WGVU translator at 95.3 FM

[MWmetalhead]

A couple things:
- The signal has gone to crap. 88.5 FM was coming in more reliably in Byron Twp. and the far southern part of Wyoming than 95.3 when I checked Friday. In fact, 88.5 FM was coming in crystal clear. Was even decoding the HD signal.
- 95.3 no longer rebroadcasts AM 1480. It now rebroadcasts 88.5 WGVU-FM, as it did originally upon being acquired by WGVU Public Media.

Did the translator at 95.3 FM need to drop power in order to remain within a certain contour (or mileage limit) of WGVU-FM, or are equipment issues being encountered?

[radionut]

A couple things:
- The signal has gone to crap. 88.5 FM was coming in more reliably in Byron Twp. and the far southern part of Wyoming than 95.3 when I checked Friday.

The translator is now considered a fill in which meant it needed to go directional and reduce power.

[MWmetalhead]

Well, that sucks.

Not sure why they had to reduce power and directionalize; non-comm stations are not subject to the same, stringent rules as commercial stations in terms of translator usage.

W237CZ previously delivered a reliable signal to Wyoming, Kentwood and the townships along M-6. Now, the signal goes to crap pretty quickly once one gets more than 5 miles away from the TX site.

[statmanmi]

...Not sure why they had to reduce power and directionalize; non-comm stations are not subject to the same, stringent rules as commercial stations in terms of translator usage....

You piqued my curiosity MW, so I looked a bit further at past FCC filings.

W237CZ is still noted as being Commercial, with the Modification filing to lower the output noting, "Licensee is a not-for-profit
state university." Further, a PDF included as an Attachment has the description, "Commercial/Noncommercial
Status of W237CZ"--but the PDF doesn't launch for me when I've tried from my iPhone and a Windows laptop computer.

So perhaps in time GVSU will pursue converting the translator from being Commercial, then restore the previous power level.

Cheers! ~~ Statmanmi

[MWmetalhead]

I've tried to launch the PDF, too. No dice. Thanks for the info.

If it would've made a difference in terms of maximum allowable ERP, the station should've continued to rebroadcast Real Oldies 1480.

It is rather remarkable that W237CZ is licensed as a commercial translator in view of the fact it is has never aired anything other than not-for-profit public radio programming of some variety.