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WDEL Power Increase. Wilmington's New +3db Flame Thrower

Sam, any idea when this will happen. That would make WDEL Delaware's strongest AM station, or as you said, the First State's Flame Thrower.
 
Sam Lit said:
And one less daytime tower too.


WDEL-AM 1150 kHz
Wilmington, Delaware
"News Talk Radio"


Status Construction Permit for a Class B AM Station
Hours of Operation Unlimited
Antenna Mode Directional - 2 Patterns
Daytime Power 10,000 Watts
Nighttime Power 5000 Watts
Daytime Number of Towers 3
Nighttime Number of Towers 4
Click to expand...

That makes me very :D as I'm a fan of WDEL. Original programming of a quality I haven't heard since Los Angeles. News like KNX and local talk like KFI.

Congrats Chris, now the rest of us can listen in with far less static. ;)
 
WDEL has reclaimed it's heritage reputation from years past as being Delaware's standard for a full service station for news (used to be both local news and NBC radio - today both local news with Delaware's largest radio news team and CBS radio) and entertainment (used to be music and sports, today it's local talk daytime, national talk at night and sports). This is a good thing for Wilmington and Delaware.

I'd agree with ajc_trw that Chris Carl and the gang at WDEL have done a great job. This power increase only makes that even better. Radio Locator shows the new projected pattern and it appears that WDEL's coverage area will extend more into Philly than before, but for Lower Delaware, it doesn't appear to make much difference in terms of getting out further (of course there's a Richmond VA 1150 to protect which may be part of the problem with increasing the southern range of WDEL's signal and why they still need to use 3 towers during the day and 4 towers at night). My guess is, the increase power will help WDEL get picked up in more office buildings, etc, in the Wilmington metro area and may make those outlying areas in Lower Delaware have less static than they now have.

I've found my self listening more and more to WDEL as their on air product is quite good and does have a professional major market sound.

As WDEL and WILM have been cross town rivals for many years, it also will be interesting to see what WILM does to try to reclaim their former position of being Delaware's newsradio station. CC has made WILM's job more difficult with all the personnel cuts, etc, but WILM has just recently added Weather Channel forecasts, which might be a signal that CC Delaware isn't going to sit back and let WDEL take complete control of Wilmington's radio news scene. Maybe WILM will make other changes to improve their local news product and overall sound, etc, and give WDEL a run for its money. WILM has a good professional news team assembled, so their coverage of the news isn't the issue, but the more polished sound that WDEL generally has and their bigger focus on the local Wilmington area are places where WILM could improve. It will be interesting to see how it will turn out. I realize that CC has an agreement with Fox Radio, but if I were WILM I'd drop Fox and pick up ABC radio, more programming available in commentaries and other news programs (like CBS radio) over what Fox offers. In any case, time will tell. However, if WILM doesn't upgrade what they do it would seem that WDEL will probably pull ahead and become the major radio source for Delaware news. That's my spin.
 
It's probably a good thing if WDEL can push its signal further into Kent and Sussex County. WDOV is mostly useless for local content and news and the only station in Sussex that gives good local coverage is WGMD.

I agree with the remarks that WDEL is doing a very good job lately. Maybe I'm biased since I worked there once, but they are definitely the best station in Delaware right now, followed by WGMD. It would be nice if WILM could get some of its mojo back, but as long as they are under the CC whip, I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
Dave, you're correct about WJWL. There must be a sizable Hispanic population in Sussex County as that is a Spanish station and their 10,800w daytime signal and even their night time signal covers all or most of Sussex County.

WDEL will now cover that part west of Newark into PA and also into the city of Philly much better according to the Radio Locator maps for WDEL's new power.

It's a shame that AM stations aren't allowed to have a repeater like WRTI-FM Philly has in Wilmington at 107.7. Then WDEL could put a translator down state to blanket the lower part as they do seem to be the main radio source for Delaware news (WILM also is, but their signal doesn't even cover all of New Castle County), at least from up state to have a full time news department. WGMD, might also fill those shoes for Sussex County, but as I haven't listened to them recently I can't say for sure.
 
