WYFR Rumor. Will Cease Broadcasting 6/30

[rdla4]

Rumor mind you, but this one seems to have some truth behind it.

Over the last year, WYFR has scaled back transmissions tremendously.

[glimmer twin]

via DXLD :

Hello, George...

Last evening I was informed by the FSI Board of Directors that June 30, 2013
will be the last day of transmissions for WYFR. I thought you would want to know
that. Best regards, (Dan Elyea, Okeechobee, June 13, via George Thurman, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)

[clobdell]

So, if this is true, WYFR will have had a shortwave lifespan of about 40 years, as they took over the former WNYW-Radio New York Worldwide,  Scituate, MA, transmitter site in 1973 before moving to Florida later.

[rdla4]

WYFR Situate (Sp?) MA was one of the first stations I heard On SW back in the day. They then moved the whole thing to FL.

 

[rdla4]

From Glenn Hauser's DXLD Mailing list: The apparently official release:

WYFR Announcement
Dear Shortwave Friends,

 

We regretfully inform you that the final day of operation for WYFR will be June 30, 2013.

 

This station descended from W1XAL (an experimental class license assigned in 1927).  In 1939 the call letters were changed to WRUL, and then changed to WNYW in 1966.

 

Initially, broadcasts came from Boston.  In 1936 the station moved to Scituate, Massachusetts.

 

On October 20, 1973 Family Stations, Inc. took ownership of the station using the call letters WYFR.  (FSI had been buying airtime from WNYW starting in January of 1972.)  At that time, the station sported four transmitters and nine reversible rhombic antennas.

 

Construction started in Florida in 1976.  On November 23, 1977 the first transmission from Okeechobee went on the air.

 

For several years WYFR operated simultaneously from Scituate and from Okeechobee.  The last broadcast from Scituate took place on November 16, 1979.

 

The Okeechobee site eventually grew to 14 transmitters and 23 antennas.  And now we’ve gone full cycle.

 

Good listening to all, and 73,

[clobdell]

Too bad, but not unexpected, given the general demise of SWBC and Harold Camping's predictions.....

One of the highlights of by DXing career was visiting the Scituate transmitter site in the fall of 1971 along with fellow Boston Area DXers,
Mike Macken and Bob Butterfield. It was still under WNYW [Radio New York Worldwide] control then and a nice tour was given to us. The visit was
written up for an article published in SPEEDX [a shortwave club]. Hans Johnson did a retrospective on Scituate in Monitoring Times
about 10 years ago.

[DimBulb]

Here's a nice slideshow of the rhombics and transmitters I found a while back... If the slideshow doesn't start just click on the first pic.

https://plus.google.com/photos/115519153277489147905/albums/5149449666892817121/5149449731317326578?banner=pwa&pid=5149449731317326578&oid=115519153277489147905

[BBR]

Thanks DB, great slide show and the cows don't seem to mind the RF at all!