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KMAZ-LP 102.5 (Downtown) appears to have signed on

S

stevenNOLA

Although I haven't heard an ID, it has to be this station as I receive a strong signal in Midtown, River Oaks, and Downtown. I'll give it a try on my ride home to the N. Shepherd/43rd St. area.

http://fccdata.org/?facid=192936

Musically, it seems to be mostly adult R&B.

Anyone with more information?
 
I hadn't noticed that the CP had changed with the transmitter now atop the Wells Fargo building downtown. Licensed for 1.353 watts (not a typo) at 310 meters. Probably one of the lowest power FM stations you will ever hear that isn't a Part 15.

At a 7pm check at my Cy-Fair location the tropo is kicking up a bit, so getting a mix of KMKS, KBRQ, with some sort of R&B underneath; too weak to tell if it is KMAZ or KTCX. Will have to check for KMAZ on the commute tomorrow.
 
That little LPFM has just over a watt of power at 1017 feet in the air. While the stereo light is flickering, I can pick it up 13.9 miles away with a simple three foot piece of wire antenna stick into the back of my stereo. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie_zT_IlFlA
 
Yep, it's awfully weak, but I can hear it up here north of the Beltway. That's around 19 miles as the crow flies, from DT to where I am. Not bad at all for 1 watt, but hasn't "Bread of Life" really shoehorned themselves into place? Can't do much more than the 1 watt, with 2nd adjacent KLTN right down the street on Ennis. Kind of surprises me this facility passed the muster at all, given its short spacing between it and 102-9, and 102-1 to a lesser extent.

What's "Bread of Life", btw? Isn't this St. John's Methodist Church's application? That would explain the Gospel music it sounds like they are playing.
 
purpledevil said:
Yep, it's awfully weak, but I can hear it up here north of the Beltway. That's around 19 miles as the crow flies, from DT to where I am. Not bad at all for 1 watt, but hasn't "Bread of Life" really shoehorned themselves into place? Can't do much more than the 1 watt, with 2nd adjacent KLTN right down the street on Ennis. Kind of surprises me this facility passed the muster at all, given its short spacing between it and 102-9, and 102-1 to a lesser extent.

What's "Bread of Life", btw? Isn't this St. John's Methodist Church's application? That would explain the Gospel music it sounds like they are playing.
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Wow, I didn't think it would make it that far!

While traveling north on 45, the sound quality starts to degrade past the 610 loop. It's really funny--you can still see the WF Tower in the rear view mirror but that 1 watt just isn't quite enough power to even cover line of sight.

Although the signal is weak, it likely covers the entire 610 loop with a usable signal--not too shabby for a LPFM.
 
Your mileage may vary, Steven. I should explain, that reception was sitting still in the driveway. House receiver picked up nothing at 102-5, that's why I had to go check the car's. It's not something I could tolerate listening to, by any stretch, and not because of the music. I don't mind static when it's a station coming from a good distance, but not from downtown Houston.

As I drove into work this AM, it's pretty sketchy down to, say, Gulf Bank. South of that, it gets better, but suddenly it'll be crystal clear then wham! It drops clear off the dial, and then returns to a listenable signal. I'm at Brookhollow today, so this is still a bit out of KMAZ's predicted usable range.
 
Im on I10 and Beltway 8 and theres a Jazz station playing and in the background there's country playing too.
 
KMAZ report from my commute today:

This morning at my Cy-Fair location it was KMKS and KBRQ fighting it out as tropo was still kicking up, but driving along the Beltway I could hear snippets of KMAZ. On 290 inbound the signal fight continued until around Pinemont, where KMAZ began to dominate. By the time I got to the West Loop KMAZ was solid and remained pretty solid inside the Loop.

Coming home this afternoon KMAZ was still solid inside the Loop, and actually held up on 290 outbound past Pinemont. Approaching the Beltway KMAZ began to have some dropouts, revealing KMKS underneath. But KMAZ was still more or less listenable until I got home, around 17 miles from the Wells Fargo building. Not bad for just over 1 watt.

