USA: Christian radio station on Causeway says its signal hindered by Austal, AIDT expansions

By Jeff Amy

May 02, 2010, 7:58AM

(Press-Register/Mike Kittrell)WMOB owner Buddy Tucker stands outside the Christian radio station on the Causeway in Mobile on April 16. Austal's and AIDT's new buildings are warping the station's signal. One of Austal's buildings is visible behind him.At the western end of the Causeway, between a massive shipyard building and the construction site for a new state jobs training center, 82-year-old Buddy Tucker is trying to save souls. 

But fewer people get to hear the call to Jesus these days because his neighbors' new buildings are warping the signal of WMOB-AM, the radio station that is Tucker's tool for ministry. 

To improve things, Tucker plans to relocate east on the Causeway to the location of the former WLVV-AM, vacant since 2005's Hurricane Katrina. He and his wife have paid $450,000 for the property. 

To accomplish the move, Tucker says the neighbors need to chip in. 

View full size"We are going to have to depend on getting some money from these people," Tucker said. "We're just small-time, compared to them." 

Tucker may not have grounds to sue shipyard Austal USA or the state. The Federal Communications Commission regulates interference from other radio stations, but does not force setbacks from radio towers. 

"This situation is very much akin to a guy who's got a great view of the ocean," said Bill Pfister, vice president of external affairs for the Australian-owned Austal. Such a guy would have no recourse if someone legally built a house blocking the view. 

Tucker said that his radio station also would have to buy some additional equipment to be able to broadcast from the former WLVV. 

Tucker has been blind since he was 15, and a radio broadcaster since he was 16. He started as an announcer on some of the South's most historic stations, moving on to work as a manager launching two Christian stations in Iowa. After that, he took on WMOB, which at the time was off the air. 

Through payments from radio evangelists and contributions from listeners, he's kept the station going, adding a station in DeLand, Fla., and WTOF-AM in Bay Minette. 

Tucker said that he and his wife emptied their savings to buy the WLVV property. 

The nonprofit that owns Tucker's radio station, Buddy Tucker Association Inc., is not destitute -- it had $1.36 million in the bank at the end of 2008, according to its tax form. But Tucker said that the recession has crimped donations and airtime fees. 

The interference problem began two years ago, when Austal started building a manufacturing facility west of the site that WMOB rents from the state. 

Workers who were erecting steel kept getting "zapped" when they touched the beams, Pfister said. And a copper phone wire kept picking up religious programming. 

"We finally figured out it was radio energy," Pfister said. 

Asked to turn off the station during Austal's construction, Tucker said that he declined. 

Tucker said that the beams and walls in Austal's structure, which has some 9 acres under roof, reflect WMOB's broadcast, bouncing its signal away from its normal southwesterly course. Like many AM stations, WMOB beams its waves in a particular direction to avoid contact with stations in Monroeville and Pensacola. 

Because of the deflected signal, WMOB is out of compliance with its FCC license, although regulators have granted waivers while it works to solve the problem. A spokesman said the agency hasn't gotten any complaints. 

But Tucker said he's received calls from listeners in southern Mobile and Baldwin counties who used to be able to hear the signal but can't any more. His surveys show that the station had between 20,000 and 25,000 weekly listeners before problems began, though the station doesn't pay to participate in ratings programs. 

Tucker and his engineer, Dave Miniard, said that the situation has only worsened since Alabama Industrial Development Training began building its Maritime Science Center to the east of WMOB. 

AIDT Director Ed Castile denied that the work is causing any problem, noting that WMOB isn't supposed to transmit to the northeast. 

"I think it's unfair to say that our facility has had an effect on them," Castile said. "We're not in the path of the transmission. Our building hasn't experienced any electrical charges or anything like that." 

Pfister said that Austal is working with AIDT to come up with a solution that WMOB can accept. "They're neighbors," Pfister said. "We want to help." 

The radio station has limited leverage. It operates on land leased from the state on a month-to-month basis, and could be ordered to clear out within 30 days. 

AIDT is likely to have to plow up some of the copper wiring underground that aids AM broadcasting to build a seawall around its new property. 

Austal, meanwhile, plans to build an administration building on the WMOB end of its property, and Pfister said that Austal could probably get the FCC to force WMOB to shut down its transmitter if it intruded on Austal's operations. 

Tucker said that he is frustrated that the problems have dragged on for almost two years, and fears that Austal and AIDT are trying to wait him out.

Pfister said Austal hopes to reach a settlement this summer. "We're moving as expeditiously as we can," he said. 

For his part, Tucker said that he made a commitment when he put WMOB on the air to keep the Christian broadcaster going "from now on." It's a commitment that he said he intends to keep. 

Source: Christian radio station on Causeway says its signal hindered by Austal, AIDT expansions http://bit.ly/aH6WaH

(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)