Mystery Station on 89.9

[w9wi]

Skipper: 89.9 has a permit to move to a TV tower near the junction of I-24 West and OHB northwest of town, across the highway from the Channel 5 tower. Judging from their signal, I would be quite sure that permit has been built & they're operating from the TV tower. The permit allows for 250 watts.

Deltas: A "translator" is a station that serves to rebroadcast the signal of some other station. It's not allowed to originate programming of its own.* In this case, 88.7 is a "regular" station, call letters WAYM. 89.9 is a translator, authorized to rebroadcast the WAYM 88.7 signals.

Another way of looking at it is to figure that one station (WAYM Way FM) has two transmitters, at different locations, broadcasting the same program.

Either way, yes, you would expect to hear the same station on 88.7 and 89.9.

I count 13 of these things in Middle Tennessee -- probably missing some...

* There are VERY limited exceptions. I've never heard a translator take advantage of those exceptions.

 

[deltas69]

Can a station have as many translators as they want..or can afford..and can they place them anywhere they get permission?? seems like a way to cover a large area with limited wattage assuming you could locate them in a circle surrounding your "home" station..

 

[w9wi]

Can a station have as many translators as they want..or can afford..

Yes.

and can they place them anywhere they get permission?? seems like a way to cover a large area with limited wattage assuming you could locate them in a circle surrounding your "home" station..

The problem with that, is that if your station is commercial, you cannot use translators to extend its theoretical coverage. (FCC regulation. It would work fine from an engineering standpoint) If your main station in downtown Nashville is not predicted to reach, say, Lebanon, you cannot install a translator in Lebanon to reach that audience.

(so why are there translators at all? Because the FCC coverage prediction formulas are not perfect, it is very possible your station cannot, in fact, be received in places where the formulas say it can. You can install a translator to reach these areas.)

Now, if your station is *non*-commercial, using translators to extend your coverage is definitely an option; obviously, Way FM makes pretty good use of this rule.

 

[xmusicmatt]

Not real up on the tx stuff..tried to grab 89.9 this morning heading east by the airport around 5am..it was wall to wall strong..then i heard an id for 88.7 turned to 88.7 and got the same station..do translaters broadcast over different frequencies ?? at the same time...not the techiest guy in the room..lol

Yes sorta -- However 89.9 is not actually rebroadcasting 88.7 WAYM's signal directly.. The Way translator is actually rebroadcasting WPRT-HD3 which is airing WayFM's programming.. Way Media is running the same ID's on WAYM and WPRT HD-3 which is why you hear "88.7 Way FM" mentioned on 89.9.. If you listen at the Top of the hour you'll hear them give two ID's (WAYM Springhill / WPRT HD-3 Pegram) for the legal ID.

I am guessing at some point once "everything" is tested and working well they will likely ID both 88.7 and 89.9 on their imaging ID's you hear in Nashville on 88.7 and 89.9 .. They also (since they are feeding WPRT HD-3 which is feeding the translator at 89.9 could run separate automation running imaging specifically for the 89.9 frequency) - technically since the translator is rebroadcasting an HD signal they can program the HD-3 as if it was it's own radio station and be legal in the FCC's eyes).

 

[deltas69]

Where is the translator for 89.9 located ??..it really gets out East along 1-40..almost to Carthage before splattering..

 

[NashvilleNative]

Where is the translator for 89.9 located ??..it really gets out East along 1-40..almost to Carthage before splattering..

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=36.268055,+-86.795830+(W210CD-FM)&om=1

The go as far South as Columbia/Spring Hill, overlapping much of 88.7's coverage.

 

[deltas69]

Thanks..so...according to that map..the translator is out toward Clarksville..I'm no Everette Lawson...but that seems like a fur piece for 250 watts to go..almost all the way to Carthage..and it was clear and strong untilil past the Alexandria exit...88.5 in Gallatin, 1000 watts..goes stone dead as soon as you go under that exit...How is 89.5 getting that good a signal that far with 250 watts...sure makes me wish I had 250 watts on top of the ridge north of Gallatin where 104.5 was back in the day..

 

[NashvilleNative]

It really makes me appreciate height over power. Especially when you compare it to 89.1

 

[w9wi]

Thanks..so...according to that map..the translator is out toward Clarksville..I'm no Everette Lawson...but that seems like a fur piece for 250 watts to go..almost all the way to Carthage..and it was clear and strong untilil past the Alexandria exit...88.5 in Gallatin, 1000 watts..goes stone dead as soon as you go under that exit...How is 89.5 getting that good a signal that far with 250 watts...sure makes me wish I had 250 watts on top of the ridge north of Gallatin where 104.5 was back in the day..

