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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsChristian radio is drowning out my NPR
Granted, much of NPR's progam day is spent apologizing for being too Liberal, but I stl prefer it to most of what's available in western PA. But driving he from work tonight I found that the three public radio stations I can access during my commute were almost entirely overwhelmed by shitty Christian radio. What's this about?
The public atations ce in fine this morning and were obviously still broadcasting in spite of the unholy interference. Why do stations sometimes come in so clearly and other times not at all?
It's not as though I'm driving a different route, either. It's the same stretch of I79 evrry day.
And why in the world are there so many crappy WGOD stations out there? I've counted well over a dozen accessible between Pittsburgh an Meadville!
tjwash
(8,219 posts)Something to do with all of the mega-church enclaves in the middle of the desert that have their own FM radio transmitters.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)WGOD briefly succeeded in knocking NPR off the air entirely in Lake Charles, La., which was served by a translator station repeating the NPR station in nearby Lafayette. FCC rules state that a full-power station takes precedence over a translator, so bam! NPR out, WGOD in. (The Lafayette station soon moved its antenna so as to cover Lake Charles.)
WGOD has lots and lots of translators of its own, too. Many of them rebroadcast "The Effect" from Twin Falls, ID. There are even a few of these in Hawai'i! Bear in mind that the original intent of translators was to cover areas within or at the fringe of a station's normal coverage area. Also, of course, those frequencies are supposed to be reserved for noncommercial educational stations. I guess it's "educational" to learn that I'm going to H-E-double hockey sticks.
So your problem may be that one or more new WGOD translators have popped up along I-79, right next to the beleaguered NPR stations.
trof
(54,256 posts)On purpose?
Is 'Christian Radio' purposefully getting frequencies very close to NPR?
Hmmm...
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
.
.
NPR "apologizes for its Liberalism" because it can't wean itself from government funding -- and
Congress controls that. Lean too far to the Left -- and conservatives start messing with the
funding. Yet another way they control the media.
.
10-15 years ago, a lot of low-end FM frequencies became available (through technological
advances, I think -- the ability to broadcast without overlap from more frequencies on the dial).
Christian churches (think MONEY) would have loved to have sucked up ALL those new freqs --
and would have, if not for the hard work and dedication of a lot of liberals in the community
radio and low-power FM station areas. People you have never heard of -- and most probably
never will.
.
But if you HAVE a community station ANYWHERE nearby, give it your support -- they're one
of the few defenders of OUR access to the public airwaves.
.
And the best ones (read "most left-leaning" aren't DEPENDENT on gov't funding.
.
.
.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)but Christian radio and Limbaugh Lite everywhere I went. And rap. Fascinating that some markets are reduced to those three.
As to why they are are drowning out your three public radio stations, there are several possibilities from the terrain favoring them to Godradio ignoring the power regulations and sending out excessively strong signals. It's also possible that the public stations have to reduce their power output at night-- that was a problem with WNYC in NYC that made it impossible to listen to after dark.
At night AM signals travel much further without the sun's radiation interfering, and many stations have licenses that require them to reduce their signal strength at night. You might have two stations at 1050KHz within, say, 100 miles and they would not interfere with each other during the day, but could at night. Some stations are licensed to transmit at full power 24 hours and can override distant low powered stations at night. Some other stations should reduce power, but just don't give a shit until they're caught. There's other technical stuff that could be involved, but you get the idea.
bananas
(27,509 posts)The low frequency bands were supposed to be for non-commercial radio,
and so were used for NPR, college, and community radio.
About ten years ago, Christian radio stations decided to expand and take over the bandwidth.
Here's one article, there are better ones if you spend some time googling:
http://newsroom.lmu.edu/newsroompressreleases/kxlusignal.htm
kayakjohnny
(5,235 posts)proudly. Just like the AP of late.
Those bastards have lost all cred with me.
rurallib
(62,478 posts)check with your congress critters office and see if anyone there has an idea
Kali
(55,031 posts)around sundown, effing xtian shit interferring with the community station from Tucson. I have complained but it doesn't do much good.
they are allowed to buy up stations on the left end of the spectrum and they have the $$ for good equipment. it SUCKS.
when we had a battle over the management practices of our station the entrenched PsTB even used that fact in one of their various attempts to shut the dissenters up - "oh if we air all this dirty laundry or have democratic elections some religious group might take over the station"
ugh, thanks for the shitty memories of that crap
Orrex
(63,263 posts)I must disclaim a shameful ignorance of the mechanics of such things, but I've wondered if the afternoon failure of NPR's signals--which come in loud and clear in the morning--is due to some atmospheric condition that's more intense or significant in the later hours.
For all I know, it's because of my dishwashing liquid, but it would be nice to turn of the WGOD stations once and for all.
madinmaryland
(64,934 posts)stations. Interestingly, I did find a station out of Pittsburgh that was a Union Station. It was a Union supported station with Union issues being discussed. I had never heard of such a station. It was really interesting.
Orrex
(63,263 posts)I can get 90.5 out of the Burgh, 88.5 out of Akron, and 89.9 out of West Virginia. Not always with the best reception, but still...
madinmaryland
(64,934 posts)of Lawrence County. You know where Westminster College is?
Orrex
(63,263 posts)They have a nice Arts Fest, and their 88.9 station plays a pretty good mix, if a bit pop-heavy.
Doesn't have much range east of New Castle, though. If I can pick it up all the way to 79 it's a miracle.