Interesting Stuff In Aberdeen...

Was looking up some stuff tonight out of boredom...one day left before the office shuts down for Turkey Day

It appears something is amiss with KGHO out in Hoquiam. Boss Bill, any reason KGHO is saying your station is stamping on them?

from a popular social media website ending in "-book"

In Aberdeen Kbkw is broadcasting on their frequency 100.5 and apparently on our Hoquiam signal 99.9 as well. So in Olympia we pick up and rebroadcast both stations. We've asked them to stop with no success.

I have faith that a seasoned radio vet and responsible owner like Bill would not permit their translator to mess with another station. I also feel if they asked him to 'stop' and his translator was out of whack, he'd shut it down. Any idea what these folks are talking about? Anybody down in that neck of the woods confirm/deny this stuff?

And while I'm at it, what was supposed to be the frequency or COL of KGHO's full-power non-commercial license yet to be built?

That area has some fascinating radio going on despite the size! May have to head that way soon to see what's up...

Radio-X

The "fascinating" part of Grays Harbor radio is the ongoing battle between Boss Bill's "live and local" operations and the nasty ol' corporate owner of Grays Harbor Radio.

Radio-X said:

Was looking up some stuff tonight out of boredom...one day left before the office shuts down for Turkey Day

It appears something is amiss with KGHO out in Hoquiam. Boss Bill, any reason KGHO is saying your station is stamping on them?

from a popular social media website ending in "-book"

In Aberdeen Kbkw is broadcasting on their frequency 100.5 and apparently on our Hoquiam signal 99.9 as well. So in Olympia we pick up and rebroadcast both stations. We've asked them to stop with no success.

I have faith that a seasoned radio vet and responsible owner like Bill would not permit their translator to mess with another station. I also feel if they asked him to 'stop' and his translator was out of whack, he'd shut it down. Any idea what these folks are talking about? Anybody down in that neck of the woods confirm/deny this stuff?

And while I'm at it, what was supposed to be the frequency or COL of KGHO's full-power non-commercial license yet to be built?

That area has some fascinating radio going on despite the size! May have to head that way soon to see what's up...

Radio-X

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The real KGHO (1490 AM/95.3 FM (originally 1560 AM/103.9 FM)) has been off the air for at least 15 years. KGHO-LP's FB page is completely laughable, trying to claim the history of KGHO AM/FM.

KGHO always seemed more or less like a waste of bandwidth to me. I would be curious to know how many total listeners they actually have.

fordranger797 said:

KGHO always seemed more or less like a waste of bandwidth to me. I would be curious to know how many total listeners they actually have.

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Well, as a polite suggestion, before you get too deep into your analysis perhaps you should properly pay your respects to the late great Seattle DJ Buzz Barr, who ran KGHO for many years. I can't comment on how it might have been a "waste of bandwidth", but I can comment that Buzz was one of the good guys and certainly was an important part of Seattle radio history, (KVI, KOL, ,KJR. KING) as well as making radio work out there in Nirvana country for many years. I always like to acknowledge those who made a difference in the Seattle market and beyond, and Buzz definitely fits the bill. Also worked in Portland at the now defunct KISN.

I think Ford's comment was referring to the current KGHO, not the one of which you speak. At least that's how I read it.

seatownmedia said:

Well, as a polite suggestion, before you get too deep into your analysis perhaps you should properly pay your respects to the late great Seattle DJ Buzz Barr, who ran KGHO for many years. I can't comment on how it might have been a "waste of bandwidth", but I can comment that Buzz was one of the good guys and certainly was an important part of Seattle radio history, (KVI, KOL, ,KJR. KING) as well as making radio work out there in Nirvana country for many years. I always like to acknowledge those who made a difference in the Seattle market and beyond, and Buzz definitely fits the bill. Also worked in Portland at the now defunct KISN.

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Actually KISN is back, sort of. There's an oldies station at 95.1, KISN-LP in Portland. I have no idea what's going on with the stream, they run promos saying "hear us online at goodguyradio.com," but there's no stream to be found there. I managed to grab an aircheck of them on the last night I lived in Vancouver if anyone wants it.

