HD Radio Update for Atlanta

[IT_Guru]

First of all with the format changes at 96.1 & 105.3, their HD-2 channels have remained the same (so far).

Currently, the following stations are in HD.

FM:

90.1-1 WABE
90.1-2 WABE HD-2 Classical
90.1-3 WABE HD-3 NPR
91.9 WCLK
92.9 WZGC
94.1-1 WSTR
94.1-2 WSTR HD-2 mostly 80's and includes Friday Night 80's
94.1-3 WSTR HD-3 790 The Zone
94.9-1 WLTM
94.9-2 WLTM HD-2 Oldies
95.5-1 WBTS
95.5-2 WBTS HD-2 Top 40
96.1-1 WKLS
96.1-2 WKLS HD-2 Classic Rock - Vinyl Vineyard
96.7-1 WVWA Simulcast of 105.7
96.7-2 WVWA HD-2 Regional Mexican
97.1-1 WSRV
97.1-2 WSRV HD-2 WSB-AM 750 in (((Stereo)))
98.5-1 WSB-FM
98.5-2 WSB-FM HD-2 Soft Standards (sounds alot like Lite-FM when not playing Christmas music)
99.7-1 WNNX
99.7-2 WNNX HD-2 Currently off air (usually Classic Alternative)
100.5 WWWQ
101.5-1 WKHX
101.5-2 WKHX HD-2 Country/Southern Rock
102.5 WAMJ
103.3-1 WVEE
103.3-2 WVEE HD-2 Neo Soul/Urban AC
104.1-1 WALR
104.1-2 WALR HD-2 Adult Hip-Hop
105.3-1 WBZY
105.3-2 WBZY HD-2 New Alternative
105.7-1 WWVA
105.7-2 WWVA HD-2 Hispanic AC
106.7-1 WYAY
106.7-2 WYAY HD-2 Country/Southern Rock
107.5 WJZZ
107.9 WHTA

AM:

860 WAEC
1100 WWWE

New HD channels on the way:

92.9-2 Deep Classic Hits
100.5-2 All 90's

 

[RickRose]

First of all with the format changes at 96.1 & 105.3, their HD-2 channels have remained the same (so far).

Currently, the following stations are in HD.

FM:

90.1-1 WABE
90.1-2 WABE HD-2 Classical
90.1-3 WABE HD-3 NPR
91.9 WCLK
92.9 WZGC
94.1-1 WSTR
94.1-2 WSTR HD-2 mostly 80's and includes Friday Night 80's
94.1-3 WSTR HD-3 790 The Zone
94.9-1 WLTM
94.9-2 WLTM HD-2 Oldies
95.5-1 WBTS
95.5-2 WBTS HD-2 Top 40
96.1-1 WKLS
96.1-2 WKLS HD-2 Classic Rock - Vinyl Vineyard
96.7-1 WVWA Simulcast of 105.7
96.7-2 WVWA HD-2 Regional Mexican
97.1-1 WSRV
97.1-2 WSRV HD-2 WSB-AM 750 in (((Stereo)))
98.5-1 WSB-FM
98.5-2 WSB-FM HD-2 Soft Standards (sounds alot like Lite-FM when not playing Christmas music)
99.7-1 WNNX
99.7-2 WNNX HD-2 Currently off air (usually Classic Alternative)
100.5 WWWQ
101.5-1 WKHX
101.5-2 WKHX HD-2 Country/Southern Rock
102.5 WAMJ
103.3-1 WVEE
103.3-2 WVEE HD-2 Neo Soul/Urban AC
104.1-1 WALR
104.1-2 WALR HD-2 Adult Hip-Hop
105.3-1 WBZY
105.3-2 WBZY HD-2 New Alternative
105.7-1 WWVA
105.7-2 WWVA HD-2 Hispanic AC
106.7-1 WYAY
106.7-2 WYAY HD-2 Country/Southern Rock
107.5 WJZZ
107.9 WHTA

New HD channels on the way:

92.9-2 Deep Classic Hits
100.5-2 All 90's

I wonder why the Fish has ended up the only C1 FM in town to not go HD. Im interested in what the hold up is, i e-mailed a few months ago to find out but no response.

 

[taylorengineer]

They are afraid of the backlash. The HD channels only reliably work in the 60 dbu contour. For the Fish, thats aprox 45 miles from the tower. Because the tower is 25 miles east of downtown some areas of metro Atlanta would not receive the HD signal very well.
Rimshots are going to have a problem in the HD hybrid mode.....when/if FM radio goes straight digital power levels will increase and coverage will increase.

 

[ssnake]

Do WRAS and WRFG have HD Radio plans?

 

[livingfruitvirus]

Do WRAS and WRFG have HD Radio plans?

Wouldn't expect WRAS to have any unless a lot of students at Georgia State have HD Radio. I'll be surprised if some of them know what it is.

