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Thunderstorms Knock Out Stations

W

wxctintern

Guest
The following stations were knocked off the air during the thunderstorms, but weren't off the air for very long:

WXCT 990 and WPRX 1120.

The following stations were off the air from 5:30PM until 7:00PM:

WPOP 1410.

The following stations have been off the air since 6:15PM and are still off the air:

WDRC 102.9 FM.
 
DRC-FM Back on

I just checked at 855PM and DRC-FM is back on, but it sounds horrible. lt sounds like an AM station.
 
Re: DRC-FM Back on

> I just checked at 855PM and DRC-FM is back on, but it sounds
> horrible. lt sounds like an AM station.
>

No, it sounds like an internet stream with alot of hiss. The signal appears normal but their STL must be out.<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P>
 
WDRC On live...

I just called the request line. Jack Carney's on live. He didn't want to tell me the actualities of what the problem is. Maybe he didn't know.

Conversation as follows:

Me: "Hey, how's it goin'?"

Carney: Great man!

Me: "Did you guys lose your STL or something?

Carney "Huh?"

Me: "Well, you guys were off the air for a while. I heard it was due to lightning... I was just wondering what exactly happened, there are alot of people wondering on the radio boards."

Carney: "Yeah, we got hit by lightning."

Me: "Well, what exactly happened, is the STL down?"

Carney: "Uh, there's nothin' to say man, we're on the air... Rockin' an' rollin!"

Me: "Ok, sorry to bother you."

I would have thought someone who's been on the air as long as Jack Carney would know what the problem was... maybe I'm wrong. Either way, the guy could have been a little nicer to me. I'd have been happy if he just said something like "Well, we took a lightning hit, the engineers did something temporary to get us back on the air..."

Some people are so smug it makes me sick. the guy talked to me like I was crazy.

-A





> > I just checked at 855PM and DRC-FM is back on, but it
> sounds
> > horrible. lt sounds like an AM station.
> >
>
> No, it sounds like an internet stream with alot of hiss. The
> signal appears normal but their STL must be out.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Turntable on 07/28/05 02:33 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: WDRC On live...

Most jocks probably dont want to discuss the technical points of the problem with a caller.

I don't find that being smug at all.
 
Call the CE / Other known outage

> Most jocks probably dont want to discuss the technical
> points of the problem with a caller.
>
> I don't find that being smug at all.
>
Most jocks do NOT know how the technical operations of a station operate anymore.

Jocks are not engineers, usually only engineers know the problem.
In today's studio operation there can be as many as 20 pieces of
"inline" equipment that failed. Hell even the engineering staff may
not know.

The Chief Engineer of the station is Scott Baron.
You want an answer, call him tomorrow and ask...

Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington took a power hit around 6:15.
Knocked out WVIT, WTIC-TV, and WRCH. till they came back on.
I do not know if 910 got knocked off or not.
 
Re: WDRC On live...

When people are posting transcripts of request line conversations on a chat board, why would the guy on the air want to elaborate on anything behind the scenes? I've had the pleasure of being in many a control room at night keeping on top of storm and EAS warnings for the listeners when lightning took its toll on equipment. Questions about technical issues can be about as distracting as kids calling on busy snow days asking if school is cancelled.

I also have worked with Jack Carney in the past. He's one of the nicest people in the business.
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

when I jock up at my college station and theres a problem I just announce it on air.

> > Most jocks probably dont want to discuss the technical
> > points of the problem with a caller.
> >
> > I don't find that being smug at all.
> >
> Most jocks do NOT know how the technical operations of a
> station operate anymore.
>
> Jocks are not engineers, usually only engineers know the
> problem.
> In today's studio operation there can be as many as 20
> pieces of
> "inline" equipment that failed. Hell even the engineering
> staff may
> not know.
>
> The Chief Engineer of the station is Scott Baron.
> You want an answer, call him tomorrow and ask...
>
> Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington took a power hit around
> 6:15.
> Knocked out WVIT, WTIC-TV, and WRCH. till they came back on.
>
> I do not know if 910 got knocked off or not.
>
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

unless your off air for more than 5 min to pretend it never happened... unless its a newsmaking event that knocked you off (ie terrorist act, tornado, etc). our station actually got hit by a car... drove right into the studio and knocked us off the air for almost half a day while we put together a makeshift studio in the gm's office! that was something we talked about on air (even wrote a parody about it) but if we go off due to a lightning hit or anything like that its best to just not mention it IMHO.

> when I jock up at my college station and theres a problem I
> just announce it on air.
>
 
910

I did notice that 910 was briefly on at Lower Power, but then again it seems like they have problems everytime the weather acts up. I remember back when they were JAMZ 910 they would go off the air quite a bit during heavy rain. Not thunderstorms. Just heavy rain. Funny I didn't notice anything wrong with WRCH. Must've missed it. Earlier in the evening around 5PMish WTIC AM 1080 kept going off and on but it was only for a second or two every few minutes and Bruce and Collin were talking about how the lights in the studio were going off and on.
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> when I jock up at my college station and theres a problem I
> just announce it on air.

key words: college station. That aint the way it flies in professional radio. Just call it technical difficulties and move on.
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington took a power hit around
> 6:15.
> Knocked out WVIT, WTIC-TV, and WRCH. till they came back on.


