This is the second-newest page. Newest page is now here. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 28, 2000: OKC`s copycopycopycat TV news operations!! Not only do 4, 5 and 9 all start their main weather segment at :17 past the hours, but they often show exactly the same (equivalent) maps or graphics at exactly the same time! This occurred at 6:20 pm, when they ALL had 7-day forecast graphics of highs, lows, precipitation. And they NEVER agree; in the few seconds they were on, I noticed a 5-degree descrepancy in predicted high for few days hence. Furthermore, they are never right, sometimes drastically wrong. If I were more motivated, I would tape and transcribe each of these every night, then match them up by date as time goes on, along with actual recorded highs and lows, and it would be even more clear that the whole thing is a total farce. OK, this means I have to admit I have at least 3 TV sets side by side (gh) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 24: The new transmitter of KWGS 89.5 Tulsa, with a little help from the troposphere, and positioning a combination of external and whip antennas on the ATS-909 positioned just-so, allowed it to be heard directly here 7-8 a.m., overriding the weak local gospel-huxter translator a sesquimile away directly in the path from Tulsa (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 24: Both Bob Foxworth and Eric Bueneman suggest that KMKZ could be a Disney-in-waiting, as R. Disney calls often have some connexion with ``Mickey``! But we now recall the letters originally applied to 95.7 in a lame attempt to spell mix as in ``Mix 96``. The 1640 CP in Enid is now on its third set of call letters without even going on the air, and we would not be surprised if it ultimately becomes KCRC, which, after all, was the original 1390 station the expanded band frequency was supposed to improve (gh) December 22: Now we finally know why Chisholm Trail Broadcasting swapped calls with 1640 CP so that 96.9 be KMMZ: Singing but legal ID at local noon Dec 22: ``Memoriez, 96.9, KMMZ Enid-Oklahoma City``. But what could be the significance of the ugly KMKZ applying for now to 1640? Most novel, and ultimately most accurate accompanying hypothetical slogans/non-IDs will be recognized here. I start the balls rolling with ``Keeping My Khakis Zipped``. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 22: The FCC today released a list of LPFM applications which are not mutually exclusive and which survived the "Broadcasting Preservation Act" which passed last week. You can read each station's application on http://www.fcc.gov/mmb, look under "CDBS Public Access", and click on "Search for Application Information". The first column below is the "File Number". Type the "BNPL" in the first box, and the number ("20000605AKK") in the second box, then click "Submit Search". In "Application Search Results", click "Application" to view the application itself. Strangely, the applications don't seem to request the station's ERP or the necessary information to determine it. Tower coordinates, however, *are* provided; you could plug these into http://tiger.census.gov to get a map showing exactly where a nearly LPFM applicant proposes to put their tower. Again, to my knowledge all these applications are still acceptable after the enactment of anti-LPFM legislation last week. They are not mutually exclusive. I would expect to see at least some of them granted soon. BNPL-20000601ADA NEW ADA, OK 96.7 PONTOTOC EDUCATIONAL RADIO, INC. BNPL-20000605ACU NEW BARTLESVILL, OK 101.9 BARTLESVILLE CITIZENSHIP NETWORK, INC. BNPL-20000602AFI NEW ENID, OK 94.3 COVENANT LIFE MINISTRIES, INC. BNPL-20000608AGL NEW ENID, OK 104.7 ENID PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION BNPL-20000605ACJ NEW GORE, OK 92.5 CHEROKEE COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL BNPL-20000607AAO NEW HENNESSEY, OK 97.7 HENNESSEY CHURCH OF CHRIST BNPL-20000608AAW NEW MCALESTER, OK 93.3 JR MINISTRIES EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION BNPL-20000605ACY NEW MARLOW, OK 106.3 JAMES ALLEN EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION BNPL-20000607AAD NEW MORRISON, OK 103.7 MORRISON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (Doug Smith, WTFDA list) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 21: ** OKLAHOMA. I was somewhat surprised to see in AM Switch, NRC DX News Dec 18, by Buffalo K. Foonman and his imaginary friend ``Jerry Starr``, that 1390 KCRC here in Enid OK is changing call to KMMZ, while 1640 KMMZ Enid changes to KMKZ [which has been on their FM 96.9, the one moved into OKC market]. 1640 is not on the air yet, and I just reconfirmed that 1390 is legally singingly IDing, at 2200 UT December 19, as ``KCRC, Enid``. The above change also comes as news to the person answering the phone, while the boss is away until the third Millennium. BTW, Dr [ugh] Laura was on before 2200, and from 2201 they joined the [ugh] ``Sports Animal Network`` originating at WWLS-640 Moore, also opening IDs for KADS Elk City, KBEL Idabel, and KCRC Enid [sic]. