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Savannah- Time for 1290 to boost its signal?

And then bring back Radio Disney, right? ;D

Did that station even rank in the Arbs when it was a Radio Disney affiliate? I can't remember.
 
Since you brought it up ... Seems that just about every weekend for the last 3 to 6 weeks, 1290's signal has been really weak on the weekends. It is almost as if a part-time employee or an intern was never told to boost power after the rooster crows. The problem sometimes occurs during the week as well -- although with no such regularity. This makes me think there is a recurring problem at the station that the local staff can't quite get a handle on. Perhaps your idea will solve two problems: repairing the problem and getting better service out here in the boonies less than 20 miles from Alfred Street. As it happens, I don't care to listen to WHKY out of Hickory, NC at 3:45 on a Sunday afternoon, and an increase in the signal to the west of the city will save me from NASCAR programming among other indignities.
 
heh, maybe so.

I envision 1290, with an increased signal, becoming Savannah's AM "flagship". Sure, it won't ever be 50k, but if 10 or 25k are possible, I'm sure folks in Statesboro & Jesup, for example, would appreciate a Savannah AM coming in, as possibly an alternate source for news & weather updates? Who knows.

G
 
Just because a station is silent does not mean the frequency is not still a licensed frequency. Nothing can be done unless the license is pulled by the FCC. A "dark" station has up to a year to resume programming before they have to turn in their license, and most do not do that.

Besides, redesigning the directional pattern of 1290 in Savannah just to get better signal west and south would not only be very, very, VERY expensive, it would be nearly impossible without affecting the north bound signal.
 
Robert,

I believe the 1290 in Ocala has been deleted.
 
1290 could stand to have their signal head north some anyways. I'm sure folks in Beaufort (the "money county" for our region), Jasper & Hampton Cos. would appreciate it. They're served by Savannah TV, why not Savannah AM?

Robert, I'm sure it's very, very, very, VERY expensive, but your outfit made some significant tower changes with WBMQ...so....

G
 
rcombs said:
... redesigning the directional pattern of 1290 in Savannah just to get better signal west and south would not only be very, very, VERY expensive, it would be nearly impossible without affecting the north bound signal.
Click to expand...
\

Time for me to defer to your experience and expertise: How practicable do you think it would be to do, expense notwithstanding? And what would be involved? Could one not alter the pattern by changing phase, etc. of the signal being fed to the antenna towers, and is this an expensive undertaking? Enlighten me, please.

Expanding the coverage northward is probably not possible due to the Hickory station and others -- this much I realize without having to be told that it cannot be done.
 
First off, the license for 1290 has been deleted, but the frequency is still allocated to Ocala and therefore available for someone to apply for. That means that the interference issue is still there so CC can not up the power for 1290 here. Also, I believe the FCC still has a freeze on for major AM license changes. They opened up the window last year for changes, but only for a month or so. It was then closed again.

To answer your question, Witchlover, it is not too practicle. Without doing a full pattern study, I would say the best you could do was to add more towers to the array along with changing some of the components and bend the signal a little differently to the wanted directions. I am not sure CC owns enough land on Alfred St. to do this.

Guru, when we changed the 630 signal here in town, we completely did away with our 5kw night-time directional signal that we had. We are now non-directional with 5kw daytime and 52 watts at night. All we really did was move to another tower and took down the old ones on Oatland Island to make room for the new FM tower for WTYB.
 
I assumed that a pattern study would be necessary to support any application to the FCC. I think you are correct that there is not enough land for more towers -- or a different tower configuration, nor would CC be likely to undertake such an expense. As simple and straight to the point as your explanation is, it teaches me a lot as to what is involved in doing things such as I suggested. As I said in an earlier thread, I am fascinated by directional arrays, and I do appreciate your explanation!

I used to listen to Art Bell on 630's night-time signal; it came in with absolute clarity. I believe Savannah lost a part of its history and culture when you had to make the change.

I was an employee of the original 103.9 when it was in Springfield, and I have followed the course (hopefully, the progress) of the station through it's subsequent ownerships and incarnations. I'm not a fan of the format so much, but the station has a good sound.

Perhaps there will be reason and opportunity for me to relate some of my experiences in Springfield. It was an intersting time in my life; while I might not wish to repeat some of it (maybe much of it?) I wouldn't swap the experience for my weight in gold.
 
FilmCritic3K said:
And then bring back Radio Disney, right? ;D

Did that station even rank in the Arbs when it was a Radio Disney affiliate? I can't remember.
Click to expand...

Ratings wasn't a problem. Well, it wasn't THE problem. Selling it was THE problem.

R.I.P. Melissa Clemmons ("Missy")
 
Fortunately, 1290 has the advantage of no real competition, so they don't have to fight for listeners in the areas where they ARE audible...
 
...the license for 1290 has been deleted, but the frequency is still allocated to Ocala and therefore available for someone to apply for

1290 is not "allocated" to Ocala...no AM assignment is. If WTMC has been deleted, it's g-o-n-e, gone, and the "space" it occupied can be filled by anyone desiring to do so, and that includes existing stations located somewhere else.

A power increase for WTKS would be a minor change, which can be filed at almost any time desired.

WTKS is non-directional daytime. 5kw was the daytime maximum for stations on 1290 (and other, "regional" channels) for many years, and the Savannah station has operated at that level since the 30's. They probably could increase their daytime power to 10kw, and remain omni. Much above that, and you're looking at some degree of directionalization. A more powerful WTKS would have two stations that would be of initial concern...1290 in Sumter (138 miles) and 1270 in Hampton (55 miles), with Sumter being the critical one. The Hickory station is 254 miles away, but their daytime directional has a general null to east, with a slightly enhanced lobe (above omni) from about 355 degrees (almost true north) around to about 175 degrees (south). From WHKY to WTKS, the bearing is 178 degrees, so any significant power increase for Savannah would need to consider Hickory. To be sure, there would be other stations to consider, but these would primary. WTKS has a 4-tower array that is basically a parallelogram. Trig wasn't my best subject and I don't have the computer program, but there is at least some possibility that the present array might be used for any daytime directionalization required to increase power.