 

[taylorengineer]

Plans??.....Yes! Money??.......No!
WRAS has an audience consisting of mostly of non-students....same is true for Tech's WREK and Atlanta University's(Clark) WCLK.
WRAS already is digital from cd's(soon to be Prophet) to the exciter....the infrastructure is in place. We estimate HD will cost $100-125K. It's not in the budget for 2007.
WRFG is about to build a new site at Richland tower. For the first time in it's history, WRFG will have a real signal. It's antenna will be 500 feet up the stick....it will be directional towards the southwest, to protect stations to the northeast. It will have 65,000 watts towards the southwest....directly over downtown.
It would be beneficial to WRFG to put HD on the air and split the signals into 2-3 reasonable quality signals. They have been tilting the programming towards talk the last few years, which is needed programming. But an outlet for blues, bluegrass, folk, etc. is also needed. The college kids, for the most part, do not have the musical depth to present this type programming consistantly.

 

[baldyman]

WREK is currently saving up money (from contracts with ISP to carry GT sportS) and may be ready to go HD by Summer 07.

 

[RadioDoogie]

Do they make portable Walkman-sized HD radios and where can you buy them?

 

[grmf]

Walkmans, No. The radios are not cheap yet and most of them suck. The only decent ones are the Kenwood Car Radios.

 

[taylorengineer]

When is WREK going to get rid of that 80 bay Jampro antenna??!! It would help the analog signal immensely to go to a 4 bay and bang some killer-watts in to it.
Both WRAS and WREK have serious signal nasties due to use of high gain antennae.
WREK's antenna, by the way, used to belong to 96 Rock!

 

[baldyman]

WREK will replace the antanna when we get some more money. right now it works fine. and some of the bays (of the 12) are used by W4AQL the ham radio club at GT.

 

[BDBopper]

Re: WRFG

One of my best friends is a DJ at WRFG, Gene Tompkins. I don't get to hear his show very often because the signal doesn't reach up into Lawrenceville. Any chance the new signal will allow it to reach at least up to here? Or is it just making the signal stronger to the South metro?

 

[taylorengineer]

Don't mean to argue with folks from one of the best engineering schools on earth....BUT.....WREK's signal is terrible. It may be fine on campus....it may even sound fine in your car around town.....but trust me, it has more holes than Hillary's explanation of Universal healthcare.
But don't take my word....go to any antenna builder(ERI, Shively, etc.) and ask. And if you think all they want to do is sell you a new antenna, go ask a broadcast consultant who can model your antenna vs a lower gain antenna. Or find a EE who understands RF and get him/her to model the antenna....you will find it's not the best config for best coverage.
How do you combine ham gear to just a few of the 12 bays? I've never heard of combining *partially* to a FM antenna. You guys are the rocket scientists....if anyone can figure it out I guess Tech guys can!!
Glad to hear you guys will be HD soon!
WRFG will have a MUCH better signal in the northeast sections. It will be the first time ever!! I bet you will be pleased with the new signal.(They still put out several thousand watts from 500 feet in the NE direction.)

 

[ssnake]

Don't mean to argue with folks from one of the best engineering schools on earth....BUT.....WREK's signal is terrible. It may be fine on campus....it may even sound fine in your car around town.....but trust me, it has more holes than Hillary's explanation of Universal healthcare.
But don't take my word....go to any antenna builder(ERI, Shively, etc.) and ask. And if you think all they want to do is sell you a new antenna, go ask a broadcast consultant who can model your antenna vs a lower gain antenna. Or find a EE who understands RF and get him/her to model the antenna....you will find it's not the best config for best coverage.
How do you combine ham gear to just a few of the 12 bays? I've never heard of combining *partially* to a FM antenna. You guys are the rocket scientists....if anyone can figure it out I guess Tech guys can!!
Glad to hear you guys will be HD soon!

The old 96 Rock antenna was surplused in 1978 when WREK moved off the EE building. That was an 8-bay hpol, and it had serious power divider issues due to lightning strikes.

I think most of WREK's signal problems are multipath related, due to the low height, so I don't think going to a lower-gain antenna would fix that, and it could make it worse. But IBOC supposedly is more tolerant of multipath, so perhaps that will help out. Moving to a lower gain antenna could increase the RFR problems in the nearby dorms. As it is, I think WREK has excellent building penetration in midtown/downtown Atlanta.

WUOG is always dealing with RFR issues with their 4-bay half-wave spaced antenna. I do think they have a better close-in signal than WREK despite the severely low tower height, but the terrain is more multipath friendly in Athens I think.

W4AQL doesn't combine into our antenna; they have two of their own mounted alongside the beacon light on our tower.

The plan is first to buy a new HD Radio transmitter (dual FM/IBOC), and then to save up money to refurbish the 12-bay Jampro. I believe we can repattern it and increase ERP (with a major change application) except to the east and southeast. If we move to a lower gain antenna, that could increase our costs significantly (that is, from 10 to 20kW FM/HD transmitter and the increased costs of buying a new antenna).

If WREK agrees to affiliate with GPB (unlikely), they'd put us in the old WABE location on Stone Mtn. But that site has its own issues, and I'd assume that with our ERP there, building penetration downtown would be much worse.