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid., NRC-AM via DXLD) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ** OKLAHOMA. Tnx Pat Martin Tip, checked 1650 for new station, and Dec 21 at 0605 UT after news, three IDs within one minute as ``Newsradio 1320, KWHN, Fort Smith`` along with ``Arklahoma Weather``. Geez, they don`t even know what frequency they are broadcasting on! Had pronounced 6 Hz SAH with some other station (estimated by counting 1-2-3-4-5-6- over and over and seeing that it stays in synch with my digital watch seconds steps). Note: Don`t be confused: Arklahoma blends two states, while ``Arklatex`` blends three. As an Oklahoma-firster, I would prefer ``Oklasas``, pronounced ``Oklasaw``... (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I thought I'd invite DXers to try to tune in our new expanded band station in Ft. Smith, AR. KWHN (former 1320 KHz call sign) is now operating on 1650 KHz from a new site just over the Oklahoma border. It is simulcasting 1320 KWYN. We`re using a Harris DX-10 and Kintronics quarter-wave folded unipole antenna. So far we've heard from Clarksville, TN (north of Nashville). Please feel free to drop me, or the station a line. George Nicholas, Regional Engineering Services Manager, Central Region, Clear Channel Communications georgenicholas@clearchannel.com http://www.kwhn.com (via Barry Mishkind, NRC-AM via DXLD) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 20: KWGS 89.5 Tulsa website as below had been updated with this: Our new transmitter is in place and we're back to broadcasting with 50,000 watts. Our engineering staff is in the process of runing it up and making adjustments, so please bear with us. Technical details of our new all-solid-state (no more antique tubes!) Harris Z™ transmitter are available here in Adobe Acrobat format. The transmitter is dual-redundant - up to 3/4 of the individual modules in the transmitter can go bad and we can stay on the air at reduced power. And should this new transmitter completely fail, we'll still go back on-the-air with a second off-site emergency transmitter and antenna, soon to be installed... |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 19: I only recently got a TV set with closed captioning. I wonder if this is common in other markets; probably: during OKC local newscasts, the captioning is actually the TelePrompTer rolling, including stage directions such as "toss to so-and-so" and "ad-lib" which of course are untranscribed, along with extraneous punxuation. It serves the purpose, without additional cost, but looks rather unprofessional (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 19: Don`t you believe the item in NRC AM Switch, Dec 18 DX News, that 1390 in Enid had changed from KCRC to KMMZ, and 1640 [not yet on the air] from KMMZ to KMKZ. 1390 is still very much KCRC (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 17: This info is still displayed on the homepage of KWGS 89.5 Tulsa, along with quite a schedule of holiday specials, but still webcasting only with Quicktime : STILL BROADCASTING WITH LOW POWER! New transmitter being installed Unreliable transmitter and antenna replaced by state-of-the-art units Our new transmitter arrived from the Harris Corporation Monday afternoon (12/4) and is in the process of being connected to AC power, the signal from the studio from the TU campus, and the KWGS transmitting antenna. We're temporarily broadcasting with 3,000 watts, 1/15 of our normal 50,000 watts. Repairs to our 40-year-old Gates 20H2 transmitter became economically unfeasable. Decades of heat-induced cracks and corrosion to the power amplifier tube sockets created intense high-voltage arcs, which eventually destroyed the transmitter. The factory recently notified us that parts and technical support would soon be discontinued. Technical details of our new all-solid-state (no more antique tubes!) Harris "Z" transmitter are available here in Adobe Acrobat format. The transmitter is dual-redundant - up to 3/4 of the individual modules in the transmitter can go bad and we can stay on the air at reduced power. And should this new transmitter completely fail, we'll still go back on-the-air with a second off-site emergency transmitter and antenna, soon to be installed. To compensate for frequent electrical power outages, especially during storms, we're installing a new generator at the transmitter site which will automatically restore power within a few seconds. Our damaged 45- ear-old antenna (the bottom portion of which is shown at the right - the view is from 1000' up, next to the Muskogee turnpike, looking NW toward Tulsa) will soon be replaced with a Harris SkyTiller™ antenna. This long-overdue transmission system renovation is made possible by the contributions of listeners like you and a generous grant from The University of Tulsa Chapman Endowment, We're grateful to you that our days of sounding like an on-again, off-again pirate radio station should soon be over. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 7, 4:46 pm CST: Hello, Glenn, as I scanned around the dial I noticed that KMMZ was really booming into Oklahoma City on 96.9 and I picked them up all over the metro very well. 99.7 is still simulcasting k-love from 88.9; why, I don`t know 88.9 gets great coverage in the metro. Also I found 97.5 at times simulcasting the classical station KCSC 90.1 Edmond. Thanks for your time, later, Bill Eckart. Apparently this means the new 96.9 tower west of Crescent has finally gone into operation. I can`t tell any obvious difference in strength here; still a solid local-like signal, as it is supposed to be (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 6: No, KKWD FM 97.9 isn't changing formats again. The rock station, which debuted in January with a computer-generated countdown, played "Wild Thing" for 29 straight hours as a gimmick to stir interest in an on-air contest. The contest, which included tickets to the Jim Carrey movie, "Dr. Seuss` How the Grinch Stole Christmas," ended at 3 p.m. Tuesday (Radio Notes, Media News, Daily Oklahoman December 6 via John Norfolk) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 5: Glenn, at 7 pm I tuned into KKWD 97.9 and they finally quit the annoying repeating of the the word ``wild``. They are still playing the same kind of music. They did pretty good in the last rating but they