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AM station Downgrading
- Thread starter PHIL Z
- Start date
I dont see it on their website or facebook page as of this comment.. where do you see it? and if RI was reporting on it, theyd mention who it was
It's KQRR, the old KYXI. https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...ext=25&appn=101830097&formid=301&fac_num=2431
That would set a precedent and create a new FM class...NAB and full power FM broadcasters don't want that
The way the 250 watt translator stations work is they are classed as secondary radio stations. This means a primary radio station can apply to move and if the translator station is in the way, the translator has to go away or move to a new frequency if there is an open frequency available. I am expecting the time will come when an AM translator will be made a primary signal. Then they will want a bit of a power increase, say to 1,000 watts where available.
As it is now, with AM listening at 5-15% of all radio listening and much of that is to a heritage AM in a market, it is easy to understand how a 250 watt translator reaching 1/4th of a market can enjoy more listeners than a full market coverage AM.
As it is now, with AM listening at 5-15% of all radio listening and much of that is to a heritage AM in a market, it is easy to understand how a 250 watt translator reaching 1/4th of a market can enjoy more listeners than a full market coverage AM.
I don´t see that the NAB would object. They are promoting expanded ownership rules right now. Further, the ability to turn dead AMs into useful FMs with permanent licenses would be attractive.
Section 5(3) of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010.
- FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations remain equal in status and secondary to existing and modified full-service FM stations.
Most translators would not meet the many requirements for primary FM stations including second and third adjacent protection, "two-way" protection of service and interfering contours, directional antenna standards (no changes in patterns over 2 dB per 10 degrees, no forward to back of more than -15 dB, etc.). Translators, like LPFMs are guests on the dial. The only way to properly migrate AM stations is to reallocate TV channels 5 and 6 to FM broadcasting and extend the band to 76 MHz, thus meaning everyone would have to purchase a new radio. A more logical approach in our current state is to properly market HD Radio and migrate more AM listening to HD subchannels on AMs that are co-owned with FMs.
What translators? There is only one 250 watt translator and it's directional away from town from the southeast corner! Bustos only has one translator I'm aware of and it's being used for 1150 which is currently operating with TIS equipment, to keep the license alive, while waiting for a new antenna site.
In addition to the near loss of the nighttime signal, they're dropping day power from 50KW directional to 5KW non-directional on 1520! This once proud station that used to reach Salem, won't even cover the whole city well, let alone most of the suburbs!
You're 30 years if not more. too late to open a new band (FM2 was proposed in the 80s). Literally no one is buying radios, let alone buying one for a couple of former AMs. Cars aren't turning over so quickly so that's not going to save "The new 77.2",
Exactly my point. That's why we need to better leverage HD Radio to be used what it was intended for and not use it as a crutch to feed translators.
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Harvey_Dogg
Guest
And, HD radio is 20 years too late. Long live Alexa!
Nobody's buying new radios, period. The stream will very likely be online or on-app
A change in LPFM status would have to be accompanied by what Mexico did to empty the AM dial: change the second adjacent spacing. Very easy to do, and even going back to the 60's consumer radios did not "object"; I had second adjacents in the same city back then and, as owner was very thorough in examining coverage everywhere in the market.
Consumers are not going to buy new radios for the over-50% of listening that does not take place in the car. And the car radios are going to be replaced as always... often after a decade or more. Before that happens, most will have moved to streaming anyway.
The problem with HD is that Experian right from the start focused on cars and there are essentially no home or portable HD radios in use other than by radio geeks.
Granting permanency to translators by changing their status as well as second adjacent protection works with current radios... all of them.
There still would need to be a ton of rule changes. Also, it would require an act of Congress.
Mexico was able to clean the AM band because they do not have as many FM stations as we do and there was enough room to give most AM stations that were not in the border area or around CDMX a Class B1 FM channel. There was some cleanup along the border, but it was not as substantial as the rest of the country.
Myself, I would like to see some more relief on second/third adjacent, especially for smaller <1kW facilities. A couple of years ago, I put in a petition for rulemaking to allow smaller NCE stations to be able to come in on second/third adjacents if it can be shown that the impacted 100 dBu or 40 U/D ratio (latter preferred) population would be less than 0.5% of the incumbent's 60 dBu, but no more than 3,000 persons. In the NCE window, I did file an application for here in Riverton (Sharptown, MD) with a compelling waiver request with the similar arguments made in the Petition for Rulemaking. There should be no reason why a translator can't use a third adjacent channel with population in the overlap, the LPFMs have already proven it can be done. For second adjacent, there are many second adjacent overlap situations, between Raleigh waivers, grandfathered pre-1963 short spacing, full-service stations moving in on translators and LPFMs, etc. I feel there is no real technical reason why it can't be done, especially for the lower powered stations.
As far as home radios go, at least in this country, try finding them, even without HD, other than some POS Coby sitting behind the counter at Rite Aid. Walk into Yodobashi Shinjuku in Tokyo, there are home radios abound (oh yea, including the ones that were used to expand the FM band for AM migration)! To me, I think the attitude in this country is, who needs a home radio when we have Alexa... where the terrestrial station is not always the option. Hmmm... how about an Alexa with a built-in FM receiver?? Naah.. that will never happen. Big radio put the gun to radio's head by making big radio bigger and more homogenized and as we have been seeing, it's now imploding...
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Harvey_Dogg
Guest
People are now moving from FM to the internet for many of the same reasons that we once migrated from AM to FM. So putting AM programing on FM is a very temporary band aid. The FM DIAL IS ALREADY CLOGGED. More stations does not equal better radio.
Hey Alexa! You can play something good!
Hey Alexa! You can play something good!
That'll make things interesting up here. At night, 1520 is a mix of classic country from KKXA Snohomish/Everett and russian from KQRR.. literally, hearing both at once.
So I will get KKXA much clearer and maybe someone/something else.
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Harvey_Dogg
Guest
KQRR Listen Live No fading. No static. No noise.
The big problem with streaming (when not associated with a broadcast station) is the music licensing cost.
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