW was better (no longer 720-980 with "sparkles") but still with products outside the defined 2nd and tertiary sidebands. He said that his digital receiver would no longer lock on and decode, and that he was turning the IBOC off.
And... it's off. No more funny byproducts, and just before sign-off today they sounded like any well engineered station.
WHAS Louisville 840, and C? AM 860 were unmolested, while KFUO 850 was on.
I wished him good luck sincerely, and thanked him for returning the call.

We'll see if they have another go-round at it, or if they decide it's not worth the bother.
 
Tom Wells said:
I am back in St Louis again this week, and today the KFUO engineer called. He asked about my observations, and I described what I have described in the earlier posts. He said that they had received a direct lightning strike 2-3 months ago, and the system had not been right since. I related that the BW was better (no longer 720-980 with "sparkles") but still with products outside the defined 2nd and tertiary sidebands. He said that his digital receiver would no longer lock on and decode, and that he was turning the IBOC off.
And... it's off. No more funny byproducts, and just before sign-off today they sounded like any well engineered station.
WHAS Louisville 840, and C? AM 860 were unmolested, while KFUO 850 was on.
I wished him good luck sincerely, and thanked him for returning the call.

We'll see if they have another go-round at it, or if they decide it's not worth the bother.
Click to expand...

Tom, You deserve a big pat on the back. Based on what I heard this weekend in Email, you have managed to accomplish what a few engineers in 'Louie haven't been able to get a remedy for... GOOD JOB... 'Guess the KFUO folks liked you. I'll C&P this post and send it to my friend there.

Next question... How much of this sort of "stray" is going on elsewhere due to lightning, a frizzed phaser, or whatever 2-3 months later--ONLY mitigated by "a Tom" taking the initiative to visit a few times, speak nicely with knowledge, and get the pig back in its poke.

This IBOC piggy needs to be locked in the pokey for good!
 
Once again in St Louis, making electronics behave. ibiquity has not yet been to KFUO.
Or no IBOC sidebands have returned.

They are still in glorious analog only.
Local AM 880 sounds great, and I can hear WLS well at 280 miles, with splatter.
WGN has no splatter, WLW isn't touching it here.
Yep, radio's working just fine....
 
Why bother, the audio doesn't sound worth a darn in AM HD...
 
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