Supra 89.7 thinks the atmosphere is out to get them Artwork

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ID10T Techcast

Supra 89.7 thinks the atmosphere is out to get them

October 08, 2026 • Tyler Woodward

0:00 | 18:15

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A low power FM station in Valdosta, Georgia has a real interference problem. Instead of accepting the engineering explanation, they decided to accuse broadcast engineers, large radio conglomerates, and apparently the atmosphere itself of running a coordinated campaign against them. I break down what's actually happening with Supra 89.7 and WFA GLP, and why the answer was sitting in front of them the whole time.

I get into what tropospheric ducting and sporadic e-skip actually are, why the ITU and the FCC both account for this stuff as normal radio propagation, and why a hundred watt LPFM station picking up interference from stations hundreds of miles away isn't evidence of hacked ham radio equipment or a secret relay. I also cover the legal side, including why 47 USC 333 requires willful or malicious intent, something that doesn't apply to weather doing what weather does. And I get into why LPFM's status as a secondary service matters here, whether you like that fact or not.

This one covers real engineering, a real regulatory structure, and a station that keeps rejecting both in favor of a story that feels better. If you care about how spectrum actually works, how the FCC evaluates interference, or just want to watch what happens when people replace data with a grudge, this is for you.

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WEBVTT

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Supra 89 .7. This is a particular station that

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if you've been on Facebook and any of the Facebook

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radio engineering groups, you know very well

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who Supra 89 .7 is and WFAG LP out of Georgia.

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You know what station I'm talking about. But

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for the rest of you who may not be into the radio

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nerd cult that is radio engineering, Super 89

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.7 has a real interference problem. That's exactly

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why watching this station dismiss engineers accusing

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people of intentionally jamming their LPFM station

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and spamming the same argument across various

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radio Facebook groups is beyond frustrating at

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this point. Now, I'm going to start off by saying

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the physics isn't The the part that's unclear

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here. This has gone way beyond explaining how

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radio propagation works But we're gonna try to

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do that in a little bit. I have a bad habit of

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opening Facebook radio groups when I already

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know better Sometimes you learn something Sometimes

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somebody posts the picture of a transmitter that

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looks like it survived the small electrical fire

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and ask You know if the burn marks are normal

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And sometimes you get the same argument posted

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over and over and over and over again after multiple,

00:01:54.939 --> 00:02:00.099
multiple broadcast engineers have already explained

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what is happening. Fair warning, I'm a little

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over this one. We're talking about again, Super

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89 .7 WFAG LP out of Valdosta, Georgia. And usual

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disclaimer before I get any further. These are

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going to be my opinions. I'm as always speaking

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for myself. Everything here is from my point

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of view. This is the Tyler Woodward project.

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I'm Tyler. I'm a broadcast engineer in the upper

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Midwest. Hey, how you doing? And today we're

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going to explain that atmospheric propagation

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is not some conspiracy against your radio station.

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I never thought I would have to explain that,

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but here we are. Supra 89 .7 has an actual real

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problem. Nobody's disagreeing with that. I want

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to establish that first, that they do in fact

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have a real problem because I don't want this

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turned into, oh, you just hate LPFMs. No, actually,

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I like LPFMs. LPFMs have a place on the dial.

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I'm not arguing that point. WFAG LP is running

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100 watts on 89 .7 in Valdosta, Georgia. Radio

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World reported earlier this year that the station

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has been dealing with interference from WUSF

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in Tampa. And during sporadic e -skips, you know,

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little openings, WGBH in Boston comes through.

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That's frustrating. You know, I get it. If I'm

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trying to run a little community radio station

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and suddenly another station over 200 miles away,

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is eating into my signal, yeah, I'm gonna be

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a little pissed off too. Now, Supra 89 .7, they've

00:03:58.030 --> 00:04:03.770
already moved from 103 .7 to 89 .7 after interference

00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:08.770
problems on the previous frequency. So this isn't

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a new thing for them. And yes, the problem is

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real. The BS starts with what they've decided

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the explanation must be. The station has repeatedly

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questioned whether this is actually tropoducting

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or sporadic e -skip. Radio World quoted their

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general manager describing a quote, serious,

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suspicious phenomenon apparently ducting and

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raising the possibility of illegal broadcasting

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or some kind of human manipulation. Now, as you

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can imagine, Broadcast engineers responded. Michelle

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Bradley from REC networks told them what was

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happening. It's propagation. It's nature. 100

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watt LPFM. You know, it doesn't have a magical

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force field around its coverage area. And apparently,

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as you can expect, where I'm going with this,

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well, that answer wasn't good enough. Because

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now... We have an October 5th article from the

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radio station on their website that somehow Manages

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to go considerably further the article suggests

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that engineers at large companies I'm assuming

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large radio conglomerates is what they're referring

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to here, but you know engineers at large companies

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may be quote hacking ham radio equipment unquote

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to jam LPFM frequencies. It says ducting can't

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technically be proven. It calls scientific explanations

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fabricated theories. It says troppo forecast

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exists to deceive the radio broadcast community

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in the FCC. It suggests The interference could

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be some kind of relay intentionally designed

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to cause harm. It claims 99 % of LPFMs are intentionally

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being interfered with. Then it starts talking

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about federal crimes. What evidence is presented

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for any of that? Well, none that I can find.