This power increase cannot happen anytime too soon! WDEL's signal strength in the Hockessin/Pike Creek Limestonr Rd. corridor at 6:00-6:30am is abysmal. It is also a sad state of affairs when, as a Western New Castle County resindent, I have to often tune to 1210 AM to get a clearer signal during Phillies games than what I can get from WDEL. Would love to patronize the local station, but...
 
I agree with the assessment of WDEL's pre-sunrise signal. I leave the house (in Newark) at 4:30am & can't hear WDEL. In the winter, the Canadian oldies station on 1150 blanks them out. Now, there is just a faint signal there. In summer, WPHT is a better source for the Phillies.

BYW Mike, WRVA is on 1140, with 50kw.

WJWL has been 10kw for many years, dating back to the day you needed that much power to reach any significant number of people in Sussex.
 
Actually WJWL had a BETTER signal when they were 5kw non directional days. they were clearly audible outside of Chester even though I was about 10 miles from the then WFLN-AM, who had to protect them. WDEL's night signal to the north looks more tucked in then the old pattern but they're picking up some to the west. Delmarva could make themselves a very handsome state network by tying together some of their downstate properties and cover the state very nicely on both AM and FM.
 
Thanks for the clarification, WDEL is protecting WRVA at 1140. Maybe I should say that maybe WRVA should be protecting WDEL's signal as WRVA has the stronger signal. It's a shame that WDEL's signal can't be set up to cover all of Delaware and yet not cause a problem for WRVA. Like a 5kw repeater on 1150 say in Milford. 1380 WTMC Del Dot radio is allowed to have multiple transmitters on 1380 to cover the state so why not WDEL? Delaware is such a small state that it seems crazy not to be able to have at least one station (other than Del Dot radio) covering the entire state especially a news oriented station, as Delaware does not have any local TV news of its own.

What are the other AM stations Delmarva has downstate? The idea of having a statewide network, sort of like WILM/WDOV (CC Delaware) for morning drive news (Delaware This Morning) could also work at WDEL/ W???). As WDEL's programming both news and talk is very Delaware oriented, not just Wilmington or New Castle County oriented, I could easily see the downstate station simulcasting the day parts of WDEL as the Delmarva Network, or something. WDEL already uses a 1-800 number for Downstate callers. Of course, I guess one of Delmarva's lesser performing FM's from Downstate could also do the simulcasting as well.
 
I think carrying WDEL on one of the dowstate stations would make sense. The news and weather would work statewide in morning and pm drive, as well as the mid-day talk. Traffic reports present a problem, but one that could be worked out.
 
Mike

I'm pretty sure that the stations WTMC has on 1380 downstate are nothing more then 30 watt Traveler Information Stations. Nothing shows listed on the FCC pages for any station on 1380 other than WTMC in Delaware (Wilmington).
 
Sam, if I remember correctly ( I haven't listened to WTMC 1380 for quite some time), they gave their legal id saying something about having transmitters in Wilmington, Dover, and Lewes. I know that WTMC uses WILM's tower off of Walnut Street for the Wilmington location. Don't know where the other two towers are or what power they transmit. Now as Dave Williams suggests, they may only be 30w transmitters, but that still begs the question as to why a WDEL or WILM couldn't do the same thing to bring their signal further downstate, especially when WDEL is required to protect 1140 WRVA and WILM has to protect 1450 Atlantic City (forget the calls) or have a 30w transmitter or translator (whatever would be correct) near to Newark so the Western part of New Castle County could get WDEL or WILM better. If they only are 30w's downstate, how can someone on US 13 near Seaford pick up 1380? I guess that too is a good question, can you pick up 1380 DELDOT anywhere in the state or only in certain places? There is something here we are missing to this story.
 
I might post a theory here, as an old radio traffic dude. In Des Moines, the IA DOT set up synchronous TIS stations on 1670, one on each side of the metro. Mostly what it did was made some traffic information consultant from New Mexico a little wealthier, as it didn't work very well.