The WTKS nighttime pattern resembles an offset bow-tie...major nulls to the NNW, NNE and S, with a minor lobe to the W and WNW, and a major lobe to the E (for Cap'n Sandy and Davy Jones). In the daytime, the southern null could possibly be relaxed, and the easterly and westerly lobes more balanced, while keeping the NNE lobe, which is directly toward Hickory. I suspect that when WTOC went from 1kw omni at night to 5kw-DA, they had to protect both WTMC's and WHKY's 1kw nighttime coverage, which would explain the nulls in those directions.

This AM stuff is NEVER as simple as it would seem to be, and I'm probably not considering some obvious factor. Still, with an investment in a larger transmitter and the necessary legal/technical/FCC fees and charges, WTKS could probably easily double their daytime power. Nighttime? They've probably got all their gonna get at night without some serious bucks being spent.

Of course, the bottom line is this. WTKS covers the primary market, including Hilton Head. Putting a better signal in Statesboro or Jesup ain't gonna bring in another dime. That said, don't look for any power increase for WTKS.
 
I heard Bill Edwards mention in passing that the station operating on 1290 out of Hickory, NC will be "going away" (perhaps shifting to another frequency?) and that WTKS may have the opportunity boost it's signal. Maybe I am not as adept at searching such things as I want to think, but so far, I have not been able to find any extant applications regarding either WTKS or WHKY and any plans to change. Does anyone have further information about this? I should think that if it has been mentioned on the air, this is more than blue sky or idle speculation.
 
Witchlover said:
I heard Bill Edwards mention in passing that the station operating on 1290 out of Hickory, NC will be "going away" (perhaps shifting to another frequency?) and that WTKS may have the opportunity boost it's signal. Maybe I am not as adept at searching such things as I want to think, but so far, I have not been able to find any extant applications regarding either WTKS or WHKY and any plans to change. Does anyone have further information about this? I should think that if it has been mentioned on the air, this is more than blue sky or idle speculation.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, this may be an opportune time for 1290 to boost somewhat. I should ask our friends on the Charlotte board if they know anything on WHKY.

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,109659.new.html#new
G
 
upstate29651 said:
Witchlover said:
I heard Bill Edwards mention in passing that the station operating on 1290 out of Hickory, NC will be "going away" (perhaps shifting to another frequency?) and that WTKS may have the opportunity boost it's signal. Maybe I am not as adept at searching such things as I want to think, but so far, I have not been able to find any extant applications regarding either WTKS or WHKY and any plans to change. Does anyone have further information about this? I should think that if it has been mentioned on the air, this is more than blue sky or idle speculation.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, this may be an opportune time for 1290 to boost somewhat. I should ask our friends on the Charlotte board if they know anything on WHKY.

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,109659.new.html#new
G
Click to expand...
I ended up here by accident because someone posted on a Georgia board topic I had posted on a long time ago.

I have heard nothing about WHKY.

They boosted to 25,000 and then 50,000 watts, and if they did all that, I don't think they're going anywhere.

My station is at 1280 so they have to protect that, which is why they can't be heard too well to the east. But they've been trying to improve their Charlotte coverage. I get a listenable signal when I go to Charlotte, but most people wouldn't consider it satisfactory. I don't know what their plans would be, but I can't see that they have any way to improve. Charlotte has a station at 1270, and then there would still be the 1280 station messing them up to the northeast.
 
FilmCritic3K said:
And then bring back Radio Disney, right? ;D

Did that station even rank in the Arbs when it was a Radio Disney affiliate? I can't remember.
Click to expand...
Arbitron only does 12-plus.

Disney's audience is 11 and under.
 
Wonder what is on the other side, at 1300 and 1310?

The comment was made in response to a caller's question about the weak signal WTKS puts out in the direction of the Hickory station. The moderator explained that the signal was limited in that direction in order to protect WHKY, but that the station would be "going away" and that WTKS may soon be able to boost it's signal. As I said earlier, I doubt Bill Edwards, who is a 30+-year veteran broadcaster, would have said anything if there was nothing to it.

If WHKY wants to improve it's coverage in Charlotte, swapping frequencies may be their only option given the situation you describe. Perhaps there has been some informal contact among interested parties about such a move, even though no official filings have taken place. If interested parties can hammer out some mutually acceptable arrangements, the regulatory process would be speeded up when applications are filed. So perhaps this is in the works and we should all stay tuned for developments.
 
vchimpanzee said:
FilmCritic3K said:
And then bring back Radio Disney, right? ;D

Did that station even rank in the Arbs when it was a Radio Disney affiliate? I can't remember.
Click to expand...
Arbitron only does 12-plus.

Disney's audience is 11 and under.
Click to expand...

Disney's audience may be 11 and under, but their target demo is stay-at-home moms, who are in that coveted 18-34 female category, and who take the majority of buying decisions regarding food, clothing and household products, as well as greatly inflence all other buying decisions in the family.

Arbitron may not monitor the crumb-cruncher demo, but the kids do have a lot of influence on the distaff decision takers in their lives. In marketing parlance, they are referred to as "decision leaders."
 
According to the Charlotte boards, someone who claims to be Chief Engineer for WHKY says they're not going away or reducing power. Nothing was said however if they may move frequencies.

G
 
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