probably lost some of their audience by pulling this goofy stunt. KQSR 94.7 in Oklahoma is running all Christmas songs until Christmas day. It seems like there are quite a few stations around playing continuous Christmas music. KMMZ is still fuzzy into Oklahoma City. 97.1 has discontinued in the Oklahoma City area. (Bill Eckart, Mustang) December 5 1714 CST: Hello Glenn, well, Wild 97.9 here in Oklahoma City is repeating one word over and over since early Monday morning. It`s Ton Loc and Wild Thing but continous ``Wild`` said repeatedly, enough to make you you wonder what they are doing but hacked enough to tune out real quick. Please call them and tell them to shut off their transmitter; they are wasting electricity. On Chip Kelley`s web site 100000watts.com they call their format stunting. Later, Bill Eckart, Mustang ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 4: John Goodwin, president of Panhandle State University in Goodwell, has plans to expand the university`s radio station. Goodwin hopes to eventually devote a couple of hours a day to Hispanic programming. (AP Guymon via Enid News & Eagle Dec 4, from a story about the increasing Hispanic population in the panhandle due to Seaboard Farms` 2,300-employee hog farm in Texas County; refers to KPSU 91.7, which we mentioned below in Report from No Man`s Land -gh) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| December 4: In the fall of 1979, I was working at WKY in OKC, a 5000 watt full timer with great coverage. (And the country`s largest Blaw-Knox tower!) We were on the Houston Oilers football network. One Sunday, the feed from the flagship station in Houston could not be decoded properly; it was barely of air quality. Halfway throiugh the first quarter, the board operator had a brainstorm -- he ran into the newsroom, grabbed a $9.95 hand-held transistor radio, and tuned in KRMG-740 from Tulsa, a 50k station during the day that had nice groundwave coverage into OKC, and was also on the Oilers network. He placed the radio atop the state of the art audio console, moved a big studio mike next to the radio and potted it up. Much better audio! When it came time for spot and ID breaks, he did a cross fade between the radio and semi-decoded feed. Thank goodness the radio battery lasted the entire game! Years later, when requesting a verification letter from KRMG, I told this story. Despite a couple of followup letters, I never received any verie. Wonder if they were getting revenge for pirating their signal way back when :) 73 (Bob Galerstein, WB2VGD, Maywood NJ, NRC DX News Musing Dec 4) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 30: Glenn, on Sunday Nov 26 I noticed that 97.1 [translator in Spanish] was not on in Oklahoma City and on 96.9 they came into Oklahoma City not like a lion but like a fuzzy station; if they want to make a dent in this market of they better come ready to play. Come on, Chisholm Trail, they claim to now to be 100,000 watts. Don`t be mainstream (Bill Eckart, Mustang) Co-owned soft AC KMKZ 96.9 and new KMMZ 1640 Enid OK swap calls (96.9 now KMMZ; 1640 now KMKZ) (Chip Kelley, Nov 29 via Bill Eckart, OK) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 24 posted here but: October issue of CIDX Messenger, 25 Plus column by Alan Roberts, St. Lambert, Quebec, reports on his September loggings of OK 26 MHz broadcast auxiliaries, which are normally 1 Watt. Those in the metro areas might find these interesting to monitor on groundwave: 26100 FM, University of Tulsa football network, 23 Sep 2210 UT: pre- game talk, start of commentary on Tulsa Golden Hurricanes vs. Louisiana Tech., game still underway at 2320. IDs ``This is TU Football``. Signal good enough for this to have been a 100 Watt transmission. 26250 FM, KOCO-TV (Ch 5), OKC, 22 Sep 2255 UT. ABC station, about a remedy for over-active bladder, news reports from both OK and OKC, ID as ``News 5``. Poor signal. 26450 FM, KFOR-TV (Ch 4), OKC, 22 Sep 2258 UT. Storm warnings for SE OK, ads mentioning OK, Ch 4 ID. Poor. A similar opening showed up on 27 Sep between 21 and 22 UT with weak signals of TV newscast audio on 26100, 26150, 26250 and 26450. On all four, I was able to catch spoken references to Oklahoma. That was as far as I got. Propagation was out whenever network affiliations, channel numbers and station IDs came up. In short, four signals, an hour`s hard listening, much tape around the spool, nothing to report. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 20: KWGS 89.5 Tulsa cannot be received in Enid thanks to that gospel- huxter translator, but as we approached Tulsa Nov 17 it was still inaudible, and also within Tulsa. Here`s the story from that day`s World: KWGS, Tulsa`s NPR affiliate, off the air temporarily NPR affiliate KWGS 89.5 FM has been temporarily knocked off the airwaves by a transmitter malfunxion early Thursday morning. KWGS General Manager Rich Fisher said the station`s 40-year-old transmitter was scheduled to be replaced in about two weeks. The tube- type transmitter is about the size of a small, walk-in freezer. He said the device puts out about 50,000 watts of power. ``We`ve received numerous calls, and we ask our listeners to be patient while we attempt to fix the old transmitter and move up our schedule to replace it,`` Fisher said. KWGS radio engineers hope to have the radio station back on the airwaves by Friday evening, Fisher said. ``We`ll either have low power or full power when we sign back on,`` he said. