If I remember correctly the ratings don't bear that out. Dick Edwards had some monster numbers at night, for example (with a lousy signal, even). I seem to recall all the dayparts were strong. I have been involved with some stations that put all their efforts into mornings and ignored everything else, and it always showed. Don't think Q was like that.
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Rating the signals
- Thread starter Bob Brame
- Start date
So FM 100 had better coverage "back in the day" than they do now? I was kind of disappointed in the overall coverage of the station after seeing their 290H / 96V kW power as shown in the FCC database. I figured it was low antenna height that was the culprit. Some mornings I've taken a good clear signal all the way into the bootheel of Missouri, south towards Jackson it seems to die out quicker than 102.7 or 104.5, where the 99.7 from Jackson starts makin' gravy.radiosaur said:
And to add to the thread, antenna height is probably more important than power on FM. To wit, WDXB, licensed to Jasper, Alabama. They were atop the "Tuscaloosa tall tower" in rural Tusc. county, at about 2,215 feet HAAT. With just 73 kW, it has a massive coverage area, from near Tupelo to Ardmore, TN; Gadsden, south to Greenville, AL and then some... Relocated a while back to Red Mountain in downtown B'ham, up to 100 kW @ about 1300' HAAT, but the coverage just isn't the same since the move. (Terrain issues kept their signal from performing well in the B'ham metro, a 35+ mile hop from the TX site.)
WMC-FM seems to be solid in the city, but not so much elsewhere. Other than WVIM, I don't recall any FM's I listened to that did poorly in midtown/downtown, though...
Another weak performer that sprang to mind was WKNA from Senatobia. It was spotty in a lot of the eastern burbs from what I recall. Now WMSB, AFR has a CP to move it to near Chulahoma in Marshall County and go 100 kW vertical only. Doesn't look like it'll improve the metro coverage any, tho.
WEVL has to protect 89.3, WYPL, so that is why it can be weak in parts of downtown. In a smilar way, WHBQ-FM has to worry about co-owned 107.1.
WEVL and WHBQ-FM were on the same tower for a few years.
WEVL and WHBQ-FM were on the same tower for a few years.
Is WYPL the reason WEVL dropped power a few years back? WYPL is a 3rd adjacent if i am counting correctly...
WLYX was granted the original app in 1979
WYPL was granted in 1980 and wasn't that from a TX located in Midtown.
Did rhodes sell WLYX to the library or did the Library re-apply for 89.3... I know it was dark for a long time but I do not remember the details.
I think WEVL was 9300 watts and it seems like it may have even been 12 kw before that... I am sure someone in here remembers and can confirm or correct me.
WLYX was granted the original app in 1979
WYPL was granted in 1980 and wasn't that from a TX located in Midtown.
Did rhodes sell WLYX to the library or did the Library re-apply for 89.3... I know it was dark for a long time but I do not remember the details.
I think WEVL was 9300 watts and it seems like it may have even been 12 kw before that... I am sure someone in here remembers and can confirm or correct me.
Yes, WEVL was 12590 watts when it went back on the air in 1986. WEVL was 10 watts from 1976 to 1983 and then dark for a few years while trying to raise the money to go higher power. Power was lowered in order to move up higher on the tower.
When the library took over WLYX, their tower was at the old Peabody library.
When the library took over WLYX, their tower was at the old Peabody library.
Zach said:
Absolutely it's worse than it has historically been. They replaced the antenna a few years back and I believe that's when the problems began. I spent a number of years tweaking that signal and I know it was far stronger than today. We even had some field strength measurements, but I suspect those revcords are lost. There was an Engineering Director after Mike Schwartz at WMC who threw out many historical and engineering records about the WMC stations.
As for WYPL, that entire station should be an HD channel on WQOX and stop wasting taxpayer money.
Memphis has to be the only city I've ever visited with a whole station dedicated to a reading service. :radiosaur said:
I am confident that the cost of fully subsidizing HD radio receivers to the blind and print impaired would be significantly less than WYPL's operating costs. Heck, most reading services have to make do with analog SCA's and SAP channels on TV like the one I volunteered for in Birmingham. That seemed adequate enough for the needs of their (niche) consumers.
Zach said:Memphis has to be the only city I've ever visited with a whole station dedicated to a reading service. :radiosaur said:
It was done for awhile in Jackson, on WIGH-88.7. The station was sold to American Family awhile back.
I think New Orleans has a radio reading station. There's one on AM in Massachusetts.
Since 1932, Wisconsin Public Radio has run a *program* called "Chapter a Day". They spend an hour reading out of a book. It's obviously pretty popular, and really it's decent listening. Don't know that I could take a station that did that 24/7 though!
w9wi said:Zach said:Memphis has to be the only city I've ever visited with a whole station dedicated to a reading service. :radiosaur said:
It was done for awhile in Jackson, on WIGH-88.7. The station was sold to American Family awhile back.
I think New Orleans has a radio reading station. There's one on AM in Massachusetts.
Since 1932, Wisconsin Public Radio has run a *program* called "Chapter a Day". They spend an hour reading out of a book. It's obviously pretty popular, and really it's decent listening. Don't know that I could take a station that did that 24/7 though!
That's not the half of it. WYPL is a 100KW station at 1250 feet. They have a huge tower out in the boonies up in Mississippi county, Arkansas, fully 30 miles from Memphis. They upgraded from a couple of thousand watts from a transmitter in the heart of midtown but the city grade contour didn't change much because of the transmitter location. The electric and maintenance bill sure did, though.
Zach is dead on. For what it cost to operate that station, (not to mention the upgrade) they could have outfitted WQOX with HD, given everyone who wanted a receiver one for free, and still had money left over.
Head over to radio locator and compare WYPL and WQOX's city grades...you'll see what I mean.
I'm not sure if there are any tenants on the tower, but there can't be many...I think it was a bad decision all around. If it were me, I'd move WYPL to WQOX HD, and get a really pretty penny by selling 89.3 and that tower.
I know some people will hate this idea, but WYPL would be a great candidate to be bought by EMF to bring in Air 1...
(EVERYBODY DUCK!!!)
(EVERYBODY DUCK!!!)
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