WOKV, WTIX and Katrina?

[FloridaBear1776]

I feel terrible even bringing this up, but...

With New Orleans likely to lose a good deal of its metro population to evacuation, likely causing its market rank to plummet, and with radio stations looking to cover the costs of getting back on the air, would this cause some owners to consider selling out? For example, would the owners of WTIX-AM consider an offer from WOKV to either go dark or go down to class "D" (250 watts or less, no nighttime protection) to give OKV a larger interference-free zone after sunset?

I speculated on this possibility before the storm, and I have to wonder if Katrina has made this scenario less unlikely, in the worst possible way.

 

[OlBob]

> I feel terrible even bringing this up, but...
>
> With New Orleans likely to lose a good deal of its metro
> population to evacuation, likely causing its market rank to
> plummet, and with radio stations looking to cover the costs
> of getting back on the air, would this cause some owners to
> consider selling out? For example, would the owners of
> WTIX-AM consider an offer from WOKV to either go dark or go
> down to class "D" (250 watts or less, no nighttime
> protection) to give OKV a larger interference-free zone
> after sunset?
>
> I speculated on this possibility before the storm, and I
> have to wonder if Katrina has made this scenario less
> unlikely, in the worst possible way.
>
The FCC has announced that it will hold an open meeting on Thursday Sept 15 to discuss the effect of Katrina on the communications infrastucture on the gulf coast.If Cox could move quickly with an offer of,say, the donation of a used and redundant 10Kw transmitter to get 690 back on the air in N.O.maybe WTIX would be motivated to seek approval of a change in night pattern while the FCC is in a good mood.A deep null to the east of N.O. could be implimented during the WTIX repair and rebuilding.Of course Cox could simply write-off the 10 as a donation.
Many other possibilities exist for 690 at night at this time, but WOKV still has to deal with the Cuban problem. Tha Cuban now dominates 690 at night here in southern St. Johns.Hope of WOKV's new 25Kw night signal being audible here seems to have been in vein but I'm not sure if the CP has been executed yet.
The GM of WTIX is in Houston but has posted on the Loisianna board on this site.Maybe a querry directed to him from someone at Cox could get the ball rolling.Holding my breath.

 

[mustangrio]

Why in the hell would you want WOKV to be heard outside of jax.
They have nothing but syndicated program that can be heard on other channels outside of jax at night anyway?<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by mustangrio on 09/11/05 06:22 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[radioboy]

> >
> The GM of WTIX is in Houston but has posted on the
> Loisianna board on this site.Maybe a querry directed to him
> from someone at Cox could get the ball rolling.Holding my
> breath.
>
FYI:

I received an email from the WTIX mamaber today, although it was not related to these particular posts. He says they have not been to the transmitter site yet, but they are fearing the worst. He says WTIX plans to rebuild.<P ID="signature">______________
Proudly remembering the days of the hometown "country giant" radio stations now at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>

 

[FloridaBear1776]

> Why in the hell would you want WOKV to be heard outside of
> jax.
> They have nothing but syndicated program that can be heard
> on other channels outside of jax at night anyway?
>

WOKV isn't heard IN much of Jax/Duval County at night, in part because of the high interference level from WTIX. There are also large white areas between where the WOKV signal drops out and where the others kick in. A lot of no-man's land between, say, WOKV's NIF and that of WFOY. Or the coverage area of SKY-FM in Gainesville.

 

[kevinkelly]

> > Why in the hell would you want WOKV to be heard outside of
>
> > jax.
> > They have nothing but syndicated program that can be
> heard
> > on other channels outside of jax at night anyway?
> >
>
> WOKV isn't heard IN much of Jax/Duval County at night, in
> part because of the high interference level from WTIX. There
> are also large white areas between where the WOKV signal
> drops out and where the others kick in. A lot of no-man's
> land between, say, WOKV's NIF and that of WFOY. Or the
> coverage area of SKY-FM in Gainesville.
>
So you want WTIX to give up a heritage signal that does reach other states, so that WOKV can put out more wattage and still be jammed by a Cuban station? Isn't that a waste, especially to the people who would lose a listenable signal from WTIX?