Yep, it's height...

http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=64258

Click on the second "Calculate HAAT" link. Their antenna is 316 meters (about 1,000') above average terrain. That signal is essentially identical to Lightning 100's. (200w/360m)

 

[deltas69]

I do know that FM is line of sight so to speak..that said..250 watts on the old 104.5 tower on the ridge would have to get out to Nashville pretty well. The tower is more than 300 feet as I recall..and it's sitting on top of at least a 1000 foot rise...Before the trees grew up on top of that mountain, at night..you could see the the lights in Nashville..and a wonderous overview of Gallatin below to the south..What a place to park...or so I was told... :

 

[xmusicmatt]

Where is the translator for 89.9 located ??..it really gets out East along 1-40..almost to Carthage before splattering..

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=36.268055,+-86.795830+(W210CD-FM)&om=1

The go as far South as Columbia/Spring Hill, overlapping much of 88.7's coverage.

They do overlap but also help.. I look at it as 89.9 for the north end of Nashville.. 88.7 for the southern end.. Basically taking two smaller powered stations and combing them to have a larger coverage area.

 

[BuzzCam]

Just got back into town after a short vacation and flipped on 89.9 for some good old big band tunes. I was shocked...Wow, that big band music sure took a strange turn someplace. Then, I realized the signal was far stronger than it ever has been. But, the mystery was over when I heard a station call sign that was not WBAL.

I wonder where he will pop up next. I have been checking about the only available channel 87.7 and have heard nothing, except a dead carrier around the RV Businesses in the Opryland area on Briley Parkway.

 

[skippertthomas]

Great banter, folks... Way came on in '92, just before Gospel Music Week.. I move into Nashville to be the eyes and contact for the expansion off the original WAYJ in Fort Myers, FL (est. 1987).... We had a rimshot from Bill Kincade's tower south of Franklin and east of I-65 (just north of where 840 is)... We were class "A" and licensed to Columbia for the first years... Our great engineering crew and kept working on it, over time.. DA and to a C-3, I think?, Off that tower, and then south to a tower that was off 31 and 102.9 was on.....Then to where it is, now.....330m at 5kw... Directional to protect 88.5 in Gallitan and third channel for Fisk U.'s little dorm antenna... Also, to protect their DA full power 88.3 (Way's) in Clarksville-Dickson.... The 60dBU goes up to Briley and the 54 hits well until you get to the Vet exchange on I-65 and that's where the northland will be helped by 89.9... Way rented 99.3 from WAMB for years with 3 watts off Donelson hill, and tried 98.9 off the WSIX tower for a short while, until bumped by the new FM that came in the east metro.... The 250 is allowed by taking the feed from a leased HD facility.. We have one in my home town of Evansville, now.... Was 10 watts at 800 or so feet on the WEVV tower in Henderson, KY at 91.9... Moved to 92.1 at 150 watts, at the same height, but too much interference from the Class "A" 45 air miles north.. Went back to 91.9 and leased the 106.1 HD from Townsquare and got the two hundred and fifty watts at the high point on the WEVV-TV tower (which Henderson's AM did at WSON-AM) and BOOM! If they could of had a clearer signal on 92.1, they would be able to 'local program' with non-restrictive commercial sales (even as a 501(c)3), but,they can locally program, if they decide too... Instead of a satellite repeater.... They could only do underwriting, and non-profit group call to action, if they choose. But, a good move there.. In Nashville, since they are established and a signal that come within about a mile of a Class "A" at 100 meter city grade, It will power their commuter listeners and homes West-Northwest and Northeast of town.... Fish (Salem) has done well in Christian AC with the two frequencies that are close by..... I am sure they will image, when they get through the testing and fine tuning.. The Columbia translator at 99.3 has some bugs, but will be worked out... Oh, the Clarksville project, back years ago... I worked on that.. 99.5 was our licensed translator and 88.1 was WNAZ's (89.1).... We got too much breakage from 99.5 in Henderson, KY (100kw) that we traded with WNAZ and then later got the DA-FM-Low C Class off a tower south, toward Dickson on 88.3.... We first rented a licensed low watt translator in Clarksville at 96.7 for a couple of years.... Except for a 20 mile streach up 41-Pennyrile Parkway in KY, I can listen to it on the Madisonville, KY translator and then Evansville-Henderson's 91.9 comes in at Hanson, KY (Just North of Madisonville.... Goes to about Princeton, IN, north of Evansville....

