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WWOW 1360/Conneaut off air

schmave

schmave

Just got back from visiting the in-laws in Conneaut this weekend and 1360 AM was off the air the entire time we were in town (Friday to today). I think I barely heard their translator at 102.9 FM in the city itself (it transmits from between Conneaut and Erie), and their stream is going full-bore right now, so the station isn't gone completely.
Anybody have any insight on what's going on with the AM signal? Hadn't been in Conneaut since December before this weekend so for all I know, the transmitter could have been down for some time.
 
I haven't talked to the owner Matt Jarvi since last summer but I had been noticing the AM side has been off for some time. God bless him for continuing to run the operation. Sports sponsorships and some local advertising seem to keep things running. I hope everything is OK with Matt.

From 2012-2015, I voicetracked afternoons on WWOW for the previous owner, Bill Shannon, who I had worked for at 4 other stations. I had been out of the radio business since 1997 in Erie and have been running my own business since 1997 full-time so it was a bit of fun to get behind a radio mic again.
 
John Gallagher said:
I haven't talked to the owner Matt Jarvi since last summer but I had been noticing the AM side has been off for some time. God bless him for continuing to run the operation. Sports sponsorships and some local advertising seem to keep things running. I hope everything is OK with Matt.

From 2012-2015, I voicetracked afternoons on WWOW for the previous owner, Bill Shannon, who I had worked for at 4 other stations. I had been out of the radio business since 1997 in Erie and have been running my own business since 1997 full-time so it was a bit of fun to get behind a radio mic again.
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If WWOW has been off of the air for a long time, why is it not showing up as an STA at the FCC. For that matter, why hasn't the FCC begun asking why it's not on the air.

Oh yeah! I forgot. Somebody has to notify the Federal agency that one of its licensed stations is not currently on the air. And, of course, the agency is busy suing ABC for public interest violations that nobody has had much interest in for years...
 
ted chittenden said:
Oh yeah! I forgot. Somebody has to notify the Federal agency that one of its licensed stations is not currently on the air.
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It you were a competitor why would you contact the Commission? You don't have to worry about someone coming in and start running the station in a competitive manor. It kinda makes one wish they had a list of their on air sponcers. Easy sell, they already use radio.
 
I posted earlier in the We Rocked Erie in the 20th Century page on Facebook. Bob Dyment posted -
"I just went by their antenna/tower location (which can be seen from I-90). The tower is down. Earlier this year when going by, the tower seemed to be leaning. I hope the owners are planning on replacing or repairing. They should have notified the FCC. I don't think WWOW can operate solely on their FM repeator indefinitely."
 
John Gallagher said:
I posted earlier in the We Rocked Erie in the 20th Century page on Facebook. Bob Dyment posted -
"I just went by their antenna/tower location (which can be seen from I-90). The tower is down. Earlier this year when going by, the tower seemed to be leaning. I hope the owners are planning on replacing or repairing. They should have notified the FCC. I don't think WWOW can operate solely on their FM repeator indefinitely."
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They could be leasing an HD 2 and using a "frequency shift box" and the average listener would not have a clue.

They really should quickly get an STA for the AM. They could use a TIS system and a whip antenna to get "legal". Not sure of the financials but a parallel feed grounded tower at their current AM site would be attractive to tenants. Cheaper to build too. You don't have to worry about the ceramic insulator at the base of the tower.

I checked their website and no mention of the translator on the first page. One would think that translator could be moved closer to town. If you use the Radio-locator vacant channel function for part 15 there are a lot of "open channels". I seriously doubt you could get FM class A coverage without a directional antenna but I bet WWOW could get a better signal in town than what they got
 
If even half the people who complained about stations being off the air on this board instead sent in recorded proof (in person photos, not Google photos, of towers that may be either damaged or down, recordings of the signal being silent on a radio in the city of license, etc.) to the FCC, then maybe something would actually happen.
 
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Thanks for the responses all. First thought something was amiss when we couldn't get any hint of WWOW around Painesville, then it was clearer once we hit Ashtabula County that the signal just wasn't there at all.
Their translator was barely audible within town, at least near the beaches. I don't know of another available FM frequency that would serve the city better or at all.
Will be on the lookout for updates.
 
1460 Painesville, 1000 Parma and 1330 Willougby all seem to be running on FM only.
At least Willoughby reportedly has filed a request to make its translator an LPFM to legally allow it to close the AM.
I do not know what the others are doing.
 
Santa fe said:
1460 Painesville, 1000 Parma and 1330 Willougby all seem to be running on FM only.
At least Willoughby reportedly has filed a request to make its translator an LPFM to legally allow it to close the AM.
I do not know what the others are doing.
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Uh, that is not how this fm translator am thing works, plus you cant convert a translator to an lpfm.. and an lpfm cant run commercials anyways

and nothings been filed for w268co
 
radiofan2023 said:
If even half the people who complained about stations being off the air on this board instead sent in recorded proof (in person photos, not Google photos, of towers that may be either damaged or down, recordings of the signal being silent on a radio in the city of license, etc.) to the FCC, then maybe something would actually happen.
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IMHO the commission hasn't enforced the technical rules for so long except for really bad offenses that get press or other stations report that a lot of operators have the attitude to mis quote a movie line. "Rules! We don't need to obey no stinking rules".

If the FCC does recover any fines the money goes into the general fund. So the Commission "wastes" part of it's budget with no benefit to the FCC. As long as the paperwork is OK there are no violations. Nobody would dare NOT to file an STA. There is some truth to this. A very large percentage of the operators do follow the rules. I was lucky, except for taking my FCC tests I never met a FCC employee. Every station I worked for obayed the rules.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
Uh, that is not how this fm translator am thing works, plus you cant convert a translator to an lpfm.. and an lpfm cant run commercials anyways

and nothings been filed for w268co
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So can a licensee run even a 100 mw parking lot transmitter for their AM and still comply with the rules? And is anyone actually paying any attention?
1460 and 1000 are now non profit and I heard that 1330 might go that way too.
How much difference in regulations is there?
I admit to being perplexed by all this. Why didn't the FCC just give AM stations an FM channel and revoke the AM license like they have in Canada? Better use than all those 80-90 FM drop ins they allowed.
 
Santa fe said:
So can a licensee run even a 100 mw parking lot transmitter for their AM and still comply with the rules? And is anyone actually paying any attention?
1460 and 1000 are now non profit and I heard that 1330 might go that way too.
How much difference in regulations is there?
I admit to being perplexed by all this. Why didn't the FCC just give AM stations an FM channel and revoke the AM license like they have in Canada? Better use than all those 80-90 FM drop ins they allowed.
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No, they cant do the 100mw parking lot transmitter and comply. it doesnt require a license.

In terms of general rules around AMs with FM transmitters, i cant recall any difference between commercial and non commercial
 


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