Storms knocked out WFFI/WFFH

[NashvilleNative]

I was taken off guard this morning when I heard Ozzy Osbourne instead of the Fish on 93.7. Then "Willie" WLYE was coming in barely on 94.1. Apparently the storms knocked out both fish transmitters or feed and they decided to kill power. B-Rock beamed in loud and clear all the way to Spence lane. In fact, while sitting at the light at Elm Hill Pk and Spence my stock receiver pulled WBXE in on seek. I can't believe WFFI and WBXE don't but heads more than they do. I knew they did in Gallatin and Lebanon, but I'm surprised how well WBXE's signal gets out for such little power; I guess thanks to the plateau. As I pulled into work by the fairgrounds I think WFFH 94.1 was back on the air, but with static - which is typical in the area, so I couldn't tell if it was back to full power or not. No sign of 93.7 as of 7:30. I can't tell if they come back because I can't pull either signal in in the office when at full power.

 

[techguy1975]

I'm getting both WFFH & WFFI here in La Vergne right now...If I had to guess, their studio probably lost power and the transmitters dumped off

 

[NashvilleNative]

That was my assumption as well.

I stumbled on this pic of WSMV's tower getting struck by lightning last night.

http://www.wsmv.com/slideshow/27663323/detail.htmlindex.html?currentSlide=41&taf=nash

 

[deltas69]

Cool pic of the lightning strike when I worked at 104.5 on the ridge above Gallatin..I would stand at the control room door and watch the tower during storms to see if lightning would strike it..I never did see it although I'm sure it had too at that location so far up the ridge..

 

[xmusicmatt]

I'm getting both WFFH & WFFI here in La Vergne right now...If I had to guess, their studio probably lost power and the transmitters dumped off

My guess is STL issues or something (or both sites could have briefly lost electric power?). WFFH and WFFI I believe have generator backup at the Studio site as The Fish in Nashville is the flagship for Salem's "Today's Christian Music" Satellite format. The Word in Praise Satellite format from SRN also comes from that studio site I believe.

 

[hamiltonsfolly]

Cool pic of the lightning strike when I worked at 104.5 on the ridge above Gallatin..I would stand at the control room door and watch the tower during storms to see if lightning would strike it..I never did see it although I'm sure it had too at that location so far up the ridge..

I was working afternoon drive at WAMG Gallatin in 1983 when a bolt hit the tower(about 100 feet from the studio building); I thought someone had sneaked inside and unloaded both barrels of a 20 ga. right behind me. It knocked us off-air, blew a handful of breakers, and took out the cart machines.........

 

[firepoint525]

Something seems awfully "FISH-y" about this! ;D

Thank God that these stupid storms are finally over. (At least, for a while.) Time to try to find some humor in the whole situation.

 

[romer979fm]

I was working afternoon drive at WAMG Gallatin in 1983 when a bolt hit the tower(about 100 feet from the studio building);

I had the exact same happen there a few years earlier (1977)...lightning hit the tower...I had both hands on the board: felt current shoot thru my left arm...across my back...and thru my right arm back to the board.
my chair shot about six feet back at the same time...and the whole place when dark in an instant.

 

[deltas69]

Ellis "Bigfoot" Jones..who put WAMG AND WFMG on the air tied the AM station ground system into the existing supply lines for the city's water system..at that time a vast array of galvanized water pipes running all over the city . He would also keep the ground around the tower damp by soaking it at regular intervals..as a side note the original 104.5 FM tower is still up in the middle of downtown Gallatin, behind the location of the original FM studios on North water..I'd guess it to be about 50-60 feet tall.

 

[secondchoice]

Ellis "Bigfoot" Jones..who put WAMG AND WFMG on the air tied the AM station ground system into the existing supply lines for the city's water system..at that time a vast array of galvanized water pipes running all over the city .

Didn't he work for the FCC at one time and "wrote" some of the technical rules? The old WFMG had big time coverage in Nashville when it was on channel 13's microwave tower up on the ridge. Would that make WFMG the first "move in" FM signal in Nashville?

 

[deltas69]

I'll ask Jerry Pond about the FCC thing..I've never heard that..but I didn't know Bigfoot at all. Jerry was there when WFMG went on the air in 1961..so he would know for sure. Bigfoot owned the property on the ridge and when he was approched about the microwave tower..as the story goes..he cut a deal for them to place it there if..he could put the FM antenna on it..at their expense..shrewd move to be sure lol..as I understand it the FM was not operating at 50K when it was downtown..but upped the power when it was put on the big stick. At that time it covered a lot of ground like a wet blanket..from the transmitter site at the tower base..you could look south west and see Nashville at night..before the trees grew up..you had a great view of Gallatin and just about everything for miles looking toward the south..