WRNJ complains of interference on 104.7 from WWFM tx.

[satech]

WRNJ in Hackettstown, NJ is running an on-air announcement saying "about a month ago, someone began transmitting on our translator frequency of 104.7 FM", and inviting listeners to call or write in with their reports of interference. Ostensibly they are referring to the new WWFM translator on 104.7, W284BW, licensed to Franklin Twp. (near New Brunswick), which does seem to have a very strong signal throughout central NJ.

W284BW is only licensed for 13 watts, versus 210 watts for WRNJ's own 104.7 translator (W284AQ), but has a much taller tower of 459 feet above ground level, versus only 141 feet AGL for WRNJ's translator. I haven't been up in the Hackettstown area to hear for myself how bad the interference is, but the WWFM translator is strong and clear on 104.7 at my workplace in Bridgewater.

 

[nd2023]

Could a translator get another translator shut down due to interference?

 

[KyleSmith1988]

Could a translator get another translator shut down due to interference?

I don't think so in this case because the ones complaining here are also the owners of a translator on the same frequency.
It's not like a Class A or B commercial FM station complaining about interference from a translator,
which is a real problem that can cause a translator to shut down (like with 106.3 in NYC).
It's a translator interfering with a translator. Each one on 104.7 has the same (Class D) status
and so technically they could both complain about each other, and neither could win that one.
89.1 WWFM could sometimes be heard ok in and south of New Brunswick, so the 104.7 there just makes it clearer.
And those on the Hackettstown 104.7 also have another choice if there ever is too much interference...1510 AM.

 

[luperm]

My guess is that WRNJ suspects the Franklin Township translator is running in excess of its authorization.

 

[satech]

My guess is that WRNJ suspects the Franklin Township translator is running in excess of its authorization.

It does seem to be getting out exceptionally well for only 13 watts... unless they're transmitting 13 "watts" in the same kind of magically inflated "watts" that WCNJ/WDDM was famous for using, allowing them to be heard as far north as Livingston.

 

[radiogeek2010]

My guess is that WRNJ suspects the Franklin Township translator is running in excess of its authorization.

It does seem to be getting out exceptionally well for only 13 watts... unless they're transmitting 13 "watts" in the same kind of magically inflated "watts" that WCNJ/WDDM was famous for using, allowing them to be heard as far north as Livingston.

Well, if they are running a single bay, they would only have an effective radiation of 6.5 watts minus whatever loss is in the 500 feet of coax, so they COULD legally run 26 watts or so out of the back end of the transmitter.

 

[PhoenixPark]

The whole phenomenon of FM translators is long overdue for some serious rulemaking and regulation! It all comes back to the PUBLIC INTEREST, CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY. In many parts of the US, translators and low-power FMs have been taken over by de facto religious zealots of all stripes. Allowing these clowns to eat up frequency space with mindless procelytising when many localities are made to suffer through natural and man-made disasters with no radio voice to inform the public of local life-threatening hazards is a complete perversion of what the Federal Radio Commission, then the FCC were charged to assure - to treat the broadcast bands and the people they serve as a limited, non-renewable natural resource. The recent experiences with Irene, Lee and the Pre-Halloween blizzard and the paucity of local radio service throughout New Jersey are good examples. The populace were left in the dark for days, and likewise left without computer and internet access. This is where local radio was meant to shine all over the Garden State, and it was mostly, in the words of Monty Python, a simple case of "non-presence." Local AMs and FMs needed to super-serve their audiences and dropped the ball in the majority of cases. WRNJ, for one, made the effort. Although they have an OK AM signal, their nighttime coverage is drastically limited. Having their FM translators infringed upon by a competing signal from a public station originating programming from many miles away was an insult to WRNJ's audience.

 

[luperm]

I hear what you are saying, but it isn't going to happen.

Who says that your definition of "PUBLIC INTEREST, CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY" is the same for everyone else? Just because you don't like it does not mean that it does not meet some nebulous criteria that you have defined in your own mind. You are entitled to your opinion, and I suspect that a lot of people would agree with you based on their dislike of certain programming.

It's easy to say that the last thing we need is another religious repeater. But, I guarantee you that the owners of WWFM, K-Love, Calvary Chapel or any similar organization would argue that their programming serves public interest, convenience and necessity too. They obviously have their fans...they raise significant dollars so that they can put these stations on the air and maintain them.

Stations like WRNJ, on the other hand, are more or less an anomoly and most barely survive. That's not to say that a station like WRNJ isn't good, or does not serve the public. It's just economic reality.

 

[Band-Scanner]

WRNJ's translator on 104.7 is running a directional signal from about half way up a tower in Budd Lake NJ. They're pushing most of the signal to the west to have a decent signal in Hackettstown & beyond.In addition to that they're operating another translator @ 92.7. located in the Washington (Warren County) area from a mountain top in the Oxford/Mansfield area.

As far as interference goes...the biggest problem is full powered WSPK...K-104 in the Poughkeepsie NY area. There is also a CT. talk station in the New London area that comes in as well.Another signal noted was from the Ocean Cty Maryland area on 104.7

And if that wasn't enough I've heard the Tampa Bay station come up this way on E Skip !!

 

[MarcB]

There is also a CT. talk station in the New London area that comes in as well.

The station licensed to Montauk, Long Island flipped to Hot AC over a year ago. It's WELJ . The station simulcasts the morning show from WPLJ in NYC and is independently programmed the rest of the day. And Cumulus has to sell it.