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Country on 99.9? Instead of dance factory

M

Mid West Clubber

Guest
Just near Gary Indiana while trying to listen to Dance Factory on the former Nine FM trimulcast 99.9 freq,,, some country station was just ripping their signal apart on I-80-94 between munster and Gary,,,,, It wasnt US 99.5,, I checked and it was a totally different broadcast. Heard a mention of Michiana,,, about 5 miles east of Gary the country station totally dominated on 99.9.... Is this legal??????
 
You were probably hearing WHFB-FM form Benton Harbor. I believe they are a C&W station. Chalk it up to weather conditions.
 
Thanks for your input.... that wasnt them I dont think... I think I found my culprit in Benton Harbor Michigan,, their signal looks like it would be audible in Chicago if 99.9 Kankakee was off air.... Both stations seem to be Short Spaced and both are 50kw torches... Oddly enough I can get 99.9 Kankakee near indianapolis most of the time,, sometimes its really fuzzy in Chicago, especially up around the Sears and John Hancock.. I think U.S 99, and Love fm 100.3 are the culprits there... Oh well,,, 99.9 isnt really licensed to Chicago anyway,, if 99.9 gets too fuzzy at night I just switch to B-96,, or sometimes Q-101 or WLS FM..... I know on paper no one should have tastes in all those totally different stations.
 
I think that was it... One time in November 07 I was getting massive static on 99.9 out near aurora and naperville, within 99.9 protected contour,, I drove into a gas station and when i drove under the canopy it switched to country briefly before Dance Factory came back through,, it was fuzzy enough that my passengers complained about the picket fencing and multipath and co channel interference,,, I had to flip to B-96... Could the Benton Harbor station cause interference that far west and south???????

I dont think the current owners maintain 99.9 very well,,, I notice static in places where it used to be clear back when it was top 40 WBUS The Bus in the 80s and 90s..... Could chaulk that up to Iboc and 15 plus more years of noise in the air.
 
Maybe 70 miles across the lake,,, Much farther if your driving and have to go through Michigan city and stuff
 
Mid West Clubber said:
Maybe 70 miles across the lake,,, Much farther if your driving and have to go through Michigan city and stuff
Click to expand...

I get the Benton Harbor station sometimes here in the northern suburbs.
 
When i lived in Westmont, 99.9 was full of static. Drove me nuts. It was stronger than the others, but i usually listen to xm in the car. Big change. If i go into downers grove, i can usually get 92.5 and thats a lot better. West of Fairview on 63rd and i put it on 92.5. Even better west of 355.
 
I dont go out west often, im usually in the Southland or Northwest Indiana... I only listen at night when they play Dance music, I dont listen to the talk format,, I get my news from TV,, or yeah....XM..... If I do go out west, or North of Downtown I usually dont remember to switch frequencies,,, it was Easier when it was Energy 927&5,, cause I could stay parked on 92.7 and the signal would adjust for North and South, and if I went west occasionally I could hear 92.5 hammering into it, and since it was only one click and I was constantly reminded that it was 927&5.... I usually just listen to my mp3 unless its at night when dance factory is on,, or on late night weekends I listen to the Street Mix on B-96 sometimes, or if I remember I listen to the Flipside at 5 on B-96 if im in the car and remember to tune in... 99.9 is definately not as strong as when it was top 40, as WBUS The Bus.... Whatever happened to that other station called THE BUS,, it was on 100.7 out in Coal City,, I think they switched formats, and plus I get that new LP FM on 100.7, and sometimes I can get a pirate on 100.7 playing Devil Music,,, real hard heavy metal,, I get a similar Heavy Metal pirate on 104.7 sometimes.... The 92.7 and 99.9 neither really cover downtown too well,,, they need a Booster station,,, Near Dowtown it gets hammered on by U.S 99 and Love FM 100.3 when I get within sight of the Hancock monster building....

I wish 99.9-92.7-92.5 where all Dance 24/7... Id love for B-96 to go all Dance, but I dont expect a full power station with good numbers to do that,, im just glad B-96 does play as much Dance as they can get away with,, it sure beats a few years ago when they were all Rap for a few years...
 
The Benton Harbor 99.9 is always a problem in NW Indiana during warmer months. I sometimes had to change stations, due to WHFB interfering with WCPQ. I remember during the days of WBUS, that the Benton Harbor 99.9 interfered with them, though not as bad as now.
Had WCPQ signed on under the current rules, and not before 1964, they would likely still be licensed to Kankakee, and I believe at the most, a 6kw Class A station. If it could go higher, then maybe a B1 up to 25kw station. They're short-spaced with a few stations, including WJVL Janesville, WI; WWCT Bartonville, IL; WHFB Benton Harbor, MI; WUSN on 99.5 & WILV on 100.3 in Chicago, WGLC Mendota, IL on 100.1;.

As for WRZA getting splattered by US 99 & 100.3; I always got that when I got near the John Hancock, since both of those stations are on the John Hancock.
 
At one time WBUS(WCPQ) and the station in Michigan were both Directional. At that time 99.9 barely made the southside.
I forget the exact date, I believe it was in the early 80's, the FCC started to let stations make agreements with each other
to accept interference from each other. At that time the owners of both station's agreed to accept some overlap, and
interference from each other, to gain better coverage in more populated area's, the majority of the time. There are
certain times of the year when the "blending" of the two is bad, but, for the most part it has helped their coverage.
I have an article about this somewhere, if I can find it I'll post a link.
 
TR1992 said:
At one time WBUS(WCPQ) and the station in Michigan were both Directional. At that time 99.9 barely made the southside.
I forget the exact date, I believe it was in the early 80's, the FCC started to let stations make agreements with each other
to accept interference from each other. At that time the owners of both station's agreed to accept some overlap, and
interference from each other, to gain better coverage in more populated area's, the majority of the time. There are
certain times of the year when the "blending" of the two is bad, but, for the most part it has helped their coverage.
I have an article about this somewhere, if I can find it I'll post a link.
Click to expand...

This would be that time of year when tropo pops up more often.
 
I remember when WBUS signed off in 1996 before the flip to Spanish. The moment the transmitter was turned off, I got the Benton Harbor station nearly crystal clear.
 
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