DXing the Hippie

[PirateJohnny]

I did some traveling this weekend with my car's FM radio tuned into 94.5.

I got a signal down to I-24 and 840, and up to the 2nd exit where I got off of 840.  A little scratchy unless I was on top of the small hills down there, but, for me, still listenable.

I drove up I-65 into Kentucky all the way to exit 6 where it finally got too scratchy for me.

I grew up DXing AM Top 40 stations in the early 70s before I knew what DXing was, so I can stand a little static...  What radio was I using?  The stock Ford radio in my 1995 Mustang.  I remember Ford AM radios from the late 60s were great in pulling in distant signals, and sounded great doing it, too.

[jetfli]

Those Ford Philco radios were fantastic! Drive up on one of the tallest hills in most Southern towns and just enjoy the US airwaves... and the young lady you were with... as you pulled in WOWO, WLS (and John Records Landecker), WQXI and Coyote McCloud, etc., etc.

I'll have to say I've been extremely impressed with the engineering behind Hippie's signal. It stands up between and around the Brentwood hills and the Ashland City valleys, quite a feat with their humble power. And I LOVE that liner that refers to Hippie's meager 5000 watts as "your 5 million milliwatt blowtorch"!! That's mathematical and marketing genius!

[Tibbs2]

Jet, hell. Be careful saying good things about inept, non-corporate little radio stations like this Hippie channel.  Next thing you know, some moron will be blasting brilliance on here like it's not important for this station to have fans that actually talk about it or know it's name. It's only important to know the advertisers. Or that this station, like Lightning 100, is irrelevant because of ratings or signal. You might end up getting it turned into a piece of radio art like 97.1 RQQQQ that promises to only play the same six liners between every song. That, sir, is real radio. Riveting radio circa 2012. Why even Mix and Jack are inferior by contrast because they, like WHPY, are pretty much local stations compared to the Kings collection. Can't you just promote that The Rock just played it's one billionth Eagles song since it's inception?

[firepoint525]

'RQQ's signal almost completely disappears along OHB between Hillsboro and Brentwood.  Some might say that that's a good thing!    But it seems odd that a station with a Belle Meade COL would disappear that close to Belle Meade!   

We picked up Hippie a bit sooner than we expected on our return trip from Pensacola, because we were expecting to listen to WKOM once we got back into Tennessee, but damn if they didn't spring some more of their NAStyCAR crap on us!    I don't remember where we were when we first picked up Hippie, but I believe it was Maury County.  I'm thinking that we lost them going southbound, also in Maury County.

[secondchoice]

The real shame is the WDBL Springfield had 94.3 sense the 1960's.*  Went the FCC "loosened up" the FM band (1980's) they could have moved their 94.3 to Greenbriar or Ridgetop, even moved COL if needed, and used 94.5 or a directional antenna and with the "ridge" helping their tower they could have covered most of the Market with Class A power.

*There was rumor that 101.1 was originally to go the Springfield.  WDBL "swapped" with WRUS Russelville KY to avoid the high electric bill.  That is why the 101.1 move in worked so well.

[firepoint525]

The real shame is the WDBL Springfield had 94.3 sense the 1960's.*  Went the FCC "loosened up" the FM band (1980's) they could have moved their 94.3 to Greenbriar or Ridgetop, even moved COL if needed, and used 94.5 or a directional antenna and with the "ridge" helping their tower they could have covered most of the Market with Class A power.

We were in Springfield a couple of months ago, and Hippie Radio came in clear as a bell.  Eagle 94.3, right next door on the FM dial, current COL Oak Grove, KY, (Clarksville "move-in"?) also came in perfectly clear.  They weren't interfering with each other at all, at least not on my car radio. 

[secondchoice]

Eagle 94.3, right next door on the FM dial, current COL Oak Grove, KY, (Clarksville "move-in"?)

WDBL sold 94.3 (IIRC three or four years ago) and it was moved back up to Clarksville. I "started" radio at WDBL AM 1590 FM 94.3 Springfield in 1972.  I was really bad but they let me hang out and do some fill in.  During those years they were country from a 5am FM sign till 6 or 7pm then JT had his soul show.  He did very well competing locally with John R (WLAC).  Lots of commercials for a night show.  They simulcasted 94.3 with the AM which had PSA 500 watts @6AM till sunrise then and 1KW till sunset.

[w9wi]

The real shame is the WDBL Springfield had 94.3 sense the 1960's.*  Went the FCC "loosened up" the FM band (1980's) they could have moved their 94.3 to Greenbriar or Ridgetop, even moved COL if needed, and used 94.5 or a directional antenna and with the "ridge" helping their tower they could have covered most of the Market with Class A power.

*There was rumor that 101.1 was originally to go the Springfield.  WDBL "swapped" with WRUS Russelville KY to avoid the high electric bill.  That is why the 101.1 move in worked so well.

Y'know, I had the same recollection about WDBL swapping channels with WRUS -- but the first allocation table I can find after the table was created in 1964 shows WDBL on 94.3.  It does show WRUS on 92.1A, not 101.1. 

Isn't 94.3 now part of Saga's Clarksville cluster?

[secondchoice]

The engineer Jay (I forgot his name last, but he had a full time gig with the phone company in Nashville) or the PD Walter George told me about the swap I and it was made before either stations went on the air.  They said it was the 101.1 frequency and the minimum power was going to be 10KW* instead of 3kw, thus the bigger power bill.  IIRC WDBL FM had a 1KW RCA transmitter that went into a 3 or 4 bay horizontal only antenna.  I can understand the economics of a big power bill for the few FM radios around, similar to HD now.  Who knows in twenty or thirty years HD and the sub channels might make FM the AM of today.

* IIRC WKDA FM was 10KW before they went 100KW in the very early 1970's. 

[firepoint525]

Didn't Tuned-In (parent company of Lightning 100) also own 94.3 there for a while?  I recall that they did, but I don't think that they ever really did anything with it.