I wonder if someone put in a formal complaint for 92.5?
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FCC NOV For 92.5 K223CW
- Thread starter lanceventa
- Start date
105.3 K287BQ also has no primary signal and is audible 50 miles away
Someone did. That's what brought the enforcement action.
One of the regional enforcement directors called to check up on my stations during Hurricane Harvey. After the business he called about was taken care of, we had a nice, informal conversation about a few different things, including the translator circus here in Houston.
Essentially, and I'm paraphrasing, he said the FCC was well aware of what's going on here, but they have never been able to take any action because nobody has filed a formal complaint.
Apparently, now someone has.
Probably no complaints filed against those.
It’s still a valid question.
But again, how precisely did he determine the station was operating at 100 watts. Looking at the meter in the transmitter proves nothing. An internal attenuator could alter the reading to show 100 watts when it is actually 1,000 watts. Or 28 watts when it’s actually 280 watts.
I'll admit I've sent a complaint against 2 of the translator groups way back in the beginning of the year and got a response 2 months later saying "we may do a sample of the translators mentioned in your complaint to confirm this".
The FCC normally acts of complaints it does not go looking for violations. If there is a possible violation it should be filed at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38844
The FCC agents have very accurate means to determine TXPO and ERP without having to hook to the equipment. They do it on Part 15 radiators all the time. They also know the difference between a yagi and log periodic as well as cardinal direction pointing of an antenna, also violations on this particular station.
I am a licensee in the Part 90 space and back in the day of the Houston field office, they could tell ME what my TXPO and ERP was based on their external mesurements to a very high degree of accuracy.
There are plenty of good reasons for citizens to get involved.
There are no good reasons for why they shouldn't.
It just annoys me whenever I’m trying to listen to a station within their 45 dBu contour (or even stronger) and I’m getting interference from a translator that shouldn’t even reach there
That’s when you can complain to the FCC. Some of these translators interfere within the 60 dBu contour though
"Below the noise floor?"
I don't know what radios you're using, Paul, but that's not even in the neighborhood of accurate.
In the absence of co-channel interference, a 45 dBu signal is pretty easily receivable for "armchair" listening, especially on a car radio.
Which is why the FCC established its current process for interference remediation: while full-power stations are only fully protected from interference to their 60 (or 57 or 54 for B1 and B, respectively), they can complain about interference from translators within their 45 dBu contour.
The complaint must come from the station, not from individual listeners, and it has to supply a certain minimum number of affidavits from affected listeners who has enjoyed real-world reception of the station prior to the translator interference. It also must include mapping and calculations of the desired/undesired signal ratio.
If all of that data is supplied and meets the FCC's criteria, the translator (being a secondary service) has to remediate the interference, change channel or leave the air.
Having employed that recourse several times, both in various Texas markets and LA, the biggest motivation is the horrible effect of seasonal atmospheric phenomenon such as thermal inversions. While the 45 dbu may work in normal conditions, when there are occasional unusual situations those translators can dip deep into the protected contour area. Keeping them at a safer distance is very important when such occurrences are seen and documented to occur. .
One example long enough ago to feel safe to reveal was Pacifica's attempt to put a translator on 107.5 in North Country, San Diego. We got a bunch of listeners in that zone to write notes about KLVE being the only contemporary Spanish language station listenable in that zone, and the Pacifica folks moved on and withdrew the application.
That was under the old rules. As @fybush mentioned, the rules were changed in 2019.
Here's what Scott wrote to explain the changes then:
Decoding The FCC’s New Translator Rules - RadioInsight
My guess is they would measure field strength at a predetermined distance, because a given radiated power would yield a certain signal strength at the receiving location assuming free space between the two. This would be how I would determine compliance, if I didn’t have direct access to the transmitter.
Due to budget cuts, the FCC office in Dallas does not have the equipment. The special van they use, when deemed necessary, comes from Atlanta.