 

[OlBob]

> > > Why in the hell would you want WOKV to be heard outside
> of
> >
> > > jax.
> > > They have nothing but syndicated program that can be
> > heard
> > > on other channels outside of jax at night anyway?
> > >
> >
> > WOKV isn't heard IN much of Jax/Duval County at night, in
> > part because of the high interference level from WTIX.
> There
> > are also large white areas between where the WOKV signal
> > drops out and where the others kick in. A lot of no-man's
> > land between, say, WOKV's NIF and that of WFOY. Or the
> > coverage area of SKY-FM in Gainesville.
> >
> So you want WTIX to give up a heritage signal that does
> reach other states, so that WOKV can put out more wattage
> and still be jammed by a Cuban station? Isn't that a waste,
> especially to the people who would lose a listenable signal
> from WTIX?
>
I don't think anyone wants to see WTIX give up anything but here may be a chance to improve their service to N.O. while lowering interferance to others.Sure the flood Ins carrier, FEMA and the SBA can help with the repair cost of WTIX , but I'm sure they would all prefer that the station not be prone to flooding in the future.I'm not sure the topography around N.O. but if the station was to be rebuilt as a night directional on high ground north to east of downtown N.O. then a null could lower night interferance to both WOKV and WJOX.I doubt that the WTIX listeners would notice any change given that the day signal can still be ND,but listeners of the other stations would benifit.
I ,for one ,look foward to the day that there will be a solid, local News/Talk station thet can be recieved here at night.The fm's are nothing but music and the best local AM night signal is WPLK 800 Palatka,which is also some kind of music.Currently the only News/Talk available at night is WBT- not a local..

 

[FloridaBear1776]

Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

If we handled Class A allocations the way we handle, say, congressional districts, Florida would have four or five of them by now.

WTIX's "heritage" signal is not a Class A, it doesn't serve areas outside New Orleans and vicinity with a protected signal, and it's not that much of a heritage, only dating back to the fifties (WTIX was originally on 1450). The 690 frequency is actually a Canadian/Mexican clear channel. I'm sure the reason you hear the Cuban now is because WTIX is dark. WTIX is the main interference factor to WOKV under normal conditions.

Even after a post-Katrina population drop, New Orleans will still have 50 kW WWL blasting into half the country, plus WTIX and WSMB reaching pretty much the entire metro at night. Meanwhile, there's no Jax station on AM that covers the entire CITY (never mind metro) after dark (and that means until 7:45 a.m. in March when the new daylight saving bill kicks in) with an interference-free signal. There's no Class A station in the fourth largest state, and probably will never be, save for some radical action by Congress. Don't Florida AM listeners get screwed over enough with weak directional signals, thunderstorms and high-powered Cubans?




<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FloridaBear1776 on 09/12/05 11:10 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[mustangrio]

> > > > Why in the hell would you want WOKV to be heard
> outside
> > of
> > >
> > > > jax.
> > > > They have nothing but syndicated program that can be
> > > heard
> > > > on other channels outside of jax at night anyway?
> > > >
> > >
> > > WOKV isn't heard IN much of Jax/Duval County at night,
> in
> > > part because of the high interference level from WTIX.
> > There
> > > are also large white areas between where the WOKV signal
>
> > > drops out and where the others kick in. A lot of
> no-man's
> > > land between, say, WOKV's NIF and that of WFOY. Or the
> > > coverage area of SKY-FM in Gainesville.
> > >
> > So you want WTIX to give up a heritage signal that does
> > reach other states, so that WOKV can put out more wattage
> > and still be jammed by a Cuban station? Isn't that a
> waste,
> > especially to the people who would lose a listenable
> signal
> > from WTIX?
> >
> I don't think anyone wants to see WTIX give up anything but
> here may be a chance to improve their service to N.O. while
> lowering interferance to others.Sure the flood Ins carrier,
> FEMA and the SBA can help with the repair cost of WTIX , but
> I'm sure they would all prefer that the station not be prone
> to flooding in the future.I'm not sure the topography around
> N.O. but if the station was to be rebuilt as a night
> directional on high ground north to east of downtown N.O.
> then a null could lower night interferance to both WOKV and
> WJOX.I doubt that the WTIX listeners would notice any change
> given that the day signal can still be ND,but listeners of
> the other stations would benifit.
> I ,for one ,look foward to the day that there will be a
> solid, local News/Talk station thet can be recieved here at
> night.The fm's are nothing but music and the best local AM
> night signal is WPLK 800 Palatka,which is also some kind of
> music.Currently the only News/Talk available at night is
> WBT- not a local..
>
Do you think wokv has anything local at night its all including news from network at night if they warrent anything else they could go 50 at night but why bother and if you cant get wokv in jax at night except near baldwin then something is wrong with your radio

 

