A Bizarre Transmission On W268BY 101.5 FM

I was using my XHDATA D-608 WB and just tuning the FM band on the morning of July 4th, 2024 when I stumbled across this very bizarre message. I don't know what these letters and numbers mean but it's almost like a spy station, lol...anyway, this station is coming out of Flushing, NY and is a simulcast of WNYZ-LD 87.7 FM which is also a low power tv station on channel 6. This station was the last to turn off their low power analog signal in July of 2021 as mandated by the FCC.
From some research, it seems this is a translator station W268BY at 101.5 FM in Queens, as well as on other digital services. I found it to be kind of a cool catch as this isn't something you normally hear often. It could have been some test or some other issue at the station or just the crew took the day off since it was the 4th of July. Either way, I hope you enjoy this bit and please like the video if you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching.

[@tvradio1972]

This is a very interesting catch. I have received 101.5 W268BY a few times before with their Korean programming.

[@TasoV.]

Yes, not something you hear all that often. Thanks for watching.

[@grannypaula8199]

This IS really bizarre!! You should be a forensic transmission investigator - or sounds good anyways lol!!

[@TasoV.]

Haha, yes, it does sound good. Thank you for watching Granny Paula. Have a good evening.

[@Cats4nelson]

Oooo interesting and spooky 👻👍

[@sadie4479]

Sounds like a number channel how interesting

[@TasoV.]

It does sound like a number station. I should mention that they broadcast Korean programming. Thank you for watching Sadie and have a good night.

[@lesjones5684]

Very interesting 🤔

[@TasoV.]

For sure.

[@TheMajkla]

Very cool finding. Probably the engineers were testing something as you mentioned.

[@TasoV.]

Thank you.

[@jamesgodman6054]

Sounds like a number station. Strange it on FM and not short wave

[@TasoV.]

It is a low power FM translator in my area. It does sound like a number station but most likely they were doing some kind of system maintenance or were having technical difficulties that day. Thank you for watching.

[@katherinaholmes5411]

We also had a thunderstorm yesterday and Rayquaza turned 14.

[@TasoV.]

Had rain here as well. Thank you for watching Tina and Happy Birthday to Rayquaza.🙂

[@katherinaholmes5411]

@@TasoV. Today is Kyogre's early birthday.

[@TasoV.]

@@katherinaholmes5411 Happy early birthday Kyogre.🎂

[@vtradio]

Tres bizarre! 73 Paul AA1SU

[@TasoV.]

Definitely an odd catch VT Radio. Have a great week Paul and thank you for watching.

[@martinaguilar5905]

Very unusual for any numbers station to be on any frequency outside shortwave and with very unusual delays than voice numbers stations.

[@TasoV.]

This is a low power station that broadcasts Korean programming. Definitely odd to hear this on FM but it may have been some sort of test for the station or technical difficulties. Thank you for watching.

[@martinaguilar5905]

@@TasoV. That was what I thought was going on either technical difficulties or testing the equipment afterward similar to what was heard on 10 megahertz that sounded like someone saying hola hola hola which is hello hello hello in Spanish that was possibly testing the shortwave radio equipment.

[@amatias88]

WoW what is this....

[@TasoV.]

Very odd.

[@mpetry912]

talk about low data rate

[@TasoV.]

Well, it is low power. Thank you for watching.

[@Manny_News_Blogs_Tutorials]

Could it be an image frequency from another band?

[@TasoV.]

It's actually an FM repeater of a low power tv station that is on channel 6. It's just odd hearing this on FM which sounds like a spy/numbers station. Thank you for watching and commenting. Have a nice day.

[@Manny_News_Blogs_Tutorials]

@@TasoV. you mean this is a test of an STL studio transmitter link from TV studio to its remote broadcast facility? Strange they're using the FM radio broadcast band 88-108 Mhz as their uplink, hehe. Is analog FM broadcast band in your area already switched to digital?

[@TasoV.]

@@Manny_News_Blogs_Tutorials Yes. In this case, it's because our Channel 6 for tv happens to fall in between the FM band, 87.7 to be exact. But this station on 87.7, pays for a translator, which is this station 101.5. We still have analog radio broadcasting here.

[@Manny_News_Blogs_Tutorials]

@@TasoV. in my atea here in the Philippines it is illegal to have a TV translator frequency in the 88-108 Mhz FM radio band with the same analog wideband mode as it might interfere with the reception of licensed commercial radio stations. STL translators utilize the UHF band 300-400 Mhz here. But for a low power STL's not exceeding 1 watt I think that will pass in your area, as long as there's no licensed radio station within 50 km allocated on that frequency 101.5 Mhz. Still unusual though to hear TV audio in your standard frequency FM/ AM radio sets, hehe.

[@j00j]

The end of the World

[@TasoV.]

😳

[@geirha75]

staged?

[@TasoV.]

How could it be staged? This is a low power FM station in my local area. As I mentioned in the description, WNYZ-LD is a low power tv station on channel 6 and broadcasts the audio on 87.7 FM. However, for some reason, they also broadcast the same programming on this translator, W268BY at 101.5 FM in Queens. They may have been having technical difficulties that day or something but I happened to catch this and found it interesting. Thank you for watching.