a translator in CT at one time was reportedly in a tree ages ago
-
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
K225DC 92.9 (KGTK?) contact help appreciated.
- Thread starter MWDXER
- Start date
There is an LPFM in a tree in the PDX market as well. Works OK until it gets windy!
As I recall, a LP station in Bellevue was using a tree for their transmitter site at one point. I guess it does work, but I definitely wouldn’t call it the optimal engineering solution. We’re constantly seeing technical changes with this group, so there will probably be more changes to come.
I also agree that interference from KISM will be problematic. It’s too strong and a bit too close. I can easily pick them up on a decent radio in Pierce County. Mount Constitution is decently far away, but field strength is still pretty high.
I also agree that interference from KISM will be problematic. It’s too strong and a bit too close. I can easily pick them up on a decent radio in Pierce County. Mount Constitution is decently far away, but field strength is still pretty high.
Do any of these stations that use trees as their transmitter sites, play anything from Michelle Branch? 😆
The 92.9 Tacoma audio has improved. Perhaps someone from NWRRPS has moved the folded dipole "T" antenna behind the stereo set to get things working. (They musy be readinh this thread.)
The Douglas Fir antenna is not the "root" (pun intended) of the problem. Instead, KISM 92.9 throws a monster signal southward from Mt Constitution on Orcas. Throw in a little summertime tropoducting and things go bad real fast.
The Douglas Fir antenna is not the "root" (pun intended) of the problem. Instead, KISM 92.9 throws a monster signal southward from Mt Constitution on Orcas. Throw in a little summertime tropoducting and things go bad real fast.
I feel like this is a problem with a lot of these translators. I continue to be very much against the 100.3 translator that covers up CKKQ in south Snohomish County. CKKQ was very easily listenable before that translator came on. Although this was years ago, I knew someone who had the station set on their car radio, and when a friend and I would go ice skating, the rink would more often than not play 100.3.
With Tacoma being located on a bit of a land peninsula (with open Puget Sound to the north of it), KISM is definitely stronger than most coverage maps would indicate. Even the trusty Longely Rice coverage maps don’t really get the coverage right. When add in Mount Constitution and all of the open Puget Sound between the transmitter and Tacoma, it’s a recipe for disaster.
At my home away from home in the Vancouver BC area, KISM rips up CKYE 93.1 in many parts of town. And to be entirely fair, KISM was there first. Transmitting a weak signal on an adjacent station to a flamethrower like 92.9 seemed like a bit of a bad idea.
Back in the 1980s, KDUX 104.7 was a regular visitor to Bellingham and many parts of Northwest Washington. I could hear them nicely with just the little dipole T-wire ribbon Sanyo gave me with my new stereo. They were an AOR station that still signed off at Midnight (with "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" The Beatles as the Good Night song before turning off the transmitter.) Very weak noisy stereo signal that cleared up in mono to a low distance hiss. On late summer tropo days/nights, they boomed in nicely up there.
KISM used to make it nicely to Olympia (where then 92.9 KAST-FM, Astoria, OR started to clash.) You'd be surprised how many Portland FM stations you could get in Olympia. They were often clearer than Seattle FM stations.
The one AM station down there that weirdly didn't pounce on a FM translator when it could (and I'll never understand for the life of me why) was KUOW 1340. It's not like they couldn't afford it (it's the Universty of Washington.) Or they don't need one (They do. Desperately.)
But they literally spent less money on KCMU in the pre-Paul Allen years than it has costed them to keep that AM thing in Tumwater going by now. With the AM gone, they could reassign the translator to KUOW-FM, give it a nice big loud signal at the Capitol campus (which was what I thought they were always really after when they picked up the Tumwater AM. But 1340 AM doesn't make it through the stonework and electronic RF minefield inside the Capitol building. A nearby FM translator can.)
KISM used to make it nicely to Olympia (where then 92.9 KAST-FM, Astoria, OR started to clash.) You'd be surprised how many Portland FM stations you could get in Olympia. They were often clearer than Seattle FM stations.
The one AM station down there that weirdly didn't pounce on a FM translator when it could (and I'll never understand for the life of me why) was KUOW 1340. It's not like they couldn't afford it (it's the Universty of Washington.) Or they don't need one (They do. Desperately.)
But they literally spent less money on KCMU in the pre-Paul Allen years than it has costed them to keep that AM thing in Tumwater going by now. With the AM gone, they could reassign the translator to KUOW-FM, give it a nice big loud signal at the Capitol campus (which was what I thought they were always really after when they picked up the Tumwater AM. But 1340 AM doesn't make it through the stonework and electronic RF minefield inside the Capitol building. A nearby FM translator can.)
IF that were legal to do, they prob. would
I was driving through Lewis County today and we landed on 92.9. It's still simulcasting KITI, but outside of the required legal at the top of the hour, there's no promotion of it at all. I wonder what's going on with this? To me, if they really had solid plans for this signal, they would have executed them by now. Instead, it's AM 1420 and 100.5 with no mention of the 92.9 that is very easily as good of a signal as either their 95.1 or the 104.3 in the area.
If they really are running 4kw, then they've got 95.1 beat easily on power output. Live 95 is a great hyper-local radio station for Lewis County, but they don't get out very far (unfortunately).
This thread remains as somewhat of a dumping ground for all things NWR&RPS in the Puget Sound . Therefore, I add the following note;
The FCC has approved the K293DE (106.5) Capitol Peak license to cover (L2C) filing. The signal is 10 watts ERP using two Bext Log-R (log periodic) antennas stacked at 0.78 wavelength separation. The boresight is 35 degrees (thus NNE). Supposedly there is a 40 dB null centered at 180 degrees (S). This relays KGHO-LP via K224DR.
The FCC has approved the K293DE (106.5) Capitol Peak license to cover (L2C) filing. The signal is 10 watts ERP using two Bext Log-R (log periodic) antennas stacked at 0.78 wavelength separation. The boresight is 35 degrees (thus NNE). Supposedly there is a 40 dB null centered at 180 degrees (S). This relays KGHO-LP via K224DR.
I had a Bet Log R FM and a Scala Yagi (both 5 elements) used for RX purposes.
The Scala was much sturdier, more well built and performed a bit better... Bext is computer modeled, Scala is range tested
The scala, new.. is more expensive.
(1) NWRRPS continues to run a bogus antenna pattern from Capitol Peak 106.5 . It's like they're using the old pattern for what was the 92.9 translator. I can easily hear 106.5 in Chehalis - heck even down to the Vader exit and beyond. (2) Their 92.9 Tacoma repeater still has crummy, hissy audio - they should acquire a nice receive antenna and a serious FM receiver to ingest the 106.5 Olympia signal. A used Magnum-Dynalab FT-101A might be all that is needed on the receiver side.
Even while being super close to the 92.9 translator, I can see on my SDR that the audio has a very high noise floor.