87.7 [WJMF] TAKE II

[KirkSherwood]

As of today 87.7FM is on the air with its new transmitter and processing in place. Would love to hear what you think of the signal, in ref to quality, loudness, coverage/location, etc. Thanks.

 

[flytrap]

sounds pretty good in the car. Can't pick it up inside the house where I am, but can get it on the TV. Maybe it was a mistake but I heard Copacabana by Barry Manilow twice very close together. Maybe you could put something on the video side such as album art, song titles, annoucements or even a camera if anyone ever broadcast live. Music video would be great but that might be expensive.

 

[richllewis]

Your signal I can pick up on 87.65 and 87.75. If you turn on the frequency directly on 87.7 there is some noise. but my FM is a little more calibrated than most FM radios. Since you are a low power TV station, I can't get you on TV but your FM signal I can receive in Forest. The strongest sideband is 87.65 Mhz when my s-meter registers a little bit. (Bear in mind that my radio is essentially an AM-FM-SW radio). I don't know if you can calibrate your transmitter so that you can minimize noise and maximize the music, but it is worth a try.

 

[KirkSherwood]

Will pass along your suggestion. Thanks.

A few notes about WJFM. The signal is interference free―the closest 87.7 is in Memphis. K-LOVE, mentioned what they love about their 87.7 signals is that they are amazingly clean.

WJMF’s primary signal (from the FCC site) cuts through Brandon, a good 30 air miles from Forest. The southern loop of the signal cuts through Crystal Springs, Westward the primary signal cuts through Edwards (with reports the station can be heard in Vicksburg) and to the north the signal touches Flora.

Broadcasting from the 700 foot level of the WAPT tower, the 68 dBu population coverage count is 285,809 [according to BIA/Dataworld]. While that is impressive, 87.7 can go up to 2,000 feet.

Looking forward to hear more reports on the signal.

 

[Henry McClurg]

I don't have the pleasure of turning on the radio to listen as I'm hundreds of miles away, but WJMF, according to Radio Locator, is in Rhode Island, and, apparently by coincidence, located at 87.7. WJFM is located in Baton Rouge. I know Radio-Locator can be behind at times. But they show no 87.7 in Jackson but do have a 87.5.

Will someone 'splain this to me, Lucy. And what's their format?

Thanks.

 

[Henry McClurg]

Oh, I see on another thread that it is a sub-carrier of a TV station, channel 6. I'm really confused now.

 

[JeffSteele]

Does WJMF (LPTV) play music videos?

 

[w9wi]

Oh, I see on another thread that it is a sub-carrier of a TV station, channel 6. I'm really confused now.

It's not really a subcarrier, it's the TV station's television audio. WJMF-LP is a low-power TV station on channel 6. The sound frequency for channel 6 is 87.75MHz, which can be tuned by most FM radios. Due to a loophole in the FCC regulations, it can legally use the same modulation/stereo standards as an FM radio station.

WJMF is a low-power TV station. It was not subject to the analog shutdown of full-power stations in summer 2009. It will be subject to an eventual analog shutdown at which time it will no longer be received on FM radios. (most likely, that will happen late next year)

The -LP (or -FM or -TV etc.) suffix is part of the call letters. The WJMF in Rhode Island has no suffix -- its call letters are simply "WJMF". The one in Mississippi has a -LP suffix; its call letters are "WJMF-LP". That makes them officially two different callsigns - hence, no conflict.

 

[Casual_Observer]

Hey all -

Unless I am missing something, FCC Title 47 Part 73.682(15) under 'TV Transmission Standards' reads:

The effective radiated power of the aural transmitter must not exceed 22% of the peak radiated power of the visual transmitter.

WJMF is 2kW, meaning the aural signal on 87.75 FM would be 440 Watts ERP at 259M HAAT.

If you were to determine the f(50,50) 60 dBu 'protected' contour, then it would extend to 24.041 km, or the equivalent of a 2.9 kW Class A station at 100M HAAT.

I show a 70 dBu pop count for a 440W@259M HAAT facility right at 173,493 persons, with 60 dBu service reaching 310,353 persons. I have also posted a map of the 60, 50, and 40 dBu contours at the site below:

http://www.wyab.com/WJMF/

Using that map of the aural signal as a reference, it is probably no surprise that I cannot pick up the station at my office in Flora or my home in Madison.

--- Casual Observer

 

[w9wi]

Unless I am missing something, FCC Title 47 Part 73.682(15) under 'TV Transmission Standards' reads:

The effective radiated power of the aural transmitter must not exceed 22% of the peak radiated power of the visual transmitter.

WJMF is 2kW, meaning the aural signal on 87.75 FM would be 440 Watts ERP at 259M HAAT.

73.682 doesn't apply to low-power stations.

