51:
98:, which it founded in 1925, and the station's staff was interested in developing an additional broadcast service on the new frequencies. National Life was issued a construction permit, with the call sign W4XA, for an experimental broadcasting station in late 1938, with construction under the oversight of WSM's chief engineer John DeWitt, Jr. W4XA made its formal debut on the evening of April 10, 1939, transmitting on 26.15 MHz. In order to place the transmitting antenna as high as possible, W4XA's was installed atop WSM's existing tower, which at the time was one of the tallest in the United States.
109:
major limitation on the potential audience was that most radio receivers of this era could not be tuned to the high frequency used by W4XA, although a convertor could be installed in existing receivers, and in July 1939 Gambill's Moto-Home advertised "a small radio convertor to pick up W4XA" for $ 12.95. Because it was operating under an experimental license, W4XA was prohibited from selling advertising time, although it was allowed to simulcast commercial programs broadcast by WSM.
83:(FCC), because it would allow the establishment of broadcasting stations with limited but consistent day and night coverage, that could only be received by their local communities. It also meant that multiple stations could operate on the same frequency throughout the country without interfering with each other. Due to the line-of-sight limitation, there was a premium on placing antennas at high elevations, which led to these stations as a group becoming informally known as
87:. A number of organizations independently applied for experimental licenses in order to investigate the potential of was then known as "ultra-high short-wave" transmissions. The FCC began issuing licenses to parties interested in testing the suitability of higher frequencies, commonly for transmissions using had wider bandwidths compared to standard AM band stations, and thus capable of higher fidelity transmissions.
124:
Although W4XA, provided superior sound quality as a high-fidelity AM station, it was eventually determined that a then-new technology, "frequency modulation" (FM) transmission, was even better, especially in eliminating static interference. In March 1940 it was reported that WSM staff were interested
108:
program on WSM, W4XA's programming was "purely classical except for two news periods daily". Initially W4XA's schedule was 35 hours per week, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. Monday through
Saturday, plus children's programs from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A
112:
W4XA was described at its introduction as being an "experiment with the efficiency of shortwaves for local broadcasting". However, it was soon realized that, contrary to initial expectations, at times stations operating on frequencies in the 25 MHz range actually did produce strong skywave signals,
101:
Although most Apex stations primarily simulcast the programs of an affiliated AM station, W4XA's programming was normally independent from WSM's. At its start the station advertised that it was "Offering to the Music Lovers of
Nashville and Immediate Vicinity: Solid Hours of the World's Greatest
58:
In the early 1930s, technical advances made it possible to transmit using much higher frequencies than before. It soon became apparent that there were significant differences in the propagation characteristics of various frequency ranges. Signals from
63:
stations, operating roughly in the range from 5 MHz to 20 MHz, were found to be readily reflected by the ionosphere during both the day and at night, resulting in stations that sometimes could transmit halfway around the world.
117:. Thus, at times W4XA was unintentionally being heard as far away as in Australia. This determination led to the FCC moving the developing broadcasting service stations, which by now began to include experimental
50:
113:
due to a strengthening of the ionosphere during periods of high solar activity, which most commonly occurred in the summer months during mid-day hours, and also during peaks in the 11-year
270:
34:" stations, because it transmitted programming intended for the general public over what was then known as "ultra-high short-wave" frequencies. Although co-owned with AM station
153:, April 9, 1939, page A-5. The "4" in W4XA's call sign indicated that it was located in the 4th radio district, while the "X" reflected its operation as an experimental station.
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in establishing an FM station. W4XA ended operations sometime in 1940, in order to make way for a commercial FM station,
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175:"High Frequency (Apex) Broadcast Stations in the United States" (Authorized by FCC as of January 1, 1939)
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generally became minimal above around 20 MHz, which meant that station coverage was limited to just
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Music, Finest
Quality Reception, A New Experience For Radio Listeners". In contrast to the showcase
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distances from the transmitting antenna. This was considered to be a valuable characteristic by the
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radio and TV stations, to higher frequencies that were less affected by solar influences.
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In addition, initial investigations suggested that distant signal propagation by both
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Experimental radio broadcasting station in
Nashville, Tennessee (1939–1940)
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275:, "Shortwave Review" by Alan H. Graham, June 10, 1949, page 41.
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was an "experimental audio broadcasting station" operated by
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W4XA made its formal debut broadcast on April 10, 1939.
298:"FCC Authorization For 53 Commercial FM Outlets Given"
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191:"We Pay Our Respects To — John Hibbert DeWitt Jr."
24:The National Life and Accident Insurance Company
284:"Frequency Modulation Broadcasting Is Sought",
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92:National Life and Accident Insurance Company
1652:Defunct radio stations in the United States
226:"New Ultra-High Service Inaugurated by WSM"
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1647:Radio stations in Nashville, Tennessee
1667:Radio stations disestablished in 1940
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207:"The Coincidence of U. H. F. Fading"
1672:1940 disestablishments in Tennessee
1626:List of radio stations in Tennessee
163:"The VHF/UHF Line of Sight Horizon"
1657:Radio stations established in 1939
149:"Formal Opening" (advertisement),
14:
81:Federal Communications Commission
1662:1939 establishments in Tennessee
1677:Defunct mass media in Tennessee
1616:Jackson and Northwest Tennessee
129:, which debuted in March 1941.
242:"WSM Opens Short-Wave Station"
1:
850:by frequency & subchannel
197:, September 1, 1941, page 33.
