HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: ChrisSmolinski on January 14, 2026, 1203 UTC
-
From GH's WOR mailing list:
The Worlds Last Chance ministry has apparently gone bankrupt and has abandoned shortwave radio and WBCQ. The following message is now posted on wbcq.com:
Superstation available
One of the most powerful and versatile shortwave stations is now available for your lease. The Monticello Maine Superstation operating on 9.330 MHz with up to 500 KW of power with its fully rotatable antenna system can put a shortwave signal anywhere in our world. Contact WBCQ at (207) 889-0039 for this unique opportunity.
-
The cost of power and staff for that thing (assuming its running at full power) has to be around $200 an hour. Should we start a gofundme to do a rotating sched of pirates every week? Could be fun.
-
You can count on my $200.
I'll start a Religion.
Str.
-
Yeah they went bankrupt, nothing on 9330 am
-
I guess I should be sad that another SW station is off for now. But during the few times I ever listened to Last Chance on 9330 kHz, I didn't listen for long.
That said, it would be nice if that big WBCQ antenna could be used for something interesting.
-
In the past I heard Allan on the air trying to get pirates to use his station. What a signal you would get on this antenna even at a much lower power.
-
Hey All,
OK, I'll step in it.
When the Amegon was built I thought :WOW , an extremely serious investment (overkill) and potential boondoggle /White Elephant.
But if Galal Doss, who apparently had VERY deep pockets (at least back in the day ) wanted to foot the bill, why not ?
BUT, all the eggs were in ONE basket, depending solely on this "mysterious " guy.I had this thought right out of the gate
I really didn't check World's Last Chance frequencies , but per the reports above, it apparently has gone dark.
This is a TWENTY THREE db (!!!) antenna and at full power (500 kw ) radiates a focused "12.8 MEGAWATTS " beam . KILLER !
Even at low power, it would be an INSANE antenna.
Not sure what the legal / financial arrangements are. Is Ampegon the only folks that are allowed to or able to do maintenance ?
I would think that BCQ runs on a fairly tight budget. Wire antennas strung between towers are probably low maintenance , compared to this beast.
I wonder if this antenna will ever see any use by Alan (if allowed) or whether it just becomes a giant forgotten artifact , like the Duga /Woodpecker antenna .
Lets face it , not too many folks in the US listen to SW b'casts. And 3rd world isn't very lucrative re donations to cover transmitter costs ( or MAKE a few bucks to buy that new Rolls !)
WWCR gets maybe $90 to $ 160/hr but "only" at 100 Kw and at much lower gain. Less bang,less bucks.
If the BCQ Ampegon is run at a full 500 Kw, per estimates above, it's $200/hr ( I haven't crunched any numbers).
And that may be just for the juice to heat it.A considerable mark up might be required for Alan to make ANY dough. My guess is there may not be any takers at $300+ /per hour for a low audience /low $$$ return shortwave broadcast format .
Coupled with the other issues I mentioned above, I'd say 75% chance this antenna really won't be being doing much (or maybe even anything) in the future.
I hope I am wrong.
de NQC
-
More to it than just electricity cost--you need an engineer, and they won't just come in for an hour here and there. It probably costs a cool million a year to operate a high-powered single-transmitter station, and that's without amortizing the construction costs.
-
I was wondering what had happened to 9330. I could hear that signal with a piece of plywood for an antenna. You'd hate to see such a massive antenna, not even ten years old, sit and rot. But yeah, it probably costs a mil per year to run it. Annnnnnd as a few others have mentioned, to be frank, did anyone here actually care about what the loons at World's Last Chance had to say?
-
Hey Atrainradio,
I will just say that these broadcasts "weren't my cup of tea " either and leave it at that.
I guess we'll just have to see what happens with the antenna.
NQC
-
I enjoyed listening to the programs, as their take on religion was fascinating, although I didn't agree with their doctrines. WLC was definitely something different to listen to on the SW bands.
WLC's radio production and presentation were first class, with excellent bumper music that sounded like James Howard or the soundtrack to I Am Legend. Somebody in the organization definitely knew how to do 'radio'.
Obviously, a lot of money went into the equipment, because WBCQ had a killer signal here into the NW US, stronger than most other domestic SW stations. They gave Greenville a run for the money when it comes to US SW signals. The programs must have taken a certain amount of money to produce, as well.
