TOCOBAGA DX #73 26 September, 2004 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For otherwise unlisted low power FM, pirates and TIS stations within Florida, visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html © 2004, Terry L Krueger. Retransmit or quote all or any portion only with full credit given to TOCOBAGA DX and all attributed sources. All frequencies are in KHz unless otherwise stated. Times in GMT/UTC unless otherwise stated. The following is a cursory MW/FM bandscan made here (Clearwater) in the midst of Hurricane Jeanne. Timeframe for the below was mostly 1700-1800 GMT (1:00-2:00 p.m. EDT) September 26th. Thus far (amazingly), save for a few moments (5-90 seconds) of brief drops, we have retained power. The new UPS seamlessly kicked in each time while online. Winds slowly increased from pre-dawn (35-40 m.p.h.) to present, where I estimated frequent gusts at 75-85+ m.p.h. (and finally a NWS confirmation a moment ago of a gust log at 78 m.p.h. on Clearwater Beach). Seems to me there's a very definite, secret "exceeded" wind shear closer to the coast (i.e., me), as the winds off the gulf are not impended by land and man-made obstacles. Rain has been pretty steady since post-sunrise, over three-inches in the gauge but it's mostly blowing sideways so I would guess we've received a bit more up to this point. Thus far, as I type, we have several hundred pounds of very large branches from the massive camphor tree downed in the back yard. I've heard some huge "thunks" on the roof but haven't been able to drift out for long to see what's up there. I can no longer do it; somehow I've got to pay someone to cut this shity up and haul it away in the coming weeks. One of the two longwires is lost, suspect the 2nd one will not make it at which time I will be inactive on the dials until I can round up assistance in rewiring on the roof. Watching the neighbors' shed shingles flapping did provide a few minutes of entertainment. Bottom line: Tampa Bay residents who have lived here less than 40-60 years have yet to experience a REAL hurricane; this one does not make the charts by any means despite being the worst I can recall since 1965. The local media always provides great amusement, if only Dan Rather could have been here to enlighten us even more: WFLA-TV channel 8 was the first to go into "hurricane panic mode" yesterday beginning at noon, with their wonderful VIPIR radar that they have yet to master for the viewers. One of the best field reports to date was courtesy of a clown (forget which channel) who was describing damage to a building, and then meekly stated that what we were viewing was actually caused by Hurricane Frances two weeks ago! That said, it seemed like a good time to scan the bands, while the one wire remains up. 860 FLORIDA WGUL, Dunedin; off the air. 860 CUBA Radio Reloj, unidentified location; thanks to WGUL's silence, this one here and alone, very strong, better than 850 and 950. Since I'm hearing this daytime, it cannot be the same transmitter as reportedly at Baracoa, Guantanamo (eastern Cuba). 910 FLORIDA WTWD, Plant City; off the air. 910 CUBA Radio Metropolitana, Arroyo Arenas, Ciudad de la Habana; thanks to WTWD being off, this one alone and near local level, plenty of station ID's, Cuban tropical vocals, program promos. 940 FLORIDA WPTI814 Pinellas County Emergency Mgmt. TIS, Largo; well, this expensive system was another waste of county taxpayer's money. Just an open carrier, the "sophisticated" audio link having failed. Bet spokesmouth Gary Vickers won't mention this on the next media briefing. 970 FLORIDA WFLA, Tampa; the "flagship" station for audio feed on all Tampa market Clear Channel stations. The 970 transmitter took a dump a few times today, including the longest starting at 1916 GMT (3:16 p.m.), back up in a minute but with carrier only, while the rest of the transmitters remained audio-active. 1110 FLORIDA WTIS, Tampa; off the air. 1150 FLORIDA WTMP, Egypt Lake; lost their audio link, big open carrier only. 1220 FLORIDA WIBQ, Sarasota; lost their audio link, open carrier only. 1300 FLORIDA WQBN, Temple Terrace; off the air. 1300 CUBA unidentified; with Spanish-language WQBN off, a Cuban here but threshold, definitely Cuba as parallel audio to 1180 kHz Rebelde with net feed of "Noticiero Nacional de la Radio" but unable to make anything out after the 1730 GMT conclusion. However, for certain not Enciclopedia, which did not carry NNdR as per 1260 and 1310 monitoring. 1310 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia, unknown; weak but alone, parellel 1260. 1320 FLORIDA WAMR, Venice; open carrier. Audio back on 1742 GMT recheck. 1400 FLORIDA WZHR, Zephyrhills; off the air. 1490 FLORIDA WWPR, Bradenton; off the air. 1500 FLORIDA WPSO, New Port Richey; off the air. 1520 FLORIDA WXYB, Indian Rocks Beach; off the air. 1550 FLORIDA WAMA, Tampa; off the air. 1680 FLORIDA WLAA, Winter Garden; off the air. 88.5 MHz FLORIDA WMNF, Tampa; off the air. 96.1 MHz FLORIDA WTMP-FM, Dade City; off the air (see 1150). 98.3 MHz FLORIDA WWRZ, Ft. Meade; off the air. 102.9 MHz FLORIDA (PIRATE) "WHRR Hot Rats Radio," Clearwater; the operator of this pirate reports to me that his 40-foot FM stick was snapped in two and cleanly landed across the fence in the yard of his neighbor. This station will now be indefinitely mothballed. 103.5 MHz FLORIDA W 106.3 MHz FLORIDA WGUL-FM, Spring Hill; open carrier-only (see 860). 107.9 MHz FLORIDA WSRZ-FM, Coral Cove; off the air. The only Clear Channel station in the Tampa/Sarasota markets that appeared to be off.
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