LP stations are regulated by Part 74. 74.780 is a list of Part 73 rules that also apply to LP stations. 73.682 isn't on that list. There is no regulation specifically limiting the aural power of a LP station, other than the 3kw overall limit. (3kw for VHF stations like WJMF, the figure is 150kw for UHF)

So it is somewhere between possible and very likely that WJMF's aural ERP is 2kw, same as the visual.

_________________________________________________

It's probably worth emphasizing that "low-power", in terms of analog TV, is not nearly as low as "low-power" in terms of FM.

I mean, a VHF low-power TV station like WJMF is limited to 3% of the power of what a "full-power" analog TV station would be allowed if analog full-power stations still existed.

A low-power FM station is limited to 0.1% of the power of a full-power Class C FM station.

 

[Casual_Observer]

Ah - then I stand corrected. Then WJMF operates like a 13.5kW station @ 100M HAAT, a little better than half of a C3 FM.

w9wi - you seem to be the resident LPTV expert here. What is the long term prognosis for the survival of these stations as analog facilities?

--- Casual Observer

 

[KirkSherwood]

FCC Title 47 Part 73.682(15) under 'TV Transmission Standards' reads:

After a careful study of FCC Title 47 Part 73.682(15), I believe that it will be Butler v UCON in the finals.

Maps and stats aside, the purpose of this thread is to solicit the observations of those listening to 87.7. If we relied on coverage maps, no one could hear the signal in Vicksburg (but someone just drove the signal into Vicksburg, ditto Forest). Flora and Crystal Springs are on the outer most edges of the signal, but from early reports the signal comes in good in Crystal Springs, but not so much in Flora.

In response to an earlier note, most 87s run their audio on an FM transmitter, using standard audio processing. As far as the FCC, the speculation is that they will grandfather existing 87s―keep in mind that this is much more of a political issue, than an engineering one. In D.C., Grandfathering is always a great win-win compromise.

As far as the signal population count, FCC-Dataworld/BIA database shows that WJMF’s 68 dBu pop count is 295.809 (I don’t have any idea what a dBu actually is. . . which makes me happy).

So, if you’re one of the 295,908 people who don not have a coverage map but are near a radio, flip on 87.7 and let us know what you think. Thanks.

 

[w9wi]

Ah - then I stand corrected. Then WJMF operates like a 13.5kW station @ 100M HAAT, a little better than half of a C3 FM.

w9wi - you seem to be the resident LPTV expert here. What is the long term prognosis for the survival of these stations as analog facilities?

--- Casual Observer

I don't share Mr. Sherwood's optimism for the long-term survival of these -- but I do have to concede that the FCC has been rather silent about setting a date for their demise.

I think there is zero chance they will preserve analog LPTV only on channel 6. If these things do survive, analog LPTV will survive on all 49 channels 2-51. (no 37)

The Commission has stated they will require LPTVs to convert to digital. They have a proceeding open to set a drop-dead date for this conversion. Most likely, it will be the end of next year.

 

[the golden boy]

I managed to hear 87.7 all the way to Vicksburg the other day.

 

[da music]

Kirk, you must sleep great at night having the expert on the board
to help you and offer his advise...

 

[flytrap]

Nevermind the technobabble. I'm digging the music. Its not everyday you hear songs from the 50's mixed back to back with songs from today. I heard Johnny B Goode followed by Michael Jackson. I also heard Roger Miller's "Dang Me" mixed in with Robert Palmer. The playlist is all over the place. Most consultants and music research outfits would have a hissy fit, but I'm lovin' it.

 

[flytrap]

Need to check the audio. Today I heard Dion and no Belmonts, The Jackson 2 1/2 instead of the Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder with drums and piano and no horn section. I have a "Y" adapter laying around somewhere. One channel missing from a radio station or store muzak system is a big irritant to me.

 

[the golden boy]

Nevermind the technobabble. I'm digging the music. Its not everyday you hear songs from the 50's mixed back to back with songs from today. I heard Johnny B Goode followed by Michael Jackson. I also heard Roger Miller's "Dang Me" mixed in with Robert Palmer. The playlist is all over the place. Most consultants and music research outfits would have a hissy fit, but I'm lovin' it.

You think Jack is out of whack. I've been trying to figure what the format really is, but it doesn't really matter. One complaint I'll make is that there's a little bit too much oldies, but it's not really that big of a deal.

 

[flytrap]

I kinda like the format and the oldies, but since many oldies made in the 60's had very wide seperation, often in a near split track format, with some instruments nearly all on one channel or the other, you CAN'T play just one channel. In many cases entire sections of the band or vocals will be gone, except for a bit of echo in the background. In some Beatles records the music was on one channel and vocals are on the other. It just doesn't work. I heard numerous mono stations do this.

 

[the golden boy]

If they'll lay off "Hound Dog" for a while, then I'll be OK. I think I heard more "Hound Dog" the last couple of weeks than I have my whole life up to now!