I haven't read anywhere yet that WLC is literally bankrupt, but I sort of doubt they have a lot of members donating, being that they're a small sect, so they probably ran out of money to fund the WBCQ broadcasts. A lot of religious organizations are hurting for money -- the economy being what it is in the US, Canada, UK, and EU.
-
Sounds like they squandered their "last chance"....heh heh heh. ;)
-
Sounds like they squandered their "last chance"....heh heh heh. ;)
Actually, on the contrary. Before they got on WBCQ nobody knew about them. After they were on WBCQ, thousands of people knew about them. Even though not many of the population, percentage-wise, listen to SW, there are probably a few hundred thousand people who hear WLC's programs in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.
If you're running a small religious sect that numbers in the hundreds, or low 1000's, the PR you can get from something like WLC's SW broadcasts might draw in some new members. They have a website, sure, but as we all know, having a website doesn't mean all that much in the internet age where there are literally MILLIONS of other websites.
So, from their perspective, maybe the expense was a loss, but they may have added to their numbers because of it.
There used to be a radio ministry in the 1960's and 1970's called The World Tomorrow that was similar. They were on secular, commercial radio stations all over the US. The program was a massive expense, but it grew that sect from a few thousand to several hundred thousand or so.
So even though the ministry ended up losing money (as far as we can tell), they may have gained some members because of WLC, and to a ministry, that can be a net gain.
-
Will miss the blowtorch signal but imagine putting a rock and roll on 9330 and too bad someone can't finance it for a while because at 500 kw would be awesome. The main problem though would be having sponsors and someone being able to support such a program or programs. Otherwise you have a big white elephant up there in Maine.
-
Sounds like they squandered their "last chance"....heh heh heh. ;)
Actually, on the contrary. Before they got on WBCQ nobody knew about them. After they were on WBCQ, thousands of people knew about them. Even though not many of the population, percentage-wise, listen to SW, there are probably a few hundred thousand people who hear WLC's programs in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.
If you're running a small religious sect that numbers in the hundreds, or low 1000's, the PR you can get from something like WLC's SW broadcasts might draw in some new members. They have a website, sure, but as we all know, having a website doesn't mean all that much in the internet age where there are literally MILLIONS of other websites.
So, from their perspective, maybe the expense was a loss, but they may have added to their numbers because of it.
There used to be a radio ministry in the 1960's and 1970's called The World Tomorrow that was similar. They were on secular, commercial radio stations all over the US. The program was a massive expense, but it grew that sect from a few thousand to several hundred thousand or so.
So even though the ministry ended up losing money (as far as we can tell), they may have gained some members because of WLC, and to a ministry, that can be a net gain.
That was meant to be a joke...but OK. :)
-
Sounds like they squandered their "last chance"....heh heh heh. ;)
Actually, on the contrary. Before they got on WBCQ nobody knew about them. After they were on WBCQ, thousands of people knew about them. Even though not many of the population, percentage-wise, listen to SW, there are probably a few hundred thousand people who hear WLC's programs in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.
If you're running a small religious sect that numbers in the hundreds, or low 1000's, the PR you can get from something like WLC's SW broadcasts might draw in some new members. They have a website, sure, but as we all know, having a website doesn't mean all that much in the internet age where there are literally MILLIONS of other websites.
So, from their perspective, maybe the expense was a loss, but they may have added to their numbers because of it.
There used to be a radio ministry in the 1960's and 1970's called The World Tomorrow that was similar. They were on secular, commercial radio stations all over the US. The program was a massive expense, but it grew that sect from a few thousand to several hundred thousand or so.
So even though the ministry ended up losing money (as far as we can tell), they may have gained some members because of WLC, and to a ministry, that can be a net gain.
That was meant to be a joke...but OK. :)
No, I recognised the 'joke', but what I said was pertinent, because this is how radio ministries operate -- it's their 'business model'. Ministries and churches -- whatever we think of any of them -- view the use of media differently than the usual non-profit or commercial model. In their view, nothing was actually 'squandered'. So yeah, good pun but what I said is undoubtedly how those in WLC view the failure of the SW operations.