WSBX-AM 1020 is on the Air

[Louis_009]

WSBX-AM 1020 Thomasville is finally on the air but thier singal is not that storng as WHGH-AM 840. AM-1020 and AM-840 are both 10,000 watts daytime. I am pretty sure if they still working on thier radio tower to get thier singal out farther.

 

[Poledo]

what were they airing?

 

[Louis_009]

WSBX-AM 1020 is a Talk Radio right now they playing music and testing the station. I went to work today as I was in town (tallahassee) thier singal is still weak in town.

 

[Poledo]

Hey Louis, do any AM stations put good signals over Sopchoppy, or whatever state forrest/swamp town you lay your head in? I'm guessing WDIZ from Panama City, AM 1000 from Blontstown, and a couple Spanish stations from Tampa Bay are your strongest stations. Did I miss anything significant?

I've never given the AM dial in Tallahassee much thought. The reception around town just sucks. Even though the WSBX PD GUY tooted his horn about how he was going to pump up the signal and make 1020 a Tallahassee station, I really don't see it ever showing up in a ratings book down there. Heck, I'd be surprised if they could make the station strong enough to make a radio stop when set to seek.

 

[WJEPPD]

Hey Louis, do any AM stations put good signals over Sopchoppy, or whatever state forrest/swamp town you lay your head in? I'm guessing WDIZ from Panama City, AM 1000 from Blontstown, and a couple Spanish stations from Tampa Bay are your strongest stations. Did I miss anything significant?

I've never given the AM dial in Tallahassee much thought. The reception around town just sucks. Even though the WSBX PD GUY tooted his horn about how he was going to pump up the signal and make 1020 a Tallahassee station, I really don't see it ever showing up in a ratings book down there. Heck, I'd be surprised if they could make the station strong enough to make a radio stop when set to seek.

Yes we are on the air and will be continuing to adjust our power as we fix our multiple problems that keep arising in our ground system among other things. Right now we are running sunrise to sunset at decreased power until we can have Georgia Power stabalize the power supply into the building that was caused by years of neglect. We are Active Talk which is a Hybrid of Rock and Talk.

 

[Louis_009]

I am from Wakulla/Crawfordville I do pick up Tampa Bay's AM stations but I dont pick up AM 590 out of Panama City I do pick up Dothan's AM-560 The Ball WOOF-AM. So on my AM I pick up from Dothan to Albany to Tampa Bay I do barley pick up WWL-AM 870 during the daytime. I also pick up some spanish stations some are weak (maybe south florida) The only 2 spanish AM stations I have is AM-640 and AM-670 they both are down somewhere in south florida. And yes I will pick up WSBX-AM 1020 when they go on full power soon. WSBX is in Thomasville Ga. I have an am loop antenna outside the house in a tree with a long wire to the back of my Poineer VSX-516 receiver to hook up the AM stations.

 

[Poledo]

I have an am loop antenna outside the house in a tree with a long wire to the back of my Poineer VSX-516 receiver to hook up the AM stations.

Wow, your hardcore. I though you were just listening on a standard like a GE superradio or a car radio. Apologies.

 

[Poledo]

Right now we are running sunrise to sunset at decreased power until we can have Georgia Power stabilize the power supply into the building that was caused by years of neglect. We are Active Talk which is a Hybrid of Rock and Talk.

Ahhh, never thought about Georgia Power's "Good Ol' Country Power" issues. I don't even bother to set clocks at my place outside Bainbridge because the power goes out a couple times a week. When a nice summer storm blows through I get to live in the dark for 1 to 4 days. I've got a small generator to power the well when the power goes out. I can live without power but I just can't stand not being able to use the bathroom fixtures.
Seems like I could get some priority treatment since my grandfather sold Southern Co. an easement across our swamp for high power lines from the Chattahoochee dam, but that doesn't seem to help me now.

Have you looked into buying a Generac type power backup system?

A hybrid of Rock and Talk? What % of your day is rock and what flavor of rock are you playing?

 

[WJEPPD]

Right now we are running sunrise to sunset at decreased power until we can have Georgia Power stabilize the power supply into the building that was caused by years of neglect. We are Active Talk which is a Hybrid of Rock and Talk.

Ahhh, never thought about Georgia Power's "Good Ol' Country Power" issues. I don't even bother to set clocks at my place outside Bainbridge because the power goes out a couple times a week. When a nice summer storm blows through I get to live in the dark for 1 to 4 days. I've got a small generator to power the well when the power goes out. I can live without power but I just can't stand not being able to use the bathroom fixtures.
Seems like I could get some priority treatment since my grandfather sold Southern Co. an easement across our swamp for high power lines from the Chattahoochee dam, but that doesn't seem to help me now.

Have you looked into buying a Generac type power backup system?

A hybrid of Rock and Talk? What % of your day is rock and what flavor of rock are you playing?

