Correction: 99.1 began to break up in Alpharetta but 98.9 came in clear....
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W256BO 98.9... 99X Moves AGAIN!
- Thread starter acheron1982
- Start date
Northwest Metro (Acworth) - signal stronger than 99.1, but got a lot of punch in from the classic hits station in Temple/Villa Rica. At one point sounded like a wacked smash-up of Incubus and the Rolling Stones. Got better the closer I go to Marietta, but I have to think that straight out west (Douglasville) would have even worse interference.
This is probably a stronger signal overall for Atlanta but with a little more interference on the west metro side.
This is probably a stronger signal overall for Atlanta but with a little more interference on the west metro side.
99X vs Blazin 98 in StoneMountain, Lithonia & Decatur....sounds horrible
It looks like Gradick Communications and the new Great Classics 98.9 are responding to the Cumulus translator:
http://www.gradickcommunications.com/pages/10907756.php?
I doubt Cumulus will care.
http://www.gradickcommunications.com/pages/10907756.php?
I doubt Cumulus will care.
I'm heading to Douglasville tonight for some entertainment. I will report on the signal west on 20.
If 99x does not turn over some ratings, something tells me the station will officially die. Someone mentioned putting 99x over on the 100.5 signal but I don't think that will really work. Sad to say but New York City does not even have a alternative rock station.
Even though the format may come back, I do believe alternative radio (terrestrial) is no more. Only hope for 99x is for them to stretch the limits and go strongly alternative vs the active mix they currently are.
Really don't see Cumulus risking a lawsuit of sorts via a station that does not even provide ratings. Still, this little hope I have in me says I'm not seeing something. Cumulus is keeping 99x on the air for a reason and that reason I just don't see.
If 99x does not turn over some ratings, something tells me the station will officially die. Someone mentioned putting 99x over on the 100.5 signal but I don't think that will really work. Sad to say but New York City does not even have a alternative rock station.
Even though the format may come back, I do believe alternative radio (terrestrial) is no more. Only hope for 99x is for them to stretch the limits and go strongly alternative vs the active mix they currently are.
Really don't see Cumulus risking a lawsuit of sorts via a station that does not even provide ratings. Still, this little hope I have in me says I'm not seeing something. Cumulus is keeping 99x on the air for a reason and that reason I just don't see.
Ok so the signal came in clear on 20 west all the way to the top of six flags hill. As soon as you top the hill and go down the other side you loose the station . Literally no warning. By comparison, 97.9 makes it to post road between villa rica and douglasville. Big fail for the east and west sides of town. Case closed.... unless of course they move again.
bobbybeth said:
According to the rules.....if rules really exist anymore.....any listener interference complaint could potentially take the Cumulus translator off the air. Even if the complaint comes from outside the protected contour of the protected station.
But everyone in the industry knows this "translator" affair is utterly against every rule that ever existed in the FCC R&R. It may be the industry's simple little way of making sure there will never be a Low power community station ever licensed. After all......competition is bad for "business."
I can't believe Lou and the boys didn't make a call to Steve Graddick and slip some money in his hand to keep all this quiet. I'll bet that call has been made by end of business today.....or Monday morning. A couple hundred thousand and west metro will be quiet......
As for Douglasville......I can hear the translator on every cheap radio in the house. I'm off Hyw 5, south of I-20, and down in a valley. All the Cumulus translators work very well....it's hard to tell the difference between them and the "big" stations!
Once again I say.....give the Cumulus engineering guys credit! Someone in that organization was aggressive.....saw the potential....and made the early moves. They also put these stations on a 3 around panel antenna which works very well. It was all done right from the beginning.....and not at the cheapest cost!
taylorengineer said:
The biggest hole in the regulations is that they are able to get away with the antenna height that they have. If 250 watts is the max power for a translator, you would think there would be some height reference like 100m HAAT. These guys are operating a 250 watt translator at 324 meters above ground level (for some reason the FCC license specifies 0m HAAT, what gives?).
Keep in mind that Cumulus's predecessors-in-interest forced SPSU's flea-power station WGHR at 100.7 off the air due to "interference."
ssnake said:
It says "0 HAAT" but there is a place on the page where you can click and it gives all the azimuths and heights used to calculate HAAT.
These stations perform like low power class A's (3000 watts at 300 feet.) They have big footprints! It is nothing short of amazing that the FCC has ignored every rule regarding spectrum allocation and allowed this to happen.
And what's worse is that companies like Cumulus are the big winners.
What ever happened to low power FM? Funny......these little puddle jumpers (100 watts at 100 feet) were going to cause "massive disruption" to commercial broadcasting. But 250 watts at 1100 feet is OK!!??
The FCC has never been able to see the forest from the trees. These FM translators, as Tom says, are not being used for the purpose the FCC intended them for. They were established in the early 70's so stations could fill in where coverage was poor or extend their signal to cover their service area. HD radio has opened the floodgates for translators that conform to FCC rules but are not being used as the Commission intended.
