The WROA directional array never was stable. The readings would go through wild fluctuations when it started to rain, and when it started to dry out after a rain. I have worked for directional stations where the system was pretty constant throughout weather changes, but that was not the case at WROA. Whether it was the system, or maybe the different soil conditions along the coast, I don't know.
The land the station sits on can't be worth a whole lot. Mind you, I haven't been there for more than twenty years, so I don't know what is around the station now, but there was a big Harrison County landfill on the adjacent land immediately west of the station in the late 70s. It appears from the satellite view I just looked at that it must have been filled up and covered over, but it's unlikely anyone would want to build on or next to an old landfill full of garbage.
Was the 5000 watt signal on 1390 ever really worth it? The station covered more land when it was a 1 KW ND daytimer. The reason they increased power with the big array was so they could claim to be the only 5 KW full time station between Mobile and New Orleans, which they figured would bring in a lot of national ad revenue since the agencies in New York would see that, but they wouldn't know that nearly all of that power was being sent out into the Gulf. The only people who would be in a position to answer the question as to whether or not it ever paid off would be one of the Dowdys. When you figure that there are eight 400 foot towers with 21 guys per tower, plus the massive ground system under it, not to mention the insurance on it because of the hurricane factor, it adds up to a lot of money. The insurance on the towers alone was $6100 per year in the late 70s.