I can't look at the frequencies right now, and I won't speak for Bill... but I can say that has been looked into and his operation appears to be clean, as far as the technical setup is concerned. Right now, the thought is that because KGHO's translator is some 600 feet from KBKW's, and is looking past it toward KGHO, just 3 channels away from KBKW's frequency, there is likely a receive antenna misalignment at the KGHO translator, or possibly a problem with whatever they're using for a receiver. That would be an issue that only the Spencers can resolve.

There's also been a lot of nasty weather over there recently, so it's not out of the question that something might have shifted.

In any case, I think it's nearly beyond question that the problem wouldn't be coming from Bill's operation. As an engineer, he's no slouch, and he knows most, if not all of the best ones around here, in the unlikely case something might come up that he wouldn't be familiar with.

(From Radio-X "And while I'm at it, what was supposed to be the frequency or COL of KGHO's full-power non-commercial license yet to be built?")

Among other things, lack of $. Station never got built... CP expired.

Rob Piotrowski said:

I think Ford's comment was referring to the current KGHO, not the one of which you speak. At least that's how I read it.

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Point well taken. I'm just a fan of nostalgic radio because there was a day, not more than 30 years go, when radio meant a lot to the masses.

seatownmedia said:

Well, as a polite suggestion, before you get too deep into your analysis perhaps you should properly pay your respects to the late great Seattle DJ Buzz Barr, who ran KGHO for many years. I can't comment on how it might have been a "waste of bandwidth", but I can comment that Buzz was one of the good guys and certainly was an important part of Seattle radio history, (KVI, KOL, ,KJR. KING) as well as making radio work out there in Nirvana country for many years. I always like to acknowledge those who made a difference in the Seattle market and beyond, and Buzz definitely fits the bill. Also worked in Portland at the now defunct KISN.

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Rob is correct. My comment refers to the modern incarnation of KGHO. Sorry for not specifying.

Does that Brian Spencer guy still own KGHO-LP as an "organization"?
Last time I was down there in 2011, it was 98.5 Aberdeen, 92.7 Aberdeen/Hoquiam (stronger signal than the LP), and 107.3 in Ocean Shores (which is now 107.9). Oh, and 103.3 Olympia.
Surprised that KBKW would let this happen - rebroadcasting it on 99.9 as well as their local 100.5 translator. That doesn't make sense, and hopefully it will change soon.
KXRO still has 101.7 I believe.

I think two of those have moved, the LP had to move to 99.9 when KNBQ signed on, and 103.3 in Olympia is now 101.1. I wish that station would stream, would really like to hear them.

I checked out the KGHO facebook page... here is another admin reply to a listener comment regarding reception of KGHO:

"Do to interference from another station, our signal on 92.7 in Aberdeen and 101.1 in Olympia has degraded. The engineers are diligently working to correct this situation. We are replacing some equipment which is expensive. Since we are a non-commercial station, all of our financial support comes from our listeners. We could really use your help to make KGHO sound as good as it used to. Please send anything financial support you can to: KGHO, P. O. Box 5672, Lacey, WA 98503. If you need our Washington State tax ID number, please let us know. Thank you for your support."

If you scroll further, the admin also provides an explanation for the 92.9 translator being shut down:

"KISM incessantly pestered the FCC for 8 years that their' listener in Kent couldn't hear KISM"s staticky signal from Bellingham, so the FCC cancelled the license for 92.9. Now there are two new religious stations on 92.9. One in Renton, one in Tacoma"

Catch 22 for the 92.9 frequency. KGHO comes on, KISM Bellingham complains. Then two religious LPs go on - KISM's noisy signal goes away again. Wonder if they will complain again...

-crainbebo

Radio-X said:

Was looking up some stuff tonight out of boredom...one day left before the office shuts down for Turkey Day

It appears something is amiss with KGHO out in Hoquiam. Boss Bill, any reason KGHO is saying your station is stamping on them?

from a popular social media website ending in "-book"

In Aberdeen Kbkw is broadcasting on their frequency 100.5 and apparently on our Hoquiam signal 99.9 as well. So in Olympia we pick up and rebroadcast both stations. We've asked them to stop with no success.