[mustangrio]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> If we handled Class A allocations the way we handle, say,
> congressional districts, Florida would have four or five of
> them by now.
>
> WTIX's "heritage" signal is not a Class A, it doesn't serve
> areas outside New Orleans and vicinity with a protected
> signal, and it's not that much of a heritage, only dating
> back to the fifties (WTIX was originally on 1450). The 690
> frequency is actually a Canadian/Mexican clear channel. I'm
> sure the reason you hear the Cuban now is because WTIX is
> dark. WTIX is the main interference factor to WOKV under
> normal conditions.
>
> Even after a post-Katrina population drop, New Orleans will
> still have 50 kW WWL blasting into half the country, plus
> WTIX and WSMB reaching pretty much the entire metro at
> night. Meanwhile, there's no Jax station on AM that covers
> the entire CITY (never mind metro) after dark (and that
> means until 7:45 a.m. in March when the new daylight saving
> bill kicks in) with an interference-free signal. There's no
> Class A station in the fourth largest state, and probably
> will never be, save for some radical action by Congress.
> Don't Florida AM listeners get screwed over enough with weak
> directional signals, thunderstorms and high-powered Cubans?
>
like i said before what does wokv have to offer after the morning news that you cant get on other stations?0

 

[Professor]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> Even after a post-Katrina population drop, New Orleans will
> still have 50 kW WWL blasting into half the country, plus
> WTIX and WSMB reaching pretty much the entire metro at
> night. Meanwhile, there's no Jax station on AM that covers
> the entire CITY (never mind metro) after dark...

You know, I have been reading this string with shocked amuzement. Apparently, y'all think there is some sort of entitlement to who gets what on AM.

The short answer is that the reason JAX has no major AM signals is that no one got the paperwork done while there was an opening to do so. Or, they simply didn't want to shell out the $$ to get the job done. Multi-tower arrays are expensive to build and often tough to maintain.

This talk of picking the bones of the New Orleans media market in the wake of the worst Hurricane to reach our shores since Camille is both ghoulish and facile. I am sorry that you feel FL deserves better at the expense of others.

There are other cities that you sophisticated Floridians might consider less important with big night signals -- Little Rock, Wheeling, Shreveport, Des Moines, Louisville, Albuquerque (gosh, I could go on) -- should they forfeit their stations, too, so the sunny beaches of FL can hear Mike Savage at night?

Professor

 

[OlBob]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> > If we handled Class A allocations the way we handle, say,
> > congressional districts, Florida would have four or five
> of
> > them by now.
> >
> > WTIX's "heritage" signal is not a Class A, it doesn't
> serve
> > areas outside New Orleans and vicinity with a protected
> > signal, and it's not that much of a heritage, only dating
> > back to the fifties (WTIX was originally on 1450). The 690
>
> > frequency is actually a Canadian/Mexican clear channel.
> I'm
> > sure the reason you hear the Cuban now is because WTIX is
> > dark. WTIX is the main interference factor to WOKV under
> > normal conditions.
> >
> > Even after a post-Katrina population drop, New Orleans
> will
> > still have 50 kW WWL blasting into half the country, plus
> > WTIX and WSMB reaching pretty much the entire metro at
> > night. Meanwhile, there's no Jax station on AM that covers
>
> > the entire CITY (never mind metro) after dark (and that
> > means until 7:45 a.m. in March when the new daylight
> saving
> > bill kicks in) with an interference-free signal. There's
> no
> > Class A station in the fourth largest state, and probably
> > will never be, save for some radical action by Congress.
> > Don't Florida AM listeners get screwed over enough with
> weak
> > directional signals, thunderstorms and high-powered
> Cubans?
> >
> like i said before what does wokv have to offer after the
> morning news that you cant get on other stations?0
>
What does WOKV have to offer that the others don't? A SIGNAL! Except at night.

 

[Part-timer]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

>
> The short answer is that the reason JAX has no major AM
> signals is that no one got the paperwork done while there
> was an opening to do so. Or, they simply didn't want to
> shell out the $$ to get the job done. Multi-tower arrays
> are expensive to build and often tough to maintain.
>

Didn't WOKV just move to 690 in the 90's?

Probably the period when WPDQ was doing very little with the 690 signal was when the opportunity was missed.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[FloridaBear1776]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> You know, I have been reading this string with shocked
> amuzement. Apparently, y'all think there is some sort of
> entitlement to who gets what on AM.

I think a wise policy would be to place the most stations, and the best signals, where people actually live, and to move them out of areas with declining population where necessary.

