As I was looking for WJQB 106.3 I stumbled upon station that sounded like WTAN. So I quickly switched to AM and realized that 106.1 is WTAN. I was able to pick it up in North St Pete, I am not sure about how much range the signal generates. FM came in clearer than the AM signal at night. There are so many stations on AM dial that don't simulcast on FM such as Genesis Communications and Salem Communications stations, I wonder why WTAN needs a FM signal?
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Wtan 106.1 fm 1340 am
- Thread starter Tea Men
- Start date
I guess one reason, why they might feel the need for a translator is due to the interference at night, being on a graveyard frequency and all. Their daytime signal really gets lost from around downtown south even during the day...... In fact in December and January, when I park at the downtown Publix or drive and around downtown and down toward the old SE area, I can hear the 1340 out of Sebring in the background!
Now here's the interesting part, if you go put in WTAN in radiolocator.com. There is a CP changing the translator to city of Titusville,FL, but when looking at the coverage map for that, it still shows the translator being in Clearwater, so I don't know if the map is a typo or the city of license is a typo.
Sounds as though you might be in the area of "Bill Jacksons" or south High Point or north of Gandy on 4th or 9th and it looks as though there would be a decent signal on 106.1 in those areas. Will have to check it out on my car radio.
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I like to think of WTAN-AM as the opposite of WGUL-AM, as in the type of talk it does, but I won't say exactly, because both stations air political talk, with WGUL being right-side and WTAN being on left-side talk.
Politics aside ( I don't listen to either station)........ WGUL certainly has a huge signal advantage, even with the Cuban interference at night and then they also have full power WWLS-930 that simulcasts about 90 percent of WGUL's programming.
On the reception of 106.1, it was coming in just barely in my driveway and I was getting intermittent interference from another station once the car was moving , by the time I got to my northern most destination near 4th ST N and 38th AVE N, 106.1's signal seemed solid and strong enough to listen to w/o static, at least on a car radio.
The station I heard in the background seemed to be playing some country or country-rock music and I thought I heard the call letters WSTL, but in checking, I see there is a WQTL in Tallahsee, but with a different format. Since I didn't see the stereo indicator on my car radio; I assume they broadcast in mono, which makes sense for a mostly talk station.
Station Status Licensed Class D [Help] FM Translator[Help]
Parent Station WTAN-AM
Area of Coverage View Coverage Map
Effective Radiated Power 250 Watts
Height above Ground Level 49 meters (161 feet)
Height above Sea Level 57 meters (187 feet)
Antenna Pattern Non-Directional
Transmitter Location 27° 58' 22" N, 82° 47' 47" W
License Granted July 25 2016
License Expires February 01 2020
Last FCC Update July 25 2016
This station may also be operating under the following Construction Permit:[Help]
Status Construction Permit [Help] for a Class D [Help] FM Translator[Help]
New City Titusville, Florida
Area of Coverage View Coverage Map
Effective Radiated Power 250 Watts
Construction Permit Granted February 24 2016
Construction Permit Expires January 10 2017
Last FCC Update July 25 2016
Because so few people like to listen to AM today. The FM audio quality is better and there is so little traffic on the AM band anymore that it makes sense to move to where the listeners are.
You hit the nail on the head (as usual!) David.......not to mention that many radios today are only FM.
Two things. Regarding politics on 1340... they will take money to run anything from a Neo-Nazi show to a radical communist show, and everything between. If the check clears, you're good to go. So there isn't a specific political agenda to the station. With that said, Lola is fairly liberal, but I don't think you can tell by listening to the station.
Secondly, regarding the CP on Radio-Locator, I know those are frequently inaccurate... but I also wouldn't be surprised if something isn't quite legit in tan-land. Facepalm moments were a daily occurrence over there. I'm actually surprised they haven't been shut down for one reason or another.
Secondly, regarding the CP on Radio-Locator, I know those are frequently inaccurate... but I also wouldn't be surprised if something isn't quite legit in tan-land. Facepalm moments were a daily occurrence over there. I'm actually surprised they haven't been shut down for one reason or another.
FWIW; radio-locator is no longer showing the questionable CP for 106.1; have not yet checked the FCC FM data base.
With regard to Facepalm moments, I got a call to find out why their station in Dade City was not pulling in the Rays from the sat feed. It turns out a mud dauber had blocked the feed horn with mud. When I met up with "Downtown Dave" he gave me a daily planner from a funeral home for payment. You can't make this stuff up.
The FM transmits from the AM tower next to their operations center.
They cover primarily Clearwater and Dunedin with some secondary signal getting into Largo to the south and Palm Harbor to the north.
This should help.
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