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Fort Wayne storms

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fwmw

Radio stations off the air WOWO AM and FM, WAJI, WMEE, WQHK, WLDE, WBTU (for a time), WNHT (for a time), WBYR, WGBJ, WHPP,

TV stations off the air WPTA, WISE, WFWA, WFFT and for a time WANE.
 
What went through there? A meteorological bulldozer?
 
I hear it turned the tower farm off I-69 into a big ol' lightning show.
Bob it was a storm cell that gained strength as it passed Warsaw, hit me in Columbia City with some force and then steamrolled Fort Wayne.

BUT...as a sweet surprise, after the storm went through, for about a half hour, I was watching TV from LOUISVILLE. When I saw David Scott, who used to be on WANE, on WDRB, on the set, I about kicked over the La-Z-Boy!!
 
Two hours South in Connersville and Rushville we got hit too, both my stations went down..One for three hours,the AM, the FM for four hours. I guess the power companies had their hands full...At one point I was listening to Oldies 94.3 out of the South Bend area loud and clear....It hit hard, fast and did its damage quickly....
 
When I was notified that WIKL 101.7 Elwood,IN was off the air, I was hearing WIVR Kentland,IN at 135 air miles on the outdoor yagi. I also heard it at 125 miles in the car. I understand that WROI in Rochester had their STL dish "blown off the tower onto the roof". If I had installed that dish, either the dish would still be there or the tower would be gone too.
 
(I think it's Matt Kyle who's engineering for WFWA-TV in Fort Wayne...)
WFWA, the PBS station in Fort Wayne is TOTALLY DOWN. DirecTV has their "Don't call us" screen up on 39's channel, off air they're not there, and usually when they're low power I can still get them. So either their electricity is out at both the studio (off Coliseum Blvd.) and the transmitter (Butler & Hillegas.) It did some damage alright...
 
Interesting atmospheric conditions last night in Lafayette, too. I was getting WDSJ Greenville, OH (Dayton's Big 106.5) as a local in Lafayette complete with RDS data and stereo separation...and that's with West Lafayette's 106.7 also on the air.

98.9 The Bear out of Fort Wayne was also holding its own with local WASK-FM being right next door on 98.7.
 
Leaving downtown Fort Wayne Friday around 4pm, I believe the only Fort Wayne radio station on the air was WGL AM 1250. They have studio, transmitter, and tower all at one location along with a back up generator. Does this mean Pat White had a 100 share of the market for a little while?
 
I hope someone at Fed Med or WOWO or both actually listens to the station sometime today and updates the TWO-DAY OLD weather forecasts that were still airing earlier this afternoon.

On the up side, kudos to WOWO for their late Friday night storm coverage.
 
as of 11 PM Saturday night WAJI and WLDE are down still as is WFWA-TV. I think the problem with WAJI/WLDE is with the studios being out of power. Don't know when they will get power back.
 
...and here at 12 AM I can get WLDE...Haven't checked the others. So some power must be getting back on...

The crew on Maples Rd is operating in the dark apparently (I heard mention on air the generator, which is an old tractor engine in part I think, won't run...) And they're having some fun with the listeners calling in...the class of the city I would say. A few whack-jobs...but hey that's what makes live radio great!!
 
Don't stations with generators ever test them from time to time. When I worked at WRSW in Warsaw back from 1980 to 1985 the generator that ran the transmitter and studio, (all at same location back then) automatically test ran itself for 30 minutes once a week. We had to log the generator tests.
 
I heard one of the guys ON THE AIR admit that their chief engineer Mogan told them "Don't bother." That the generator at Maples Road wouldn't run. When I worked in that building (1989-91) they ran that beast maybe once a month but they were getting it serviced more than that. Somewhere along the line (between 89 and now) they should have replaced that generator but hey we know how budgets get bounced around...
 
Went past WROI today...the parabolic STL dish is gone....replaced by a Yagi STL antenna. The STL antenna at the studio end was on a mast pipe with a few guy wires. Yagi STL is now mounted to a roof mounted tower. I worked at the station back in the 70's and again in the mid 80's...the studio was on PSI (now Duke) energy...while the transmitter west of Rochester was on REMC power. Did not matter which utility lost power we were off the air as there were no generators at either the studio or transmitter site back then.
 
Not very comforting to know that even though Friday's storm really wasn't that bad, a big metropolitan area was left with ZERO radio coverage for an extended period of time. God forbid something REALLY BAD happens.
 
Juan Bodley said:
I hear it turned the tower farm off I-69 into a big ol' lightning show.
Bob it was a storm cell that gained strength as it passed Warsaw, hit me in Columbia City with some force and then steamrolled Fort Wayne.

BUT...as a sweet surprise, after the storm went through, for about a half hour, I was watching TV from LOUISVILLE. When I saw David Scott, who used to be on WANE, on WDRB, on the set, I about kicked over the La-Z-Boy!!
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear of the damage up there. I'm glad you were able to pick up WDRB from Louisville in this new digital age. I thought DXing was a thing of the past. What kind of an antenna system do you have?
 
The storm was pretty rough, many people there are still without power.

Diselbob's point should be well taken, though, in that a market shouldn't be completely without a means for Emergency Broadcasts.
 
Especially WOWO-AM and the WAJI-FM which are vital links for EAS. I realize stuff happens...but come-on. Tight budgets should not compromise emergency information to the community.
 
Yes, I don't want to make light of the situation in Fort Wayne and those that have suffered losses, but I am thinking about a Joplin MO kind of emergency.
 
KyDXIn said:
Juan Bodley said:
I hear it turned the tower farm off I-69 into a big ol' lightning show.
Bob it was a storm cell that gained strength as it passed Warsaw, hit me in Columbia City with some force and then steamrolled Fort Wayne.

BUT...as a sweet surprise, after the storm went through, for about a half hour, I was watching TV from LOUISVILLE. When I saw David Scott, who used to be on WANE, on WDRB, on the set, I about kicked over the La-Z-Boy!!
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear of the damage up there. I'm glad you were able to pick up WDRB from Louisville in this new digital age. I thought DXing was a thing of the past. What kind of an antenna system do you have?
Click to expand...

I have a Winegard HD-4400 antenna (it's a standing antenna; 8 elements that are stamped bars instead of cat whiskers;) with an EagleAspen 25 dB signal booster. Ready for this?? IT'S IN MY GARAGE ATTIC. I don't even think it's 20 feet off the ground but the drive from that amp does the job. Learned a thing or two from a guy at CEDIA in 2000 and I've ALWAYS put antennas in that way. Apparently it must work...
 
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