Who's Buying Translators?

Now that the FCC feeding frenzy has begun for Class C & Class D Ancient Modulation stations to grab an FM translator from up to 250 miles away, the Nurse and I wuz wondering which Valley stations have done so? Here's a list of eligible suspects:

KOY Class C
KXEG Class D
KSUN Class C
KAZG Class D (currently leasing)
KFNN Class D (currently leasing)
KASA Class D
KHEP Class D (if downgrade from Class B is approved by FCC)

The 250 miles radius includes portions of New Mexico, Nevada & California, plus whatever is left in Arizona. Here at the Buckeye Media Hut, our honors program students are researching the subject. But while they're out sign twirling during the day, if anyone has additional information, please update.

Rocket Radio/1TV has proposed a move of its 99.7 translator K259AS at Globe to 102.9 at Mesa...to broadcast KIKO AM, according to the application. (As if the Voz y Visión saga wasn't already wild!)

Mary V. Guthrie is roping in a translator from Blythe to move to 92.5 at a site in south Phoenix (but not South Mountain). It is K223CM. A 345 is pending for sale to Fiesta Radio, Inc., so this is probably KSUN.

Rocket Radio also owns a translator it wants to move to Phoenix at 93.9, K246CH Tuba City. The proposed source is KBSZ and it would broadcast from Usery Mountain.

On 106.7, K291CI, owned by Mountain Community Translators, is seeking to come in from Baker, California. It would rebroadcast KASA and would live at the 1540 AM tower site.

That is it in the Phoenix area. There are more proposed moves in Tucson.

Some LPFMs will have reason to complain, particularly KWSS from the Tuba City translator.

Good job, Raymie...wanna weekend gig at the Buckeye Media Hut?

So what is Gabrielle Broadcasting goin' do about translators for 12~Eighty and 15~Eighty? Imagine Barker is up to his armpits in dealing with that nimrod who is objecting to the downgrade of 15~Eighty from 50kw night to 95 watts. His sole argument is the Valley is losing it's only 50kw day and night station with the downgrade.

If you can believe Radio Locator, KESZ has lassoed a number of translators...perhaps one is for KOY 12~Thirty. YIKES...it still sounds strange to say 12~Thirty instead of 50~Five Phoenix, Kay Oh Why!

Not sure why K243BN was ever listed as // KESZ. It is actually owned by the Educational Media Foundation and carries Air 1. Or maybe I'm hearing K243BP Casa Grande, which *is* Air 1.

There is a successful application, however, to move the K240DC translator 95.9 to the White Tanks and increase power to 250 watts. Weirder yet, it's owned by the Advance Ministries people who own a boatload of various types of FMs in outstate Arizona.

I think these translators are starting to get out of hand. KWSS comes in quite well in East Mesa once you come out of the dugout section of Loop 202 between Country Club and Gilbert Rd. A translator on Usery Mountain is going to cause a lot of interference unless they plan on pointing it eastward.
As for a translator on 95.9 in the White Tanks, KKLD out of Cottonwood comes into the valley quite well.
And as for the 92.5 translator, isn't that going to be squished with KTAR's 100K watts and the Lumberyard's 250 watts sitting atop of South Mountain?

Nathan O'Dan said:

I think these translators are starting to get out of hand. KWSS comes in quite well in East Mesa once you come out of the dugout section of Loop 202 between Country Club and Gilbert Rd. A translator on Usery Mountain is going to cause a lot of interference unless they plan on pointing it eastward.
As for a translator on 95.9 in the White Tanks, KKLD out of Cottonwood comes into the valley quite well.
And as for the 92.5 translator, isn't that going to be squished with KTAR's 100K watts and the Lumberyard's 250 watts sitting atop of South Mountain?

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Out of hand? Shirley, you jest! The FCC is on a mission to junk up the FM band just as they did with the AM band. However, with digital dial tuning no puny 250 watt translator is going to mess up 92~Three's 100kw signal. The question Los Buckeye Boyz axe: why is it necessary to save less than marginal Ancient Modulation stations with less than marginal FM translators?

This continues to get more and more interesting. The app for K223CM shows it moving to 106.7 at 99 watts not 92.5 on the KSUN tower. It also shows the translator picking up KSUN off-air which is not going to happen. Direct feed is more likely. K291CI is currently on 106.3 but has applied to move to 106.7 at one whole watt once it hits the valley. The interference study did not include any mention of the new K223CM app. My guess is that K291CI will be MXed with K223CM or be zapped by the feds...

The K223CM application has been dismissed because it would have caused interference to KTAR and K224CJ, which was pretty predictable.

As to the KBSZ translator at 93.9, there is a reason. K241BQ has a CP to change primary station to KEXX (why? are they gonna try and add an HD4?) and move to South Mountain, which was granted. No more KLPX in Phoenix, I suppose.

Raymie said:

As to the KBSZ translator at 93.9, there is a reason. K241BQ has a CP to change primary station to KEXX (why? are they gonna try and add an HD4?) and move to South Mountain, which was granted. No more KLPX in Phoenix, I suppose.

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They're relaying KEXX from Usery Mountain right now, and they sound absolutely horrible -- like the transmitter is being fed by a cheap portable radio with no antenna, located on the wrong side of the mountain. Low-fidelity audio and noisy as hell.

KeithE4 said:

They're relaying KEXX from Usery Mountain right now, and they sound absolutely horrible -- like the transmitter is being fed by a cheap portable radio with no antenna, located on the wrong side of the mountain. Low-fidelity audio and noisy as hell.

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Out here, further to the west it's just KLPX. That will change when they move to South Mountain.