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WJIB

There’s been some speculation on what could happen with WJIB and the other stations in the future. It would be very nice if the station ended up in good hands and could continue to do what it’s been doing, but I think the chances of that are pretty slim. I’ve been listening today, and it’s playing crooners and big bands but I have not heard any station IDs whatsoever. I’m sure that’s intentional. I wonder if it’ll go off the air sooner than we think. Which is why I’ve been listening. I wanna listen to it as much as I can while it’s still on.
 
I know we all love to speculate here, but I have a favor to ask.

Please don't.

The facts right now are these: this was all very sudden and unexpected, Bob's widow is in a state of shock and isn't ready to make any decisions yet, and nobody actually knows what's going to happen in the long term.

There are many friends of Bob who are ready and willing to help her figure things out when the time comes. But that's not going to happen right away.

It would be a great kindness if you'd let things proceed at their own pace and respect Raisa's privacy and her need to deal with her immediate grief.

When there's something more to be known, you'll all know. Right now, there's nothing.
 
"" ... been listening today, and it’s playing crooners and big bands but I have not heard any station IDs whatsoever. ... ""

Can't go without station IDs. The last thing anyone wants is a bunch of fines from the FCC for improper operation.

Two hundred fifty watts of low dial AM (and the translator at night) smack dab in the middle of a big city can reach a coupl'a million people. WJIB must have a decent resale value so as not to be surrendered back to the FCC.
 
Eli Polonsky said:
Yes, and I believe that private stream is sent from WJTO in Maine to WJIB and WBAS via high-bandwidth Comcast phone lines, which are almost always the cause of audio failures on the two affiliates, plus sometimes circumstances where the programming stays on the air but with glitchy sounds and artifacts. As stated above, he can switch the affiliates to local automation, but it may not be programmed for special events.

There HAS to be a better, more reliable, but still low (or perhaps lower) cost method of sending the signal to the affiliates other than relying on Comcast. I have no experience with using Comcast for that purpose, but I was forced to use them for four years in the late 20-teens when my late father, in his early 90's, lived in an assisted living facility that contracted with only Comcast for landline phone (essential for seniors suffering from dementia who can't remember how to use a cell phone) and cable TV (and internet that he did not use).

The amount of frequent difficulties I had just getting Comcast to set up and maintain simple basic landline phone and cable TV service for the last four years of my elderly father's life was unbelievable. At some of their "outages", they completely forgot that our account existed. They would lose all records of it by numbers, name, or anything, and we would have to start all over with a new account. That happened at least a few times in the four years, and as the payer, I never missed paying the bills.

I use Verizon for my own service at my apartment, and though I've occasionally had some problems with them, Comcast makes Verizon look like rocket scientists.
Click to expand...

@Eli Polonsky - By bad luck Bob living in Bath had to deal with Comcast even though most of Southern Maine uses Charter/Spectrum.

I 'suspect' that is why he interconnected WJTO with WJIB and WBAS as Comcast was on the receiving end as well but his other Maine stations were automated at the transmitter.

He told the Globe in 2015 that he and his wife lived on Social Security and their eBay business selling license plates.

Bob Bittner, who runs WJIB and three other New England radio stations from his home in West Bath, Maine, gets at least as much pleasure as his listeners from broadcasting the good old stuff. Bittner, 66, estimates he could sell his stations for about $4 million. Instead, he and his wife, Raisa, live on Social Security and about $15,000 a year earned by selling collectable license plates on eBay.

“I’d rather have the stations than the money,” Bittner said. “I’d rather do what I do. I just love music.”

www.bostonglobe.com

Spinning songs in the key of nostalgia - The Boston Globe

Bob Bittner runs the Cambridge radio station WJIB and others from a remote location in West Bath, Maine.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

He told me last year ago WLVP was his black hole as contributions came nowhere close to paying the power bill for the transmitter.

316446286_841735200496524_1721039921461472822_n.png
 
WJIB is now using the backup computer in Cambridge until Comcast can figure out why the feed from WJTO Bath is not working - WBAS in West Yarmouth is getting the feed from WJTO.
 
Apparently running programming for WJIB from comp in Cambridge studio as
they work on network (from Bath) issues.
If problems happen, Bob Perry can come
down from Maine--looked it up.
A 141 mile drive.
 
