Treasure Island/Saint Pete Beach

[gar hi]

Thanks but I'm thinking maybe it happens often at that right time of day where the sun is already up enough to weaken the skywave of the Cuban and Miami station but since it's still mostly dark in Chicago, their skywave is still getting out strong.

As far as 1700 goes, you can still get skywaves on 1700 daytime this far south. During the winter, I sometimes hear WJCC midday in Tampa. Same with 1660 Marco Island.

But at least at Honeymoon Island, I've always heard something on 1700 daytime even in summer, even if it's inaudible to where I couldn't get an ID.

Specific location is everything around the coast here.

 

[tomservo]

690: English talk....either Jacksonville or New Orleans. Will investigate further.

FYI New Orleans is now Catholic programming on this channel, with the calls WQNO.

 

[cyberdad]

Thanks but I'm thinking maybe it happens often at that right time of day where the sun is already up enough to weaken the skywave of the Cuban and Miami station but since it's still mostly dark in Chicago, their skywave is still getting out strong.

I gathered that yesterday, and was operating under the same assumption this morning (Tuesday, 29th). Once again, there seemed to be something along with the usual mix, but it was unidentifiable.

Zach: Thanks for the info on New Orleans 690. I can remember it being an easy regular nighttime catch in this part of Florida during its WTIX "glory days". I'll check out the channel again and see if I can ID it. I don't recall it as Catholic programming the last time I was in your neighborhood in October.

Can't wait to find out what the format will be when I get back down there next month! Anyone want to start a pool? ;D

 

[tomservo]

Zach: Thanks for the info on New Orleans 690. I can remember it being an easy regular nighttime catch in this part of Florida during its WTIX "glory days". I'll check out the channel again and see if I can ID it. I don't recall it as Catholic programming the last time I was in your neighborhood in October.

Can't wait to find out what the format will be when I get back down there next month! Anyone want to start a pool? ;D

It's kinda clichéd, but the station really does seem to be a shell of its former self and I don't see the Catholics doing anything to improve it since the coverage of New Orleans proper is still pretty good (an FM translator in Metarie helps, no doubt.) Katrina is what really killed WTIX, er, WIST. They lost some of their towers during the storm and never rebuilt as far as I know. They went from 10 kW with 4 towers in the swampland during the day to just one tower with 9.1 kW. They've dropped the 5 kW at night, directional for something like 106 watts.

It's still pretty audible here in Alabama, especially along the coast, but it's not the monster (second only to WWL, of course) that I remember from my childhood.

 

[cyberdad]

Zach: Thanks for the info on New Orleans 690. I can remember it being an easy regular nighttime catch in this part of Florida during its WTIX "glory days". I'll check out the channel again and see if I can ID it. I don't recall it as Catholic programming the last time I was in your neighborhood in October.

Can't wait to find out what the format will be when I get back down there next month! Anyone want to start a pool? ;D

It's kinda clichéd, but the station really does seem to be a shell of its former self and I don't see the Catholics doing anything to improve it since the coverage of New Orleans proper is still pretty good (an FM translator in Metarie helps, no doubt.) Katrina is what really killed WTIX, er, WIST. They lost some of their towers during the storm and never rebuilt as far as I know. They went from 10 kW with 4 towers in the swampland during the day to just one tower with 9.1 kW. They've dropped the 5 kW at night, directional for something like 106 watts.

It's still pretty audible here in Alabama, especially along the coast, but it's not the monster (second only to WWL, of course) that I remember from my childhood.

I've been coming to the gulf once or twice a year just about every year since the late '70s. "Back in the day", as WTIX, the 690 signal along the Alabama and Northwest Florid gulf coast was never quite up to WWL, but it was at least somewhere in the ballpark. Reliable day and night...and great top 40 programming to boot! Nowadays, the day signal is still okay....but not as good as it used to be. At night it's pretty much invisible where we stay on the beach at the state line.