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Meanwhile KWGS continues to ``broadcast`` over internet, Quicktime only and these updates are on their website http://www.kwgs.org Nov 20: LATEST UPDATE Emergency transmitter being flown in Harris Corporation airfreighting unit to put KWGS back on-the-air We are greatly indebted to the Harris Corporation of Quincy, Illinois for rushing an emergency low-power backup transmitter to Tulsa to allow us to return to the air. Our temporary signal will be less powerful for the next week - 3,000 watts v.s. 50,000 watts - but most of Tulsa will be able to continue receiving NPR. Our engineering team is working tirelessly to fix the problem and return to the air as soon as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We're off the air! Antique transmitter gave up just days before replacement KWGS Public Radio 89.5 is currently experiencing a major technical malfunction with our 40-year-old transmitter. Repairs to the old Gates 20H2 transmitter are economically unfeasable. Decades of heat-induced cracks and corrosion to the intermediate power amplifier tube sockets is causing the signal sent from the studios on The University of Tulsa campus to be reflected back to campus and not out to the Tulsa area. On a brighter note, we will be installing a brand new transmitter and backup generator November 22. This new equipment will make off-air times like this a thing of the past. Thank you for your patience, and we hope to greet you back on the air very soon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FACTORY SHIPPING DATE MOVED UP TO NOVEMBER 22, 2000 New transmitter almost finished 40-year-old unreliable transmitter to be replaced by state-of-the-art unit We are excited to tell you that transmitter reliability issues will soon be a thing of the past. This fall, KWGS will replace our 40 year old transmitter with a new solid-state model from the Harris Corporation in Quincy, Illinois. Our new transmitter, along with a new backup generator at our transmitter site will end almost all of our frustrating off-air problems. All told, KWGS has spent in excess of $200,000 this year to ensure a reliable signal. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 6: Silent KTUZ-FM-106.9 Clinton OK has returned with its new facilities (move to 106.7FM, change city of license to Okarche, downgrade to class C2 from C1 but move into the OKC market). As suspected, it is carrying Z Spanish's regional Mexican format. The former KTUZ [105.5 Chickasha], now KWCO-FM, is simulcasting. Legal ID from listening to the netcast is "KTUZ-FM Okarche/Oklahoma City, KWCO-FM Chickasha." It didn't mention the translator on 97.1, which is how it used to primarily identify itself (as 97.1). I suspect that is doomed anyway if KMKZ 96.9 Enid ever completes its upgrade into the market. (Chip Kelley, Nov 5, via Bill Eckart, OK) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 6: Hi, Glenn, Just wondering if you already received word about a pirate radio station on 96.7 FM in Oklahoma City that goes by X96? I have heard them before on a Sat. and Sun. night back last summer. Then around 9 pm the station played obscene comedy for over an hour followed by alternative rock. As a matter of fact the station has its own web site at http://www.geocities.com/xfmokc. In monitoring its in- car signal, it favors nw OKC, perhaps centered in the Baptist hospital area. The signal went about as far east as the I-44 & I-35 junction before fading out. I have heard X96 has been at it for 3 years. Don't know what kind of schedule the station keeps. Another pirate radio station in central Oklahoma on 101FM, apparently, you reported on in a previous 1998 Oklahoma column still goes on, weekends only, after 5 years, so I hear. So long, Okiestudly |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Nov 5: Bet you didn`t know that Paula "The Teeth" Zahn of Fox News Channel has a second career as weekend anchor on competing TV stations in Oklahoma City. This is verified by TV Guide listings for local newscasts showing her as the sole anchor Saturday 6 pm on 3, 9 and 12; Sunday 5 pm on 3, 4; then she scoots over to 5, 7 at 5:30 pm; also 10:35 pm and early Monday 2:05 am on 9, and 3 am on 25! Actually, these erroneous listings have been appearing in OKC TV Guide for many months. Have I ever told them? Of course not, it`s not my job! But someone at TVG (let alone the stations concerned) isn`t doing her job. Evidently Zahn is somehow the default anchor for News entries lacking any anchor specified?! Even more absurd is the months-long listing of the Sunday morning news sesquihour at 8 on channel 4 ``in Korean``! |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Nov 5: Following up the item below, on Sunday morning Nov 5 after 6 am CT I noticed that 106.7 now bears ``La Zeta`` in Spanish, incredibly hyper for that hour (but shhh, it may be recorded), sounds stereo; included long string of local OKC ads, and legal ID at 7 am as ``KTUZ Okarche- Oklahoma City, and KWCO-FM Chickasha``. (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Posted here Nov 3, dated Oct 27: New call changes since the FCC's list of call changes posted Monday on their site --- [old calls first] KS KOEZ-92.3 Newton KMXW "Mix 92.3" 10/27 OK KTUZ-105.5 Chickasha KWCO-FM 10/24 OK KCLI-FM-106.7 Okarche KTUZ-FM 10/24 The website for the old KTUZ doesn't indicate a change from Z Spanish, nor does the audio feed. Bill -- can you tell if there are any changes? I would guess maybe the Spanish format will shift to forthcoming move-in 106.7 (the now-silent KCLI-FM 106.9 Clinton, which has a CP to move to 106.7C2 Okarche and into the OKC market). It looks like the Tyler Broadcasting folks are slowly building an OKC cluster entirely out of rim-shooters (KWCO-FM) and move-ins (KKNG-FM 93.3 Newcastle [from Ada several years ago], KTUZ-FM 106.7, and at some point a relocation of southern Oklahoma's classical KTSH 99.7 Tishomingo into the market via move to Tuttle OK). Chip Kelley (via Bill Eckart, OK) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| October 30: I couldn`t take the speculation about KOMA 1520 stereo any longer! So dusted off the old Radio Shack TM-152 stereo tuner to do a bandscan, first in the daytime at 2000-2015 UT Monday October 30. (To hook it into my stereo amp, it is too close to my VCRs, but unplugging one of them helped a lot to reduce noise level; having to reprogram it from scratch every time it`s disconnected is not convenient.) Antenna for this is just a few feet of interior random wire, but the rx is quite sensitive (if not selective) where noise level allows. 