100.5 The River on low power

cckadlec · Post by **cckadlec** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:10 pm

It seems that 100.5 has been on low power for at least a few days now, but I can't find any information on what their power currently is or what the reason is.

It's never a great signal here in Fremont - it gets a lot of interference from V100.7 IBOC here, which sometimes takes it out entirely, especially this week, but even during dead conditions where only locals can be heard, it's almost inaudible on the car radio and really weak on the portable aiming right at Grand Rapids whereas it is usually easy to hear during those times. I can tell it's still on the air with IDs, but it's not easy to find just 35 miles from the tower. With some tropo the other night, it was easy to hear WKXA and WWKI with no sign of The River.

Nice, but I'm rather curious of the reason and what they're operating at.

48125er · Post by **48125er** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:28 pm

It's barely receptible here near Grattan. WITL goes much farther west than it usually does, I got it to almost Sparta a couple days. V100 came in past M37

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 8:22 pm

Lightning strike would be my first guess.

cckadlec · Post by **cckadlec** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 9:10 pm

48125er wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:28 pm
It's barely receptible here near Grattan. WITL goes much farther west than it usually does, I got it to almost Sparta a couple days. V100 came in past M37

That is the normal range of WITL actually. It's rather common here in Fremont on a usual day (i.e. October to May or so) and easy to hear along M-37 as well, and plenty often in the summer here on many days too. But yes, on any less sensitive radio closer to GR, I could imagine 100.5 throwing off interference that would be lessened by being on low power. Luckily, 100.5 has never been any issue for me despite being a local. They interfere with nothing else, have no IBOC, and I can hear other things on the same frequency when conditions are good. That's a good radio neighbor

.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 9:28 pm

I used to be able to pick up WITL on a GE clock radio at my childhood home in Wyoming all the time before 100.5 WQFN (as it was known back then) signed on.

They were always the easiest to receive of the Lansing FMs, even WKAR-FM. The other FMs could only be picked up during tropo.

Once WQFN signed on, reception of WITL became impossible except during tropo.

On a car radio with very good tuner selectivity, WITL and WFMK are pretty easy catches in Gaines Twp and sections of Kentwood all the time.

Hearing WQFN for the first time was weird. The station was automated Hot AC, no jingles, no production work other than dry liner reads from the guy who owned WEVS in Saugatuck (who was also 13's booth announcer for many years), and weather forecasts read near the top of the hour by WFUR's employees.

All I could think was - "what the heck is the reason for this station to even exist? It sounds like a low budget piece of crap". I can only assume ownership thought they could fill the Hot AC void that was created when WGRD dropped the format.

As an automated Hot AC, 100.5 never showed up in the Arbs with measurable AQH share except maybe one time.

The music mix wasn't half bad most of its existence but things got a little weird toward the end. I distinctly remember hearing Regulate by Warren G, which is hilarious considering this was WFUR's sister station.

Once the station switched to a satellite smooth jazz / smooth AC feed, programming quality improved immensely and so did the ratings. 100.5 began showing up with 2 shares and even 3 shares at times and was branded as "Q100." A couple years later, the station was sold, became sister station to WGRD and WLHT, and was flipped to The River to flank WLHT by squeezing EZ 105.7 from the opposite side. I liked the Q100 format quite a bit and was sad to see it go. It was one of the best satellite provided formats I've ever heard, to be honest.

Audio processing for the music is one thing 100.5 got correct from the start.

originalzzmfmjock · Post by **originalzzmfmjock** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 10:08 pm

I was up in Fremont today and scanning the FM band and noticed the River was missing in action. Got back to our place in Newaygo and can't hear it here either. I thought they may have been off the air. I'll have to check the signal when we return to GR either tomorrow or Tuesday.

cckadlec · Post by **cckadlec** » Sun Jul 30, 2023 11:05 pm

originalzzmfmjock wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 30, 2023 10:08 pm
I was up in Fremont today and scanning the FM band and noticed the River was missing in action. Got back to our place in Newaygo and can't hear it here either. I thought they may have been off the air. I'll have to check the signal when we return to GR either tomorrow or Tuesday.

