WAMC Engineering Department News and Notes

Hello my friend. Welcome to the WAMC engineering page. My name is Pat Cooney. I am Vice President for Operations  here at your public radio station. I will try to keep this page as up to date as possible. Sometimes things move very quickly during storms and power outages. Many of these times, I am out in the field working, and not near my computer or a reliable internet connection. I hope to be getting an iPhone soon, so this should help with that.
If you are experiencing a problem with reception in your area, I would love to hear about it. Not all of our transmitter facilities have internet connectivity, so your report or complaint may be the best way for us to get the ball rolling on repair.
You can e mail me pcooney@wamc.org or call my desk (800)323-9262 ext 101, or just dial 0 and report your complaint to the operator. We have someone on duty here at all times, even the middle of the night, so your message will get through.
Look to this page often for the latest technical news about our transmitters and translators including some great new information about digital radio which is here and will get even better.  Details to come. Thanks for checking in.

Pat Cooney
WAMC Operations
pcooney@wamc.org

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8:30AM 3/14/10 90.3 FM MOUNT GREYLOCK IS OFF THE AIR DUE TO MULTIPLE PROBLEMS INCLUDING A POWER OUTAGE. ENGINEERS ARE WORKING ON THE PROBLEM.

The tower is finally clear of ice on Mount Greylock. Output power for WAMC 90.3 FM is now at 100%.
Thank you for your patience. Pat  3/8/10.

Ice build up on Mount Greylock has gotten worse today. We are at 28% power output on 90.3 FM. This will effect many listeners to that frequency. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Let's hope for some more sunshine. 1:38pm 3/5/10.

Due to significant ice build up on our transmitter antenna on Mount Greylock. WAMC 90.3 FM is only operating at 73.6%. So those of you in certain areas may experience a weak signal. Please try one of our other frequencies or online at http://www.wamc.org/ . Let's hope for some sunshine and warmer temperatures tomorrow. Pat 3/1/10  7:54pm.  

Notice: All transmitters are back on main satellite audio feeds. The snow has melted off the dishes.  3/1/10

*** NEWSFLASH -  Many of our remote transmitters are on back up audio feeds due to significant wet snow on the satellite antennas. These locations include WOSR, WAMQ, WCAN and WCEL.  2/25/10

ATTN: 09:48 2/25/10 WRUN FM 90.3 Utica is back on the air. Power has been restored. GO N.G. !!! : )

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97.3 FM is on the air in Cooperstown NY. ENJOY!!!!
We are very excited about this new frequency.
Welcome to the WAMC family. : ) -   Pat  GO METS!!

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ATTN: 22:32 2/25/10 WRUN FM Utica is off the air due to a power outage. Access is poor. It could take a while for National Grid to get this one back on. Power outages are widespread in this area as well.

ATTN: 21:32 2/25/10 WCEL Plattsburgh is back on the air. National Grid has restored power. Please email me if you have any reception problems. Thanks.  pcooney@wamc.org

ATTN: 18:32 2/25/10 We have lost power to our transmitter WCEL in Plattsburgh NY. We are at the mercy of National Grid. We are hoping for a quick restoration but the night is young and it's getting colder. Pat

ATTN: WAMC 90.3 FM was at low power, about 80% of normal, between the hours of 5am and Noon today. This was due to significant icing on the radiating elements of the antenna. The ice fell off  just after  noon, and we are now at full power.  If you live on the  edge  of our coverage area, you  may have noticed a weaker signal during those hours today.  2/25/10.

Announcement:  WRUN-AM 1150  was signed off the air November 30, 2009. It's no longer part of the WAMC network. Please listen to WRUN 90.3 in Remsen. A sad day for me. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that station, rebuilding the place after the fire. I will miss it. However, it was a monster and was sucking up a lot of resources. Pat

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ARE YOU LISTENING TO WAMC 2 ON YOUR NEW IBOC RADIO?
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. No really, let me know what you think. pcooney@wamc.org

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GREAT NEWS!  We are on the air at 90.3 FM in Remsen NY!

If you are in the Utica-Rome area, tune us in. I would be very interested in hearing reports on the signal quality and where you are listening. I hear it's not that great in downtown Utica. Let me know. Thanks.

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Some sad news.

We lost a member of the WAMC engineering team and family.

Anthony "AT" Morette was hit and killed by a tractor trailer while running in Ticonderoga.

AT would do regular checks on our transmitter and tower on Mount Defiance WANC in Ticonderoga.

He would call us when we had power outages, and run up the hill in the snow to help get things back up and running.

AT was a good man, always serving, and putting the best interests of others and the community before his own.

I will, in some strange way, miss the 2 am calls from AT reporting power lines being down.

Thank you Tony.......
Pat

 

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