>
> The short answer is that the reason JAX has no major AM
> signals is that no one got the paperwork done while there
> was an opening to do so. Or, they simply didn't want to
> shell out the $$ to get the job done. Multi-tower arrays
> are expensive to build and often tough to maintain.
>
WOKV has a CP to go to 25 kW at night with six towers, which it has fought for years to get. The problem is that their NIF is an incredibly high 14 or so mv/M. That means half the city of Jacksonville is not covered by the signal at night. The leading contributor to WOKV's interference floor is WTIX, which
got onto 690, not decades before okv, but a handful of years before (50's versus 60's).

> This talk of picking the bones of the New Orleans media
> market in the wake of the worst Hurricane to reach our
> shores since Camille is both ghoulish and facile. I am
> sorry that you feel FL deserves better at the expense of
> others.
>
> There are other cities that you sophisticated Floridians
> might consider less important with big night signals --
> Little Rock, Wheeling, Shreveport, Des Moines, Louisville,
> Albuquerque (gosh, I could go on) -- should they forfeit
> their stations, too, so the sunny beaches of FL can hear
> Mike Savage at night?
>
I'd be for most of those cities losing their Class A allocations. Who needs the hollering preachers on K-Y? KWKH has been a basket case for years. Why couldn't WHO become a directional 50 kW like KRLD/WTIC and allow room for one of the Florida stations on 1040 to up its nighttime signal and let out its pattern. Iowa's farms are emptying out, and the soil is so conductive that even a shallow southerly null from WHO would probably cover the state anyway.

But no one is suggesting that WTIX-AM go off the air -- even though I think they could use the money they would get in such a scenario to restore their FM tower which I believe was in Plaquemines parish and was brought down by the storm. That would HELP restore radio service in the New Orleans area. A simple null would help WOKV at night.

Why the hostility toward a Jacksonville station being audible in its immediate region at night? Without a WTIX, perhaps WOKV could have a westerly lobe of its own, reaching Lake City. That's still not Class A and 38 states and Canada we're talking about here.

Driving around Florida at night, one hears a few islands of reception in a sea of mush on the AM band, thanks to ossified allocations made in the 1930s when the state was underpopulated. When states lose population, they lose congressional districts. Why not AM radio allocations? The FCC went out of its way to make sure Las Vegas, Nevada and other then-sparsely populated regions had 50 kW signals that could bounce all over the place at night. That was farsighted regulation AFAIC. I'm not foolish enough to think it will happen, but some kind of regulation to reset the balance for fast-growing states hardly seems unfair to me. There frankly is no way to clean up the AM band but at the expense of others. Fewer stations and a reallocation of the band. No more class A's in emptying ghost towns like Rochester, Schenectady and Fort Wayne -- oops, that's already occurred. The world did not end when WOWO became a class B.

P.S. on 690 -- The channel is very quiet, listening from Melbourne, with WTIX off. There is occasionally a Cuban present but it fades in and out and is not a constant presence. Perhaps someone from Jax can give us an after-dark reception report, since with TIX still dark, current conditions are very much like what would happen if TIX cut power or disappeared post-Katrina. <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FloridaBear1776 on 09/14/05 02:11 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Professor]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

Well, Mr. Bear...

I am not going to comment on your reallocation concepts. I think the lack of practicality and the self-centered, egocentric view of Florida being more deserving of coverage than those unfortunate folks in less sophisticated areas of the country speaks for itself. Wow...

But, your comments that a slight null to the East would be the panacea that WOKV and the fine downtorodden AM listeners in Jacksonville needs demonstrates a lack of understanding of the issues involved. WTIX has 5kw at night, so there is no real expectation that WTIX will get any benefit from its skywave signal (you do know what "skywave" is, right?). But, with the combination of its low dial position, and its unique location, its groundwave signal -- even at night -- is something to behold. To the east, WTIX sends a very nice signal into Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pascagoula. So, your plan of moving its signal would sacrifice about a quarter million people in coverage. Why should WTIX -- or any station for that matter with a nice signal it spent time and money on -- be required to write off that kind of coverage so a station which should have addressed it signal problems 40 years ago can fill a few holes? It ain't happening.

I am also a bit perplexed by your 1950s vs. 1960s argument with the 690 signal. Your point? The fact of the matter is that if WTIX, or any other station for that matter, got its act together 30 seconds before 690 in Jacksonville, that's the end of it. Now, if the fine folks at Cox want to spread some bucks and buy their way out, they can pay any one of these undeserving stations you enumerated to shut down, and move signals around.

Or, they could move their AM programming to an FM.

