WION FAQ's (EAQ's)
WION RADIO, IONIA AM STEREO 1430/FM 92-7
Q)What is an FAQ?
A) An FAQ is a "frequently asked question, whereas, an EAQ is an "excessively asked question." Now, on with the "real" questions!
Q) I often hear announcers say WION is "AM Stereo." What is that? Can I get it?
A) AM stereo is true stereo, just like FM! It can be received on many car radios in vehicles from the 1990's through early 2000's, and on some HD radios today, too! We broadcast in AM stereo "because we can" and, because it contributes to a higher quality sound on ANY AM radio you use to enjoy our station. Some newer HD receivers, however do not render the full, wide sound we are actually broadcasting. If what you hear on an HD radio doesn't sound "high fidelity" on AM 1430, you may want to enjoy our station on a standard name-brand quality (mono) radio or via our internet feed which is FULL AM STEREO! If you live in our AM 1430 listening area, you can also look for used tuners like the Carver TX-11a or the Denon 680. These are often available on Ebay and other secondary market outlets.
Q) Why is the AM signal hard to receive at night?
A) Our daytime power is quite high, reaching Lansing, Grand Rapids, and much of west central Michigan. By nature, AM radio waves bounce off a layer in the atmosphere called the "ioniosphere." In the daytime this layer is near the earth. At night, the layer is much higher. Waves bounce only a short distance in the daytime, (our normal coverage area.) At night, they bounce much farther, and our signal could mix with other stations on the same frequency, causing interference. FCC rules state that most AM stations must lower their power, or control where the signal goes, to minimize interference. Within Ionia County, if you have difficulty with our AM signal, you may switch to FM 92-7 for the same programming. It's also identical programming on our Eastern Kent County signal from Lowell on 100.3 FM.
Q) Why does the audio cut out for 3 seconds, about the same time, every night?
A) Everyday at sundown, and again at sunup, our transmitter changes power settings and towers. (see above) We could have connected our internet stream directly to our audio source in the studio and avoided the audio drop outs. In fact, this would have been easier for us, and most stations do exactly that! However, we at WION are very proud of our AM Stereo sound, and we want the world to know just how incredible AM Stereo sounds! Since we use a real AM stereo Carver tuner, like any other listener, at the point in time where we change our power and pattern you will hear a very short interruption around 3 seconds, and may even heare other signals in place of ours for just that brief moment.
Q) Why do I sometimes get album art, sometimes not, and sometimes even a "different" stream than I thought, all from the same "WION?"
A) Album art is inserted not at our studios but by the streaming carriers to whome we currently send (3) streams. It's necessary to have (3) streams to serve any type of device. Older devices or Roku's require mp3 streams while most phones can accept our higher quality AAC+ streams. Your device will pick what stream works best. Tune-in Radio feeds all Google and Amazon devices streams.
Q) Will I go over my cell phone bandwith limit using your app?
A) Well, that depends, but I doubt it. Let us give you some examples:
- If you have an average drive time of 20 minutes to work, and 20 minutes to get back home, and work Monday thru Friday, you could listen to our WION app, and use aproximately 46.9 Meg (that's .0469 Gig) every month!
- If you have Verizon's currently lowest data package of 300 Meg per month, you can listen to WION's App about 12.5 hours per day, 5 days per week, before you hit your limit!
- If a person works 40 hours per week, and sleeps 8 hours per night, they can listen to WION's App every second of every day they are not working or sleeping and only use about 1.5 Gig of their bandwith limit.
- If you have Verizons prepay $80, with a data cap of 2 Gig per month, you can listen aproximately 117 hours of WION per month!
Q) Who is listening to WION?
A) Over 125 Local businesses, their clients, their employees, and customers! See our "listening business list" and now a growing number of online listeners with an average listening time of over 2.5 hours each! We're not just an AM station! We're FM 24/7 on FM 92-7 in Ionia County and on 100.3 originating in Lowell! More and more and more listeners local, and across Michigan and now worldwide are tuning in on the web. See our google map of online listeners.
Q) How can I advertise my business or organization on WION RADIO?
A) We're always glad to have new advertisers! With the new "Streaming" of WION, we've got listeners all-over the state of Michigan (and around the nation, of course) who would enjoy visiting your specialty business in Ionia! See our advertising page on this website for contact information, and periodic advertising specials we have at WION in pdf form!
Q) Does WION publish its contest rules online?
A) Yes! WION's contest rules are available 24/7 for both our "recurring" contests" and "special promotions and contests" by clicking HERE. It's a page we have maintained on our website for easy access. WION also airs our contest rules twice per day minimum 7 days a week, more during special promotions.
