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wsbx am 1020

For years here in Effingham County, those who had the old money set the business atmosphere for everyone else, just as you describe, poledo. Because the old money sat on the sidelines, those who had a little new money to invest were really reluctant to risk their capital. Also, it is said that certain of the old guard liked things the way they were, and that they would discourage any sort of investments by others if possible. I think every county in the country has had a similar period in their history. In Effingham County, one very wealthy woman lived to a ripe old age and died with all of the grace deserved by a beloved elder; and that was all it took to start the ball rolling, as the estate was settled and many acres of property were suddenly made available for development. Nowadays, one hears complaints about all of the "outsiders" coming in and changing things.

"Playing radio." Sadly, the person who would be successful at my fantasy would almost have to do it as a sideline, perhaps setting aside a fixed amount of money to acquire, improve and operate the station of his dreams - and letting the operation survive if it can survive. I worked for a fellow a few years ago who operated a business just that way: He was adamant that he had invested all he intended to invest and not one cent more. That being said, whoever the right person is would have to be a radio pro and not a dabbler, someone too hard-headed to quit, in other words.
 
level42 said:
Well, I would love to add a follow up comment to this thread, but today I have finally received my "cease" order from Woody Nelson...apparently I will be named in a "pending civil litigation"...so, better keep my mouth shut. Cheers.
He's still not using that "personal injury" lawyer, is he?
 
No idea...just got an email from Woody saying they had a pending suit against the former owners of the station and that if I kept posting comments on message boards, I'd be named in it also. Not sure how that works since I just posted a publicly posted Craigslist ad...but, whatever. I do hope the station gets back up and running one day.
 
level42 said:
No idea...just got an email from Woody saying they had a pending suit against the former owners of the station and that if I kept posting comments on message boards, I'd be named in it also. Not sure how that works since I just posted a publicly posted Craigslist ad...but, whatever. I do hope the station gets back up and running one day.
Since you own a viable business and would want to protect your assets, I would call my attorney and let him know what's going on. If you are served, your attorney will be able to knock that down quickly as being without merit. If you are not sued, and your state allows it, you maybe able to recover the cost of your attorney's fees for mounting a defense to a threatened suit that was not prosecuted.
 
level42 said:
I do hope the station gets back up and running one day.

If the community loses that station, it will never be replaced, not even by a lower-power signal. With that in mind, how long does the FCC wait before they issue an "operate or vacate" order? I should think that little of this is under WSBX's control: It seems that everything that could go wrong for them has gone wrong for them.
 
How long has the station been silent?
What happened to the Cabo Wabo format, which was supposed to be pretty good, I heard?

Anybody done any research in to what formats are really needed in the area? I'm not sure of the demographics there...been a while since I was in South Georgia.
 
Witchlover said:
level42 said:
I do hope the station gets back up and running one day.

If the community loses that station, it will never be replaced, not even by a lower-power signal. With that in mind, how long does the FCC wait before they issue an "operate or vacate" order? I should think that little of this is under WSBX's control: It seems that everything that could go wrong for them has gone wrong for them.

There was a silent STA applied for on 12/30/2010. They have until 12/30/2011 to get the station back on the air or the FCC will delete the license.

Interesting, according to the app for the STA, "TRANSMITTER MUST BE REPLACED ALONG WITH TOWER REPLACED AS WE HAVE GONE THROUGH 3 TRANSMITTERS SINCE BUYING THE STATION AND FINALLY WE FOUND A REPUTABLE ENGINEER THAT ADVISED US THAT THE ENTIRE COPPER GROUND SHIELD HAD BEEN REMOVED BY THE PREVIOUS OWNERS AND THERE IS PENDING LITIGATION TO RECOVER DAMAGES FROM THEM DURING THE INTERIM OF THE NEEDED REPAIRS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY." Sounds like a swine fornication to me if there ever was one. I'd get a second opinion on that ground system thing. You just can't throw one of those things in the back of a pick up truck and make off with it.
 
Didn't Woody complain about the ground radials way back in the beginning, too?
I wonder if vandals have just stolen much of the copper, a little at a time, over the years.

Hopefully, the tower is still OK. Might need a new ATU and some work, though, if it's been running with a bad ground system.
 
That was my though also. Why blame the good, church-going, previous owners when copper theft is such a big problem now. It would be even easier to steal if you had the power turned off to a plant full of copper. Checking to make sure all the copper is there should be done during the due diligence period. If he didn't check it out before his mom bought it, it's his fault. Is he suggesting they came back after the sale closed and dug up the copper without his knowledge?
It's was obvious he didn't do his homework before he bought the station. Remember, he was convinced he bought daytime flamethrower in the Tallahassee market. He posted on here that once he got a new(er) transmitter installed, 1020 would reach Tallahassee, Dothan, Albany, and Valdosta. ::)
 
The last time this station got a signal into Tallahassee was in May of 2007.
 
I was the contract engineer for the station prior to Lifeline selling it. I can assure you that at the time that they began negotiations with Mr. Blood, the ground system was intact, the tower was in good shape, and the ATU was in perfect condition. The transmitter however needed much work, and Lifeline was unwilling to spend the money to have it fixed. It was off the air way before Mr. Blood purchased it due to transmitter problems, but everything else was in fine shape. It was a very nice facility at one time. I haven't seen it since 2008, but everything was intact then.
 
That's correct. It was still WJEP, with a Christian format, at that time.

I believe the station suffered lightning damage just before summer 2007.
 
According the the FCC CDBS database, the call letters were WJEP from 10/25/1983 through 11/04/2008 and became WSBX on 11/04/2008.
 
Alan McCall said:
That's correct. It was still WJEP, with a Christian format, at that time.

I believe the station suffered lightning damage just before summer 2007.

Alan - Has WSBX been off the air consistently since 2007?
 
I turned the Harris MW-10 off sometime in 2007, The station was back on briefly with a Nautel J1000 loaner, maybe 2-3 months in 2008, but yes...has been off since then.
 
Was the lightning damage due to a direct strike on the tower, or was the damage done by way of the power mains? Could a lightning strike sufficient to, say, take out a transmitter also burn out one or more of the radials if they were already showing their age?
 
The Harris MW-10 had major problems and Lifeline Ministries was not in a financial position to be able to repair it. Was not really due to a specific lightning hit, the transmitter was just very old and before they contracted with me it had gone many years without being maintained. The tuning box and radials were in good shape at that time. At some point (the dates get fuzzy), they did rent a Nautel J1000 to get it back on the air at 1kw, but eventually, it was collected and sent back to the manufacturer. I can't speak to what Mr. Blood did after he purchased the station, but I am told the MW-10 is no longer there.
 
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