As I write, it dawns on me that the IA example has nothing to do w/ this one. Best thing I could say is that maybe the 30 watts from Lewes puts a fringe signal 30 miles west to Seaford.

Synchronous ops I don't believe are an option these days from regular broadcast AM stations. Wonder if Delmarva has a under-performing FM, if so that would be a better choice, following the WTOP example
 
MikefromDelaware said:
Sam, if I remember correctly ( I haven't listened to WTMC 1380 for quite some time), they gave their legal id saying something about having transmitters in Wilmington, Dover, and Lewes. I know that WTMC uses WILM's tower off of Walnut Street for the Wilmington location. Don't know where the other two towers are or what power they transmit. Now as Dave Williams suggests, they may only be 30w transmitters, but that still begs the question as to why a WDEL or WILM couldn't do the same thing to bring their signal further downstate, especially when WDEL is required to protect 1140 WRVA and WILM has to protect 1450 Atlantic City (forget the calls) or have a 30w transmitter or translator (whatever would be correct) near to Newark so the Western part of New Castle County could get WDEL or WILM better. If they only are 30w's downstate, how can someone on US 13 near Seaford pick up 1380? I guess that too is a good question, can you pick up 1380 DELDOT anywhere in the state or only in certain places? There is something here we are missing to this story.
Click to expand...

Maybey they're TIS transmitters on 1620.

I found this on an old database. But I think it's out of date.

1390 New Castle (Delaware DOT) Received letter from Carl
Shulak, Senior Highway Engineering Planning Technician. Address was
Delaware DOT, Bureau of Traffic, 250 Bear-Christiana Road, Bear,
DE 19701
 
I searched the web and came across this letter to the International Radio Club of America. I deleted the person's name and address, but this person seems to have found the answer to the question of WTMC having 3 transmitters.

To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America"

Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 9:59 PM
Subject: [IRCA] WTMC-1380 Delaware Wackiness


> The Delaware Department of Transportation runs WTMC-1380 in Wilmington
> with a listed 520 watts day and 10 watts at night. It's basically a
> glorified TIS, running traffic and public safety ads all day. It puts a
> good signal into Central Delaware during the day. They also announce a
> transmitter on 1380 in Rehoboth Beach which is a true 10-watt TIS. I've
> not heard the Rehoboth station.
>
> Today, at lunch (I work just south of Dover, in Camden DE), I tuned into
> 1380 and heard two different signals from WTMC that were out of sync.
> There was a VERY strong version with another, much weaker version of
> WTMC's audio underneath. I was hearing two different WTMC audios. I
> immediately thought I had the Rehoboth TIS as the weaker station under the
> much stronger Wilmington transmitter, but I realized that the dominant
> signal was very strong, almost too strong for a 500-watt station at 40
> miles in Wilmington. I doubted I was hearing both the Wilmington and
> Rehoboth stations dueling it out on 1380.
>
> A quick check of the FCC database shows another Delaware DOT TIS on 1380
> in Dover, probably at the DelDOT yard in south Dover, WQSF238 with 10
> watts. Was DelDOT running another signal on 1380 from Dover? They aren't
> announcing it. They announce transmitters in Wilmington and Rehoboth
> Beach, but they do not mention any station in Dover. But I think DelDOT
> is running a third transmitter on 1380 as what I'm hearing is too strong
> to be the Wilmington station, and certainly way too strong to be the
> Rehoboth TIS. On the way home from work, I listened to 1380 through Dover
> and DelDOT was very strong but the signal was much weaker by the time I
> got to north Dover, showing that the dominant station I was listening to
> in the Dover area was low powered.
>
> I think now that DelDOT is running 3 stations on 1380. WTMC, the main
> station in Wilmington, the 10-watt TIS in Rehoboth, WPQK925 and a 10-watt
> TIS in Dover. If so, they are not running in sync, at least the Dover and
> Wilmington stations aren't.
>
 
They'll need a need transmitter - I suspect they will go HD with that powerhouse. It's going to blow away neighboring lower power AMs.

josh
 
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