Or, if your really upset at Florida's lack of a skywave station, build a shortwave. That would be fun.

Professor.

 

[artsutton]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

WOKV's nighttime signal is mostly controlled by signal delivered to the Canadian border since it's a Canadian Clear channel. To change this restriction would require a new international treaty with Canada. There is also a restriction to the south with another country.

While WOKV does have a CP for 25KW, it won't improve the signal to the north, south or west. It will just make the lobe to the east, stronger.
In order to cover more of the market, they would have to move the transmitter further west.

One issue they have to address is since 690 was built, the city of Jacksonville and their county mergered. FCC rules require that a station provide interference free contour over the entire corporate limits of a city. Sometimes waivers can be obtained. The same issue presented itself with 540 WDAK in Columbus, GA wanted to move their nighttime transmitter site. Since that 540 was built, Columbus and their county merger and the 500 watts beamed over Columbus no longer provided IF coverage to the entire city limits.

> > > If we handled Class A allocations the way we handle,
> say,
> > > congressional districts, Florida would have four or five
>
> > of
> > > them by now.
> > >
> > > WTIX's "heritage" signal is not a Class A, it doesn't
> > serve
> > > areas outside New Orleans and vicinity with a protected
> > > signal, and it's not that much of a heritage, only
> dating
> > > back to the fifties (WTIX was originally on 1450). The
> 690
> >
> > > frequency is actually a Canadian/Mexican clear channel.
> > I'm
> > > sure the reason you hear the Cuban now is because WTIX
> is
> > > dark. WTIX is the main interference factor to WOKV under
>
> > > normal conditions.
> > >
> > > Even after a post-Katrina population drop, New Orleans
> > will
> > > still have 50 kW WWL blasting into half the country,
> plus
> > > WTIX and WSMB reaching pretty much the entire metro at
> > > night. Meanwhile, there's no Jax station on AM that
> covers
> >
> > > the entire CITY (never mind metro) after dark (and that
> > > means until 7:45 a.m. in March when the new daylight
> > saving
> > > bill kicks in) with an interference-free signal. There's
>
> > no
> > > Class A station in the fourth largest state, and
> probably
> > > will never be, save for some radical action by Congress.
>
> > > Don't Florida AM listeners get screwed over enough with
> > weak
> > > directional signals, thunderstorms and high-powered
> > Cubans?
> > >
> > like i said before what does wokv have to offer after the
> > morning news that you cant get on other stations?0
> >
> What does WOKV have to offer that the others don't? A
> SIGNAL! Except at night.
>

 

[FloridaBear1776]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

I think WOKV is pumping out about as much as they can with the 25 kW upgrade.
It would actually deliver an interference free signal to the entire city of Jacksonville (Duval County) -- if the NIF was 2.5 or so mV/m rather than in the range of 14 or so mV/m. Thus WOKV's best shot at improving coverage is to find ways to reduce interference from other signals.

The Canadian situation might not require another treaty. WOKV is sending all the juice toward Canada that it is allowed by law. But if the Canadian station on 690 chose to send less wattage toward the south, that would help WOKV's NIF even if WOKV can't increase its power.

It's not unheard of for stations to work out interference agreements with each other through the State Department. CFRB and WINS did this a few years back.
Basically CFRB took more interference from WINS in exchange for getting to dump its signal into the hole created by the deletion of KSYG (KLRA) Little Rock.

Perhaps 690 could be persuaded to co-locate somewhere south of Montreal, as close to the U.S. border (only 40 miles away) as possible, and introduce a small, shallow null to the SSW toward Jax. From a Canadian point of view, it would only make sense to direct as much of a Canadian station's signal as possible toward Canadian listeners, who are mostly west, southwest, east and north of Montreal. I doubt there are many listeners in New York and Philadelphia to all-news in French.

> WOKV's nighttime signal is mostly controlled by signal
> delivered to the Canadian border since it's a Canadian Clear
> channel. To change this restriction would require a new
> international treaty with Canada. There is also a
> restriction to the south with another country.
>
> While WOKV does have a CP for 25KW, it won't improve the
> signal to the north, south or west. It will just make the
> lobe to the east, stronger.
> In order to cover more of the market, they would have to
> move the transmitter further west.
>
> One issue they have to address is since 690 was built, the
> city of Jacksonville and their county mergered. FCC rules
> require that a station provide interference free contour
> over the entire corporate limits of a city. Sometimes
> waivers can be obtained. The same issue presented itself
> with 540 WDAK in Columbus, GA wanted to move their nighttime
> transmitter site. Since that 540 was built, Columbus and
> their county merger and the 500 watts beamed over Columbus
> no longer provided IF coverage to the entire city limits.

