Redeemer Broadcasting WXMD, Southern Maryland upgrade project

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

Redeemer Broadcasting established WXMD in St. Mary’s County, MD, in 2014.  St. Mary’s County has a heavy Catholic influence, yet Redeemer Broadcasting has been well received by the residents. This region of Southern Maryland is a peninsula bordered by the Potomac River to the west and the Chesapeake Bay to the east.

In the early days of WXMD, we reached out to a local church, Grace and Peace Presbyterian Church, OPC, to inform them of our ministry.  They responded with annual financial support and much encouragement. The Lord has blessed us with three local Christian engineers who alternately help us maintain the station each week, who are on call, and are helping on this upgrade.

This upgrade will result in the WXMD pattern being broadened out and power increased.  It’s an 18-month project that’s anticipated to complete early November 2023.  The need for this upgrade became apparent when we found that we had to replace our transmitter anyway.  Then we performed an FCC study and discovered that there was room to significantly increase our signal.  It was then that we realized that for a “small” delta, we could increase our coverage. When implemented, our signal will reach into Colonial Beach, VA, and reach further south along the Southern Maryland peninsula. This upgrade of signal strength will help listeners better receive our signal within the current coverage, including the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.   A listening couple initiated a $10K matching grant several months ago. With the participation of listeners from our other stations and internet, we have about $5K remaining on that grant.   

We need about $50K more to complete the project.   That will cover the new transmitter balance, tower climbers, high power dummy load, high power RF switch/controller, fittings/jumpers, and finalizing the electric upgrade.

Fiber at main studio is back up and working

Saturday, September 9th, 2023

We just came through a major internet outage in our area, due to storm-associated fiber loss.  Ouch. Crippling.  Usually when fiber lies on the ground, the extra lollypop loops stretch out and keep it all connected. This time the fiber got cut.  It affected our main studio plus WFSO.  Poles are down.  What a mess.  Last night Spectrum did a temporary patch and splice… We await new poles getting set in that section of town.  When they do that, we’ll lose connectivity again as they re-string the fiber and resplice.   It’s painful. Our son was out working late hours as a volunteer fireman, helping clear the roads of downed trees.  People lost lots of sleep.  Thank you all for your prayers for us and our town.  Our thanks to Spectrum for making good on their contractual obligation for Enterprise level service.  They worked hard to get us up and going, even if temporary!

Fiber down at main studio

Friday, September 8th, 2023

You may hear dropouts and skips as we wait on Spectrum to fix the fiber that is currently out.   Thanks for your patience.   A strong strom ripped through the Olivebridge and surrounding area last night.  The fiber is cut and the poles that normally support it are also down.  Thanks for your patience.    

This also effects our online streaming.   You may hear skips, etc.  

Tickets have been opened.  

Catskill/Hudson 101.1 is fine

Saturday, September 2nd, 2023

Yesterday we checked on our 101.1 transmitter at the tower site.  All is well.  Power is normal, and all readings are spot on.  The input signal is strong and the output signal is normal.   Thanks to all who read this earlier posting. 

101.1 Catskill

Thursday, August 31st, 2023

We got a report tonight that our Catskill signal is off the air.   It's late in the day, so we plan to investigate first thing in the morning.   If anyone has more status, feel free to email us.   Thanks.

Power outage - Main Studio

Saturday, August 12th, 2023

Power is out at our main studio.  We are on backup power.  So far, we are OK.  

Maintenance complete - WHVC back up

Tuesday, July 25th, 2023

The A/C maintenance is completed as of 8:52pm and WHVC is back on the air.  Thanks for your prayers for us!

WHVC interruption - maintenance Tuesday evening 8:35pm

Tuesday, July 25th, 2023

The WHVC transmitter will be down for about 15 minutes while A/C power maintenance is performed.  Thanks for your patience!

WNEQ back to normal

Saturday, July 15th, 2023

WNEQ is back to normal operations now.   Turns out, we had a power outage, that then took down our fiber.   We thought it was just the fiber, but we were totally down as it turns out.   Once the power came back, our equipment did not reboot correctly from a cold start, and needed some "adjustments."  

If you see this note and are in the area, we would appreciate receiving an email that all is well in your area now! 

P.S., Next step is to figure out why the onsite generator did not kick on.   

P.P.S., The Generator was in the process of having some maintenance performed on it, and a card was pulled out!   The power outage occurred during this senstive window of time!   

Thank you

WNEQ temporarily airing backup music

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

We lost our Verizon Fiber connection to WNEQ earlier today at 10:59am.   A ticket is open, and Verizon is working the issue. 

Thanks for your patience!