WFNC 940 Site

[Towerjunky]

Does any of the WFNC 940 site still exist? Where is/was it located?

 

[roth]

The WFNC 940 site is in the same place as the WFNC 640 site. When I was programming the station, the tower for the AM was one of the old 940 directional towers. Half of one of the other towers was used as an STL tower. Some of the bases remained in the field, but the remainder of the towers were made into legs for the conference room table.

 

[Towerjunky]

Interesting. How many 940 towers where there? Their night coverage must have been lousy in its last days since the site looks to be centrally located and the night pattern was pretty tight.
Thanks for the information.

 

[roth]

It was 3 towers in a straight line when it was 10K. When it was upgraded to 50K, it went to 4 towers forming a square. The night coverage was awful - and it isn't much better with the current 640 allocation. The FM tower creates a null to the southeast.

 

[Towerjunky]

But didn't they run 5 KW at night like Macon? I remember being in the Southern Pines area where the day signal was great but non-existent at night. I thought the day signal was ND.

 

[jmtillery]

But didn't they run 5 KW at night like Macon? I remember being in the Southern Pines area where the day signal was great but non-existent at night. I thought the day signal was ND.

WMAC-AM 940 Macon, Georgia runs 50kw-D; 10kw-N; DA-N; using 5-towers for the night pattern, highly directional from a tower site Northwest of Macon proper, radiating the night signal in a very tight Southeastern pattern.

 

[Powell]

I thought WMAC got rid of some of those towers. I can hear WMAC often. Look up Silverstreet, SC where I am near and I should not hear them.

 

[jmtillery]

I thought WMAC got rid of some of those towers. I can hear WMAC often. Look up Silverstreet, SC where I am near and I should not hear them.

According to the FCC WMAC is still using 5-towers for its nighttime directional pattern.

 

[KR4BD]

I thought WMAC got rid of some of those towers. I can hear WMAC often. Look up Silverstreet, SC where I am near and I should not hear them.

According to the FCC WMAC is still using 5-towers for its nighttime directional pattern.

I hear WMAC frequently at night in Lexinton, KY. It mixes with WMIX from Illinois most nights at my location. Sometimes, I also hear a religious station from Mississippi on, too. I think that's WCPC in Houston, MS which should be micro-powered at night, but sometimes booms in here after dark.

 

[jmtillery]

I thought WMAC got rid of some of those towers. I can hear WMAC often. Look up Silverstreet, SC where I am near and I should not hear them.

According to the FCC WMAC is still using 5-towers for its nighttime directional pattern.

I hear WMAC frequently at night in Lexinton, KY. It mixes with WMIX from Illinois most nights at my location. Sometimes, I also hear a religious station from Mississippi on, too. I think that's WCPC in Houston, MS which should be micro-powered at night, but sometimes booms in here after dark.

WCPC-AM 940 Houston, Mississippi operates with 50kw-D; 250 w-N; DA-2; using 3-towers during the day (almost omni-directional, but not quite) and 4-towers at night with a Northwest / Southeastern pattern. If you are hearing WCPC at all in Kentucky, I'd venture to say it is during critical hours, when WCPC is still operating at its full 50kw, that you are receiving the WCPC signal. If you are hearing that station more than 2-hours past CH after it reduces power to its 4-tower 250 watt pattern, then you are receiving one heck of a skywave skip.

 

[KR4BD]

I really think the problem is they SOMETIMES are on Day power LATE at night. Yes, during sunrise/sunset periods, they are usually heard, which would be expected. I am talking about Fairly Frequent midnight reception here in Central Ky for BOTH WCPC AND WMAZ.....

 

[jmtillery]

I really think the problem is they SOMETIMES are on Day power LATE at night. Yes, during sunrise/sunset periods, they are usually heard, which would be expected. I am talking about Fairly Frequent midnight reception here in Central Ky for BOTH WCPC AND WMAZ.....

It may be most anything including testing period since any AM station, including daytime only, is legally allowed to go on the air at full day power between midnight and 6:00 AM so long as it is for engineering purposes such as testing the audio chain or transmitter. Back in the '70s that practice was fairly common; however, it doesn't happen very much anymore although the Commission rules still allow the practice. Aside from that, it may be that the transmitter automation is changing the power and pattern at random times. If none of the above is the reason, it has to be a very strange skywave anomaly.

 

[KR4BD]

JMT

FYI...

WMAC-940 is BOOMING into Central KY right now (12:20 AM) with the Mike Huckabee show. I KNOW what their pattern looks like and one would think I should NOT hear it at night, but I hear WMAC MOST every night here on a Tecsun PL-606. Could their night pattern be out of compliance...? I don't know the answer to that. I am NOT hearing WCPC at present, but I have heard them many times late at night, as well. If I redirect my radio, WMIX from Mt Vernon, IL is there as always....but right now, WMAC is dominant on 940 here. A faint station with Spanish music also sometimes bubbles up from the noise, too.... By the way, I have been DXing AM radio for nearly 60 years.

 

[jmtillery]

JMT

FYI...

