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WJNZ Robertsdale silent

tomservo

tomservo

Looks like Tri-City Radio has pulled the plug on their daytimer WJNZ in Robertsdale. I noticed it off the air early last month. Went by the tower site the other day and the lights on the tower are off, too. Oops.

Being a standalone daytimer on AM in a small town within a rated market is definitely a tough row to hoe, but the station's had a permit for a translator on one of the tall towers north of town for ages, so it seems like it would be a worthy property for someone.
 
This is a strange one.
If the FM translator has to be within 25 miles of the AM it would seem Orange Beach (WCSN tower), Mobile/Eastern Shore or even Pensacola would be the way to go.
 
I don't think the plug wasn't pulled. There was theft at the tower site that pulled copper used for lightning protection and it's very vulnerable to lightning right now. It was on the air when I drove through town a week ago and then off again the next day. I know they are re-ordering a lot of parts and more lightning protection. I saw a guy climbing the tower to fix the lights when I was eating at Willy ts across the road. I really hope they are able to get that translator on because I think that's going to be the tallest translator in the country
 
thegulfcoast said:
I don't think the plug wasn't pulled. There was theft at the tower site that pulled copper used for lightning protection and it's very vulnerable to lightning right now. It was on the air when I drove through town a week ago and then off again the next day. I know they are re-ordering a lot of parts and more lightning protection. I saw a guy climbing the tower to fix the lights when I was eating at Willy ts across the road. I really hope they are able to get that translator on because I think that's going to be the tallest translator in the country
Click to expand...

Oh, that's interesting. Thanks for giving me some of the details on the outage. They really will need the translator since being a daytimer in a small town adjacent to two bigger radio cities is a difficult sell these days.

The last time I was up that way was… Sunday? (Sad I can't even remember what I did a few days ago!) And it was still daylight when I passed by so I couldn't see if they'd been fixed yet. The lights were out on the Wilkins tower in Prichard for a while, too. I think a call to the FAA was necessary to get them to fix it. So it's good to hear that Tri-City is being a little more proactive with their station. Still, I don't think a NOTAM was ever filed, which is a safety hazard to planes.
 
thegulfcoast said:
I don't think the plug wasn't pulled. There was theft at the tower site that pulled copper used for lightning protection and it's very vulnerable to lightning right now. It was on the air when I drove through town a week ago and then off again the next day. I know they are re-ordering a lot of parts and more lightning protection. I saw a guy climbing the tower to fix the lights when I was eating at Willy ts across the road. I really hope they are able to get that translator on because I think that's going to be the tallest translator in the country
Click to expand...

I had an AM where they stole the copper TWICE! . We went with a dipole antenna design on the existing tower. Solved the problem. That was 30 years ago.
 
Groove1670 said:
I had an AM where they stole the copper TWICE! . We went with a dipole antenna design on the existing tower. Solved the problem. That was 30 years ago.
Click to expand...

I think the theft was of the 3 inch copper that was going into the building and grounded outside to protect the transmitter. They are on the air online thru the TuneIn App but the transmitter is off. From what I was told, that was the only thing that was zapped. Without it though, you are off the air!
 
thegulfcoast said:
I think the theft was of the 3 inch copper that was going into the building and grounded outside to protect the transmitter. They are on the air online thru the TuneIn App but the transmitter is off. From what I was told, that was the only thing that was zapped. Without it though, you are off the air!
Click to expand...

Man, that stinks. I always hate to hear of copper thefts since it's so expensive and destructive to already struggling stations.

It's been a few months now but I drove up to the transmitter site and took some pics early one morning. It's back off the road a good bit, so probably an easy target. The building and tower are adjacent to a church so the only access is via the church parking lot. What surprised me most was when I walked up to the door to peek at the permits posted on the windows, I could hear the station playing loudly from a radio inside, even though no one was there.
 
seedless said:
Where is the tallest translator in the USA?
Click to expand...

I am not quite sure, but some of the Albuquerque ones are near 5000 feet over average terrain.
 
thegulfcoast said:
Then I stand corrected! Will this be the tallest non-directional translator in the country?
Click to expand...

Here are the top 25 highest translators in terms of HAAT:

K292DO 5450 Rural Garfield UT
K240BL 4157 Albuquerque NM
K225CH 4150 Rio Rancho NM
K275AO 4146 Albuquerque NM
K255AU 4141 Corrales NM
K229CL 4121 Albuquerque NM
K245CD 4088 Albuquerque NM
K279BP 4068 Albuquerque NM
K233CG 4068 Sandia NM
K251AU 4036 Albuquerque NM
K265CA 4036 Albuquerque NM
K275CN 4026 Oro Valley AZ
K288GY 3986 Tooele UT
K250AN 3931 Oracle AZ
K288AL 3931 Milford UT
K275BZ 3919 Milford UT
K270BX 3919 Milford UT
K254BX 3919 Milford UT
K292GM 3919 Milford UT
K296DW 3753 Lone Pine CA
K221GK 3714 Salt Lake City UT
K294BU 3606 Kingman AZ
K256AA 2961 Kingman AZ
 
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