1520 KOMA OKC is NOT in stereo, at least not at the moment. (Always a good daytime groundwave signal here about 80 miles away.) I distinctly recall that 930 WKY OKC was in stereo for a while, when they had mostly (religious) musical format, but no longer. This fact is not noted on the amstereo website which has an extensive listing of former stereo stations. 1230 WBBZ Ponca City OK with music format used to be stereo, not any more. [1210 KGYN Guymon OK allegedly stereo, too weak here to tell] The following are confirmed still with stereo: 1170 KVOO Tulsa, C&W 1140 KVSP OKC, urban 1070 KFDI Wichita, C&W (best AM stereo signal received here) 820 WBAP Fort Worth, talk I am also getting stereo pilot light, at least intermittently, but not convinced it may not be spurious, caused by QRM or QRN. This receiver (like all?) is notorious for false stereo indications, especially on skywave: 1500 KOMH Pawhuska, now with CNN Headline News! not Nostalgia as in new NRC AM Log just received. 1460 KZUE El Reno, Spanish 880 KRVN Lexington NE, with talk Line noise level just too high below about 800 to detect much of anything on this setup, except mono 740 KRMG. When I get a chance will check further for stereo at night. Regards, Glenn Hauser, Enid |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| REPORT FROM NO MAN`S LAND by Glenn Hauser, late October 2000 (observations also concerning Kansas, New Mexico and Texas) There`s no avoiding the Oklahoma or Texas Panhandle driving between Enid and New Mexico. This time I spent the night in Guymon, heart of No Man`s Land, since I could not make it to NM before dark. Rationale: could have breakfast at the Pancake House, home of big portions at reasonable prices. But I paid a high price for this, as I knew I would, since the ``lowest price in town`` motel, barely meeting my standards, runs about $15 more than a similar quality room in Clayton, or about the same as a much better room across the state line. Local cable depends on Amarillo TX for networks except OETA for PBS via local translator; except besides KVII-7 for ABC, also KUPK-13 Garden City (relay Wichita); so one can get Nightline and PI without delay here. Due to a fog bank the next morning, area tropo was very nice, allowing me to make the following survey at 1400-1430+ UT on the ATS- 909 with attached whip only, being careful to note stereo and RDS only where this is mentioned immediately followed by what displayed: On 88.1, $tereo local gospel translator of KHYM 103.9, strong enough to QRM cable channel 6 which had Fox, killing color and audio on World Series. Fortunately, made no difference to me. On 88.9, KANZ translator in Guymon had sounded very undermodulated as I drove in. The reason now became clear: its stereo is OUT OF PHASE, left and right channels cancelling each other out when receiving in mono. I later despatched E-mail to Garden City about this, from the Clayton NM public library, which has finally obtained internet access on two computers, one of which runs Spanish keyboard and text. As I also discovered at the Santa Fé PL, Spanish keyboards have punxuation in the wrong places, and you have to hit a special key just to get the @ symbol... Next day driving out, I noted that the DC-777 displayed STEREO transmission indication even when due to low signal strength receiver defaults to mono reception, in this case cancelled out. Here`s the letter to KANZ: ``Hi HPPR, Greetings from the Clayton NM public library, which finally has internet access. Tnx for your previous reply about feeding Guymon by satellite. I have just passed thru Guymon again, and you have more problems. You must not have checked reception in mono when you set this up, since the stereo feed is OUT OF PHASE. This means the left and right cancel each other out when received in mono. This is especially annoying in the car as the receiver automatically defaults to mono reception when the signal is below a certain threshhold but still audible. But not HPPR -- tho the signal is still there and stereo transmission even indicated, the audio goes down to near inaudibility. Furthermore the audio has an annoying digital sound to it which at first made me think you were actually using a low quality internet feed instead of satellite. Then west of Guymon away from the 90.9 interference, I confirmed on two receivers that 88.9 does run just a satellite hop behind 91.1 (direct KANZ reception was enhanced by the morning fog, and lasted almost to Boise City). I never noticed this particular degradation when listening on 91.3 and 94.9 locally in Amarillo. BTW, you are not the only victims of the 90.9 translator in Guymon. It mixes locally with the 90.1 translator to block reception of nearby but low powered 91.7 KPSU in Goodwell. You may as well turn off your stereo during Dick Estell. And any other lengthy strictly mono programs. It certainly adds nothing and only degrades reception at distances. No, I am not one either who wants to commit to half an hour a day for weeks. Most stations have wrapped up their fundraiser by now... Anyhow, you need to get the