Kwiffen's Silent Night

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a goin' on with KQFN's application to run 295 watts at night? That application has been sitting at the FCC since end of May, and the station remains in daytimer mode. But that decision was made by station ownership as the approved 95 watts just didn't sound right when compared to their authorized 50kw daytime status. So they hired another C.E. to get them more pow-pow-power. Initially he proposed around 700 watts, but had to back that down to 295 watts when the fuzzy math was questioned. Come October 1, Kwiffen will be limited to daytime hours of 6:30a-6pm. The noose tightens in November - 7am-5:30pm. Dead in December - 7:30a-5:15pm. So you can bet your Ladmo Bag they'll want the FCC to approve that modification for 295 watts. And speaking of power, anyone want to guess when they'll give the Nautel more beans to get up to the authorized 50kw daytime power?

The translators will be able to run 24/7, right? I think that'll be more important than 295 watts of Ancient Modulation with a range of about 5 or 10 miles tops.

KeithE4 said:

The translators will be able to run 24/7, right? I think that'll be more important than 295 watts of Ancient Modulation with a range of about 5 or 10 miles tops.

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Several times I've tried tuning to the KQFN translators at midnight, I've heard dear air. Most likely a bug in their automation. I've had to listen to 101.5 HD2 to get CBS Sports Radio programming at those times.

Also, why is the sound quality from 98.7's ESPN Radio feed so bad? The compression makes it sound harsh and metallic. At least the technical deficiencies of AM make it sound better on 620. Even Sirius XM sounds cleaner with their network feed.

KeithE4 said:

The translators will be able to run 24/7, right? I think that'll be more important than 295 watts of Ancient Modulation with a range of about 5 or 10 miles tops.

Click to expand...

Six of one, half dozen of the other when it comes to coverage between the 99~Three and 15~Eighty signals. The problem they have with 15~Eighty is CRC has elected to run it as a daytimer while they petition the FCC for more than 95 watts at night. With shorter daylight hours ahead, that means they'll have to run it with very low pow-pow-power pre sunrise and post sunset. November pre 7a and post 5:30p. December pre 7:30a and post 5:15p. Ever listen to sister station 15~Ten in the morning when they're running 100 watts? YIKES!. But of course, this is the outfit best known as the illegal power alien when it comes to reducing RF at sunset. So we'll see if 15~Eighty uses the same lamp timer (and thinking) as 15~Ten.

KQFN's attorneys filed a petition to dismiss (with prejudice*) their application to increase nighttime power to 295 watts. In a classic case of walking it back, CRC is proceeding with the initial authorization of 50kw day/95 watts night non-D as a Class D station. Guess that means comes October, they'll be on the air after sunset with 95 watts...instead of the 700 or 295 (and Class B status) they were hoping to get from the FCC.

We now return you to this board which has definitely taken a knee!

* that means they can come back and resubmit for more night power than the 95 watts. Bet they do.

It's no longer silent, as Kwiffen figured out how to power down so they can be heard after sunset. So how does 95 watts at 15~Eighty sound? About as you'd expect. And the ironic thing is that puny signal becomes toast at their old site at Center & the 202 when the station could be heard at night with 50kw.