FM Technical Profile: WSJL

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Station Name:
Elijah Radio
Frequency:
88.1
Format:
Religious: Christian Talk (Seventh Day Adventist)
Transmitter Location:
[map] [bird's eye] North of Bessemer.  Just north of where CR-47 (Powder Plant Road) and CR-36 (Johns Road) intersect, on West Highland Church Road.
Power (ERP):
6 kW, vertical
Antenna:
Directional
Antenna HAAT:
492 feet
Other Information:
60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.
More Information:
[FCC]
[FCCdata]
[Radio-Locator]
[Wikipedia]
[Facebook] For Elijah Radio
// WRHP Anniston, AL
// WCJL Margaret, AL
// WJJL Carbon Hill, AL
Owner:
Elijah Radio, Inc.
History:
This station came on the air in May of 2008. Licensed to "Harris Foundation", the station debuted with a Christian talk format as "Family First Radio Network".. Note that they will be utilizing 20 kW vertical, but only 10 watts (!) horizontal ERP. The antenna, at 492 feet HAAT, is down way low on the Tuscaloosa tall tower which currently holds WDBB-TV's analog and digital transmitters.  The calls, WSJL, stand for "We Share Jesus' Love".
 
The station went silent in late August 2008, citing undetermined noise in the audio chain as the reason.  The station sought an extension to the CP, but that was denied in February 2009.  The station again attempted to file to go silent due to a lightning strike, but that was dismissed in May 2009.  As of May 2009 it is not known if this station is actually silent or not.
 
In February 2009 the station received a construction permit to drop down to class A facilities and re-license to the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer.  It maintains a highly directional signal away from Birmingham.  Or it would it weren't silent.  It appears the station has been off the air longer than it has been on the air.  It's on the FCC's silent list as of July 2009, citing lightning damage for being off the air.
 
WSJL was reported back on the air, possibly from their Bessemer transmitter site, in the middle of November 2010.  The station is still on the FCC silent list as of February 2011, however.  In early February 2013 the station license was transferred from the Mary V Harris Foundation to Elijah Radio (Luke and Rose Rogers).  The new owners filed a license to cover with the new Bessemer facility in mid-August 2013 and came back on with Seventh Day Adventist-styled Christian programming as "Elijah Radio".