I agree that Catholic radio probably won't do much, if anything about that. I'm a practicing Catholic myself, and it's always sort of bugged me that we can't come up with anything more appealing or compelling than what's currently being put on the air. (I've tried to listen, but always wind up getting bored out of my skull). On top of that, from what I've observed at home in the Chicago area and elsewhere, whoever is running Catholic radio is showing no interest whatsoever in upgrading (or restoring) their facilities. To be fair, that may be because they don't have the funding to do so. I can't imagine that Catholic radio is coming anywhere near to paying its way.

I also agree that Katrina is is what killed WTIX/WIST (along with a large dose of mismanagement). My guess however is that current ownership is probably satisfied with what the facility as it now exists and has no interest or motivation in upgrading it.

 

[Icangelp]

To add on to what C'dad posted.

My wife and I drive by NOLA several times a year on our way to Houston, and sometimes visit folks in Baton Rouge.

On the way back from Houston (pre Catholic radio switch), I tuned 690 & they were airing a show that focused on local restaurants, local food, that also included interviews and call-ins. Kept my attention all the way till we lost the signal. And I was impressed with how far north I received a listenable signal.

With all the tourism, great food, unique music, and rich traditions, you'd think one of the locals like WTIX could scratch out a living programming a New Orleans focused variety format.

Maybe not.

Back to Treasure Island, the place in Florida, not the book.

 

[trusty]

I had a small window on Jan. 16th to grab a quick tan (if there is such a thing) and grab some DX on the little beach in Tarpon Springs. I had a SonyICF-SW7600GS sitting in a Terk antenna loop at the water's edge..

Here are some quick notes from 3-4pm that day (also some antenna direction). (Locals not included.)

550---Spanish
560-N/S-(faint)
590-N/S-Spanish & E/W-Yahoo Sports
600-E/W-ad for WWCR
640-N/S-Spanish
650-NW/SE-(faint)
690-NE/SW-(faint (Jax?))
730-N/S- black gospel
770-N/S-sports(?)
790-N/S-Radio Reloj & E/W-oldies
850---WRUF
870-E/W-WWL
900---WMOP
910---Spanish
950---mix of local and Radio Reloj
1000-N/S-Spanish
1020-N/S-Spanish
1060-N/S-(faint) & E/W-(faint)
1070-N/S-(faint) & E/W-(faint)
1080-N/S-Spanish & E/W-"SportsTalk 1040" (WHOO?) (both very clear)
1130---WWBF
1170-N/S-country
1180-N/S-Spanish
1190-E/W-CBS News
1230-E/W-nostalgia
1330---Pensacola
1400---nostalgia
1410-NW/SE-(faint)
1540---(clear)
1580---(faint)
1640---sports
1690---Pinellas County Traffic

Next time I definitely will make more time. There was a LOT of HD splatter off the locals.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

As a non-practicing AM DXer in recent years, this fan from NE PA has found this thread to be the most fun of any I've read in quite some time. Great stuff, folks.

Makes me want to put aside one day and one night per week for pure DX again. Heck -- there are about twenty radios in this house, some of them good DX rigs. I have something like 300 AM stations logged here in 20 years, so that's a start. Back in Eastern Queens NYC, four of us who hung out each logged like 1500 stations in maybe five years!

So yes, I've been a slacker. But there's no water-path here, between Hazleton and Pottsville PA (unless you consider melted ice cubes as water-path).
So it's gotta be all this Winter talk of the beach and palm trees and water path. The last time I did any DX near the Gulf was 32 years ago, a half-mile inland from it, in New Port Richey.

Once again : Thx for the fun reading. Vicarious almost counts as a TOH ID.

 

[cyberdad]

As a non-practicing AM DXer in recent years, this fan from NE PA has found this thread to be the most fun of any I've read in quite some time. Great stuff, folks.

Once again : Thx for the fun reading. Vicarious almost counts as a TOH ID.

Thanks, Steve. For my part, as I wrap up my two-and-a-half weeks here, it's been fun. Both the DXing and my part of the thread. I'm fortunate from the standpoint of having been to 48 states along with a good part of both Canada, the UK, and a few places in Europe, I've had a chance to sample the DX in lots of interesting locations.

