Vallejo, CA
KBBF Calistoga, CA
Dayton, NV
KVNV Sun Valley, NV With a Weak Signal
KBBF Calistoga, CA
Dayton, NV
KVNV Sun Valley, NV With a Weak Signal
Reminds me of the last time I listened to WERB (94.5), from Berlin (CT) High School, back around 10 years ago. The high school kids who got air shifts had to play oldies or classic country,Old location - Oakland, CA - KCEA Atherton, run by a high school, playing music for those who were in high school in the 1940s, in mono.
For some of KCEA's music, you need to have attended high school in the 30's to remember it as current. I assume the goal is to dominate the all-important nursing home demo - for whom mono probably makes sense since their hearing is largely shot anyway.Old location - Oakland, CA - KCEA Atherton, run by a high school, playing music for those who were in high school in the 1940s, in mono.
Atherton is one of the richest cities in San Mateo County, surprised they didn’t apply to the FCC to get a more powerful transmitter.For some of KCEA's music, you need to have attended high school in the 30's to remember it as current. I assume the goal is to dominate the all-important nursing home demo - for whom mono probably makes sense since their hearing is largely shot anyway.
Also, while the formal COL is Atherton, the transmitter is physically in the San Carlos hills, which provides improved HAAT (compared to when their tower was ~10 miles southeast, on the campus of Menlo-Atherton H.S.) and a better signal towards the East Bay. But they still only pump out a paltry 100 watts.
Atherton is one of the richest cities in the country, but the high school is technically in adjacent Menlo Park. However, the license was transferred to the Sequoia High School District some years back, so the station, such as it is, is located in Redwood City.Atherton is one of the richest cities in San Mateo County, surprised they didn’t apply to the FCC to get a more powerful transmitter.
Your comment about having more power got me diddling around the FCC database for a few minutes. With apologies to everyone who couldn't give a rat's petoot about the SFBA, there's also an 89.1 in Calistoga (KBBF, 420w) and Hollister (K206BQ, 150w). Then there are four 1st adjacents on 88.9 (in Los Gatos, Oakland, Santa Cruz and Sacramento, with that last one, KXPR, pumping out 50Kw), and six on 89.3 (Berkeley, Boulder Creek, Fremont, Moss Beach, Pescadero and San Jose). So little KCEA is very land-locked in their ability to raise their power any further or move to a better height.Atherton is one of the richest cities in San Mateo County, surprised they didn’t apply to the FCC to get a more powerful transmitter.
There are a lot of relatively low-power stations in the non-commercial portion of the FM band in the Bay Area. It may be one reason KQED is so dominant: no other non-commercial station other than KPFA can match its coverage...and KPFA is in a world of its own.Your comment about having more power got me diddling around the FCC database for a few minutes. With apologies to everyone who couldn't give a rat's petoot about the SFBA, there's also an 89.1 in Calistoga (KBBF, 420w) and Hollister (K206BQ, 150w). Then there are four 1st adjacents on 88.9 (in Los Gatos, Oakland, Santa Cruz and Sacramento, with that last one, KXPR, pumping out 50Kw), and six on 89.3 (Berkeley, Boulder Creek, Fremont, Moss Beach, Pescadero and San Jose). So little KCEA is very land-locked in their ability to raise their power any further or move to a better height.
From where I live, 88.3, 88.7 and 91.3 lack local signals, and both of the first two are in the hash of 88.5 KQED's 110 kilowatts and HD sidebands. Otherwise, with just the bare minimum of antenna tweaking, some station or other can be pulled in on every frequency below 92. But you're right, Mark, KQED has an unfair advantage on ERP and leaves everyone else in the dust. And yes, KPFA is in Looney Tune land most of the time (though I still enjoy their Thursday night music offerings).There are a lot of relatively low-power stations in the non-commercial portion of the FM band in the Bay Area. It may be one reason KQED is so dominant: no other non-commercial station other than KPFA can match its coverage...and KPFA is in a world of its own.