Birmingham W231DE 94.1 app to change originating station from WJLD to WZGX

[passtheword]

TomServo and Almediapage.info are reporting that W231DE in Birmingham at 94.1 has applied to change the originating station being rebroadcast from WJLD Fairfield to WZGX in Bessemer. Not sure if that change has to be approved by the FCC before that can be implemented or they just have to be notified of the change. I did listen to WJLD's morning show last week (10/23) after I read about the pending change. Some of the callers and he were discussing something about "radio stations he owned" but I had no idea what all that entailed bc I literally caught the last minute of his show. At the conclusion of the program, he gave the station ID as "WJLD, Fairfield-Birmingham, WIXI, Jasper" followed by a short pause and said something along the lines of "that's it", then he mentioned wjldradio.com and the WJLD app. No mention of W231DE was given as is usually done during his show but then again, there was no ID given for W277DM in Jasper (WIXI's FM translator there) either, so no idea what the purpose behind the omission of the ID of the two FM translators served, if any...just an observation. The recorded top of the hour ID that followed mentioned all of the stations in the group (WJLD, W231DE, WIXI, W277DM), however.

Last week, I did some dial scanning to find out if WZGX was already airing on 94.1 FM. Being in south Shelby county, I typically receive WZBQ out of Tuscaloosa. But for whatever reason, I did hear a station airing what sounded to be blues on 94.1 and it was in fact W231DE bc the station ID aired a short time later as such, along with a mention of WJLD. The ID also mentioned W277DM and WIXI in Jasper as well.

I did try to listen again a few days later to WZGX and see if the ID had changed there. I wasn't able to receive the station that well, however, and from what I researched, there was no online broadcast for WZGX and its other stations across Alabama. I was in Clanton yesterday and I figured I could tune into WALQ Carrville which simulcasts on WZGX along with several other stations including WOAB in Ozark as well as an FM translator in Montgomery. There was no mention of W231DE in the WALQ station TOH ID. So long story short...I believe W231DE in Birmingham is still simulcating WJLD.

So I'm guessing when all the dust settles, W231DE will be changing to a Regional Mexican format, simulcasting WZGX as planned. If so, that would leave WJLD without an FM translator, although they DO own W281AB Mountain Brook but that is currently leased to Iheart's "104.1 The Beat" and rebroadcasts WMJJ HD2. Will WJLD wind back up at 104.1 where it started several years ago? Or will WJLD go it alone? I am so old I remember when W281AB was a 10 watt translator owned by Family Radio and rebroadcast Birmingham's WBFR 89.5 FM. :O

W231DE has also applied to change their facilites. Details below:

https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&appid=25076f91929de41c0192a032cedd00fe&facid=150964

 

[secondchoice]

There are "boxes" you can install on a translator that allows you to skip the W(frequency #) random letters. IDs. Heck folks have a hard enough time with regular call letters. That why a lot of stations use a "brand" except for the legal ID.

 

[K.M. Richards]

TomServo and Almediapage.info are reporting that W231DE in Birmingham at 94.1 has applied to change the originating station being rebroadcast from WJLD Fairfield to WZGX in Bessemer. Not sure if that change has to be approved by the FCC before that can be implemented or they just have to be notified of the change.

With the exception of the translators that are tied to a parent AM license, it's just a notification to the FCC of a change in originating station. However, the requirement for the translator to keep its signal completely within the daytime protected contour of the originator must still be honored.

There are "boxes" you can install on a translator that allows you to skip the W(frequency #) random letters. IDs. Heck folks have a hard enough time with regular call letters. That why a lot of stations use a "brand" except for the legal ID.

It's called "frequency shift keying" and is standard equipment on newer translators. As you might guess, it shifts the carrier frequency by a very small amount (not even enough to throw off FM receiver signal lock) to give the calls in Morse code.

 

[secondchoice]

I assume the person I was talking to wasn't in the business. Even national Journalists show there lack of technical knowledge by calling flight data and voice recorders "black boxes". BTW they almost always are painted with strips, international orange, or some kind of Florissant color to make it easy to find in wreckage.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I assume the person I was talking to wasn't in the business.

That would be a reasonable presumption, but given the nature of this venue it's also a reasonable presumption that the explanation of the rules and the technology are more likely welcomed than treated as TMI.

Especially since the OP knew enough to look up the translator's calls to include in the thread header.

 

[passtheword]

Returning to the original intention of the post.....I did listen to W231DE today and it is still rebroadcasting WJLD. It'll be interesting to see if WZGX will continue with the Regional Mexican format or make changes once it is paired with 94.1.

btw, I don't need to look up FCC call signs and COLs for local FM translators on the FCC site or fccdata.org bc they're already stored up here in this ol' mind of mine and I can recall that info easily from memory. I've always been blessed with a good memory. I can even recall telephone numbers from family members, friends from forty to fifty years ago.

 

[K.M. Richards]

btw, I don't need to look up FCC call signs and COLs for local FM translators on the FCC site or fccdata.org bc they're already stored up here in this ol' mind of mine and I can recall that info easily from memory. I've always been blessed with a good memory. I can even recall telephone numbers from family members, friends from forty to fifty years ago.

Which makes my point about your ability to understand and appreciate the technical explanation I gave for FSK.

(I have a very good long-term memory as well, including nearly every telephone number I have had and my late mother's SSN, which I have not needed to know for over 15 years now. It's the more current stuff I seem to need to look up more frequently.)