 

[BuzzCam]

Thank you skipperthomas for such a great read. I always wanted to be in radio (engineering), even got my First Class License in the 70's, but ended up in television production. I work for NorthStar Studios on Dickerson Pike as a video editor. NorthStar is the place with the satellite up-link dishes and the 476 foot self supporting tower.

It is fascinating to read about all the different translators and how the originating station's program is delivered to them. Is 89.9's antenna on that single tower to the left of I-24 as you leave Northeast Nashville? I think the other tower, the one with the shorter tower next to it, has 17, 30 and 58 on it. And, I know the red/white tower on the opposite side of I-24 is Channel 5's tower. I used to work for them in the late 80's. Great place to work for.

 

[w9wi]

Thank you skipperthomas for such a great read. I always wanted to be in radio (engineering), even got my First Class License in the 70's, but ended up in television production. I work for NorthStar Studios on Dickerson Pike as a video editor. NorthStar is the place with the satellite up-link dishes and the 476 foot self supporting tower.

It is fascinating to read about all the different translators and how the originating station's program is delivered to them. Is 89.9's antenna on that single tower to the left of I-24 as you leave Northeast Nashville? I think the other tower, the one with the shorter tower next to it, has 17, 30 and 58 on it. And, I know the red/white tower on the opposite side of I-24 is Channel 5's tower. I used to work for them in the late 80's. Great place to work for.

OK, here's what I believe is on the four towers up there at the intersection of I-24 West & OHB:

- On the east side of I-24... Channel 5. They've got several antennas up there -- not sure which ones are still present, but over the last couple of years they've operated on RF channels 5, 25, 50, and 56. The main frequency is 25 and I think 5 is still active.

- On the west side of I-24...

The southernmost tower is Sinclair's. It houses:

WZTV channel 17
WUXP channel 30
WJFB channel 44 (permit only, but I'm pretty sure it's on the air from here. Licensed site is near the old Superspeedway along 840 east of town.)
WNAB channel 58

Jack FM 96.3 WCJK
i106 106.7 WNFN
107.5 The River WRVW

Backups for:
97.9 WSIX-FM
101.1 The Beat WUBT
105.9 The Rock WNRQ
107.5 The River WRVW

There's a second, shorter tower immediately adjacent -- just a few feet away. To my knowledge there are no broadcast antennas remaining on this tower. It used to be channel 30's analog facility.

The northernmost tower belongs to a broker -- American Tower Company IIRC. It contains:

WNPX channel 28
WPGD channel 50
WNPX-LP analog channel 20 (simulcasts digital channel 28.1)
WIIW-LP channel 14, permit to convert to digital (analog is elsewhere) (to my knowledge this is not on the air)
WJNK-LP analog channel 34 (3Abn) & a permit to convert to digital at the same site
WNTU-LP permit to convert to digital (analog is elsewhere) (to my knowledge this is not on the air)

89.9 Way FM (official calls are W210CD)
The Zone 104.5 WGFX

 

[deltas69]

Does anyone know what, if any, antennas are on the old wfmg,whin,kixx tower up on the ridge over Gallatin..there are several towers up there..just wondering if any are active..

 

[BuzzCam]

Wow! Thanks for the info w9wi. That's allot of RF buzzing around in that area. I used to live on Brick Church Pike near Channel 5's tower when I first moved to town in 1982. Channel 5 never caused any interference, but I did get WLAC-AM on my phone allot.

 

[w9wi]

Does anyone know what, if any, antennas are on the old wfmg,whin,kixx tower up on the ridge over Gallatin..there are several towers up there..just wondering if any are active..

None, because the tower itself came down across Hwy. 109 a few years ago. I'm thinking WVCP 88.5 was there when the tower came down (it's now on the Vol State campus) but I'm not 100% sure of that. WVCP might have moved before the tower came down.

Channel 50's analog signal was on one of the other towers up there, and one belonged to Sprint.

 

[deltas69]

I was thinking the tower that fell was the backup tower that was just outside the window of the control room..I could see half of it when I drove up the ridge..I'm pretty sure the big stick is still up there..I can see the lights...Wonder what is in the building at the end of the drive where the TV station was that belonged to the bunch at Twitty City ?? I know they had a tower up there as well..I think the city of Gallatin may have a tower up there..I haven't actually been on the property in years..not really sure what is standing ..

 

[w9wi]

You could well be right -- 104.5 was long gone from that site by the time I came to Nashville & I may be thinking of the wrong tower..

I wouldn't be surprised if the Channel 50 TV building is completely empty except for unwanted animals...