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98.5 FM playing classic hits. Translator or pirate?

S

swhyde1980

Frequent Participant
EDIT: CONFIRMED! KARR has flipped formats, and did flip on the upgraded translator station. Nice! (Wish I could edit the headline)

ORIGINAL POST: Earlier yesterday afternoon, something new popped up on the dial on 98.5 FM, at least here in Bremerton. Playing a mix of oldies \ classic hits \ classic rock. Overtaking CIOC out of Victoria here, with no sign of KNBQ out of the south end at home. Only other 98.5 FM I can identify within the market is KARR 1460's FM translator in Redmond (1460 I can't pick up due to spatter from KBRO nearby my place), and they have a construction permit to take their FM operation to 250 watts. Did KARR flip formats and flipped the switch on their increased powered translator, or is it a pirate?
 
Last edited:
swhyde1980 said:
EDIT: CONFIRMED! KARR has flipped formats, and did flip on the upgraded translator station. Nice! (Wish I could edit the headline)

ORIGINAL POST: Earlier yesterday afternoon, something new popped up on the dial on 98.5 FM, at least here in Bremerton. Playing a mix of oldies \ classic hits \ classic rock. Overtaking CIOC out of Victoria here, with no sign of KNBQ out of the south end at home. Only other 98.5 FM I can identify within the market is KARR 1460's FM translator in Redmond (1460 I can't pick up due to spatter from KBRO nearby my place), and they have a construction permit to take their FM operation to 250 watts. Did KARR flip formats and flipped the switch on their increased powered translator, or is it a pirate?
Click to expand...

The AM has been on an STA since the developer built a bunch of McMansions on the former Rose Hill site. The STA was first to be silent, then running 250 W from a long wire. I haven't heard any modulation from the AM in several years, and I travel through there regularly. So you wouldn't hear it in Bremerton, KBRO or not....

That being said, the FM gets out quite well. Perfectly listenable up to downtown Woodinville to the north, so would assume it will be fine in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland etc. Wonder if Mr. Dalke is looking to offload it to one of the local AMs? If 1250 has the money they should jump on that- a TON of their target listenership lives in the footprint of the new 98.5.
 
Wonder if they'll call it 'Karr 98.5 - Where Are You?'
 
The New Chico said:
The AM has been on an STA since the developer built a bunch of McMansions on the former Rose Hill site. The STA was first to be silent, then running 250 W from a long wire. I haven't heard any modulation from the AM in several years, and I travel through there regularly. So you wouldn't hear it in Bremerton, KBRO or not....

That being said, the FM gets out quite well. Perfectly listenable up to downtown Woodinville to the north, so would assume it will be fine in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland etc. Wonder if Mr. Dalke is looking to offload it to one of the local AMs? If 1250 has the money they should jump on that- a TON of their target listenership lives in the footprint of the new 98.5.
Click to expand...

I've heard what I believe is the AM at least twice at night, playing La Estacion De La Familia. I do not believe Estacion De La Familia has a station on 1460 (at least not according to their website when I checked at the time), and the signal was coming from the direction of KARR, and had an advert in Spanish for a church in Everett.
 
Spanish Religion on 1460? Did KCKX Stayton OR flip to Spanish Rel? It's obviously not my local KUTI in Yakima (ESPN).
 
KARR 1460 was a Family Radio affiliate before the flip. Radio-locator still shows they have a CP to upgrade their 98.5 translator to 250w but obviously that's powered on now from Cougar Mountain. Confused me as the listing hasn't been updated yet to show that the new translator's location and power is now active.
 
crainbebo said:
Spanish Religion on 1460? Did KCKX Stayton OR flip to Spanish Rel? It's obviously not my local KUTI in Yakima (ESPN).
Click to expand...

I distinctly heard La Familia on 1460 about 2-3 months ago, bearing more N-S than E-W, and KUTI was competing with it.

It couldn't have been Stayton, because they apparently are Regional Mexican, and this definitely was not Regional Mexican, it was La Familia, with a Spanish advert for a church in Everett. I suppose it's possible the Stayton station was broadcasting Familia for a few hours at night or something like that.

So I really have no idea who it was. Familia doesn't have a station on that frequency. I figured the guy running KARR was testing his AM transmitter or something.

I also heard 98.5 coming in fairly strong in mono with Classic Hits the other afternoon, and then poof -- nothing but a very weak CIOC from Victoria.

So I'm guessing that the 250 watt outlet on Cougar was being tested.
 
Nope, it's still on. Radio-locator also lists the translator as fully licensed now instead of a construction permit, but still lists it as a Family Radio affiliate. All the way here in West Bremerton though, can only still hear it in the nulls where CIOC doesn't come in well. As soon as you hit East Bremerton (little higher elevation), CIOC completely wipes out the signal.
 