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And that's a problem. Because once you start

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publicly accusing people of intentionally interfering

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with a licensed broadcast radio station and hacking

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equipment and deceiving the FCC and committing

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whatever federal crimes were not having an engineering

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disagreement anymore. Those are very serious

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accusations. You need evidence. I don't believe

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the engineers. That's not evidence. And this

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is the part that has been driving me up the freaking

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wall. Watching this spill over into the various

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radio Facebook groups. You post the problem.

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Broadcast engineers explain what is happening.

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They break the problem down for you. You don't

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like the explanation. So you post it somewhere

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else and again Broadcast engineers take the time

00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:09.519
to explain the same thing outside of their normal

00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.680
work hours Just trying to help out another radio

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station because believe it or not The broadcast

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engineering community were not the biggest group

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anymore. There's not a whole lot of us left out

00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:25.319
there We do in fact like helping other radio

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stations out. I mean They're gone. They tried

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So, you know again more engineers explain what

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is happening and they don't like that explanation

00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:49.299
either now eventually the engineers explaining

00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:53.919
basic RF propagation somehow Have become part

00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:58.570
of the story at some point You aren't asking

00:08:58.570 --> 00:09:02.120
for technical help anymore You're looking for

00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:06.730
somebody out there to validate the conclusion

00:09:06.730 --> 00:09:10.779
you've already reached in your head. And that

00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:20.440
is not engineering anymore. Now here's the especially

00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:25.049
bizarre part. Tropoducting isn't some obscure

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theory a couple of radio nerds invented because

00:09:28.409 --> 00:09:31.029
they wanted to pick on an LPFM station down in

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Georgia. The International Telecommunication

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Union has an entire recommendation dealing with

00:09:40.570 --> 00:09:45.169
the effects of, you know, tropoducting and radio

00:09:45.169 --> 00:09:48.549
propagation problems. It defines the conditions

00:09:48.549 --> 00:09:54.149
under which these ducting events form. It's a

00:09:54.149 --> 00:09:57.990
meteorological weather event. It happens. But,

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you know, it also explains how radio signals

00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:06.559
can travel far beyond the normal line of sight.

00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:11.549
It specifically discusses the interference those

00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:16.519
signals can create. The FCC even builds this

00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:25.399
into how it predicts interference. It knows radio

00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:30.899
signals don't behave exactly the same every hour

00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:36.070
of every day throughout the year. Sometimes a

00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:39.049
distant station gets stronger and reaches much

00:10:39.049 --> 00:10:44.379
farther than usual. That's normal enough that

00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:49.700
the FCC accounts for it in its engineering. The

00:10:49.700 --> 00:10:54.779
atmosphere changes. Signals can change with it.

00:10:55.340 --> 00:11:00.450
This isn't new. Any engineer who has worked around

00:11:00.450 --> 00:11:03.889
VHF for long enough has watched this happen.

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Hell, anybody who has done FMDXing has watched

00:11:08.509 --> 00:11:16.169
this happen. And WGBH showing up from Boston

00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:20.250
isn't even the same propagation mode as WUSF

00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:27.299
coming up from Tampa. A roughly thousand mile

00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:32.080
opening on the lower end of the FM band is completely

00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.769
consistent with sporadic -y different mechanism.

00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:42.559
Still not somebody hiding in a van with a hacked

00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:48.299
ham radio setup. There is Also, an actual federal

00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:52.960
law against willful or malicious interference.

00:11:53.769 --> 00:12:01.919
47, USC, section 333. The important words are

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willfully or maliciously. A licensed radio station

00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.860
operating normally does not commit a federal

00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:14.440
crime because atmospheric conditions carry its

00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:20.309
signal a little further that day. WUSF isn't

00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:22.950
sitting in Tampa turning the atmosphere knob

00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:30.840
toward Valdosta, and LPFM has another uncomfortable

00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:36.919
reality built into its service. LPFM is a secondary

00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:41.980
service. The local community radio act explicitly

00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:48.370
says LPFM stations, translators, and boosters

00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:54.279
remain secondary to existing and modified full

00:12:54.279 --> 00:13:00.059
service FM stations. That doesn't mean LPFM is

00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:05.419
worthless. It doesn't mean an LPFM operator should

00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:08.620
just accept every interference problem without

00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:13.299
investigating it. It means the regulatory structure

00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:16.440
does not guarantee that your little 100 watt

00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:21.259
signal gets to win every fight with a full -blown,

00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:27.779
full -power station. Those are very different

00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:32.639
things. And if the interference isn't propagation,

00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:36.860
great. Prove it. Put a receiver on the frequency.

00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.600
Log signal levels. Record the RDS pi codes. Put

00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:47.799
a directional antenna on it. Take bearings. Coerulate.

00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:53.759
the interference with weather conditions. Compare

00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.620
what happens during predicted tropo openings.

00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:04.029
I mean, if you think somebody has built an illegal

00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:09.159
transmitter nearby specifically to relay WUSF

00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:12.730
Tampa over your signal, that should be measurable.

00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:17.960
Find it. Document it. Give the FCC something

00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:21.529
they can actually investigate. I would take that

00:14:21.529 --> 00:14:26.070
seriously if you had the documentation, the data

00:14:26.070 --> 00:14:30.980
to back it up. What I won't take seriously is

00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:34.460
accusing broadcast radio engineers of participating

00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:37.139
in some deliberate campaign because they gave

00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:41.480
you an answer you didn't like or didn't want

00:14:43.269 --> 00:14:45.970
or didn't go with whatever you made up in your

00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:50.399
head. Their October article even singles out

00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:53.710
broadcast engineer Paul Walker Jr. calling him

00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:58.620
the bully man of LPFM radio and describing a

00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:02.519
comment about the station being blasted out as

00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:08.210
part of a smear campaign. Now, obviously I couldn't

00:15:08.210 --> 00:15:11.929
verify any smear campaign. What I can verify

00:15:11.929 --> 00:15:15.070
is that the station published the acquisition.

00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:19.740
And that's where this goes from irritating to

00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:25.070
irresponsible. You don't get to ask engineers

00:15:25.070 --> 00:15:29.090
what's happening, reject the engineering, accuse

00:15:29.090 --> 00:15:32.210
people of intentionally attacking you, and then

00:15:32.210 --> 00:15:35.970
complain that the engineering, the radio engineering

00:15:35.970 --> 00:15:41.279
community isn't taking you seriously. How exactly

00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:45.730
is that supposed to work? Now the stupid thing

00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:51.250
is, Supra 89 .7 could be having a much more useful

00:15:51.250 --> 00:15:56.070
conversation. Is 100 watts enough for some LPFM

00:15:56.070 --> 00:16:00.370
facilities and areas prone to enhanced propagation?

00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:06.730
Should the FCC revisit LPFM power levels? Would

00:16:06.730 --> 00:16:12.629
SOMEBODY or would SOMETHING like the proposed

00:16:12.629 --> 00:16:18.100
LP250 class help? Could the station improve antenna

00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:22.990
height or its antenna system? Are there receiver

00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:27.289
issues involving HD capture that deserves investigation?

00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:34.620
Those are real questions. Those are engineering

00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:39.460
questions. Those are policy questions. Those

00:16:39.460 --> 00:16:46.720
are common sense questions. There are engineers

00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:50.039
who would probably be happy to help answer. All

00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:54.679
of this for them. But you have to actually listen

00:16:54.679 --> 00:17:02.159
when they answer. You don't get to replace propagation

00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:05.079
with conspiracy theories because propagation

00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:09.279
is inconvenient for the argument. And you definitely

00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.480
shouldn't accuse people of federal crimes because

00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:16.259
Mother Nature has better coverage than you do.

00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:22.869
Again, the interference is real. The frustration

00:17:22.869 --> 00:17:27.160
is real. The conspiracy theory isn't supported

00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:33.390
by any measurable Evidence. Stop spamming Facebook

00:17:33.390 --> 00:17:36.359
groups looking for a different answer. Start

00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.940
documenting the signal. That's the show. If you

00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:43.940
want to keep up with it, subscribe wherever you're

00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:46.380
listening, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn,

00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.720
all of the various ones, and you can find everything

00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:52.160
else, the socials, everything, little tools at

00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:55.150
tylerwoodward .me. If you want to buy me a cup

00:17:55.150 --> 00:17:57.750
of coffee just to say thanks for what I do here

00:17:57.750 --> 00:17:59.849
for whatever reason, you can do that at tylerwoodward

00:17:59.849 --> 00:18:06.150
.me as well. And if you got thoughts 608 -668

00:18:06.150 --> 00:18:09.210
-4702 you can leave a voicemail or email Tyler

00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:13.410
at tylerwoodward .me I'll catch you next time