WWJ 950 broadcasting at reduced power?

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 5:13 pm

Was listening this morning when the main TX crapped out, followed by a few seconds of dead air, then the back up transmitter kicked in.

Signal isn't bad but it is certainly weaker than usual here. Almost no splash over onto the adjacent channels, which is very uncommon in my location, since 950 usually has a blazingly strong signal here.

I75frequenter · Post by **I75frequenter** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 6:29 pm

Yep can confirm, even Southfield area is lousy. What's going on?

Mega Hertz · Post by **Mega Hertz** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:37 pm

Maybe THAT'S under construction, too.

Colonel Flagg · Post by **Colonel Flagg** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 9:45 pm

The engineers wanted to keep the 2500 watt backup at the old transmitter site on 8 Mile, but CBS didn't want to pay to maintain it.

In my opinion, that was a mistake. The backup from Berlin Twp is buried in the noise floor, and full power from Berlin is nearly useless during severe weather, as discussed here many times before.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Wed Jul 19, 2023 10:35 pm

The nighttime pattern seems to be running on normal power. Nothing out of the ordinary observed. Will be interesting to see if daytime power is back to full strength tomorrow.

Ultra low rated 1270 WXYT, on the other hand, is barely intelligible right now. Their broadcast is awash in co-channel interference. I bet they are running at 10 percent of normal power at most right now.

Colonel Flagg · Post by **Colonel Flagg** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 12:08 pm

WWJ is definitely operating with reduced power. Sounds like a distant signal here at Telegraph and Quarton.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 12:44 pm

Yup. Daytime pattern is definitely weaker than usual for second straight day.

Ben Zonia · Post by **Ben Zonia** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 12:56 pm

I always wondered if you could put a wire skirted auxiliary antenna on the side of the WWJ-TV tower, like WRDT 560 has on the side of the WCSX tower. Although that is just 13.9 watts Night. But if there's no climbing going on, I would think it would be possible for short periods of time at least. 2500 watts would be stronger for much of the Oakland Macomb area. From a contour standpoint, they just have to keep the 0.5 mV/m of the AUX inside the 0.5 mV/m of the LIC Day facility. I would think from the measured DA radials from there, they might be able to get 5000 watts AUX. The real conductivity conks out rapidly to the North and West.

Robert Faygo · Post by **Robert Faygo** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 4:56 pm

WWJ was essentially unlistenable due to interference / weak power / and incredibly low volume as the storms passed through the east-central part of Oakland county. Not much better now after the weather has cleared.

format this · Post by **format this** » Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:06 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:Yup. Daytime pattern is definitely weaker than usual for second straight day.

Alright kids, let me toss this in. I was working along the lakeshore (Muskegon to Holland) today. I punched up 920 WOKY Milwaukee to listen to some of the DP show and that station was fighting to get in, even at 5kw it’s usually a cleaner listen. I’m not sure if that’s a valid comparison, but I put it out here anyway.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ben Zonia · Post by **Ben Zonia** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 2:11 pm

I was listening last night near Gaylord to WWJ last night. Heard about the storms. It wasn't super strong last night, but it might have been conditions. The maximum Night skywave maximum signal varies on different days, anything from 2 mV/m to 10 mV/m. I'll try to listen on the FIM-41 at 9:15 PM when they change patterns, to see if there is a dramatic difference in field strength.The newer 50 kW transmitters and complex directional antennas seem to have a lot of maintenance problems. Audacy should sell WXYT to Relevant Radio, and use part of the money to put an AUX back at the 8 Mile site.

SolarMax · Post by **SolarMax** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 6:45 pm

Ben Zonia wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 21, 2023 2:11 pm
Audacy should sell WXYT to Relevant Radio, and use part of the money to put an AUX back at the 8 Mile site.

Audacity does not own the 8 Mile site (American Tower). They'd have to spend a chunk of $ to outfit any kind of AM facility on that corner, if they were allowed to. They're not going to do that. Same for skirt space on any tower in the Southfield antenna farm. I suggest they rig up Red Pole Park on Northwestern Hwy as a directional array

Ben Zonia · Post by **Ben Zonia** » Fri Jul 21, 2023 9:33 pm

The only thing I can say for sure is that there was no carrier interruption at 9:15 PM. Maybe they are running at 12500 watts nondirectional STA? The signal faded from about 0.7 to 1.7 mV/m while observed. Both WFDF and WJR also seemed quite a bit weaker than normal. I'd say it was conditions, but then WWJ should still have had a carrier interruption when they changed patterns at 9:15 PM.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Sat Jul 22, 2023 6:17 am

During the day yesterday, 950 still seemed weaker than usual but not quite as weak as the three prior days.

Colonel Flagg · Post by **Colonel Flagg** » Sat Jul 22, 2023 9:56 am

Seems to be back to normal now. Loud and clear.

Even better, my old friend Mike Campbell is on this morning!