Between 6:30 and 7:00 WVIT was on - maybe because of a fiber link from West Hartford to Comcast-Branford's head end. Both WTIC-TV and WTXX were off. Does 20 have an STL from Hartford to Rattlesnake Mountain to Prospect or is it a coincidence that both Prospect and Farmington were affected?
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> > when I jock up at my college station and theres a problem
> I
> > just announce it on air.
>
> key words: college station. That aint the way it flies in
> professional radio. Just call it technical difficulties and
> move on.
>

Not when it is one radio professional to another. It's one thing to explain it on the air for no reason, it is quite another to refuse information to a colleague and do so in a demeaning manor, avoiding questions and acting like you have no idea what he's talking about.

I know, speaking for myself, that after a shift full of stupid request calls I would welcome a call from someone who has an interest in the workings of what I do, and understands...

On another note, I remember when WICC took a lightning hit a few years ago, and (I think it was John LaBarca) had CE Ed Butler on the air for a few minutes to explain the situation. He talked about the johnny balls and how lightning can affect a station's transmitter, and the methods used to prevent lightning damage. THAT was EXTREMELY COOL! I wish I could have run tape but I was on the road at the time.

-A<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P>
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> > Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington took a power hit around
>
> > 6:15.
> > Knocked out WVIT, WTIC-TV, and WRCH. till they came back
> on.
>
>
> Between 6:30 and 7:00 WVIT was on - maybe because of a fiber
> link from West Hartford to Comcast-Branford's head end.
> Both WTIC-TV and WTXX were off. Does 20 have an STL from
> Hartford to Rattlesnake Mountain to Prospect or is it a
> coincidence that both Prospect and Farmington were affected?
>
I'm not sure what your saying here.
My post stated the stations were knocked off around 6:15 for a couple of minutes at the most.
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

I didn't realize you meant for only a couple of minutes and thought 30 wasn't affected at my house because of a fiber link to the cable company's head end.

When I was watching TV between 6:30 and 7:00, both WTIC-TV and WTXX were off. My question about the Tribune stations is...

Does 20 have an STL from Hartford to Rattlesnake Mountain to Prospect or is it a
coincidence that the transmitter sites in Prospect and Farmington were affected by the storm?
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> >
>
> Not when it is one radio professional to another.
So you think you're owed an explanation by the on-air jock, who's trying to do his job, just because you happen to work for a radio station? You should know better than that. Maybe he had a break coming up and didn't have time to get into things with a geeked up listener.


> It's another thing to explain it on the air for no reason, it is quite
> another to refuse information to a colleague and do so in a
> demeaning manor, avoiding questions and acting like you have
> no idea what he's talking about.

Based on your conversation in your earlier post, he didn't refuse information or demean you in any way. Get over it. He told you it was a lightning strike, what more do you need? They were off the air, then back on. Problem solved, case closed. That's all the average listener cares about.


>
> I know, speaking for myself, that after a shift full of
> stupid request calls I would welcome a call from someone who
> has an interest in the workings of what I do, and
> understands...

> So you think some of your listeners requests are stupid? Well, now you know how Jack Carney felt when he took your call.

> On another note, I remember when WICC took a lightning hit a
> few years ago, and (I think it was John LaBarca) had CE Ed
> Butler on the air for a few minutes to explain the
> situation. He talked about the johnny balls and how
> lightning can affect a station's transmitter, and the
> methods used to prevent lightning damage. THAT was EXTREMELY
> COOL! I wish I could have run tape but I was on the road at
> the time.

Oh that sounds like a thrill a minute. I'll bet the listeners couldn't get enough of that riveting talk. "Johnny Balls"? For twenty bucks,I'll try to work that one into a conversation at my next cocktail party. " I went to the Dr. today, told him my boys have been a little sore lately. He told me not to worry, it's just a mild case of "Johnny Balls". Once the swelling goes down I'll be fine."
>
> -A
>
 
> The following stations were knocked off the air during the
> thunderstorms, but weren't off the air for very long:
>
> WXCT 990 and WPRX 1120.
>
I was in the Hartford area yesterday and today. I tried to tune in the Red Sox
on WTIC (Wed) but got a talk show instead. No explanation. Tried to pick it up on
WHYN out of Holyoke but so much static (storms that rumbled through the valley)
that it was impossible. At 6 pm they said they (WTIC) were going to try and pick up the feed for the game...but since they couldn't they started giving details
of the T-storms, power outages, etc.

(Yanks game btw was blacked out on ESPN at my motel in Southington...never happens with
Red Sox. WPOP was back on so I tuned in once or twice)
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

Yes those stations did go off briefly as did Conn. Public TV (on cable at
my motel in Southington)
> Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington took a power hit around
> 6:15.
> Knocked out WVIT, WTIC-TV, and WRCH. till they came back on.
>
> I do not know if 910 got knocked off or not.
>
 
Re: 910

> I did notice that 910 was briefly on at Lower Power, but
> then again it seems like they have problems everytime the
> weather acts up. I remember back when they were JAMZ 910
> they would go off the air quite a bit during heavy rain. Not
> thunderstorms. Just heavy rain. Funny I didn't notice
> anything wrong with WRCH. Must've missed it. Earlier in the
> evening around 5PMish WTIC AM 1080 kept going off and on but
> it was only for a second or two every few minutes and Bruce
> and Collin were talking about how the lights in the studio
> were going off and on.

Sounds like something became <FONT SIZE=3><blink>intermittent</blink></FONT SIZE>...
 
Re: Call the CE / Other known outage

> Does 20 have an STL from Hartford to Rattlesnake Mountain to
> Prospect or is it a
> coincidence that the transmitter sites in Prospect and
> Farmington were affected by the storm?

More than likely there is a double hop, or 20 is now picking up digital 12's signal and "down-converting" it to analog.

I am unsure.
 
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