• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Classical is Bach in Portland

I didn't realize WTHT 99.9 was HD.They'll be running W BACH on their HD-2 channel in order to run it on the 96.9 translator which has a really great signal for 250 watts.
 
Andy Taylor said:
I didn't realize WTHT 99.9 was HD.They'll be running W BACH on their HD-2 channel in order to run it on the 96.9 translator which has a really great signal for 250 watts.
Click to expand...

Mentioning Translators, W250AB (//WOKQ) 97.9 out of Manch-Vegas packs a strong 250w signal as well. Keeps JBQ off the radio as far east as Raymond NH (about 20 mi east), and I have heard them as far south as Andover MA, about 30 miles south...
 
I've never really understood the need for the 96.9 translator, since 99.9's signal really doesn't start to degrade until you reach York County. And Portland has neither the odd geography that allows big FMs to need translators in Los Angeles, nor the skyscrapers that allows Boston's WGBH to need 96.3 in Beacon Hill.

Looking at FCC records, it's been on the air since 1992. Did a previous owner of 99.9 just want to block another applicant from getting the frequency?
 
encarta95 said:
I've never really understood the need for the 96.9 translator, since 99.9's signal really doesn't start to degrade until you reach York County. And Portland has neither the odd geography that allows big FMs to need translators in Los Angeles, nor the skyscrapers that allows Boston's WGBH to need 96.3 in Beacon Hill.

Looking at FCC records, it's been on the air since 1992. Did a previous owner of 99.9 just want to block another applicant from getting the frequency?
Click to expand...

I was working for WKZS 99.9 when the 96.9 translator was put on the air. Although 99.9 was fine for in-car listening in Portland, it wasn't consistently good in office buildings. The translator was an effort to remedy that.

Nick Seneca
 
There is currently no stream to get them on line. I live in Boston, out of the broadcast area. But good for you, Portland.
 
I listened on the way back home from Mass. yesterday. The signal was good all the way from a little north of Saco to a little south of Brunswick, where 106.9 begins to kick in anyway. This should be a real boon to the station. Now if they could just find a way to boost their signal into Bangor/Ellsworth . . . :(
 
"Now if they could just find a way to boost their signal into Bangor/Ellsworth ." (Doug D)

They probably will in a Minuet. They just got back from Chopin and they're a little Straussed out! (Is it time for my pill?)
 
Should I mention how sad the collapse of Commercial Classical radio is? Since the early days of FM radio in Portland, Classical was on

--50,000 watt 97.9 WDCS till the 90s.
--Then it got shifted to 3000 watt 106.3, giving WJBQ the 50,000 watt signal, and becoming W-Bach.
--Then it got shifted to 3000 watt 99.3 in Kennebunk.
--Then it got shifted to 6000 watt 104.7 in Kennebunkport.
--And now its on a 250 watt translator.

Can someone explain the larger implications of this downward spiral? Why can't Classical music make it in Southern Maine with so many affluent potential listeners? What happened with this generation that wasn't true of every generation before them that listened to and supported Classical music? Meanwhile, Maine Public Radio still runs a few Classical programs but who knows for how long? NH Public Radio is now all news and talk.

At our summer cottage on the Maine-NH border, I would listen to the W-Bach station on 101.5 from Merideth NH. But that's now switched to Sports. The funny thing is, I can get 99.5 WCRB from Lowell in the basement. But upstairs, 99.5 NH Public Radio comes in from Jackson NH. I guess if I want Classical music, I'll have to turn up the basement radio loud enough to hear upstairs!
 
Gregg said:
Should I mention how sad the collapse of Commercial Classical radio is? Since the early days of FM radio in Portland, Classical was on

--50,000 watt 97.9 WDCS till the 90s.
--Then it got shifted to 3000 watt 106.3, giving WJBQ the 50,000 watt signal, and becoming W-Bach.
--Then it got shifted to 3000 watt 99.3 in Kennebunk.
--Then it got shifted to 6000 watt 104.7 in Kennebunkport.
--And now its on a 250 watt translator.

Can someone explain the larger implications of this downward spiral? Why can't Classical music make it in Southern Maine with so many affluent potential listeners? What happened with this generation that wasn't true of every generation before them that listened to and supported Classical music? Meanwhile, Maine Public Radio still runs a few Classical programs but who knows for how long? NH Public Radio is now all news and talk.

At our summer cottage on the Maine-NH border, I would listen to the W-Bach station on 101.5 from Merideth NH. But that's now switched to Sports. The funny thing is, I can get 99.5 WCRB from Lowell in the basement. But upstairs, 99.5 NH Public Radio comes in from Jackson NH. I guess if I want Classical music, I'll have to turn up the basement radio loud enough to hear upstairs!
Click to expand...

Gregg, I have a simple solution for your problem between basement and upstairs listening. Pick up a cheap 10 milliwatt transmitter from Ramsey Electronics, it's a fun little kit you can build and run a line out (or even headphone) from your radio downstairs to the transmitter, set to an open frequency, and tune your radio upstairs. Or, stream it if you can.


http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=amfm
 
DougD said:
I listened on the way back home from Mass. yesterday. The signal was good all the way from a little north of Saco to a little south of Brunswick, where 106.9 begins to kick in anyway. This should be a real boon to the station. Now if they could just find a way to boost their signal into Bangor/Ellsworth . . . :(
Click to expand...

Actually, WBACH/WBQX from Thomaston/Rockland on 106.9 does put a pretty decent signal onto Mount Desert Island. Their transmitter is on one of the southern most Camden Hills high above Rockland, and the over water path is actually within line-of-sight from Bass Harbor Lighthouse at SW tip on Mount Desert island. I'm just 3 miles from Bass Harbor, and get them with local quality in stereo on my basic vintage-2001 AM/FM/CD/Cassette receiver using just shortened Rabbit ears for FM. Even on my bedside Sangean portable stereo they come in well with built-in antenna.
Listening on car radio up Route 3 Off Mount Desert Island to Ellsworth the signal stays OK. Getting to Bangor would be a stretch, but again, the over-water path up Penobscot Bay to Bucksport delivers a good signal. With a decent FM antenna beamed SW towards Rockland, I'm sure a Bangor listener who really wanted to pick it up could. (Radio Shack used to make a great 5 element FM yagi for only 19.95)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom