Area radio station gets stronger signal

Chris Moore / The Item Susan Trautsch, promotions director at Miller Communications, right, tells Eric McKnight, promotions assistant, a joke and awaits his response during a segment of "Sumter with Susan" earlier this week at the station, located on Commerce Street.

By JOE PERRY
Item Staff Writer
jperry@theitem.com

Miller Communications' WDXY 1240 AM now has a stronger signal — and larger audience reach — thanks to a recent waiver from the Federal Communications Commission.

Harold Miller, CEO of Miller Communications, said because of night-time interference, WDXY 1240 AM — a community-oriented news and talk radio station — could not even reach Shaw Air Force Base.

"Here we have men and women fighting the global war on terror and we can't even cover the base to tell them what's happening downtown," he said. "That's frustrating."

The FCC prohibits rebroadcasting a standard broadcast station on an FM translator, and Miller credits U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., state Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and state Rep. Grady Brown, D-Bishopville, for recommending the waiver, which gives Miller Communications a special temporary authority to use an FM translator, thereby enhancing WDXY's scope.

Spratt's late-April letter to the FCC spelled out how beneficial an FM translator would be, not just for Miller Communications but for all Sumterites in a time of emergency.

"This ability to broadcast to the entire Sumter listening area will help to provide information when the area is experiencing hurricanes or other natural disasters ... In addition to enhancing emergency broadcasting outlets, an expanded WDXY (AM) coverage area would give troops stationed at Shaw the option of listening to local broadcasting," the letter said.

Miller said it is the third station in the U.S. to get an FM translator. WDXY's antenna was built in the 1960s, he said, before the Gamecock City experienced much growth.

"The power it's got was assigned in the '60s when Sumter was only a smaller town, like a donut, and now Sumter's like a wedding cake," he said.

Not only is WDXY now simulcast on 105.9 FM, but enjoys a much stronger signal with increased penetrating power. Miller said the FM translator was placed atop a 600-foot tower owned by Newman Construction, and the signal reaches almost the entire county.

"It's like a dragon sitting over the top of Sumter breathing fire — being the signal — down on top of town," he said. "So now this antiquated 1960s analog signal is capable of being on FM but also going digital when the time is right. By having it so close to town, it's always a superior signal."

Initially, FM translators were used to supplement FM coverage in hilly and mountainous areas that proved tough to reach because of geographical interference.

"It's opened up a great deal of opportunity for WDXY to be more of a viable product," he said. "It gives us more of an opportunity to serve this town."



Contact Staff Writer Joe Perry at jperry@theitem.com or (803) 774-1272.