Guymon feed and transmission in phase ASAP. Nice looking new website. But we are still waiting on you to get with streaming! Best regards, Glenn Hauser (home: Enid OK)`` [END OF LETTER TO KANZ] Guymon: On 90.1 $, another local religious translator, gospel rock from KJIL network out of Kansas. On 90.9 $, new local religious translator of KTLW Lancaster-Los Angeles [88.9]. Is yet another gospel-huxter translator network in the making, further polluting the public radio band? Why doesn`t NPR make an issue of these instead of proposed LPFM????? Had AP news on the hour. On 91.7 MONO, KPSU Goodwell OK, tho nearby is low-powered, and overcome by a mix of the 90.1 and 90.9 translators! Not only did the authorization of 90.9 in Guymon ruin KANZ offair reception on 91.1 for its translator on 88.9, but also ruins reception of a long- existing near-local station. KPSU, anyhow, confirmed in mono including during music; at 1629 UT still audible 32 miles W of Guymon, I noticed them running an LDS PSA, in clear violation of separation of church and state on this Panhandle STATE University station. Earlier had this ID slogan: ``For music so hot it takes a potholder to turn up the volume, keep it tuned to 91.7, KPSU, Goodwell.`` On 92.7 $ local Guymon KKBS, ``The Boss... KKBS``, DJ puts on like a dominatrix; plug http://www.kkbs.com later On 93.1 $ presumably Amarillo On 94.1 $ ``The New Mix 94.1``, sung: ``Mix 94.1 Amarillo`` On 94.5 $ RDS: KSKL [Scott City KS] On 95.3 $ oldies, extreme separation opening a song, making me think one channel was missing at first; ``95-3 K Triple D`` [Dumas TX] On 95.5 $ rock [KOLS Dodge City KS presumed] On 95.7 $ [Amarillo] On 96.1 $ RDS: MIX 96.1 [Perryton TX ex-95.9 KEYE, more below] ads, and spot by someone from News-4 [Amarillo TV?] On 96.3 $ KANZ translator in Liberal KS, NOT out of phase On 97.3 $ C&W ``Q97 FM``, Dodge City On 97.9 $ rock Amarillo On 98.3 MONO, Dallas Cowboys football report, KRDF Spearman TX. Really local radio rather than satellator, interviewing librarian about an artist in residence. Still in mono when rechecked during music at 1435; more below On 98.7 $ rock Amarillo On 99.1 $ KJIL gospel On 99.5 ``K-Z Country`` with ``Ten After Laughter`` at 1412: Clinton joke. ``99-KAKZ`` [Hays KS] On 99.7 $ probably KNID On 99.9 $ RDS: KSKZ. $tereo pilot but zero separation on music. Leoti KS. Wonder if it relays other 99.9 KSKG Salina? On 100.3 $ C&W On 100.5 $ RDS: KNNK-FM ``KNNK, Positive 100.5``, homily sponsored by Circle 3 Feedyards, with heavy Panhandle accent On 100.7 $ C&W On 100.9 $ Spanish [KPQZ Amarillo] On 101.1 $ C&W Woodward On 101.5 $ political ad [KSLS Liberal KS] On 101.9 $ C&W [Amarillo] On 102.7 $ RDS: LEGEND ``102.7, The Legend`` but no ``THE`` on the RDS readout. C&W Liberal KS. This one really gets out. On 103.1 $ religion, weak On 103.3 $? Weak ``Mix 103`` and ``Mix 103 FM`` [Hays KS] On 103.9 $ ``Sacred hymns and gospel classics, 103.9 FM KHYM`` [Copeland KS, noncommercial license per Atlas, and has own translator network, e.g. 88.1] On 104.3 $ oldies in Spanish [KQFX Borger TX] On 104.3 CCI to above, ad for Chlumsky Liquor Mart, 2204 Kansas, other local ads, mentioning Hoisington KS so KVGB-FM Great Bend. RDS may have been trying to break thru On 105.1 $ Spanish preacher [KZQD Liberal KS] On 105.3 $ C&W RDS: KLSR [Memphis TX] On 105.7 $ gospel/C&W, little separation; next day heard non-ID ``The new Breeze 105.7`` Amarillo aimed at pastors On 105.9 MONO but has RDS!: KSSA Spanish music, Garden City ads, comedy routine. Strong solid signal but at later 1440 check, no RDS displayed; 1447 RDS was back. [Ingalls KS], 364- phone number On 106.3 $ Dallas Cowboy news [Hereford TX] On 106.7 $ rock On 107.1 $ rock, Pampa ad [KPUR Canyon?] On 107.5 $ gospel/rock On 107.9 $ rock On 1240 AM at 1443 UT, a low het of about 100 Hz; Elk City OK still off frequency? Skywave still not faded out. Boise City media news: no radio, not even an FM translator. I have looked for a public library, but there are no signs pointing to one from the highway, like there are in many small OK towns. But I`m glad I turned to the north to look for it; otherwise would not have seen some local humour: "WIND GAUGE" : a big rock on a chain hanging from a street sign pole. Later in the Feist HP Directory I found there is a PL in BC off the main drags. Another reason not to stay at Clayton this night is the bad reception on local cable of NBC, from channel 4 in Amarillo, especially when the season premieres of Third Rock and Frasier (even the debut of Michael Richards) were imminent. They really ought to get NBC via satellite from Denver. Into New Mexico on US 412 to Springer: 91.1 has a bad clash between the high-powered KRCC Colorado Springs translator in Ratón, and KUNM low-power translator in Eagle Nest, e.g. 12 miles east of Springer. Southward on I-25, KRCC relay held up as far as exit 366, unlike the 104.7 and 105.5 Ratón translators. I was parked on 91.1 waiting to see when KEDP Las Vegas would appear, but it never did, not even when stopped in the town with ATS-909 antenna horizontal. FM Atlas shows it horizontal polarization only at minus 66 meters, 72 watts, but was not on air even on a non-summer weekday afternoon. I wonder if it is defunct. The website is not informative at all, claiming it broadcasts classical music: http://www.nmhu.edu/non- academic/radiokedp/deftxt.htm Meanwhile on the south side of Las Vegas we begin to hear KENW translator adjacent to 91.1 on new 90.9 replacing 102.9 at Bernal/San Agustín and ||107.1 ``The All New Z-96`` in Las Vegas on 96.7 now has stereo pilot and stereo sound going unlike a month before when I first heard it. BTW, long before this appeared, KHFM 96.7 translator in Santa Fé was defunct years ago, tho still in latest FM Atlas map. Las Vegas also has a WAFR translator on 90.3. Passing by Santa Fe, sign says check 1610 for TIS, but only an open carrier. This may have changed quite a while ago, since I rarely listen to it, but KKOB-770 Albuquerque now actually IDs, even in passing as ``KKOB`` rather than ``KOB`` as it was doing for years after separation from channel 4 TV which retains real KOB calls. Wonder if that separately owned station finally objected. WDKL-874 (or WGKL-874?) is the call of a HAR on 530 at I-25 and Alameda in Albuquerque. Up-to-date info on Big-I construxion, many closed ramps, etc. Other HAR(s) audible in the background, non- synchronized and maybe different messages. 