One good thing is we have underground power, no poles to blow down in storms. I have a 100KW Backup Generator and I am considering switching the entire power system to Solar since I can get a tax credit if I do that and we do have abundant sunshine here to support it. We play all flavors of rock just listen to the high quality 128K stream and hear it. I do 3 talk breaks of 3 to 4 minutes per hour. I only allow 8 minutes an hour for commercials and I am getting the higher ad rates from the nationals to sell that inventory. It is a fun station to listen to and is totally not some corporate junk station...

 

[redneckriviera]

I am from Wakulla/Crawfordville I do pick up Tampa Bay's AM stations but I dont pick up AM 590 out of Panama City I do pick up Dothan's AM-560 The Ball WOOF-AM. So on my AM I pick up from Dothan to Albany to Tampa Bay I do barley pick up WWL-AM 870 during the daytime. I also pick up some spanish stations some are weak (maybe south florida) The only 2 spanish AM stations I have is AM-640 and AM-670 they both are down somewhere in south florida. And yes I will pick up WSBX-AM 1020 when they go on full power soon. WSBX is in Thomasville Ga. I have an am loop antenna outside the house in a tree with a long wire to the back of my Poineer VSX-516 receiver to hook up the AM stations.

AM radio needs more people like this dude out in Wakulla DX-ing AM stations with a damn tree-mounted antenna!!!! (It really sounds like fun to me. Sitting there with a case of Old Milwaukee Light, spinning that dial and trying like hell to pick up an AM all the way from Panama City)!

Woody, the problems you'll be encountering with WSBX are three-fold. One, about 30 years ago people started listening more to FM than to AM, reaching a point where less than 20 percent of all listening was to AM stations--and it's just kinda stayed there. Two, because regular folks out there in radioland expect their station of choice to be there whenever they hit the button--and daytimers aren't there about half the time--daytimers became obsolete about the same time FM took over (because, uh, FM stations don't shut off at sunset). I worked at some kick-ass daytimers--leaving the last one in 1978. They tore it down and sent back the license a couple years later. Third, your 10,000 watts on 1020 covers about one-fourth less territory than WPEO's 1,000 watts on 1020 up in godforsaken Peoria--because South Georgia soil is the worst AM conductor this side of the Sahara Desert. So, no, WSBX will never--never--be a player in Tallahassee.

Now, all of that doesn't mean you can't make a living with it (or, at least some money--'cause I can't believe that you're doing this to make a living... it's gotta be a hobby, right?). But doing that will mean working very hard to build good, solid, personal relationships with the local business people in Thomasville and/or the crossroads WSBX is licensed to. It means selling bucketloads of spots for very little money. Like "1,020 spots for $1,020"--which is okay, because you'll have plenty of room to run 'em...

Have fun. And good luck!

 

[Poledo]

Woody may run into a problem caused by people like me. In the past I paid for all media advertising by the quarter. Ever since people started getting their news from the net and newspaper circulation dwindled, I've refused to pay for more than one month's worth of adds in advance. I've also asked (strongly suggested it would be a necessary concession to keep my account) that the newspaper allow me to pay after the add has run. I'm very weary of paying money up front for services from deteriorating forms of media. I use a similar method with AM radio. I won't entertain offers for cheap adds if I would have to pay a large chunk of change up front. With most AMs I'm paying for add time twice a month. For FMs I'm paying quarterly. All this is obviously to keep me from paying for add time on a station (or newspaper) that could easily go under next week.

I don't believe any radio stations run spots and send a bill for them after they've been run, but that billing method might help you gain confidence of new customers. Of course, you'd should only offer terms like this to established businesses in the area.

I did manage to get Cable TV commercials billed to me the month after they ran, but the person responsible for that department knows me apparently well enough to trust me.

 

[Poledo]

AM radio needs more people like this dude out in Wakulla DX-ing AM stations with a damn tree-mounted antenna!!!! (It really sounds like fun to me. Sitting there with a case of Old Milwaukee Light, spinning that dial and trying like hell to pick up an AM all the way from Panama City)!

Rolling on the floor laughing.


How does this "wiring your tree with copper" antenna work? Would it get me a better signal from KLEB 1600 in Pensacola? What if I have concrete everywhere and no trees? Could I "borrow" a neighbor's tree without him knowing? Maybe I should attach a copper wire to my gutters? Would copper wire work spread out horizontally or does it need to be vertical?

Monday I went to my local Radio Shack asking for a Silver Sensor TV antenna. They didn't have any, hadn't seen one in over 6 months. The old Radio Shack dude told me the best thing I could do would be to make an antenna out of 4 wire coat hangers, a short run of copper cable and an 18 inch long 1x12 board. Go figure, 70 year old Radio Shack dude told me to go home and build my own antenna (I was only having trouble picking up 1 (UHF) out of 15 channels) instead of selling me a 50$ POS he had on the shelf.

One last unrelated question that doesn't belong here. Are UHF digital transmissions vertically, horizontally, or circular polarized? Or does that not apply on UHF?

 

[Poledo]

I have a 100KW Backup Generator and I am considering switching the entire power system to Solar since I can get a tax credit if I do that and we do have abundant sunshine here to support it.

