Long-Silent AM Stations in Florida

[Ai4i]

I don't know about 1090 ever getting on @ night with the signal that Little Rock puts in that direction.

 

[cd637299]

Thank you. I had forgotten the location although Michigan stuck in the back of my mind. Do you know if there are any other stations operating on a split frequency operation, or is WNZK the only one-of-a-kind?
[/quote]

I think that they are the last one left. Ironically, not that far away, used to be the combo of CHIR 710 (days) & CHYR-7 730 (nights) in Leamington ON. They are fully FM now, if memory serves.

WNZK really isn't an old station AFAIK....maybe no more than 35 years old?

Aside from these two, I wanna say that there were others that split day/night, but I honestly cannot remember. Anyone wanna try?

cd

 

[jmtillery]

I don't know about 1090 ever getting on @ night with the signal that Little Rock puts in that direction.

You are correct. KAAY sends its 50kw night signal directly towards Jacksonville. I'm not sure night service on 1090 in Jacksonville is possible unless, possibly, someone wanted to bear the expense of constructing 24-towers for maybe 1kw of power with everything directed due East and nothing West.

 

[jmtillery]

I think that they are the last one left. Ironically, not that far away, used to be the combo of CHIR 710 (days) & CHYR-7 730 (nights) in Leamington ON. They are fully FM now, if memory serves.

cd

Wasn't CHIR and CHYR two stations or was this a split frequency operation? How did 710 and 730 work together?

 

[cd637299]

CHIR & CHYR had to be the same operation. CHYR (730) was nighttime only.....710 & 730 in the same city running at the same time only works in Mexico City....but that's another thread for another day.

So, if KAAY is so strong in Jax, why did Alachua get the nod for 1090 all day a while back? (BTW whereas KAAY used to pack a punch here in south FL, it sure doesn't seem the same as it did.)

cd

 

[jmtillery]

So, if KAAY is so strong in Jax, why did Alachua get the nod for 1090 all day a while back?

cd

Because Alachua is located in one of KAAY's null areas whereas Jacksonville isn't. Also, keep in mind that WGAF specified, I believe, 8-towers with only 250 watts nighttime or some other lower power multiple. The WGAF unbuilt CP expired and the permittee nor anyone else ever applied for a new CP.

 

[johnbasalla]

I remember listening to CHIR/CHYR change over from 710 to 730 at sundown. In my area near Cleveland, Ohio the station got stronger once they were on 730. They'd play a pre-recorded announcement about the change over, then broadcast a high pitched, modulated, kind-of beeping noise.
Then I'd dial over to 730, and the noise was there for some seconds. Then the noise would suddenly stop, and the announcer would come on and say... "You're back in the beam with cheer".

 

[jmtillery]

I remember hearing of some stations that would announce "It's fine tuning time" when it was time to change from the day frequency to the night frequency and again at sun-up going back to the day frequency.

 

[jmtillery]

710 & 730 in the same city running at the same time only works in Mexico City....but that's another thread for another day.

cd

I'd be very interested in hearing about the Mexico City radio situation you described above.

 

[radioboy]

The calls have changed, but I believe 1000 is still alive and well in Blountstown. Until about 3 years back they simulcast sister Country 102.7 but broke off to carry oldies. If they have gone silent it's been within the last year... also, they have a monster daytime signal for that area... it easily carries up the Apalachicola river valley into Georgia while the typical AM for that area gets out about 15 miles.

1240 in Chipley went down a few years back after the owner passed but the family was trying to revive the station and make it fit for sale. There was discussion about this on the North Florida board last year with posts from the former owner's son. They had a pretty bad signal.

WTOT 980 in Marianna and WFSH 1340 in Niceville have been off the air or possibly on flea power for a few years. Quincy's 1230 and Chattahoochee's 1580 have been hit or miss... either on flea power or running odd schedules to keep the licenses alive. I believe there are a couple long silent AMs in Tallahassee and the Live Oak areas also. With Tallahassee being the worst AM market in the USA, it's hard to keep up with the stations there.

Several regular North Florida board posters would have all this information memorized if you are interested in stations just below Lower Alabama and Georgia but north of the real Florida.
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I'm one of those North Florida folks.

I've picked up AM 1000 from Blountstown fairly recently. They were playing oldies. That was back in the fall sometime.

The 1240 in Chipley was put back on the air, but vandalized shortly thereafter. I believe an engineer named Tom is involved with the technical aspects of that station.

Right now, all the Tallahassee AM stations are on, although with the brokered/satellite programming they have, not many folks care one way or the other. 1270 The Team, a sports station, is the only Tallahassee AM with ratings.

WSBX 1020 in Ochlocknee GA is silent, despite the dismissed STA to remain silent. Likewise, WMCA AM 1560 in Daleville, Alabama, used to come into Tallahassee. I have not heard this station since July of 2009.

WTCL in Chattahoochee is also silent, and, I understand is up for sale. For way too much.

 

[jmtillery]

The calls have changed, but I believe 1000 is still alive and well in Blountstown. Until about 3 years back they simulcast sister Country 102.7 but broke off to carry oldies.

Alan - Originally WPHK was a class A on 102.3 with the call letters WRTM. Do you know the year it moved to 102.7 C3? The call letters changed to WPHK on July 21, 1986.

Regarding WYBT-AM 1000, it was originally 1kw-D; however it upgraded to 5kw-D at some point. Do you happen to know when? I always liked the orginal call letters WKMK which I think would have fit nicely on the FM.

