WKHR 91.5 heard in Lorain today - normal signal range?

[Buckeyes2001]

I tuned in 91.5 while driving around Lorain and was hearing WKHR/Bainbridge with a pretty decent signal today. Normally tuning in 91.5 in Lorain brings in WOBC/Oberlin but WOBC's website shows them off-air. What is the normal signal range of WKHR? Seems that WKHR and WOBC are quite short-spaced with one another.

 

[CleveRadioInsider]

I remember when WKHR had 3 formats. They were a Big Band/Blues/Alternative format in the mid 90s. They had some volunteer Program Director there running things. He could not have picked 3 formats that were more conflicting with one another. Glad to see they decided to just go with one.

 

[johnbasalla]

No, WKHR's signal is not technically meant to go into Lorain County precisely due to WOBC. However, anything's possible when one of two short-spaced stations is off-the-air. 2 years ago I had the occasion to visit Oberlin College (or is it University?). Anyway, WOBC's signal was quite weak. I remember driving East towards Cleveland when leaving Oberlin, and almost the minute I got out of the Oberlin city limits, WOBC's signal 'hit a wall' and disappeared quickly. Why are the off the air? I can tell you a story about how they could have gotten 6,000 watts many years ago, and how they screwed that up, if you're interested.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I'm guessing that WOBC might be off the air for semester break purposes? IIRC, they've done it in the past.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The day of the 2003 Blackout, among those stations missing was WNIR. Its absence brought me catches like the 100.3 in Meadville PA (in Akron) and the co-channel 100.1 in Shelby (in Sevillle).

WOBC's site does indicate they'll be back on in January, so it's assuredly a winter break. Not a lot of college stations actually go away during breaks anymore, thanks to automation computers.

WOBC is one of the few Northeast Ohio stations I've never, ever heard.

 

[johnbasalla]

They are a generic, non-formatted, college radio station. As such, unless you have their program guide in your hand, you have no idea what you're going to hear. If you do find something good, you'd better write it down because a lot of the shows are on once a week, and it's very easy to forget to tune in the following week. On stations like this you get a some programs that are quite good, a good amount of mediocre content, and some unlistenable junk. The worst of the stuff can be the "Free-form" shows. I must have hit one of those shows while listening to WOBC when I was in Oberlin. When I turned them on, I heard one or two mid-1960s sounding R&B songs that I was unfamiliar with. Then without the DJ opening the microphone to tell me what they had just played, and re-setting the table, they cut to some No-Wave noise. I don't recall if I ever heard someone talk or not. FYI... No-Wave was an off-shoot of Punk Rock at the end of the 1970s/early 1980s. It often had no discernable tune or melody, just lots of drum pounding, guitar noise, maybe some screaming. Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, early Lydia Lunch, and with his saxophone, James Chance and The Contortions were some artists.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The problem, of course, is that you basically have to be in Lorain County to pick up WOBL...and I keep forgetting it's there each time I visit that area.

With WOBL off air, atmospherics can certainly bring WKHR into Lorain. It has a bigger signal than WOBC, for one. I doubt WOBC would make it to eastern Cuyahoga County if WKHR were to be the one off the air.

 

[Rusty Muck]

The problem, of course, is that you basically have to be in Lorain County to pick up WOBL...and I keep forgetting it's there each time I visit that area.

With WOBL off air, atmospherics can certainly bring WKHR into Lorain. It has a bigger signal than WOBC, for one. I doubt WOBC would make it to eastern Cuyahoga County if WKHR were to be the one off the air.

I think you were only referring to WOBC, right?

Incidentally, yesterday (December 24) was WOBL's 40th birthday... signed on as a daytimer at 1570AM at the same time as WTCL in Warren (later WOKG, now WHTX). Moved to 1320 full-time in 1976.

I took some photos of the WOBC mast at Oberlin College a few years back, but never have visited the studios.

 

[xmusicmatt]

I'm guessing that WOBC might be off the air for semester break purposes? IIRC, they've done it in the past.

I don't know any any FM would do that in todays day and age of cheap automation ...

 

[johnbasalla]

Somebody would still need to take the transmitter readings. Even if you can have the transmitter readings logged automatically, somehow an engineer or someone would need to be able to be contacted if something goes wrong. Now, if you don't have a format, what do you put on the cheap automation system to run, unattended?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I think you were only referring to WOBC, right?

I have no idea how that happened. I thought I corrected all the "WOBLs" to "WOBCs".

Though WOBL doesn't really make it far out of Lorain County, either.

What school/college stations do "go dark" during school breaks in NE Ohio, aside from WOBC?

 

[DrC]

What school/college stations do "go dark" during school breaks in NE Ohio, aside from WOBC?

None of the Cleveland metro college stations (WJCU/WCSB/WRUW/WBWC) currently go dark for school breaks, nor have they ever in my experience.

WBGU (88.1, freeform-ish alternative) in Bowling Green used to turn off their signal during part of winter break (I remember this during the winter between 2001-02). I'm pretty sure they run automated now.

 

[johnbasalla]

I can tell you from experience that the last time WBWC went dark over a holiday or summer break was no later then 1974. Prior to the mid 1970s, these mostly 10-watt stations viewed themselves as just another campus club or activity focused almost solely on the campus even though the signal covered the adjoining communities. In WBWC's case, the student operators began to look at the FM station as a service to the community, and the loss of listenership by going dark became a serious issue. However, the broadcast days were shortened as the few truly dedicated students and volunteers did their best to keep the station on-air.

It appears that prior to that, the only time during a break that the station remained on was during the summer of 1969. In a 50th anniversary interview with the then-student General Manager, Jerry Baron, the station found out that they had shown up in the ratings, and this exciting news lead to a year of a concentrated effort to remain on-air and provide a better quality of service.

 

[DrC]

I can tell you from experience that the last time WBWC went dark over a holiday or summer break was no later then 1974. Prior to the mid 1970s, these mostly 10-watt stations viewed themselves as just another campus club or activity focused almost solely on the campus even though the signal covered the adjoining communities. In WBWC's case, the student operators began to look at the FM station as a service to the community, and the loss of listenership by going dark became a serious issue. However, the broadcast days were shortened as the few truly dedicated students and volunteers did their best to keep the station on-air.

It appears that prior to that, the only time during a break that the station remained on was during the summer of 1969. In a 50th anniversary interview with the then-student General Manager, Jerry Baron, the station found out that they had shown up in the ratings, and this exciting news lead to a year of a concentrated effort to remain on-air and provide a better quality of service.

Thanks for the timeline re: WBWC. I've only been listening to Cleveland college radio since the early 90s, but it's amazing how professional-sounding the Cleveland college stations are, compared to many other major cities I've visited where the college stations seem like unfocused toys by comparison. It's also telling how many non-students keep their shows at those stations - I have friends at WJCU and WRUW who have hosted long-running shows there since the 90s.

 

[trefdawg]

Reminds me of the WOUB days in Athens back in the mid 70's. Students could apply for paid holiday or summer staff positions. I along with others kept 1340 and 91.3 chugging along during vacation time. and yes we had two cuts of the TM Productions Shockwave Jingle package with the 100 Key sounds( subliminal trigger igniters) for the AM. (we did high school sock hops to raise money to buy the jingles)