A Tax Credit for using "Green" energy? Is this federal or on the Georgia tax return? Are there any grants available for this? I've got plenty of land I could spread a solar panel on. I might even have enough current in the spring to get a small water wheel to churn out electricity 24/7 (except during times of flooding). You gave me a great idea Wood. I'm going to start looking for a grant.

 

[Louis_009]

How does Louis get more DX AM stations on his Poinnteer This is how I do it.

1. Hook up the AM loop wire to the back of your ur reveiver
or any wire that will work. Then I put the wire outside the window.

2. Get a pair of long speaker wires (at Radio Shack) 25 or 50 feet.

I have an old DSS DIRECTV dish on the side of my house here the trick.

Run the speaker wire and wrap it to the nut bolt that hold ur old DSS DIRECTV Dish used 1 speaker wire. The nut bolt will help boost the AM signal.

Then take the other end of the speaker wire to where ur going to hook it up to the AM loop wire.

If you are going to put your AM loop antenna in a tree I have pair of flat tv antenna wire will do so about 100 feet or so. That will help pull the DX AM stations.

All of that I did works for me. more AM stations during the daytime.

I pick up all the tampa bay's stations very clear
WDAE-620
WWBA-820 (former WMGG)
WFLA-970
WHBO-1040 (ESPN 1040 Tampa Bay)
WLCC-760

In GA very clear
WSTT-730-Thomasville
WHGH-840-Thomasville
WMGR-930-Albany
AM-960-Albany WJAD? (Clear Channel)?
AM-1020-WSBX-(Coming Soon)

Dothan
AM-560 WOOF The Ball

And alot of spanish stations from farther distance on my AM

I do pick up all the Tallahassee's AM stations as well.

 

[Poledo]

WMGR-930-Albany

WMGR is coming to you from beautiful Bainbridge, about 40 miles closer to you than Albany. I don't know where 960's coming from, but if it is an Albany station it's strange that I can't get it in Bainbridge.

 

[Louis_009]

AM-960 is a either Albany or Vadolsta Ga. and I think it's a gospel station Tallahassee can pick it up on thier AM dail.

 

[Rob]

I can hear a 1020 here outside Navarre/Pensacola. Guess it's time for me to install a nice fat bevvy antenna or a sloper. This area has a lot of 1KW daytimers.

I also pick up new orleans. and tick tock out of cuba on 570 in the car during the day.
Not to mention the station from Egland (sp) on 540.

I do DX on FM but when conditions are down, MW is the place to be.

Can you guys hear 1050 out of crestview down there? prob not.

-Rob

 

[radioboy]

I can pick up WGOV-950 from Valdosta.

Can't pick up 1050 from Crestview, but we have a 10kw on 1070 here in Tallahassee.

I seldom DX anymore since it's usually just satellite feeds these days.

With a regular radio I'm really not picking up WSBX five miles east of Tallahassee, either.

 

[Poledo]

I can hear a 1020 here outside Navarre/Pensacola. Guess it's time for me to install a nice fat bevvy antenna or a sloper. This area has a lot of 1KW daytimers.

Can you guys hear 1050 out of crestview down there? prob not.

Rob, I don't have a clue what a "bevvy" antenna is, but if you do anything to try to increase daytime reception of AMs like 1020 out of Thomasville, I would guess you would need to be able to null out stations from other directions. A quick search shows a south Florida AM on 1020 that might fly over the gulf, there are also strong adjacent channels on 1010 from New Orleans and Tampa that anyone can pick up in Fort Walton. I've seen antenna's that null out directions advertised by CCrane and read about home made ones on this website, but I don't know diddly about them. Installing a typical large high gain antenna might just get you more co-channel interference. I'm sure you already know more about AM reception than I do, so I'm probably typing for no reason.

Can't pick up 1050 from Crestview, but we have a 10kw on 1070 here in Tallahassee.

1050 is just one of the better signals in the Mobile-Fort Walton area. Like WSBX, 1050 "should" be on very high land as Crestview is near the highest point in the state of Florida, but this thread is the first one I've ever seen that suggested the height of an AM station effected the signal. 1050, WJSB, has always gotten out well. I understand the old 1010 in Crestview got out further. I wonder if the owners of 1050 made any attempt to buy 1010 before the license was canceled. 1330 from Pensacola throws a hellava signal to the west, but you can't pick the station up 20 miles east of the transmitter. Does 980 from Pensacola reach Tallahassee now-a-days? I think 980 out of Marriana has been off the air for over a year which should open up eastern reception of the Pensacola R&B station to people with the right equipment. Other than that, 1620 should get over there at night unless you're near a tis on the same frequency.

Just my 2¢.

 

[Louis_009]

Hey Alan WSBX-1020 Thomasville is still on low power Woody it still working on it and they know it's running low power.

Poledo,

I haven't hread AM-980 from Marriana I guess they still off the air like u said. I dont get AM-1050 from crestview I never hread it before but I do get WHBO-1040 ESPN Radio from Tampa Bay. While Rob and Poledo lives in the westren big bend Louis and Alan lives in the eastren big bend. Now If I go to Panama City I know during the daytime I can pick up WWL-870 from New Orleans as they are running 50,000 watts daytime.