I have faith that a seasoned radio vet and responsible owner like Bill would not permit their translator to mess with another station. I also feel if they asked him to 'stop' and his translator was out of whack, he'd shut it down. Any idea what these folks are talking about? Anybody down in that neck of the woods confirm/deny this stuff?

And while I'm at it, what was supposed to be the frequency or COL of KGHO's full-power non-commercial license yet to be built?

That area has some fascinating radio going on despite the size! May have to head that way soon to see what's up...

Radio-X

Click to expand...

NOT TRUE. If you are in Grays Harbor, you will note that 99.9 is fine near their antenna. The problem is very clearly at their Cosi Hill translator site, where the antenna they use to receive their 99.9 LPFM is located just 700 feet from our 100.5 translator, that's just 3 channels away. Obviously to the technically-oriented, it's either that their 99.9 is not operating at full power, or more likely, something happened with their receive antenna during recent wind storms. This became more obvious last week when their 99.9 was off the air and KISW Seattle (99.9) was coming in LOUD AND CLEAR on their 92.7 translator, which I understand is also repeated on their other translators.
To be clear, 100.5 operates through a rather expensive Shively combiner-filter and is NOT radiating on 99.9. Also note that Brian Spencer has made absolutely no attempt to contact us If he had, I would have done troubleshooting for him.

crainbebo said:

Does that Brian Spencer guy still own KGHO-LP as an "organization"?
Last time I was down there in 2011, it was 98.5 Aberdeen, 92.7 Aberdeen/Hoquiam (stronger signal than the LP), and 107.3 in Ocean Shores (which is now 107.9). Oh, and 103.3 Olympia.
Surprised that KBKW would let this happen - rebroadcasting it on 99.9 as well as their local 100.5 translator. That doesn't make sense, and hopefully it will change soon.
KXRO still has 101.7 I believe.

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Yep, still Spencer. Hobby station. Likely getting into their FM receive antenna at Cosi Hill, 700 feet from our transmitter. My guess is that their antenna shifted due to recent winds, or maybe their 99.9 is not at full power. What we do know is that last week when their 99.9 transmitter was off for a bit, the 92.7 translator locked onto KISW Seattle loud and clear.

Radio-X said:

It appears something is amiss with KGHO out in Hoquiam. Boss Bill, any reason KGHO is saying your station is stamping on them?

from a popular social media website ending in "-book"

We've asked them to stop with no success.
Radio-X

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I think the other threads and responses will make it clear what is the problem. "We've asked them to stop with not success"? The ONLY message I did get was a f---b--k message from an Olympia listener. I responded and told the person what the problem is... we can't stop what we aren't doing. Meantime, I checked in this morning and there is a somewhat usable signal on 92.7 (which would also mean ditto for 101.1. Dunno if they've re-aligned the antenna, put in a more selective receiver, or what.

bossbill said:

NOT TRUE. If you are in Grays Harbor, you will note that 99.9 is fine near their antenna. The problem is very clearly at their Cosi Hill translator site, where the antenna they use to receive their 99.9 LPFM is located just 700 feet from our 100.5 translator, that's just 3 channels away. Obviously to the technically-oriented, it's either that their 99.9 is not operating at full power, or more likely, something happened with their receive antenna during recent wind storms. This became more obvious last week when their 99.9 was off the air and KISW Seattle (99.9) was coming in LOUD AND CLEAR on their 92.7 translator, which I understand is also repeated on their other translators.
To be clear, 100.5 operates through a rather expensive Shively combiner-filter and is NOT radiating on 99.9. Also note that Brian Spencer has made absolutely no attempt to contact us If he had, I would have done troubleshooting for him.

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Well that would explain it! 101.1 in Thurston County was relaying KISW as well.

bossbill said:

I think the other threads and responses will make it clear what is the problem. "We've asked them to stop with not success"? The ONLY message I did get was a f---b--k message from an Olympia listener. I responded and told the person what the problem is... we can't stop what we aren't doing. Meantime, I checked in this morning and there is a somewhat usable signal on 92.7 (which would also mean ditto for 101.1. Dunno if they've re-aligned the antenna, put in a more selective receiver, or what.

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I would hope that no station would be intentionally radiating on any frequency other than the one it's assigned to.