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103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
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MWmetalhead
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103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:48 pm

Picking up a good signal in the car in my neck of the woods (14 Mile & Woodward area). Didn't start to get a little fuzzy until downtown Pontiac.

Indoors, I can now hear the station on my Yamaha receiver, but it takes a little effort to get the "tuned" light to illuminate. Station appears to be broadcasting in monaural but sounds good nonetheless.

I have trouble picking up the translators from 8 Mile Rd indoors effortlessly with the exception of 99.9 MHz. 101.5 MHz and 92.7 MHz are second & third easiest to pick up but don't come in quite as easily as 99.9 MHz. A processor in either my TV, cable box, surge strip, or wireless subwoofer transmitter appears to interfere with 92.7 MHz.

106.3 comes next, and 103.9 & 99.1 bring up the rear. 99.1 sounds a bit weaker than normal today for some reason. Looks like they and 103.9 are diplexed on the same antenna (as ERP and height are identical for each construction permit).



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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by Mega Hertz » Sat Sep 18, 2021 8:05 pm

Sooooooo how many of these are there?

Annnnnnnd how many do we need?

The FCC needs to blow out rhe non-comm rules. If the Jesus stations are allowed to be on the left end of the dial AND suck up commercial frequencies AND buy up every translator for a 5 mile signal, it's time. Enough.


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MWmetalhead
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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Sep 18, 2021 8:19 pm

92.7 - Christian Talk
93.5 - Low rent sports talk
94.3 - Contemporary Christian & Teaching (I forgot about this one in my earlier post)
96.7 - Black Gospel & Preaching (I forgot about this one, too. I get a mish-mash of this and CHYR at my house.)
98.3 - Contemporary Black Gospel
99.1 - Low rent sports talk
99.9 - Contemporary Black Gospel
101.5 - Conservative Talk
103.1 - Contemporary Christian & Teaching
103.9 - Contemporary Christian
105.5 - Catholic Teaching (can barely pick this one up at my place)
106.3 - Contemporary "Worship" music
107.l - Fundamentalist Christian Preaching (Macomb County has an entirely different translator on this frequency.)
107.9 - Regional Mexican (can barely pick this one up at my place)

In fairness, some of the above signals have little to no coverage overlap. 92.7, 94.3, 99.1, 99.9, 101.5, now 103.9, and 106.3 have very similar service areas.

Of the above translators, the only one that bothers me a LOT is 96.7, as that one greatly impedes on CHYR's otherwise usable signal. The overlap between the Family Life Radio translator and 94.3 CKSY isn't quite as bad.



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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by Mega Hertz » Sat Sep 18, 2021 8:36 pm

That list, ridiculous as it is, discounts 102.7 and 103.5, plus all the non-comm signals.

I noted while working in the Flint area that there are two, at 106.5 and 106.9 alone. And here we thought conglomerates like iHeart were the problem!


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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by Mega Hertz » Sat Sep 18, 2021 8:36 pm

Yes, I'm generalizing, but they are all relgious formats, translators or not.


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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by Ben Zonia » Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:01 pm

Actually, it's 106.5 (WSNL) and 107.3 (WWCK) in Flint. 106.9 (WMPC) is in Lapeer.

I approached at least two commercial owners in Michigan, one a Flint station, about applying for translators, back well before the translator window. Neither was interested. They didn't think it would work or make a difference. In one case, the Corporate Engineer was in California and didn't understand or care much about Michigan. He blew off my best ideas.

So it was the so called "religious" station owners that applied for many many of them nationwide, as the commercial owners weren't interested. So I blame the big commercial owners for their lack of translators in many areas. They missed the boat. Without an expanded FM band and/or moving full power stations out of the boondocks and into larger cities, there really isn't a great solution.

There are some decent coverage translators in smaller markets in Michigan. There are only handful roughly equivalent to even a 3 kW Class A. The Detroit area translators cannot be full market signals. You cannot change the Laws of Physics, and the FCC is a nearly immovable object.


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Re: 103.9 Smile FM translator in Metro Detroit appears to have completed its move

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Sep 18, 2021 10:20 pm

With DX very active this evening, the new signal at 103.9 seems to be holding up noticeably better than 106.3 (won't decode) and 99.1 (fuzzy from co-channel interference beneath 99.1 The Roar).



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