KMAZ has an interesting mix of music: Some Urban Gospel, some Christian Contemporary, but also a surprising amount of what would be considered secular music; a sort of "Classic Urban Adult Contemporary" (yes, I realize that is a bit of an oxymoron, but I think you get the idea.) The "secular" songs were the sort that had inspirational and uplifting lyrics, some of which could be interpreted both ways.

No announcements other than an occasional quick "KMAZ-LP Houston" legal ID.

The 1 watt signal did better than I would have expected, but I think an issue going forward will be its low field strength, which will make it susceptible to getting clobbered when tropo is coming in. Also having the transmitter for second-adjacent KLTN nearby could desensitize some radios on 102.5; however my car radio had no trouble with this.

I suspect KMAZ is still in the testing mode; wonder what other programming might be added. Would be nice if soon-to-be-launched KOER in Cy-Fair had a similar format. The music on KMAZ was actually rather refreshing, a reminder of the playlist rut that most other FM's have fallen into these days.

One little gem that got played this morning: Minnie Riperton's "Reasons", a song that got a lot of airplay on Progressive Rock/AOR stations in the 70's. It has probably been 35 years since I last heard that song played anywhere on the radio.
 
No sign of KMAZ near downtown either this (Monday) morning or evening, so the broadcasts on Friday must have been a test. I did hear a stereo signal with dead air at my Cy-Fair location Sunday afternoon mixing with KMKS. Assumed it was the KMAZ transmitter with no audio.
 
Saturday morning I listened while driving 45 south I could get all the way to about 1 1/2 to 2 miles north of the beltway then about 11:15 just dead air and no music
 
After having gone missing the past week KMAZ is back on the air Saturday afternoon. Hearing it while driving along FM 1960 near Willowbrook Mall. That's pretty much the edge of their coverage area, but still the best signal on the frequency, with either KMKS or KTCX audible during dropouts (no sign of KBRQ.) Pretty amazing for 1 watt, even with the antenna height.

I still haven't seen anything about the station on the Bread Of Life website.
 
Thanks for the update Frog, I was out in Cypress and KMAZ was listenable all the way out to FM529 and Barker Cypress. As I approached 290 on FM529, the signal was immaculate. It sound like they have done some tweaking since my initial post.
 
I caught it Friday night. Signal seems about the same to me, only no longer is it broadcasting in stereo. Also sounds like the audio fed to it is louder now.
 
Just for fun, here's the Longley/Rice for KMAZ-LP. I've actually experienced reception slightly better than indicated here, carrying it all the way to 610 on 288.
 

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I was hearing KMAZ with a decent signal on Beltway 8 near Bellaire Blvd. last night, overriding some tropo from KMKS. The 1 watt signal continues to aMAZe, which makes the call letters rather appropriate.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I was hearing KMAZ with a decent signal on Beltway 8 near Bellaire Blvd. last night, overriding some tropo from KMKS. The 1 watt signal continues to aMAZe, which makes the call letters rather appropriate.
Click to expand...

A great example of how vulnerable 1 watt is to tropo - I could barely catch KMAZ at the 59/288 split this morning.
 
Domingo said:
A great example of how vulnerable 1 watt is to tropo - I could barely catch KMAZ at the 59/288 split this morning.
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...yet it was blasting into north Houston like the stick was right down the street this morning. Also noticed what sounded like Radio Aleluya blowing the doors off of 101-5 this morning as well. Not sure if that's the translator from Livingston coming all the way down here, of if something else is afoot.
 
Domingo said:
A great example of how vulnerable 1 watt is to tropo - I could barely catch KMAZ at the 59/288 split this morning.
Click to expand...

That same morning (Thursday 7/30) KMAZ was getting buried by tropo while I was driving along Montrose, just a short distance from downtown and the looming Wells Fargo building. However that evening (and again yesterday) I had a good signal all along 290 almost to the Beltway.

If there is little or no tropo, the KMAZ signal can go a long way. I can get choppy reception along FM1960 in NW Harris County.
 
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