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FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

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Marcus
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FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

Post by Marcus » Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:57 pm

WEYI and WBSF TV are combined on a tower near Clio. The old CKCO-3 tower near Oil Springs ON is between Sarnia and Chatham. Right now there are no FM transmitters at either one. From Oil Springs you could put a City Grade signal into both Sarnia and Chatham. Example : If 89.3 MHz moved to there from Chatham they could do this as long as they protect Metro Detroit with a D.A. That signal would improve in Middlesex County around where Strathroy is along with Lambton County.

Clio is between Flint and Saginaw, meaning the same thing could be done from there. A Non-Commercial / Public broadcaster would be the first to do this as Flint and the Tri Cities are actually two different radio markets.

My question is this. Has anyone seriously considered operating a FM broadcast from either one of those sites?



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Ben Zonia
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Re: FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

Post by Ben Zonia » Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:47 pm

Marcus wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 1:57 pm
WEYI and WBSF TV are combined on a tower near Clio. The old CKCO-3 tower near Oil Springs ON is between Sarnia and Chatham. Right now there are no FM transmitters at either one. From Oil Springs you could put a City Grade signal into both Sarnia and Chatham. Example : If 89.3 MHz moved to there from Chatham they could do this as long as they protect Metro Detroit with a D.A. That signal would improve in Middlesex County around where Strathroy is along with Lambton County.

Clio is between Flint and Saginaw, meaning the same thing could be done from there. A Non-Commercial / Public broadcaster would be the first to do this as Flint and the Tri Cities are actually two different radio markets.

My question is this. Has anyone seriously considered operating a FM broadcast from either one of those sites?
The short answer is yes, sort of, for the WEYI tower. The problem was that the ideal height to get a clear LOS and Fresnel Zone for Flint and Saginaw wasn't available, and the lease costs were also prohibitive at the ideal height.


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MWmetalhead
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Re: FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:09 am

NOAA weather radio uses the WEYI tower. Does that count? :)

WEYI might've been a good place for WFBE to relocate. To Ben's point, lease costs must've been prohibitive. I wonder if a signal from the WEYI tower would've been any more effective at penetrating the old Buick City plant than Otisville.

WWCK-FM from the WEYI tower is an interesting scenario to ponder. I have no idea when the Class A allocation at 105.5 to West Branch was granted, though.

WCRZ is another. Being a Flint-based AC station, they probably had no desire in deliver anything other than a blazing signal to Flint and its surrounding suburbs. A relocation to far northern Genesee would likely cause an unacceptable amount of in-building signal degradation to places such as Grand Blanc and Fenton. They also would not have been able to match the signal strength of WGER in the Tri-Cities region (especially when WGER was located at 102.5).



Marcus
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Location: Sarnia, Ontario

Re: FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

Post by Marcus » Sat Dec 03, 2022 12:11 pm

So cost and unavailable tower space often get in the way. WIOG is a superpower that will not want to move and WHNN cannot remain anything above a class B FM with 50 KW/500 ft. if they move that far south.

In Ontario the commercial radio stations would have a difficult time talking the CRTC into allowing them to cover two radio markets which is what would happen if they moved to Oil Springs. 89.3 in Chatham is non-commercial meaning they might be allowed to do so. They could also make an agreement where CBC Radio One can use 89.3 from that location, and UCB Canada airs on 90.3 in Sarnia and 88.1 in Chatham-Kent. If 89.3 was directional to protect Dearborn, 50 KW or more would be possible in the other directions.



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Ben Zonia
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Re: FM from the WEYI-TV and the former CKCO-3 towers

Post by Ben Zonia » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:26 pm

Remember that WFBE is very short spaced to 94.9 WMMQ East Lansing, and it might have flown when they were coowned by Cumulus, but not now without a WLAV like situation to WWDV. They should have stayed on at Otisville. It was great the weekend it was tested. Now Buick is gone, though a very low power booster might have worked in the complex. WFBE had agreements to go 50000 watts nondirectional from the FCHS tower location. WKQI wouldn't play ball, though they soon changed 73.215 so it wouldn't have mattered.

WCRZ has always had an FAA problem to the flight path from FNT. Apparently, they wanted to go 500 feet, but got turned down repeatedly. There are/were also WHSB and WRKR to consider.

WWCK would be short spaced to WBMI without a lot of frequency shuffling, and the Chatham allotment would still be a problem, though less there.


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