It is indeed there! Right now at 11pm in audibly on the portable only. Turning 360 degrees, it occupies perhaps 30 or 40 degrees of that with a weak signal. Otherwise totally empty (nice, if only there was more to hear on the frequency!) and no bleed from usually strong 100.7 and a usually tame signal from 100.9. As a DXer, I do certainly like stations taking a bit of a break from the airwaves, especially if they can stay on the air at low-power for a while so their audience closer to the city can still listen. Win-win, sorta. Nice to see another person scanning the dial here

48125er · Post by **48125er** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 9:07 pm

I've noticed the river has been playing a lot more 90s cuts that I Havent heard any station play in years, heres some

I live my life for you- Firehouse
Boyz 2 Men: Water runs dry
Mariah carey: Anytime you need a friend
Nobody Knows- Tony Rich
Mouth- Merril Bainbridge

This one I heard on 94.5

Strange currencies by REM

cckadlec · Post by **cckadlec** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 9:25 pm

I checked this afternoon in the car and could hear The River breaking through V100.7's IBOC, meaning it is certainly back at full power.

thatonedude · Post by **thatonedude** » Sat Aug 05, 2023 9:21 pm

48125er wrote:I've noticed the river has been playing a lot more 90s cuts that I Havent heard any station play in years, heres some

Strange currencies- REM
I live my life for you- Firehouse
Boyz 2 Men: Water runs dry
Mariah carey: Anytime you need a friend
Nobody Knows- Tony Rich
Mouth- Merril Bainbridge

That first one is odd for a soft AC. Seems more like a track 94.5 would spin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

48125er · Post by **48125er** » Sat Aug 05, 2023 10:31 pm

thatonedude wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 05, 2023 9:21 pm

48125er wrote:I've noticed the river has been playing a lot more 90s cuts that I Havent heard any station play in years, heres some

Strange currencies- REM
I live my life for you- Firehouse
Boyz 2 Men: Water runs dry
Mariah carey: Anytime you need a friend
Nobody Knows- Tony Rich
Mouth- Merril Bainbridge
That first one is odd for a soft AC. Seems more like a track 94.5 would spin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That might've been 94.5 now that I think of it. I was thinking of rarely played 90s hits that I've heard recently.

ChrisWL1980 · Post by **ChrisWL1980** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 12:11 am

Looks like Townsquare might be expanding the corporate playlist a bit (if you check out their sister station in Albany, 103.9 The Breeze, it's the same songs in the same order). One title I see on the list that surprises me: "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Roberta Flack. That's the type of song I remember from the original MOR/Oldies River in the late '90s.
Not long ago they were playing all '80s music on the weekends, with no explanation, albeit more pop/dance than the rock lean on WFGR. Songs like Laura Branigan- Self Control, Gino Vannelli- Living Inside Myself, Whitney Houston- Where Do Broken Hearts Go, and Kylie Minogue- The Locomotion. There was zero mention of an 'all '80s weekend' - just the normal imaging. This was on the other Townsquare soft ACs as well, so it was the corporate playlist. It appears that's not done anymore.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 3:16 pm

With WTRV and WITL having been under the same ownership now for a number of years, I'm a little surprised Townsquare hasn't petitioned the FCC to increase WTRV's effective radiated power to a full 6 kW.

I assume sufficient separation exists between WVIB and WTRV and that WITL is the only barrier, but perhaps I am mistaken?

There is also the 10.8 MHz spacing rule vis-a-vis WNHG 89.7 that perhaps would come into play?

ChrisWL1980 · Post by **ChrisWL1980** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 7:45 pm

There's WBCH to consider as well.
WION has a translator in Lowell on 100.3 too, which I realize could be forced off the air if WTRV were able to upgrade. It baffles me as to how it ever got approved being so close to 100.5.

Post by **MWmetalhead** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 8:49 pm

Looks like class A stations that are spaced 0.4 MHz apart only need 19 miles of separation. So, neither WBCH nor WVIB would pose any issue.

10.6 MHz and 10.8 MHz IF spacing for class A to class A needs to meet a 6 mile minimum.

100.5 The River on low power

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