272:The Australasian Radio World
342:Nashville metropolitan area
304:, August 18, 1941, page 54.
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288:, March 27, 1940, page 7.
261:, July 9, 1939, page A-7.
1570:Clarksville-Hopkinsville
232:, May 15, 1939, page 63.
209:by Perry Ferrell, Jr.,
1606:Florence-Muscle Shoals
340:Radio stations in the
90:By the late 1930s The
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488:5.935/7.49/9.35/12.16
213:, April 1941, page 9.
179:Broadcasting Yearbook
53:
1592:Other nearby regions
1585:Tullahoma-Manchester
259:Nashville Tennessean
248:, May 1939, page 10.
151:Nashville Tennessean
28:Nashville, Tennessee
1563:Radio stations in
1535:WCRT-FM1 (98.7 FM)
817:NOAA Weather Radio
478:3.215/6.115/15.825
56:
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181:(1939), page 367.
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165:(em.hawaii.edu)
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105:Grand Ole Opry
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504:FM frequency
465:SW frequency
356:AM frequency
302:Broadcasting
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1601:Chattanooga
700:Translators
483:4.84/13.845
473:5.085/9.475
246:Rural Radio
1641:Categories
1611:Huntsville
1575:Cookeville
133:References
69:groundwave
1580:Nashville
1018:call sign
820:frequency
493:5.89/9.98
346:Tennessee
61:shortwave
1622:See also
1523:Defunct
1504:WXNA-LP
1435:WSIX-FM
1420:WRFN-LP
1388:WPRT-FM
1376:WPLN-FM
1319:WMTS-FM
1245:WHPY-FM
1213:WFSK-FM
1193:WFCM-FM
1007:107.5-1
1002:106.7-1
997:105.9-2
992:105.9-1
987:104.5-3
982:104.5-2
977:104.5-1
972:102.9-4
967:102.9-3
962:102.9-2
957:102.9-1
952:102.5-4
947:102.5-3
942:102.5-2
937:102.5-1
932:101.1-1
832:162.525
827:162.475
73:skywave
46:History
1457:WSM-FM
1334:WNG631
1121:W300DO
1116:W296DE
1111:W292ED
1106:W285FB
1101:W280FN
1096:W271AB
1091:W270BK
1086:W270AF
1081:W263AI
1076:W257BX
1071:W252CM
1066:W248BQ
1061:W240CA
1056:W235BW
1051:W227DC
1046:W223BV
1041:W222BZ
1036:W214BQ
1031:W210CD
927:97.9-3
922:97.9-2
917:97.9-1
912:97.1-4
907:97.1-3
902:97.1-2
897:97.1-1
892:92.1-1
887:90.3-2
882:90.3-1
877:89.5-3
872:89.5-2
867:89.5-1
862:88.5-2
857:88.5-1
837:162.55
771:W270BK
766:W270AF
762:101.9
1499:WXK63
1026:KIG79
803:107.9
798:107.1
793:106.3
788:104.9
783:103.9
778:102.1
758:100.5
690:107.1
685:101.5
667:107.5
662:106.7
657:105.9
652:105.1
647:104.9
642:104.5
637:103.3
632:102.9
627:102.5
622:101.1
617:100.1
211:Radio
127:W47NV
40:W47NV
1545:WRVU
1530:W4XA
1514:WYGI
1509:WYFN
1494:WWTN
1489:WWCR
1484:WVOL
1472:WVCP
1467:WUBT
1462:WTWW
1430:WRVW
1425:WRLT
1415:WQZQ
1410:WQQK
1371:WNXP
1366:WNVL
1361:WNTC
1356:WNSR
1344:WNRQ
1339:WNQM
1329:WNFN
1324:WNAH
1302:WMOT
1297:WMDB
1275:WLVU
1270:WLAC
1265:WKDF
1260:WKDA
1255:WJZM
1250:WJXA
1240:WHEW
1235:WGNS
1218:WGFX
1208:WFFI
1203:WFFH
1198:WFCN
1188:WENO
1183:WECV
1178:WCRT
1173:WCOR
1168:WCJK
1146:WBUZ
1141:WBOZ
1136:WAYW
1131:WAYM
1126:WANT
753:99.3
748:98.3
743:97.5
738:95.9
733:94.9
728:93.3
723:92.5
718:92.3
713:90.7
708:89.9
677:LPFM
612:99.7
607:98.9
602:97.9
597:97.1
592:96.3
587:95.5
582:94.5
577:94.1
572:93.7
567:92.9
562:92.1
557:91.7
552:91.1
547:90.3
542:89.9
537:89.5
532:89.1
527:88.7
522:88.5
517:88.3
512:88.1
454:1510
449:1490
444:1470
439:1450
434:1430
429:1380
424:1360
419:1300
414:1240
409:1200
404:1160
71:and
32:Apex
20:W4XA
1477:HD2
1452:WSM
1445:HD3
1440:HD2
1403:HD4
1398:HD3
1393:HD2
1381:HD2
1349:HD2
1312:HD3
1307:HD2
1290:HD4
1285:HD3
1280:HD2
1228:HD3
1223:HD2
1161:HD4
1156:HD3
1151:HD2
1016:By
502:By
463:By
399:980
394:900
389:880
384:830
379:790
374:760
369:650
364:560
354:By
96:WSM
36:WSM
26:in
1643::
300:,
244:,
228:,
218:^
193:,
177:,
140:^
119:FM
42:.
348:)
344:(
333:e
326:t
319:v
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