1600 in Albuquerque now noted with CNN Headline News (TV soundtrack) around 1730 UT. So much for using 1610 for TIS/HAR there any more. In Albuquerque this time I surveyed the FM dial for RDS; this includes rimshotters from Santa Fé et al., except 90.7 KSFR which does not make it to much of ABQ. The ONLY ones with RDS are, just calls and no fancy slogans displayed: On 93.3, KKOB-FM On 95.9, KBAC (translator) On 98.1, KBAC On 99.5, KMGA KSFR 90.7 Santa Fé, heard closer to that city, seems to have upgraded to more local public service programming; heard a good interview with Gore`s environmental advisor. Tho programming is mainly in English, throws in announcements and PSAs, Planeta Azul, in Spanish without a thought, e.g. during local English newscast. This contrasts with KSVA-810, which deliberately mezcla Spanish and Ingles en un single frase. On I-40 eastward from Albuquerque, KSFR holds onto 90.7 until about Clines Corners; then 90.9 KENW translator takes over. Approaching Santa Rosa this time, I was able to get 95.9 as far out as the rest stop at mile 251, but only by side-tuning to 95.85 to avoid the DC-777 birdie on 96.0. At mile 262, 95.9 became strong enough on its own channel to override the birdie. Bruce Elving should not assume the format is strictly k, based on my report of a syndicated country-music show last time; this time, on a Friday around local noon, they were running ``Absolutely Eighties`` top 10 countdown with Nina Blackwood, seemingly from Billboard. This was \\ AM 1340 as usual, and a non-legal ID came at 12:51 pm MDT as ``KSSR AM and FM``, NOT KRSR as lists insist is the real call on FM. There was no ID of any sort at hourtop, as music was in progress, nor at the next break for PSAs six minutes after. From ``KSSR`` I learnt that SR now has a brand new Route 66 attraxion enhancing its already legendary status as the City Of Natural Lakes: an antique car museum just opened near Exit 277 on the east side, and guess what, right next to the radio stations. Next exciting thing to check was the 530 Hear New Mexico TIS still promoted by signage at Cuervo on I-40. There was no audio and no quietening indicating a carrier as I approached, but as I drove right past the solar powered mast, not stopping, west of Exit 291, there was a burst of noise on 530, so it`s putting out something dirty but weak. Conchas Lake NM translators: KHFM on 105.5 was surprisingly fully quieted east of Cuervo on I-40, 102.3 was audible, but nothing on 88.3 where KENW translator is listed. Out of boredom with the usual choice of the only two most direct routes between Enid and ABQ, I decided to take US 54 NE from Tucumcari instead, then to Texas 15 eastward from Stratford into OK. A sign still exists just west of Nara Visa asserting that the Central timezone is being entered, where there used to be a little spur into NM instead of following the TX state line. Perhaps I should have stopped at the one remaining business in Nara Visa to enquire what time they thought it was. But another sign at the state line tells us again the timezone is changing. I doubt I will take this route again, as the towns on the way are really dreary, rundown (at least from the highway viewpoint), and stink. I do mean stink, thanks to feedlots, worst around Dalhart, and where I spent the following night, Perryton. They also have piglots. Fortunately, the motel room had been air-freshened, and I survived the night by keeping door and windows closed. Texas 15 as a highway, however, is in better shape than US 412, especially in Beaver County OK which I thus avoided on the way back. But back to radio observations along the way: Dalhart TX has KXIT 1240 || 95.9 and the FM is in MONO. Dumas TX KDDD 95.3 is in stereo, however, and I doubt AM 800 is. Dalhart also has a WAFR translator on 91.7 (closing in on Goodwell from the other side), $tereo, and noted with a local plug cutaway just before news on the hour. I forced myself to listen to this network`s news in order to analyze its content. The first 4.5 minutes met my objectivity requirements, including coverage of the presidential candidates and several national and world stories. Thus lulled into an assumption of fairness, we are primed for the remaining 5 minutes after a half-minute PSA. Every single story in the second half was slanted according to far-religious-right dogma, e.g. Sen. Gephardt is secretly supporting the gay agenda, etc., etc. To make it worse, both parts were done by the same announcerwoman. So much for American Family Radio, which started the translator-network trend copied by more and more gospel-huxter groups, leading to this nauseating and un-American invasion of the public radio band. At Spearman TX, KRDF 98.3 reconfirmed even at local range to be in MONO, despite full page ad in Feist 1999-2000 High Panhandle directory as ``Digital Stereo Sound Country``. (more about it above) As I approached Perryton TX, AM scan would stop on 1400 but only a very weak signal could be heard. Weak audio, that is. KEYE was