Hurricane Fran’s wind and rain might be to blame for a technical problem that has temporarily reduced the power of radio station WFDD’s transmitting signal, according to Cleve Callison, manager of the National Public Radio affiliate at Wake Forest University.
WFDD (88.5 FM) apparently lost much of its broadcasting strength during the Thursday night and early Friday morning storm last week, Callison said. The station has been left with only enough transmitting power to cover most of Forsyth County and perhaps the fringes of some adjacent counties. Normally, WFDD can be heard in 11 Triad counties and in 21 other nearby counties.
“Our goal is to find and correct the problem by the weekend,” Callison said. “We’ve already begun an investigation to locate it. I don’t expect this to be a long-term situation.”
The problem is at the station’s 935-foot antenna tower in northern Davidson County.
“We feel fairly confident there is nothing wrong with the signal transmitter at the tower’s base, so now we are focusing on equipment on the tower,” Callison explained.
“We had someone climb and visually inspect the tower Monday, but that investigation did not identify the problem,” Callison added. “Now, we have arranged for some sophisticated diagnostic equipment to be brought to the tower to conduct a more detailed examination.”
Meanwhile, the station will rely on a back-up transmitter and antenna at the station’s Wake Forest studio to cover a smaller area.
WFDD broadcasts NPR news and classical music. Recently, it began broadcasting Wake Forest football and basketball games.
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