WMAC-940 is BOOMING into Central KY right now (12:20 AM) with the Mike Huckabee show. I KNOW what their pattern looks like and one would think I should NOT hear it at night, but I hear WMAC MOST every night here on a Tecsun PL-606. Could their night pattern be out of compliance...? I don't know the answer to that. I am NOT hearing WCPC at present, but I have heard them many times late at night, as well. If I redirect my radio, WMIX from Mt Vernon, IL is there as always....but right now, WMAC is dominant on 940 here. A faint station with Spanish music also sometimes bubbles up from the noise, too.... By the way, I have been DXing AM radio for nearly 60 years.

Previously I was referring to WCPC Houston, Mississippi and not WMAC.

The first question I'll ask regarding WMAC is do you hear it every night or does this only occur randomly?

Secondly, when was the first time you've heard WMAC during the night there is Kentucky?

Thirdly, does this only occur after midnight or do you also hear WMAC before midnight, such as 9:00 PM?

If this is something relatively new, it may be that either the automation system which controls the power and pattern change has WMAC on its 50kw-NDD pattern during the night which will explain why it is "booming" in as clearly as you described. Aside from a computer malfunction, it is possible the FCC approved a nighttime pattern change although nothing is currently showing in the FCC datbase to verify any technical change authorization. Lastly, if this is something that has been ongoing for years and is nothing new, as explained in my earlier post, its simple skywave propagation.

 

[KR4BD]

Previously I was referring to WCPC Houston, Mississippi and not WMAC.

The first question I'll ask regarding WMAC is do you hear it every night or does this only occur randomly?

I hear WMAC most every night, before and after midnight.

Secondly, when was the first time you've heard WMAC during the night there is Kentucky?

I've heard them for many years, even back when they were WMAZ. How long ago was that?

Thirdly, does this only occur after midnight or do you also hear WMAC before midnight, such as 9:00 PM?

As stated, I hear them at all hours. Some nights they are not strong. Other nights, they almost sound like a local signal.

If this is something relatively new, it may be that either the automation system which controls the power and pattern change has WMAC on its 50kw-NDD pattern during the night which will explain why it is "booming" in as clearly as you described. Aside from a computer malfunction, it is possible the FCC approved a nighttime pattern change although nothing is currently showing in the FCC datbase to verify any technical change authorization. Lastly, if this is something that has been ongoing for years and is nothing new, as explained in my earlier post, its simple skywave propagation.

I am very familiar with skywave propogation and certainly agree this is what is bringing distant stations to me at night. I hold a General Radio Operators License (GROL) and Extra Class Amateur License. I have also been DXing the AM Broadcast Band since 1955. I am also very familiar with FCC rules regarding "Experimentation Period" between Midnight and 6 AM. When stations do "experiment", there should be NO COMMERCIAL programming. Regarding WCPC, I have heard them dozens of times, both before and after midnight with PAID religious programming. In the case of WCPC, I think they sometimes forget to go to their nighttime power and pattern. Other DXers have also noticed this with them as well. Again, I do not hear WCPC EVERY night.

 

[jmtillery]

I am very familiar with skywave propogation and certainly agree this is what is bringing distant stations to me at night. I hold a General Radio Operators License (GROL) and Extra Class Amateur License. I have also been DXing the AM Broadcast Band since 1955. I am also very familiar with FCC rules regarding "Experimentation Period" between Midnight and 6 AM. When stations do "experiment", there should be NO COMMERCIAL programming. Regarding WCPC, I have heard them dozens of times, both before and after midnight with PAID religious programming. In the case of WCPC, I think they sometimes forget to go to their nighttime power and pattern. Other DXers have also noticed this with them as well. Again, I do not hear WCPC EVERY night.

I GET your point, and it is well taken; however, you asked a question so I answered it to best of my ability in an effort to be helpful in providing the information I understood you were seeking. My answers and comments are based on the very limited information that you first provided regarding your background, aside from you stating you are a DXer. I was completely unaware of your vast and impressive background and experience since you did not introduce that bit of information until well into the discussion. Hence, the reason for the basic introduction I provided regarding skywave and AM directional signal patterns. Many posters and commentators on here are non-radio professionals nor do they have an engineering background; however, they do have a shared interest in broadcasting. Keeping this in mind, it is common that said persons may ask basic questions from time-to-time. Had you made it clear from the very beginning that you are an expert in the field, I would have kept that in mind in my response to your various questions and comments, and, instead, I would not have offered any informatin that is understood among radio and engineering professionals.

If you have heard WMAC for years, dating back to when it was WMAZ, then, as the professional and expert that you are, it stands to reason that what you are hearing and have been hearing for years is skywave propagation. Again, had I known this to be the case, I would not have offered any other possibilities as to why you are hearing AM 940 from Macon, Georgia in Central Kentucky during the nighttime hours. From your comments, I was led to believe you thought WMAC was operating with its 50kw daytime pattern at night. Although this may happen at times, I seriously doubt the station has "accidentally" remained on day power during the night since its WMAZ years, which ended on August 22, 1996 when the call letters were changed to WMWR.

By the way, although I'm sure I have not been licensed as long as you have, I, too, hold a General Class Radio Telephone Operators License, having first obtained a First Class Radio Telephone License in May 1st, 1978.