Next up, ten days next month in my old familiar stomping grounds on Perdido Key, southwest of Pensacola (but actually technically still within City limits). Someone made the comment earlier in this thread that around St. Pete, location makes all the different and things can vary quite a bit. Trusty's post proves the point. And as Zach can attest, that's probably even more true in the Pensacola-Baldwin County (Alabama) area. Saltwater path in one direction....horrible ground conductivity in three others. Makes for an interesting setup.

Back on topic.... Not much new to report in the last couple of days. I've been busy with a special (work) project. One thing I've been trying to do is snag CFZM here. I've spent up to an hour on 740 each of the last couple of mornings before dawn. Absolutely no trace of it. I'll probably give it one last shot tomorrow (Friday) morning. I don't think it's all that impossible of a hop. Orlando and Houston are easy enough to null, so the channel becomes relatively clear and noise free when the radio is aimed north, but still no luck whatsoever.

And, Icangelp.... I've had the exact same thought about the New Orleans 690. My ideal outcome at this point would be to see the Louisiana Jazz and Heritage Festival/Foundation take it over and run it as a sister station (or even a simulcast) of WWOZ. 100% native Louisiana music and culture.

 

[cd637299]

Here in south FL, CFZM ekes a signal on the rarest nights. In fact, I have not heard it here this winter. I don't seem to hear KTRH anymore, and Orlando barely makes it in here---but now seemingly the worst offender is WSBR in Boca Raton.

I wonder how many of you out there complain about WSBR interfering!

Anyway, nowadays, it seems that CFZM is the only truly possible Canadian to hear down here at all. 'Course I have not tried the X-banders---1650 might net me something.

In 1987 down here, the "easiest" Canadian AM to hear ran only 250 watts! Glenn Hauser confirmed to me I was hearing CJFT Ft. Erie ON on 530, and I used to hear "CJRN CJFT."

cd

 

[drt]

Gee, Mr. Cyberdad, it seems as though you've only been here 3 or 4 days! With the blast of cold weather that has come through today; you just might be glad to leave!

I've really enjoyed your thread and you've brought out the best in some of the dx'ers, everybody in the area, giving beach reports. I was only able to provide bay reports. Even though I'm probably less than 8 miles e.s.e. of Treasure Island, haven't been there since last January, when I was doing a dx'ing trip down Gulf Blvd from Indian Shores (the furthest point west in Pinellas county) down to the USCG Blackthorne Memorial on the skyway. Around Treasure Island, I was so busy looking for a parking space on the beach, that I missed the Publix I had wanted to stop at.

At any rate, can't wait for your return to the area and the beginning a Treaure Island/Saint Pete Beach II, thread. Look forward to your threads from the Alabama/Florida line next month.

btw- I sure hope Mrs. Cyberdad, didn't force you to go to any yard sales and force you to buy another inexpensive dx bargain!!


btw- the big thing on the local area thread at the moment, is the increased power, antenna height and reloaction (as well as format change) of the translator on 94.5; have you done much FM dx'ing and if so, what are your reception reports of 94.5 Thunder FM or WINK 96.9 out of Fort Myers?

drt

 

[cyberdad]

btw- the big thing on the local area thread at the moment, is the increased power, antenna height and reloaction  (as well as format change) of the translator on 94.5; have you done much FM dx'ing and if so, what are your reception reports of 94.5 Thunder FM or WINK 96.9 out of Fort Myers?

drt[/color]

I'll check these out before I leave Saturday morning.  Speaking of WINK, on AM they have a pretty nice daytime signal here since their move to 1200....espicially since, according to radio-locator, I'm in a null.

And you're right about the weather turning. I've been getting spoiled. A little nippy/breezy over at Woody's earlier!!!

Thanks, to you and all the others here for the kind words.  All part of the great time we've had during our stay.