extremely undermodulated with preacher. Even with gain wide open it did not overload as I drove right by the antenna. Later in the evening the mod was a bit better but still far below par. Modulator tubes dying? Its FM, however, on 96.1, has just moved up from 95.9 and ``doubled power`` expanding coverage to neighboring towns, they claim (see above). $, RDS: MIX 96.1 and spoken IDs also as Mix 96.1, KEYE-FM. This was a Friday night, and I noted high-school football game coverage, all poor-quality phone feeds, and presumably all different, on: 105.3, 101.1, 100.3, 99.7, 98.3, 96.1, 92.1. By contrast, two different CBC feeds were making it through from Saskatchewan on 540, Manitoba on 990, a pleasant surprise. TV notes from Amarillo via local cable: One motel TV channel list showed KETA on 13, so I thought we would be getting Oklahoma in Perryton, but 13 actually turned out to carry KACV-2 Amarillo on 13. Some logos showed a genuine A as second letter, others still the Lambda without a bar. One can only wonder what the local gaybashers may read into this, if they are smart enough to make any false connexion. Just as astounding was an ad I saw twice during one hour, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on KAMR-TV channel 4: PETA with Elvira, http://www.meatstinks.com !! I could not tell if this came from NBC or was locally purchased, but it`s daring considering what Oprah went through in an Amarillo court for expressing even milder sentiments. As I held my nose outdoors in Perryton, the spot could not have been more appropriate, and I made a point of dining on a chicken sandwich – tho this compromise would hardly satisfy PETA. FM Atlas XVIII deleted 93.5 in Woodward OK, KWFX, but this is still on the air and duplicating AM 1450 KSIW, announced as ``KWFX-KSIW, leading the way in country`` (Glenn Hauser) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| October 22: KWTV, channel 9, CBS in OKC, was knocked off the air in a storm around 7:50 pm Sunday, and was still off four hours later, as non-received direct and via cable in Enid. A check of the website at 8:15 showed nothing amiss; perhaps they continued on OKC cable via direct feed. They ruined 60 MINUTES with interruptions during most of it for tornado warnings. Will they play it back late at night once they are back on the air? Don't bet on it. Later: came back on sometime during the night, as normal at 8 am Monday; still nothing we could find on the website explaining or apologizing for the outage. http://www.9online.com (gh) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| October 20, 2000: [A number of listeners eastward from OK were hearing KOMA at night, seemingly on day pattern instead of the usual null toward Buffalo, and their AM IDs still claim to be in stereo!] This is copied & pasted from Alex K.'s "AM Stereo Page", specifically from the "Offenders of the Faith" section, where stations who were ONCE AM stereo but have dropped it are exposed for the cowardly dogs they are OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS VI
: located at http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~amstereo/offenders.htm "1520 KOMA in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Currently running a 50's and 60's Oldies format, KOMA was once indeed a tried and true AM STEREO station. As the story goes, their transmitter was hit by lightning and ended up blowing the stereo generator. According to Program Director Kent Jones, here's the story why KOMA is broadcasting in mono these days: "Our AM signal used to be stereo, but lightning kept knocking out the exciter and the manufacturer of our transmitter could not make a good fix for it... so we stay mono. But, our Internet broadcast is now in stereo so try us there." Huh? What kind of a statement is that? The stereo Internet feed might be all well and good, but it's useless for people who want to listen to KOMA in their cars, while out talking a walk, or even over the air. Sounds like a cop out to me. In fact, the excuses just keep getting better. According to KOMA's Chief Engineer Dennis Orcutt (who is also the CE for Renda Broadcasting), "We at one time did transmit in stereo. Our Nautel 50 KW solid-state transmitter does not run well in stereo. The exciter that came with the stereo equipment drifted off frequency and destroyed the transmitter. It is our choice not to let that happen again especially since there are so few stereo tuners out there." First of all, one would think that a simple phone call to Nautel (who is a well-respected transmitter manufacturer with a great many AM STEREO transmitters in use on the air all over the world) would surely provide a once-and-for all fix for KOMA's unfortunate (and rather difficult to believe) problem. If this was in fact the transmitter causing this, ever hear of warranties, boys? Furthermore, exciters are crystal-controlled and don't just simply drift off-frequency. Again, this all sounds like a cop out to me. In any case, I've been told time and time again that their former stereo signal really sounded great, and it would really be wonderful if KOMA made a real effort to solve their problem and fired the C-QUAM exciter back up again. (Otherwise, it's just another waste of a 50,000 watt signal if you ask me.) If you're a regular listener, why not get in touch with them and let them know you miss their AM STEREO broadcasts? (Feel free to point out any of the inconsistencies in their lame explanations too.) Their e-mail address is thegoodguys@komaradio.com, which is really quite ironic when you think about it." Don't know if this clears things up or makes them muddier, but there it is... (Randy Stewart, NRC AM list) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||