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WWSM Nailed

The tower fence and unlocked ATU problems were really from a year ago according to the FCC documents. It took the FCC a year to process this and issue the fine.
 
How in the world does that station stay on the air? A multi tower array that has got to be ready to fall over. Can't imagine there is any sustainable revenue for an AM day-timer at 1510 in Lebanon, PA
 
Isn't the station owned by someone who has some type of store along I-78 that if you stop there to use the bathroom, they won't let you unless you buy something? Wonder when the last time the directional was checked?
 
Yes, Pat Garrett, aka Pat Sickafus. He sells sheepskins, has a restaurant, gas station and amphitheater in addition to owning WWSM. He was a country singer at one time and is married to one. The guy appears to be a modern-day "Mr Haney" from the classic 60s show "Green Acres".
 
Pat is a personal friend, I can tell you this...he is worth more money than you will
ever see in your lifetime based on his real estate holdings in Berks County,
His business Sickafus sheepskins which sells to a worldwide clientele, and his
numerous other business interests.
Pat does not run the day to day of the radio station and his manager there will
be the one to take the heat. The station does operate at a profit but only because
it largely operates in an automated fashion. Joann Thomas who is well known in the
area and was associated with WIOV years ago as a sales person; and Al Shade keep
the revenue stream of that station alive.
 
Also a few additional side notes on WWSM; Pat owns the station free and clear,
So there is no debt service. He got a great deal on it as he bought it at
a sheriff sale after it was destroyed by fire back over 15 years ago or so.
Their studios are now operating out of the former WCTX building in Palmyra.
I do know the staff and the manager work very hard to keep the station viable.
 
Sad thing is I had stopped there last year when I spied the towers and saw what the FCC guy did. I mean those sticks are ROUGH!! And the tuning box was wide open on the south tower, coils and all exposed. The north tower, 2 sides of the fence had fallen down leaving the tower totally exposed. I tried to email Pat and tell him about it but never got a response. Oh well.....
 
My guess is Pat probably sent the email to his manager who has been a radio
engineer for years. I am surprised that he would have left it in that condition.
Thanks BL for being a good samaritan, Sorry that your warning was not taken
seriously. However, now his manager will bear the wrath of Pat....which I'm sure
will not be fun.
 
We are all impressed Pat has more money than Jed Clampett. However, his radio station and and all his stuff appear like they are operated by Mr Haney.
 
Then they would have a Hoyt-Clagwell engine powering a back up generator, which was savaged from the tractor Haney sold to Mr. Douglas. In all honesty Pat is a great guy and will pill out of this. I actually enjoy listening to WWSM when I'm in range. It's a refreshing change. A bit of trivia: What was Mr Haney's first name. Answer: Eustice. Well...gotta climb that telephone pole out front so I can order Chinese for lunch.
 
Unfortunate part about this is that Pat did not even know that he got the
fine until I called him a few days ago.
The document apparently did not get forwarded to Pat by his manager.
Needless to say Pat was not happy ,particuluarly when he asked me how much
it was. Although he did get a letter from an attorney in Washington who wanted
to represent him the same day I called.
 
WWSM actually got off lucky, I've just seen some FCC visit fines for $25,000 for the three biggies they'll nail you on.....non working EAS......public file......and tower issues.
 
And all this is important because???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 
Wow, relax dude. Sorry if nobody cares if you live or die...we're just talkin'...
 
I used to have them on a preset when they were WAHT. They were a cookin' Top 40 in the early 70's, when Tim Burns was the PD. One of the reasons that I had them on a preset button was because with a simple tweak of the knob...I had WKBW in Buffalo at 1520 close to a preset for night listening. I also had WIOO in Carlisle on a preset......so I could use it at night for WCFL in Chicago. Since we seem to be running out of topics...maybe we can do one on presets. I've seen this on some of the other other boards.
 
Do you mean current pre-sets? It depends which car I'm driving. My 1992 Honda Civic that I drive back and forth to work only has six each for AM and FM. On FM I'm set for WXPN 88.7, WITF 89.5, WTPA 93.5, WSOX 96.1, WRVV 97.3 and WYCR 98.5. On AM there are only two that I frequently tune to: WLAN 1390 and WHYL 960. Others are set for WHP 580 and WSBA 910 if I need a traffic report or a news update. If the other two are set to any stations I don't recall what they are.

My wife's Nissan has about 10 pre-sets for each band, but I rarely drive that one and she rarely turns on the radio. And the radio in the Honda CR-V is not working so when I drive that I just have to sing to myself.
 
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