A) An FAQ is a "frequently asked question, whereas, an EAQ is an "excessively asked question." Now, on with the "real" questions!
Q) I often hear announcers say WION is "AM Stereo." What is that? Can I get it?
A) AM stereo is true stereo, just like FM! It can be received on many car radios in vehicles from the 1990's through early 2000's, and on some HD radios today, too! We broadcast in AM stereo "because we can" and, because it contributes to a higher quality sound on ANY AM radio you use to enjoy our station. Some newer HD receivers, however do not render the full, wide sound we are actually broadcasting. If what you hear on an HD radio doesn't sound "high fidelity" on AM 1430, you may want to enjoy our station on a standard name-brand quality (mono) radio or via our internet feed which is FULL AM STEREO! If you live in our AM 1430 listening area, you can also look for used tuners like the Carver TX-11a or the Denon 680. These are often available on Ebay and other secondary market outlets.
Q) Why is the AM signal hard to receive at night?
A) Our daytime power is quite high, reaching Lansing, Grand Rapids, and much of west central Michigan. By nature, AM radio waves bounce off a layer in the atmosphere called the "ioniosphere." In the daytime this layer is near the earth. At night, the layer is much higher. Waves bounce only a short distance in the daytime, (our normal coverage area.) At night, they bounce much farther, and our signal could mix with other stations on the same frequency, causing interference. FCC rules state that most AM stations must lower their power, or control where the signal goes, to minimize interference. Within Ionia County, if you have difficulty with our AM signal, you may switch to FM 92-7 for the same programming. It's also identical programming on our Eastern Kent County signal from Lowell on 100.3 FM.
Q) Why does the audio cut out for 3 seconds, about the same time, every night?
A) Everyday at sundown, and again at sunup, our transmitter changes power settings and towers. (see above) We could have connected our internet stream directly to our audio source in the studio and avoided the audio drop outs. In fact, this would have been easier for us, and most stations do exactly that! However, we at WION are very proud of our AM Stereo sound, and we want the world to know just how incredible AM Stereo sounds! Since we use a real AM stereo Carver tuner, like any other listener, at the point in time where we change our power and pattern you will hear a very short interruption around 3 seconds, and may even heare other signals in place of ours for just that brief moment.
Q) Why do I sometimes get album art, sometimes not, and sometimes even a "different" stream than I thought, all from the same "WION?"
A) Album art is inserted not at our studios but by the streaming carriers to whome we currently send (3) streams. It's necessary to have (3) streams to serve any type of device. Older devices or Roku's require mp3 streams while most phones can accept our higher quality AAC+ streams. Your device will pick what stream works best. Tune-in Radio feeds all Google and Amazon devices streams.
Q) Will I go over my cell phone bandwith limit using your app?
A) Well, that depends, but I doubt it. Let us give you some examples:
- If you have an average drive time of 20 minutes to work, and 20 minutes to get back home, and work Monday thru Friday, you could listen to our WION app, and use aproximately 46.9 Meg (that's .0469 Gig) every month!
- If you have Verizon's currently lowest data package of 300 Meg per month, you can listen to WION's App about 12.5 hours per day, 5 days per week, before you hit your limit!
- If a person works 40 hours per week, and sleeps 8 hours per night, they can listen to WION's App every second of every day they are not working or sleeping and only use about 1.5 Gig of their bandwith limit.
- If you have Verizons prepay $80, with a data cap of 2 Gig per month, you can listen aproximately 117 hours of WION per month!
Q) Who is listening to WION?
A) Over 125 Local businesses, their clients, their employees, and customers! See our "listening business list" and now a growing number of online listeners with an average listening time of over 2.5 hours each! We're not just an AM station! We're FM 24/7 on FM 92-7 in Ionia County and on 100.3 originating in Lowell! More and more and more listeners local, and across Michigan and now worldwide are tuning in on the web. See our google map of online listeners.
Q) How can I advertise my business or organization on WION RADIO?
A) We're always glad to have new advertisers! With the new "Streaming" of WION, we've got listeners all-over the state of Michigan (and around the nation, of course) who would enjoy visiting your specialty business in Ionia! See our advertising page on this website for contact information, and periodic advertising specials we have at WION in pdf form!
Q) Does WION publish its contest rules online?
A) Yes! WION's contest rules are available 24/7 for both our "recurring" contests" and "special promotions and contests" by clicking HERE. It's a page we have maintained on our website for easy access. WION also airs our contest rules twice per day minimum 7 days a week, more during special promotions.