 

[Professor]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> The Canadian situation might not require another treaty.
> WOKV is sending all the juice toward Canada that it is
> allowed by law. But if the Canadian station on 690 chose to
> send less wattage toward the south, that would help WOKV's
> NIF even if WOKV can't increase its power.

Wait... I'm confused again.

If the problem with WOKV's signal is CCI from New Orleans and from the 20kw Radio Rebelde, how would adjusting CBF's signal be an improvement?

Besides, if I were the owners of CBF, there is no way I would walk away from a 1-tower 50kw station. Never mind the fantastic coverage; I don't have to mess with annoying arrays. Plus, as anyone who has been in the area will tell you, there is much commerce running across the border there. I would want to keep my southern signal, if I could.

Be that as it may, the problems don't end with our maple syrup-loving neighbors to the North. 690 is also a Mexican clear. This is, I am sure, one of the reasons that both Jacksonville and New Orleans point away from Vincente Fox's wonderful country. Mexico City has a whopper on 690... 100kw. Yikes. There is also a Tijuana station, but I can't imagine that it figues into the calculus much, if at all. There are a couple of smaller stations, but again, they are probably not major issues.

And, of course, a major pattern upgrade of 690/Jacksonville would have US implications. Coffeeville, KS, inter alia, would have to be addressed. Oh, I forgot... that's in one of those lesser populated areas like those you discussed. I am sure they would be glad to move to the extended band, say around 1690, so 'OKV can upgrade. I doubt it's much of an issue -- but, let's not forget that KZEY/690 in Tyler, TX is "Station With the Flava!" Ahhhhh, yeah!

Wouldn't you have thought that Cox would have run through these scenarios in the past, and have moved on it had it been viable?

Professor.

 

[FloridaBear1776]

Re: Why does Florida always have to end up on the short side of the AM stick?

> If the problem with WOKV's signal is CCI from New Orleans
> and from the 20kw Radio Rebelde, how would adjusting CBF's
> signal be an improvement?

All of these signals are listed on WOKV's CP as sources that give interference
to WOKV.

Actually, I see CINF is already on a two-tower directional array, probably for the reason I pointed out -- better coverage of Canadians. Now a small notch to 205 degrees and voila...

As to why Cox hasn't moved on this, perhaps a change with WTIX, listed as the station giving the most interference to WOKV, is the linchpin that is necessary for everything else to become practical.

WTIX shoots a westerly lobe now, so if it were moved to another frequency (as opposed to adding a tower on 690) or taken dark, perhaps WOKV could shoot a lobe west or west-northwest, since Mexico is SW and SSW of Florida, counting the Yucatan.

As for KGGF, what are they doing with all that juice in their night pattern aimed at Tulsa? With the incredible soil conductivity in the Great Plains, I'd favor limiting any non-Class A station there to 250 watts at night. And yes, I would trade our combination of salt water conductivity and nearly nonexistent soil conductivity in North Florida for those conditions if it were possible.

>
> Besides, if I were the owners of CBF, there is no way I
> would walk away from a 1-tower 50kw station. Never mind the
> fantastic coverage; I don't have to mess with annoying
> arrays. Plus, as anyone who has been in the area will tell
> you, there is much commerce running across the border there.
> I would want to keep my southern signal, if I could.
>
> Be that as it may, the problems don't end with our maple
> syrup-loving neighbors to the North. 690 is also a Mexican
> clear. This is, I am sure, one of the reasons that both
> Jacksonville and New Orleans point away from Vincente Fox's
> wonderful country. Mexico City has a whopper on 690...
> 100kw. Yikes. There is also a Tijuana station, but I can't
> imagine that it figues into the calculus much, if at all.
> There are a couple of smaller stations, but again, they are
> probably not major issues.
>
> And, of course, a major pattern upgrade of 690/Jacksonville
> would have US implications. Coffeeville, KS, inter alia,
> would have to be addressed. Oh, I forgot... that's in one
> of those lesser populated areas like those you discussed. I
> am sure they would be glad to move to the extended band, say
> around 1690, so 'OKV can upgrade. I doubt it's much of an
> issue -- but, let's not forget that KZEY/690 in Tyler, TX is
> "Station With the Flava!" Ahhhhh, yeah!
>
> Wouldn't you have thought that Cox would have run through
> these scenarios in the past, and have moved on it had it
> been viable?
>
> Professor.
>