1390 WROA Gulfport,MS

[alok]

Anybody know anything about this station, they now operate from a single tower at around 900 watts day & 35 watts at night. It looks like at one time they had an 8 tower array and ran much more power, but very directional. It seems in 2016 or so the site was damaged from weather related issues.
Then I guess they were going to rebuild it but instead settled on a single tower and lower power from a new site.
My question is it seems the 8 towers are all still standing as of a 2021 per google streetview. They might be gone now but they stood for at least 5 years after site was damaged. Maybe they were waiting to sell property.
Are these towers still up, if so why aren't they being used ? Maybe too costly to fix ?
Anybody know what is going on here ?

Al

 

[rfburns]

I was there yesterday. All 8 towers are still up. Some of the towers are still being used for a few local FM stations and translators. It would cost more to remove the unused towers than to just maintain them. There is a lot more to an 8 tower directional AM array than just the towers themselves. It wouldn't be cost effective to rebuild.

 

[alok]

I was there yesterday. All 8 towers are still up. Some of the towers are still being used for a few local FM stations and translators. It would cost more to remove the unused towers than to just maintain them. There is a lot more to an 8 tower directional AM array than just the towers themselves. It wouldn't be cost effective to rebuild.

Like the name rfburns !!!

So what was the story, did WROA just not want to fix the site, Looks like they were 5kw day & night from that site. I'm sure they were pretty directional but they must have had a much better signal S, SE and SW ( over Gulfport, Biloxi ,etc. ) from those eight towers, then they have now at the reduced power single tower site.
I read ( on FCC website ) that the site suffered damage to the transmitter and I guess directional array components for WROA, is that correct. Think it was from a lightning strike.
I understand the way AM radio is today, maybe that site is just too costly to fix ,but the site looks in good shape.
Do you think they will ever use that site again for 1390?

Al

 

[ente]

Most of the listening to Merle 100.1 is on FM, not 1390 AM. So having a powerful AM signal isn't necessary anymore. WROA now shares the tower of WGCM 1240, 900 watts daytime is still more than enough to cover the Gulfport-Biloxi area along with better coverage to the north where most of the growth is. When the eight towers were built in the early 1970s, the developed areas were mostly along the coast to the south and having 5kw day/night attracted more ad sales, regardless of how directional it was. With all the power sent south, WROA could be heard easily in Central America, but areas a few miles north like Saucier or Wiggins wouldn't get it well.
Tuning a directional array is much harder than running a single tower, so it made sense for them to stop using the towers after the damage to reduce expenses. WROA's new site is also closer to the saltwater of the Back Bay, which enhances signal eastward. The towers are a good height for FM stations at around 390 ft, and at the center of the market, so they will likely remain for a long time.

 

[DavidEduardo]

With all the power sent south, WROA could be heard easily in Central America, but areas a few miles north like Saucier or Wiggins wouldn't get it well.

Remember, Central America back in that era had more stations per major city than any place in the USA. Guatemala City had a 10 kw station on 1390, and there were ones in Panamá, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. Colombia had about 12 on that channel, too.

But most of them did not run in the overnight hours, so WROA could be heard on decent radios, particularly in the areas facing the Caribbean, when conditions were right.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Go back in time to around 1971 when this 8 tower idea was hatched. Because of the salt-water path, numerous New Orleans stations put signals into the Miss. coast that not only had strength comparable to what prevailed in the center of N.O., but the lack of coverage from local stations worsened the situation. Keep in mind, at that time, FM was not a factor. Biloxi-Gulfport had 4 pitiful AM stations: WLOX 1490 (fulltime, but a Class IV), WGCM 1240 (same situation), WROA 1390 a daytimer, and WVMI 570 a daytimer. The two class-IV signals were not listenable at night throughout Biloxi and Gulfport. (Bay St Louis and Pascagoula had only daytimers, no fulltime AM signal there either.) WROA was desparate enough to over-spend on an 8-tower DA array just to get a night signal throughout the two cities (and beyond, to Long Beach, Ocean Springs, et al). WVMI 570 came up with the same idea: they were 1 kw Day on 570... I think they put up 6 towers to get enough night signal to keep everyone in Harrison County from switching to a New Orleans signal, and upped the day power to 5 kw for good measure. Back then, to look at a ratings book, there would typically be more listening to stations below the line (out-of-market) than what the in-market stations could muster up. The two stations paid for all that land, copper ground system, and steel towers.... seemed like a good idea at the time, borne of desperation. A visionary at the time might have known that in a few years, FM would change the whole landscape. Ahh, but that's hindsight .....

Oh, and keep in mind that back then a daytimer signed off ('we run down at sundown"), and couldn't stay on at night with miniscule power like they can today. Back then the FCC called the the weak fulltimers "Class IV" signals ... I think now they are called Class D. In low ground conductivity, they were good at night for 5 miles max, because of the noise level generated from hundreds of other stations on the freq.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

WROA 1390 was one of the last stations to give up on a mix of beautiful music & nostalgia. But am I to understand that now the market is being treated to two classic-country combos (a mediocre AM + a low-wattage FM)?

 

[J Alex Bowab]

One final thought on WROA. Recall it's at the upper end of the dial (1390). Many stations in that area of the band have a 1/4 wave tower, maybe 250 ft. or less. From what I recall those 8 sticks are taller than that ... maybe 5/8 wave? No one can say the Dowdys did this one on the cheap.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

WROA 1390 was one of the last stations to give up on a mix of beautiful music & nostalgia. But am I to understand that now the market is being treated to two classic-country combos (a mediocre AM + a low-wattage FM)?

1490/1640 and its translator used to be classic country, now adult hits bob FM

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Thanks for the update. Seems like the last time I was in that area, there was one classic country, calling itself "Merle" (for Haggard, I assume, and the other went by "Hank" (Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Hank Locklin, Hank Thompson--take your choice).