Hallelujah 105.1, operating as translator W286BK, is seeking to move to 98.3 MHz. The new facility will be at the same height and antenna location they employ now, but with 170 watts.
Translators operate on a secondary status to full power stations, so when WALJ signed on in Northport, also on 105.1 MHz, it created some interference issues. Clear Channel first moved the translator from the Magic 96 translator on Ishkooda Mountain to their Red Mountain site but this did not fix the interference issue to WALJ's satisfaction.
As such, Clear Channel (through WAY-FM Media, who actually owns the translator) is seeking a waiver of the Commission's 74.1233(A)(1) rules and asking to jump ship to 98.3 MHz.
98.3 MHz is not exactly a perfect choice, however. It's second-adjacent to Kiss FM, which the rules are OK with, but also first-adjacent to WTXT in Tuscaloosa. The application includes a null towards the west to compensate, but whenever WTXT returns to full power (they're on low power while their tower, which was felled by the April tornadoes, is rebuilt) it will put a very good signal into Birmingham again. This may create unwanted interference issues, but since WTXT is also a Clear Channel property, there will be no one to ask the translator to shut down or move again.
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