Family Radio’s WYFR shortwave service will be ending on June 30, 2013.
Shortwave transmitting is very expensive, and no doubt, competing IP distribution technology and diminishing returns on such investment must play a factor in this decision. Family radio has been struggling ever since the world did not end as predicted in 2011.
I believe that site has fourteen 100KW HF transmitters and eighteen antennas of various type. There is a complete photo album here: https://picasaweb.google.com/115519153277489147905/WYFR?noredirect=1#5149450014785168130 courtesy of Kent.
Kind of sad to see them go, I don’t know what their plans are after June 30.
The times they are a changing….though I’m not sure all the changes are necessarily good. WYFR must have been a very expensive operation to support no matter
who bore the costs. The pictures show a CSI FM transmitter from Jacksonville something tells me it may have been from Public station WJCT because behind it is a Cetec
which may have been their main and only transmitter when they first signed on….if it is I once worked on it. During the mid 70’s there weren’t that many of those made under the Cetec name and at the time the only one in North Florida. There were other incarnations of this grounded grid transmitter one of them under the Singer name.
That place has seen a lot of miles for sure! But with our recent $4.30 gas and “critical peak” residential rate of $1 a kWh I sure energy costs had a huge part of it.
Sad but unfortunately most true. We will be signing off permanently at the end of our June 30 broadcast day. Station is rumored to be on the market as of this time but no one is talking yet.
Sorry Dennis…
What time, Frequencies?
It seems like their only frequency is 6115 KHz between 22:30 and 0300 GMT. If past performance is any indication, I think this broadcast will end with little fanfare.
Dennis: Will someone be airchecking the signoff? Video? Posting?
Perverse as it is, we like to see Big Evolutions, no matter which direction… :-}
I find it sad whenever any station signs off for good. I believe WYFR relays the Voice of Taiwan under contract, so perhaps only the Family Radio programs will disappear from 6115 as the other frequencies go silent. With VOA scheduled to close what’s left of Greenville next year, I wonder if they would contract with the station to keep some transmitting capacity in the US?