Can anyone explain why VPR classical has two stations in Middlebury, WVXM and WOXM? I've been wondering about this for a while now, as I get to hear the lengthy recitation of call letters several times a month when I visit family in the state. There's also separate "Manchester" and a "Sunderland/Manchester" affiliates given, but I assume they cover different sections of the general area. Is Middlebury so big or have such extreme terrain that two FMs are needed to fully cover it?
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VPR Classical
- Thread starter CTListener
- Start date
Topography MAY be a factor.....Both stations are listed as "Full Service" per FCCData.org --- it appears the 2 stations swapped frequencies several years ago, also....
WOXM runs ~ 5700 watts @ 89.1.....WVXM runs ~ 960 watts @ 90.1......
Perhaps ONE of these stations is actually running "complete" VPR programming, while the other carries Classical via HD2 simulcast (similar to the WEVO/HD2 - WCNH-LP setup in NH.....).
WOXM runs ~ 5700 watts @ 89.1.....WVXM runs ~ 960 watts @ 90.1......
Perhaps ONE of these stations is actually running "complete" VPR programming, while the other carries Classical via HD2 simulcast (similar to the WEVO/HD2 - WCNH-LP setup in NH.....).
No, the network does not include any of its HD2s in its lengthy top (and bottom) of the hour IDs. It does mention a couple of translators by frequency only (never by alphanumeric call) at the end of the full-service litany ("also on 94.3 in Brattleboro and 101.1 in Rupert"). It could be that either WOXM or WVXM is airing some sort of hybrid (say, classical music most of the time, but "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" in drive time), but we'd need a Vermonter to verify that, and my travels don't take me near Middlebury.
Bizarrely, the Wikipedia listing for Classical's translators includes one at 95.1 in ... you guessed it ... Middlebury! Unfortunately, the actual VPR website ignores the translators completely, instead providing maps showing only the full-signal stations carrying its news-talk and classical programming.
An unsolved mystery, for now.
It seems the dual frequencies are part of an ongoing intermodulation problem that purportedly causes interference with the secure communication receivers of others on the tower. Under an STA, WOXM went silent for nearly a year until the matter could be resolved. When operations resumed, so did the interference. Under its current STA, WOXM operates with reduced power until it can move to a new site.
At that time, will one of the Middlebury stations leave the classical network or will the redundancy continue? Since Middlebury is already served by VPR News, what are the options? A simulcast of the jazz feed available online?
Between WOXM (89.1 MHz) and WVXM (90.1 MHz), the former has the superior signal. At present, VPR news is broadcast in Middlebury over W258AW (99.5 KHz), a 38-watt, -16.5-meter HAAT translator of WRVT in Rutland. Clearly, its signal is no match to the ones of its classical cousins. I imagine VPR will try to migrate its news programming to one of the classical frequencies. While it may be of little significance, WOXM is absent from VPR's Radio Stations & Coverage page.
No indication when that page was last updated. VPR classical hasn't done live reads on its t-o-h and b-o-h IDs for a while, but all the prerecorded recitations in use now still mention both WVXM and WOXM, always together.
Aha! I thought something might have happened! I was up in the Norwich area over the weekend and heard an ID on WNCH without WVXM mentioned. I checked again at the top of the next hour, though, and the two Middlebury calls were back again. All those IDs are recorded, so it looks like VPR just has yet to retire all those that still mention WVXM. They had a similar problem when their URL changed from vpr.net to vpr.org -- a few IDs with the old URL kept airing for weeks after the switch.
This leaves the news format on the puny 38-watt signal, though. Interesting that classical would wind up on the bigger signal. Isn't the potential news audience for a full signal not only larger but more likely to donate, or is Vermont a hotbed of classical music devotees? From the number of concerts the network publicizes, maybe it's the latter.
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UPDATE: Nearly a year later, and VPR Classical still hasn't retired all of its legal IDs that mention WOXM and WVXM! Heard one on a visit to the Norwich area last week.
I did notice a significant improvement on WNCH's RDS data, though. Instead of a static "VPRCLASSICAL," it now scrolls through the composer and title of each piece, followed by "ON WNCH." Nice, but when the info to be displayed is something like "Double concerto in E major for contrabassoon and two horns, Op. 12, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov," you're in for a lot of reading! (And yes, I know the "work" I just cited does not -- and couldn't -- exist. I whipped it up while typing to use as an example.)
I did notice a significant improvement on WNCH's RDS data, though. Instead of a static "VPRCLASSICAL," it now scrolls through the composer and title of each piece, followed by "ON WNCH." Nice, but when the info to be displayed is something like "Double concerto in E major for contrabassoon and two horns, Op. 12, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov," you're in for a lot of reading! (And yes, I know the "work" I just cited does not -- and couldn't -- exist. I whipped it up while typing to use as an example.)
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