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1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by John from Wisconsin <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=John+from+Wisconsin' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 8, 2024, 6:20 pm

DX'ing from Wisconsin, I'd hear 1500-WAKE (Valparaiso) on occasion. They had a CP for Hobart. Now, buying WLTH and their translator.

Is WAKE on? Last entry here was they were simulcasting WLTH. Any updates? No website, etc., thus I ask.

Thank you!

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 8, 2024, 6:34 pm, in reply to "1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

John I am mainly in the city, in the NW, N, W suburbs, I can never hear WAKE due to AM 1490 in Oak Park IL. Unverified, I heard they are silent.

PhilJSmith is on here sometimes and he is probably better suited to hear it. Phil? You around?????

Z

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Best I could find: A Yelp review! (2023)

https://www.yelp.com/biz/wake-radio-station-valparaiso

Oh well.... Thanx Z.

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

John, Phil tends to post later, night time. If anyone knows he will. If he reads this, he will post.

LOL @ the Yelp! Good find.

Z

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by PhilJSmith <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=PhilJSmith' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 8, 2024, 11:09 pm, in reply to "Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

I haven’t heard the slightest hint of 1500 WAKE, even with a reasonably directional Tecsun MW loop — but from what I recall about the new pattern, I am in a deep null.

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

They might be on their CP, the night time and day time wattage has been slashed and it is directional totally away from Chicago. It does indicate they are on 97.5 in Valpo on the translator.

Link below lets you see the patterns before and after + the translator.

Z

Link: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=wake&x=18&y=5&sr=Y&s=C

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by CADXer <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=CADXer' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 9, 2024, 7:47 am, in reply to "Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

Not able to hear them here in the NW Chicago suburbs, but did check K9MQ KiwiSDR in NW Indiana and they were audible there relaying WLTH with fair signal.

Last time I checked FCC files they were operating under STA using the old WLTH nighttime site with 62.5 watts during the day and 11 watts at night. They do have a CP to move to the old WLTH nighttime site with 250 Watts day, 11 Watts night and change COL to Hobart, Indiana.

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Frequency U.S. Class Region 2 Digital Operation? Noncommercial Educational (NCE)?
Call Service | Hours of Operation | | Status | City State Country File Number | Power Directional? FacilityID Licensee/Permittee

WAKE AM 1500 kHz Daytime D - LIC A VALPARAISO IN US BL-20050103AJU 1.0 kW Directional 53057 MARION WILLIAMS
WAKE AM 1500 kHz Daytime D - CP A HOBART IN US BP-20220715AAB 0.25 kW Directional 53057 MARION WILLIAMS
WAKE AM 1500 kHz Nighttime D - LIC A VALPARAISO IN US BL-20050103AJU 0.025 kW Directional 53057 MARION WILLIAMS
WAKE AM 1500 kHz Nighttime D - CP A HOBART IN US BP-20220715AAB 0.011 kW 53057 MARION WILLIAMS

comes from:
https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=WAKE&arn=&state=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=1&ThisTab=Results+to+This+Page%2FTab&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9

As an outsider, it's interesting/sad that a station just doesn't get out. Like other AM's, drop the power and go with the FM or the translator.

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 9, 2024, 1:41 pm, in reply to "Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

John,

Sadly, super local radio (Class D AM stations) is a thing of the past. Technology has rendered it ineffective or not profitable. Women are no longer tending home and working. People are working different shifts, multiple jobs, farther from home. It is on and on. From a geeky standpoint, yes, it is sad. The upside? A lot of these stations that sign off of AM, might lower noise levels and allow better DX activities.

Z

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Z, others,
Years ago, when I had cable, was watching C-SPAN.
Watching Ajit Pai, then FCC commissioner, said "the FCC used to go after distance of reception. Now, it's the sound quality." True, true, true.
Will keep trying for WAKE, hi!

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by Hunter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Hunter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 9, 2024, 8:54 pm, in reply to "Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

John from Wisconsin:

With the deepest respect, why would anyone care about a station rated at 1,000 watts designated at 1500 on the AM band?

This and other AM station like it are dead on arrival. It's cheaper to simply surrender the license and turn out the lights when you leave.

I truly like AM radio. Always have. But, this station is a lost cause and there are hundreds more out there just like it.

I'm still wondering why so many non-essential AM stations are using FM translators. They're on life support as it is. I'm not against translators, it just seems like an oxygen tent for someone who is suffering from lung cancer.

The more relevant AM stations still have a little more time. Music on AM is a huge waste of time. From what I could see, WAKE is/was playing oldies.

Would you like static on the side with "Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley?

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 10, 2024, 7:42 am, in reply to "Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

If anybody is wondering, the towers for the Hobart CP exist.

The station returned to the air in March of this year.

They probably don't have a format ready for it, but the WLTH website is here
https://wlthradio.com/

Since they are co-owned, you can probably contact them there and ask

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

HUNTER:
With the deepest respect, why would anyone care about a station rated at 1,000 watts designated at 1500 on the AM band?

ME: I'm a radio geek. Interest in radio, more than the casual listener. Like a few others here, I keep up on trends, etc.

Hunter, I agree with you. One only need to look at the recent AMs shut down in St. Louis area: 1190, 1430 & 1490. Forced off by the FCC. Nobody bought those open frequencies licenses. Telling.

"FCC announced on February 8, 2021, that the former EMT-licensed AM allocations in the St. Louis market, including KZQZ's frequency, would go up for auction on July 27, 2021.[48] No bids were received for any of the four frequencies during the eight-day auction." -Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZQZ

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

The AM band in St. Louis is a wasteland, at least as far as programming that is not Religious for the most part.

Most St. Louis AM signals originate from the Illinois side of the Mississippi river. As a result, the land for a lot of them is not worth much. KZQZ's towers are still standing. Overgrown with weeds. In any other market they would have sold the land. There was some interest in putting 1430 back on the air but it never happened.

I believe there was one situation where the land went to an Amazon facility but that was an exception to the rule. Nobody really wants land in and around East St. Louis. If anybody understands the economy there, it makes sense.

So AM typically thrives in St. Louis. There are a lot of AM stations on the air. But most of them are Religious and Brokered in nature.

Re: 1500 WAKE Valparaiso

Posted by AM Radio Fan <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=AM+Radio+Fan' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 11, 2024, 11:49 am, in reply to "1500 WAKE Valparaiso"

I don't get 1500 in DuPage County, where I'm at. I do listen to SDR's on a regular basis. They are indeed simulcasting WLTH. On the St. John, IN SDR, they come in well, day and night. WWHN, next door, has no splatter (fair signal). You never know what will happen next in today's radio world. Parts of 1080 now sound like 1370/1500 (recently added a soul/R&B block).

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