I wonder how the signal does towards my old hometown of Bothell (i.e. north Bothell, 527)? I could always get The Ocean on 98.5 but it was multipathed and fuzzy. 100.3 The Q did a little bit better but alas, still moderately fuzzy. I'm sure the KBLE translator has wiped it out, or swaps with CKKQ, on Bothell-Everett Hwy nowadays.
Once 250w comes on from Cougar Mountain, I'm sure Victoria 98.5 will be nothing but a memory even that far north. I mean, KGNW's 104.1 goes all the way to south Everett on fringe, but where does KAFE swallow them up? In Everett, KAFE was always quite clear.
 
CFC Operates AM stations on:

730 Ephrata
1020 Yakima (Union Gap)
1230 Sunnyside
1230 Gresham,OR
1280 Lacey
1400 Othello
1450 Caldwell (Notus), ID
1480 Lakewood
1490 Bremerton
1560 Tri-Cities

The company has never had a station on 1460.
 
Grounded Grid said:
CFC Operates AM stations on:

730 Ephrata
1020 Yakima (Union Gap)
1230 Sunnyside
1230 Gresham,OR
1280 Lacey
1400 Othello
1450 Caldwell (Notus), ID
1480 Lakewood
1490 Bremerton
1560 Tri-Cities

The company has never had a station on 1460.
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Thank you for that information. I definitely heard Familia on 1460, at least twice -- this was probably 3 months ago? Maybe the owner of KARR was running their stream over the air just for the heck of it.

One of life's great DX mysteries. :)
 
crainbebo said:
I wonder how the signal does towards my old hometown of Bothell (i.e. north Bothell, 527)? I could always get The Ocean on 98.5 but it was multipathed and fuzzy. 100.3 The Q did a little bit better but alas, still moderately fuzzy. I'm sure the KBLE translator has wiped it out, or swaps with CKKQ, on Bothell-Everett Hwy nowadays.
Once 250w comes on from Cougar Mountain, I'm sure Victoria 98.5 will be nothing but a memory even that far north. I mean, KGNW's 104.1 goes all the way to south Everett on fringe, but where does KAFE swallow them up? In Everett, KAFE was always quite clear.
Click to expand...

How long has the KGNW translator been on? I had no problems with KAFE around Christmas time, but haven't checked since. I need to put new batteries in the G8, then I can check both 104.1 and 98.5. I feel like CIOC has gotten a lot more multipathed since KNBQ singned on.
 
bobdavcav said:
How long has the KGNW translator been on? I had no problems with KAFE around Christmas time, but haven't checked since. I need to put new batteries in the G8, then I can check both 104.1 and 98.5. I feel like CIOC has gotten a lot more multipathed since KNBQ singned on.
Click to expand...

KGNW's translator has been on the air for maybe a year? Close to that.

98.5 in mono coming off Cougar Mtn right now, with Lovin Spoonful's Do You Believe In Magic and Stone Ponies' Different Drum.
 
Am trying to unravel the lineage here...KARR was Family Radio; but Camping got called back to sermonize with his maker -- so not clear what happened to KARR. Looks like Jim Dalke is licensee of the translator now; but there are also several references to "Sunnylands Broadcasting" -- which, I think, is the same address where the wire antenna went up (North Bellevue) after the KARR towers in Kirkland turned into townhomes. Anyone have more understanding of all this? (Sunnylands also connected to "South Sound Broadcasting" so not clear about that either). After all that browsing, I got bored and went back to porn.
 
I was under the impression that Dalke bought it from Family Radio when the towers came down. As for Sunnylands, they're one of the weirdest owners I've ever seen. It seems as if they either acquire stations that move into areas, or new sign-ons only to operate them for a few years then sell them. They've done this several times, first 97.7 under South Sound, then 95.9 down in the gorge, though that one signed on with an operator in place, now 98.5. I was also under the impression, though I could be wrong, that they were behind the country format on 103.3.
 
Jim Dalke was KARR's engineer when they lost their transmitter site. He acquired the license and some equipment, then restarted the station under a STA, using a site owned by one of the Sunnylands principals.

As for Sunnylands themselves, nothing particularly weird about them at all. People do the same thing with houses all the time. They added a lot of value to some of the stations they sold-leased-flipped by raising power, changing patterns, moving them to better towers, etc.

Sunnylands was initially part of the 103.3 project. That's all on record in the FCC database.
 
One can learn a lot by simply utilizing the FCC website. On the other hand, conjecture and speculation can be so much more amusing.
 
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