.....Jack (cyberdad)

 

[drt]

I can't believe that none of us had told you to check out WINK 1200(I still think of WINK as 1240 and upon first read, I was amazed that you were picking up 1240, until I realized you wrote WINK 1200); yes where I am, it comes in well even inside on a mediocre radio and in the car throughout St. Pete. In addition to America Radio's News (which 820-WWBA also does) they have several hours per day broadcasting WINK TV 11's newscasts as well; of course, when they power down, then it's San Antonio, TX on 1200.

btw- the other night I did the digital scan on a new TV ( a big 7 inch screen!) and due to how I had the antenna located and the tropo, the first go-round, the only station scanned and picked up was RF 50, virtual channel 11 - WINK TV! A second scan after adjusting the antenna brought in all the local channels as well as WINK TV.

Godspeed and bon voyage!

drt

 

[Icangelp]

And, Icangelp.... I've had the exact same thought about the New Orleans 690. My ideal outcome at this point would be to see the Louisiana Jazz and Heritage Festival/Foundation take it over and run it as a sister station (or even a simulcast) of WWOZ. 100% native Louisiana music and culture.

Cyberdad, you you pointed me to yet another online station I had no idea I couldn't live without. WWOZ is definitely worth a listen. I see they are increasing power to 100K, and the FCC contour map shows the new signal covers about 40 miles of I-10. I'll listen for them next time through.

 

[cyberdad]

Well, 100kw for WWOZ is quite an upgrade. I used to lose them driving across the causeway to the north, just past the airport to the west, and around Slidell to the east. Their stick was on one of the downtown New Orleans buildings in the CBD. But the power was only a few thousand watts....I forge the exact power level.

I don't know what the current arrangement is, but WWOZ used to be mostly (if not totally) financed by proceeds from the annual Jazz & Heritage festival.....a very worthwhile and fun event for for those who may not have ever attended.

 

[cyberdad]

Follow up answer to previous question.....

Where I am, I'm getting a weak signal on 94.5....classic rock. An even weaker signal on 96.9...also some type of rock, but harder to make out.

 

[swfl]

Follow up answer to previous question.....

Where I am, I'm getting a weak signal on 94.5....classic rock. An even weaker signal on 96.9...also some type of rock, but harder to make out.

Those are most likely WARO 94.5 and WRKX 96.9. Both stations are out of Fort Myers/Naples area. WARO is Classic Rock and WRKX is a Mancave type of talk most of the day with Rock music at other times. Both are 100,000 watts.

 

[drt]

Follow up answer to previous question.....

Where I am, I'm getting a weak signal on 94.5....classic rock. An even weaker signal on 96.9...also some type of rock, but harder to make out.

Those are most likely WARO 94.5 and WRKX 96.9. Both stations are out of Fort Myers/Naples area. WARO is Classic Rock and WRKX is a Mancave type of talk most of the day with Rock music at other times. Both are 100,000 watts.

Not being in the Ft. Myers area and not listening to WINK 96.9 everyday, I wasn't even aware that they had modified their format and changed their call letters. I was aware that 96.1 had become a talker as well as rock.

The 94.5 could have also been the "new" translator (increased power, new tower location and new format), Thunder 94.5 which has their tower in Seminole, approximately 9 miles n.n.e. of Sunset Beach.

drt

btw- the Tampa/St Pete/Sarasota/Ft. Myers board has a long thread on the 94.5 translator.

 

[cd637299]

^ I think the poster was thinking of WRXK "K-Rock" which is on 96.1. They do have man-talk much of the day w/ classic rock otherwise (I think they even have minor league hockey too!)

96.9 (WINK-FM as I still know it) is 90s-&-today adult hits.

cd

 

[swfl]

Maybe I can help clear this up a bit. WINK 96.1 is still a Hot AC format as it has been for years. WRKX at 96.9 is Hot Talk/Rock format. Both of these stations along with WARO 94.5 (Classic Rock), WWGR 101.9 (country) and WAVV 101.1 (Easy Listening) are all 100,00 watt stations out of either Fort Myers or Naples. All of them can be heard in the Tampa Bay area at times with the exception of WARO due to the new translator in Seminole. Before that it too could be heard up there at times. I am a visitor to Treasure Island myself a couple of times a year so I always check when I am up there. The only AM station from down this way that you should receive up there would be WINK AM 1200 which is 50,000 watts daytime.