 

[radioboy]

Mark,

I don't remember when WYBT upgraded, although I did notice they had a CP in 1999 for a minor change.

I believe Harry Hagan may have taken over the stations about the time of the changes in the mid-80s.

I do remember the station as WKMK. Our annual trip to Mexico Beach used to take us right through Blountstown.

Those same trips were also how I discovered the now-silent WJOE-AM 1080 in Port St. Joe.

 

[cflamfm]

WCCZ was country in the '70's and went up against the original WELE AM in South Daytona. Yet CCZ only was a daytimer and had 250 watts they were grounded in the Halifax River. Not a bad signal for the little guy since they were in the water. I remember they had a DJ in a wheelchair working there and one of the employees got mad at him one day and rolled him into the drink.
Bob Belz, the former morning man and PD at WROD in the early '70s
bought CCZ, but it didn't go to well.

 

[cd637299]

I'd love to hear an aircheck of WCCZ, if only to hear the announcer say it. That's one set of rough call letters!

We have an LPTV with calls of WBPB. Luckily nobody verbally announces it.

cd

 

[jovialjay]

WQIK 1090 Jacksonville (10) (wasn't this 50,000w?)
(10) WQIK...but the 1090 did exist...cd

We remember hearing them when we attended UF in 72/73
Must have moved because they were a 50kw d**timer!

WQIK-AM once operated on 1090 with 50kw-DA-D before moving to AM 1050 and later AM 1320. The call letters on 1090 were WCMG (Country Music Greats) and was owned by Marshall Rowland. For some reason, Rowland downgraded the power from 50kw to 10kw just before moving to 1050 with 5kw. The 1090 frequency has been deleted while AM 1050 is now home to religious formatted WROS.

WQIK signed on with 5kw-D on 1280 in 1955. The very late 60's move to 1090 50kw-DA-D/10kw-DA-CH was obviously for the higher power when AM was preferred over FM. The 1090 DA used 3 towers (of varying heights) at the Rio Grande Avenue studio/transmitter site. It was a critical array and difficult to keep in tolerance. When FM gained equal footing, it was determined to be better to move to 1050, with 5kw and a 2-tower array, than to remain on 1090.

Why not move back to 1280? WIVY moved from 1050 with 1kw to gain 5kw on 1280 a few years after WQIK vacated the frequency for the move to 1090.

1320 was WJHP, WZOK and WVOJ (WQIK's primary competition at the time) before becoming WQIK(AM) in 1982, when Marshall Rowland bought it from WVOJ, Inc.

 

[jovialjay]

The calls have changed, but I believe 1000 is still alive and well in Blountstown. Until about 3 years back they simulcast sister Country 102.7 but broke off to carry oldies.

Alan - Originally WPHK was a class A on 102.3 with the call letters WRTM. Do you know the year it moved to 102.7 C3? The call letters changed to WPHK on July 21, 1986.

Regarding WYBT-AM 1000, it was originally 1kw-D; however it upgraded to 5kw-D at some point. Do you happen to know when? I always liked the orginal call letters WKMK which I think would have fit nicely on the FM.

WKMK and WRTM were once owned by Jack Henry, who built WHHR-FM at Hilton Head Island. Blountstown and Hilton Head...markets that are mirror images of each other!!!

The FM's move from 102.3 was to accommodate the WWAV/Santa Rosa Beach upgrade to 25kw.

Harry Hagan and his wife still own the stations. He and I had a brief conversation in 1990. I'd bought the silent WNUE/Fort Walton Beach, and discovered several faulty modules in my MW-1A transmitter. Everything had been working fine when I viewed the station prior to the purchase. A little birdie whispered in my ear, and a check with Harris confirmed that the faulty modules were originally in the Blountstown transmitter. WNUE's engineer also did some work in Blountstown, so I called Harry in Perry (he also owned WPRY at the time). After our chat about the Okaloosa County sheriff's take on being in possession of stolen property, the modules magically reappeared in the WNUE transmitter.

The Blountstown stations used to look rather crappy, but they're now in a very attractive brick building. Business must be good in Blountstown.

 

[jmtillery]

jovialjay - Thank you for the history of WQIK as well as some background on WKMK / WRTM. It seems to me I remember seeing somewhere that WQIK operated on 1280 prior to WIVY, but I was unsure of the exact dates.

Additionally, I had often wondered why WRTM moved frequency from 102.3 to 102.7 as there was no power upgrade when the initial frequency move was implemented. The only thing that made any logical sense in doing so is WRTM's licensee was paid to move, and / or there were upgrade possibilities which were later implemented. Aside from that, why move?

 

[radioboy]

Thanks for the history there, Jay! Nice to see you on the board.

Hope everything is going well for you these days.

 

[radiosanchez]

"WWAK 1450 Redwater Lake (Hawthorne) (4)"

WWAK was owned by former WRUF CE Ed Slimak, I think it was his 'hobby' and did not last long.

"WPRV 1600 Wauchula"

I have an old Broadcasting Yearbook that states that WPRV was 'merged into', or 'consolidated into' WAUC/1310, and hence deleted...I don't have the listing with me now, but it says something to that effect. Don't really understand what that means.

btw, just out of curiosity, did not know WAVS was dark at one time?? When was that??


...also forgetting WFRK/1320 in Coleman, another deleted license.

 

[jmtillery]

WRFK was originally adult standards WHOF (Heart of Florida) before moving to 640. After WHOF vacated its original frequency, the 1320 facilities became adult standards / MOR WMHI; rock / country WWLW; and finally WFRK.