Look at the original class A FM frequencies, such as 102.3, 95.9 and 98.3. The FCC intended them for markets with small populations. So what happened? Stations in towns with small populations that are next to large markets got them. Then they used them to target the large markets. One example is one of the first alternative rock stations in the country, WHFS-FM, which used 102.3 in Bethesda to target DC.
I don't at all blame Cumulus or the other operators who just happen to be smarter than the FCC.
Look at the original class A FM frequencies, such as 102.3, 95.9 and 98.3. The FCC intended them for markets with small populations. So what happened? Stations in towns with small populations that are next to large markets got them. Then they used them to target the large markets. One example is one of the first alternative rock stations in the country, WHFS-FM, which used 102.3 in Bethesda to target DC.
I don't at all blame Cumulus or the other operators who just happen to be smarter than the FCC.
And I agree with Roddy. I certainly don't blame Cumulus or ClearChannel for taking advantage of the opportunity. Dickey is one of the few who understood this amazing opportunity early in the game and made the moves. I would have done the same if I had the resources to pull it off!
My only argument is that Cumulus, ClearChannel, Cox, et.al. have plenty of beach front properties - why not give others a chance to operate stations - even if they are technically inferior? That was supposed to be the purpose of low power FM stations - to give others access to the airwaves.
I'm all for free markets but we are talking about a finite resource. How do we equitably allocate limited resources like radio broadcast frequencies? Should the markets decide with access to capital resources being the deciding factor? Or is this an area where government should step in and create a process where applicant qualifications are based on more than just financial ability?
To answer Sssssnakes question.....don't be surprised if one of the religious operators does just that. Radio Training Network has several translators around Atlanta.......I'm wondering when they will make their move. Most other so called "religious" operators have been selling their translator CPs. That's another Pandora's box the rocket scientists at the commission opened.....the translator licensing debacle several years back. Some religious operators got hundreds of CPs......which they have been selling for handsome amounts.
How can the FCC justify their actions as "in the public interest" over the last five years?
IMHO we should start getting the tar and feathers ready........
My only argument is that Cumulus, ClearChannel, Cox, et.al. have plenty of beach front properties - why not give others a chance to operate stations - even if they are technically inferior? That was supposed to be the purpose of low power FM stations - to give others access to the airwaves.
I'm all for free markets but we are talking about a finite resource. How do we equitably allocate limited resources like radio broadcast frequencies? Should the markets decide with access to capital resources being the deciding factor? Or is this an area where government should step in and create a process where applicant qualifications are based on more than just financial ability?
To answer Sssssnakes question.....don't be surprised if one of the religious operators does just that. Radio Training Network has several translators around Atlanta.......I'm wondering when they will make their move. Most other so called "religious" operators have been selling their translator CPs. That's another Pandora's box the rocket scientists at the commission opened.....the translator licensing debacle several years back. Some religious operators got hundreds of CPs......which they have been selling for handsome amounts.
How can the FCC justify their actions as "in the public interest" over the last five years?
IMHO we should start getting the tar and feathers ready........
At 3:00AM, on a mountain in Dahlonega, I tune to 99.1 which is wiped out by WCON/99.3 in Cornelia, so I tune to 98.9 where I currently receive 2 signals fighting it out:
1. "The LEGENDARY WDEN, Macon, a Cumulus station", and
2. "99x on 98.9 'What? They've moved AGAIN?'"
WDEN is winning, and I'm going to bed.
1. "The LEGENDARY WDEN, Macon, a Cumulus station", and
2. "99x on 98.9 'What? They've moved AGAIN?'"
WDEN is winning, and I'm going to bed.
trusty said:
So you're getting WDEN on 98.9 up in Dahlonega? That's strange since the station is on 99.1 and you're nowhere near Macon.
Yep. WDEN bled over to its adjacent channel, and I'm on a ridge with a clear shot of Atlanta (I didn't know I had that clear a shot of Macon, though (and I don't think it was tropo).) I have a nice little Sony LW/MW/SW/FM (but not with that great selectivity on FM), and I only had to move its extended antenna 10 inches at the tip to receive one or the other station.
If 99x does not get a better station programmer quick, Atlanta will be Alternativeness. I truly believe that Alternative still has a heartbeat and could do much better in Atlanta if the station would go true alternative and increase the playlist. The Strokes, Kings of Leon and many more have lots of songs that made it to the charts at one time. Sadly, like many formats, stations tend to play the hell out of a brand new song and as soon as that band comes out with something new, you never hear that other song again. Makes for a limited, repetitive playlist. Alternative has no limits and rules can be broken but 99X has proven to be an alternative rock station that plays it by the books. Want to see a real alternative rock playlist? Check out 949FM out of San Diego. So many alternative rock songs that were big in 2003 or 2004 and are no longer played. The San Diego station's playlist is huge and changes frequently.
I'm done with my mindless rant. I'm afraid the next time I post about 99x, it will be because it has officially died. R.I.P. 99X.
I'm done with my mindless rant. I'm afraid the next time I post about 99x, it will be because it has officially died. R.I.P. 99X.
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