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WJJG 1530
- Thread starter Dr Wayne
- Start date
So then their audience stays flat ;D
From Chicagoland Radio And Media Boards:
"The AT&T lines to the WJJG-AM transmission tower went down a couple of days ago. AT&T keeps promising that the problem will be fixed "anytime now," but they just are not getting it fixed. There is nothing the WJJG staff can do but complain. This has been a nightmare for them and it is completely out of their control right now."
My reply: "May I suggest that someone to go to the transmitter site and plug in an mp3 player or a microphone and send a station ID on the hour to comply with FCC rules!
With an at&t loss I wonder if they even know their transmitter is stuck on the air ... it'll be interesting to see if the carrier drops at sunset!
Oh the humanity! "
"The AT&T lines to the WJJG-AM transmission tower went down a couple of days ago. AT&T keeps promising that the problem will be fixed "anytime now," but they just are not getting it fixed. There is nothing the WJJG staff can do but complain. This has been a nightmare for them and it is completely out of their control right now."
My reply: "May I suggest that someone to go to the transmitter site and plug in an mp3 player or a microphone and send a station ID on the hour to comply with FCC rules!
With an at&t loss I wonder if they even know their transmitter is stuck on the air ... it'll be interesting to see if the carrier drops at sunset!
Oh the humanity! "
Fifteen years ago, I worked at a station that had a similar problem with the phone company. All the "direct" lines we had for the phone company service people were no longer in use ...or had changed... so I called their "repair line" listed in the phone book and had little success getting the "operator" to understand the problem. To make matters worse, she was in Florida and I was in Kentucky!!! She also never heard of audio lines for radio stations even though I gave her the code number for the line affected. It went down on a Friday afternoon and our engineer was on vacation and would not be back for a few more days. No matter how much I tried to tell her the downed line was costing us money, her repeated response was "We will get someone out there the FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY between 8 AM and Noon!!!! I didn't give up... I called around and found a local employee from the phone company who put me in touch with a "local line maintenance guy" who found a break in the line on a tilting pole that had been hit by a car... We were back on-the-air early the following morning.... 
Would a microwave STL would work? Once in place except for a very very small light bill it is "free"*. If not possible, Does the cable company have a line close? Then a tunneling protocol STL via the internet with either the phone company's DSL or the cable company's internet service as a back up. Usually if you have a choice between the phone company and the cable company you get better rates and service.
*I would have an extra receiver and transmitter just in case of lightning.
*I would have an extra receiver and transmitter just in case of lightning.
These are all clever suggestions and technical in nature.
That's why a technical person needs to be available for consultation on such matters!
Present day thinking excludes engineering as a necessary function because it isn't required by the FCC!
Only compliance with the FCC rules is required by ownership! Ownership needs a technical person to explain to ownership how to comply with the rules!
Circle jerk again!
That's why a technical person needs to be available for consultation on such matters!
Present day thinking excludes engineering as a necessary function because it isn't required by the FCC!
Only compliance with the FCC rules is required by ownership! Ownership needs a technical person to explain to ownership how to comply with the rules!
Circle jerk again!
They have a technical person who is generally available for consultation (me) who was unfortunately on vacation.
The program circuit got messed up by AT&T. I was able to get down there today and come up with a workaround while we try and find someone at AT&T who knows what they're doing with these old circuits.
In the meantime I'm working with them to come up with a backup plan so this doesn't happen again, and helping them find another person to call if they need help!
The program circuit got messed up by AT&T. I was able to get down there today and come up with a workaround while we try and find someone at AT&T who knows what they're doing with these old circuits.
In the meantime I'm working with them to come up with a backup plan so this doesn't happen again, and helping them find another person to call if they need help!
It is on a different circuit now, so let me know. Unfortunately, my hearing is shot so I don't hear it. I'd like to get it fixed though!
My guess is that it's something in the program circuit - I've replaced the caps and FETs in the transmitter so there's very little there that could be the issue. The fact that it's 8 kHz makes me wonder if it's not the line. Those may not be long for this world anyway.
My guess is that it's something in the program circuit - I've replaced the caps and FETs in the transmitter so there's very little there that could be the issue. The fact that it's 8 kHz makes me wonder if it's not the line. Those may not be long for this world anyway.
Something just changed at 7:22 AM.
The new pair is as a dull as 5 pairs of socks over a microphone.
Apparently the new pair is not "eq-ed" and the ringing at 8Khz *was* a defect in the setup of the eqed pair that died.
But as dull as it was, at 7:22 something snapped and it got just a *bit" sharper.
It could still brighten up a LOT. Think you'll need to pump some upper end up at the studio,
WCKY still riding over at 7:25.
Audio scratching and going through 3-5 db shifts at 7:27.
Better now...keep at it.
The new pair is as a dull as 5 pairs of socks over a microphone.
Apparently the new pair is not "eq-ed" and the ringing at 8Khz *was* a defect in the setup of the eqed pair that died.
But as dull as it was, at 7:22 something snapped and it got just a *bit" sharper.
It could still brighten up a LOT. Think you'll need to pump some upper end up at the studio,
WCKY still riding over at 7:25.
Audio scratching and going through 3-5 db shifts at 7:27.
Better now...keep at it.
Ridiculous!
WHY are phone lines being used over such a short distance?!!! I once owned an FM that had a 42 mile microwave STL! There is no way in HELL that I would have anything other than a microwave STL. Firing AT&T would be a great way to cut the budget.
WHY are phone lines being used over such a short distance?!!! I once owned an FM that had a 42 mile microwave STL! There is no way in HELL that I would have anything other than a microwave STL. Firing AT&T would be a great way to cut the budget.
stereolane said:
There are plenty of reasons why there might not be a microwave STL. A large building in the path, the inability to put that kind of antenna on a structure in a residential neighborhood...any number of reasons.
When set up and used correctly, equalized lines work fine. There are still plenty of stations that use them. Unfortunately, just like everything else after the Bell breakup they work fine until they don't. Then it's trying to find someone at AT&T who knows what an equalized line is and how to fix it.
Having said that, I'm helping them investigate options, including the possibility of a microwave link.
Tom Wells said:
Yeah I noticed the "dull" audio the other day. It very well could be the amplifier card on the transmitter end - the audio coming out of it is very weak and we're driving the input pretty hard. The "shifts" you're hearing could be the audio being pulled in under the gate of the processor. Once AT&T gets the program circuit really fixed, then I can optimize the chain. Until then it's unfortunately "best effort" since it's just a temporary patch. I appreciate the reports though - it's a big help!
b344077 said:
That's still the case with my full-time gig. I'm sure with WJJG as well had they asked. Keep in mind that I'm not their "Engineer" per-se, just a contract guy that helps out when needed. It's their call.
ENERGY 1530!!!
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