I was able to record about 2 hours of WJIB in AM Stereo concurrently with the FM Stereo translator last Thursday late in the afternoon. Aiming to repeat that soon using some lessons learned to tweak my setup (Sony SRF-A100 on 740AM recording to a laptop; Radio Shack DX-398 on 101.3FM recording to a second laptop). Goal is to put together a modern comparison of AM Stereo to FM Stereo similar to one I downloaded years ago of KIIS AM/FM in Los Angeles.

Picked up a couple USB connected sound box/cards which may be a bit better than using the laptop mic jacks for attempt 2.

Just won an auction for a Sony CFS-6000 AM Stereo boombox which will show up next week. Could record directly using its cassette deck but I think this will need a bit of repair first. Also ordered the cables I need to add a Sony XR-A33 AM Stereo car receiver to my truck. Being able to use the truck antenna should be a step up from putting the SRF-A100 in the window or on the roof.

Even on mono AM stations the above radios all sound significantly better than most modern receivers as they have wider bandwidth so once the XR-A33 is added to the truck I'll be using it for most AM listening. I was going to lobby Bob to put WBAS in AM Stereo but I know donations were not were he needed them and now with him gone it is really in a holding pattern.

Lastly need to replace brake lines on my 1999 Expedition so I can drive it within range of WJIB and use its built in AM Stereo tuner to grab some audio. Haha fixing up an old vehicle just for its audio capabilities.
 
Heard the engineer Bob Perry announcement on WJIB that Bittner passed away and, while nobody will ever
match Bob B's unique personality, the stations will continue as long as possible, using non tax deductible contributions from listeners and efforts by friends. He said the fundraising started every year on Bittner's birthday --June 12--and usually took a few months to reach the goal.

I believe WLVP Portland was said to have the fewest contributors and he had it up for sale. So the 5 stations and their FM translators continue as is, though problems related to the Comcast connection have flared up--with 141 mile drives by Perry to fix it; for awhile they ran different programming on WJIB then when it was fixed, the feed from WJTO came back. It was down for awhile earlier today, now back.
740 signal by day can cover a half decent area by day, as I was on 495 north then back to the North Shore although powerline and thunderstorm interference can be a problem.
If funding goals are met, we won't tune in one day to one of the frequencies only to find another owner, another format.
I don't know if converting to a NCE license so tax deductable conttibutions could be made would help. Maybe no change at all...(If non-comm it could be a cheaper rate if they do start streaming..but maybe they will continue to avoid it--note KQV, below, doesn't stream either...high cost even if contributors would like to fund that?)

In Pittsburgh KQV 1410 was rescued from permanent deletion when an arrangement was made to simulcast beautiful music from a nearby 88.1.
Wiki:"KQV (1410 AM) is a non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and covering the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, the station simulcasts FM 88.1 WKGO in Murrysville and airs an easy listening radio format. "
 
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WJIB just aired a local half-hour Maine issues talk show (via their parent feed source station WJTO Bath, ME) from 1:30-2:00 pm called "Maine Beacon", listeners posting on Facebook were confused because they were expecting to hear their usual Nostalgia/Adult Standards/Oldies format.

I didn't listen just prior to this show, but haven't heard any advance announcements of a new show on the stations.

The site of the organization that produces the show is here: About - Maine Beacon I see no mention on the site of the show, which is available as a podcast, being broadcast on the radio.

UPDATE: station engineer Robert Perry just posted that (as of now) he doesn’t know why the show aired at this time. It’s supposed to air early Sunday mornings.
 
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Eli Polonsky said:
WJIB just aired a local half-hour Maine issues talk show (via their parent feed source station WJTO Bath, ME) from 1:30-2:00 pm called "Maine Beacon", listeners posting on Facebook were confused because they were expecting to hear their usual Nostalgia/Adult Standards/Oldies format.

I didn't listen just prior to this show, but haven't heard any advance announcements of a new show on the stations.

The site of the organization that produces the show is here: About - Maine Beacon I see no mention on the site of the show, which is available as a podcast, being broadcast on the radio.

UPDATE: station engineer Robert Perry just posted that (as of now) he doesn’t know why the show aired at this time. It’s supposed to air early Sunday mornings.
Click to expand...
Perry just posted that he found the computer glitch that moved the talk show and moved it back to early Sunday mornings where it belongs. And, that WJTO/WJIB/WBAS will be adding some Christmas music starting Friday!
 
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