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Effective Radiated Power FM's in L.A.

C

coolcat713

Guest
I noticed that many of L.A.'s FM stations are alot different in radiated power in comparison to other cities such as Dallas or Houston.
There are FM stations here in Texas that are at 100k.
Is it different in California due to the terrain?
I noticed that KBIG 104.3 is at 84,000 Watts and KOST 103.5 is at 12,500 Watts.
This seems weak to me.
Maybe being at the top of Mt. Wilson makes up for the rest of the power?
What if for example: KBIG and KOST were both at 100K using their existing tower heights, what would be the outcome?
Just curious.

thanks.
 
> I noticed that many of L.A.'s FM stations are alot different
> in radiated power in comparison to other cities such as
> Dallas or Houston.
> There are FM stations here in Texas that are at 100k.
> Is it different in California due to the terrain?
> I noticed that KBIG 104.3 is at 84,000 Watts and KOST 103.5
> is at 12,500 Watts.
> This seems weak to me.
> Maybe being at the top of Mt. Wilson makes up for the rest
> of the power?
> What if for example: KBIG and KOST were both at 100K using
> their existing tower heights, what would be the outcome?
> Just curious.
>
> thanks.
>
KBIG was licensed for 105k, a fact they were advertising just last year (they said 104k on the air), although they may not be going that high anymore. I believe they had a reason to run at a lower power, but it's unclear to me exactly why.

It's true that KOST is only 12,500 watts, but is on a TV tower that's as you pointed out on Mt. Wilson. If I remember correctly that's more than five thousand feet up, so it gives them a signal that stations with much higher TPO's and ERP's would have at a lower elevation.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by calguy on 06/16/05 05:36 PM.</FONT></P>
 
I knew someone who used to work at KPCC 89.3FM in Pasadena... they were only pumping 680 watts up there (Mt. Wilson).... but that signal reached all the way to San Diego! I think the ERP was 3000 watts....
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Find Me If You Can</P>
 
Who runs with the most power on Mount Wilson, and why?

KPFK with 112,000 Rebellious Watts. The official Station of the SLA!
> I knew someone who used to work at KPCC 89.3FM in
> Pasadena... they were only pumping 680 watts up there (Mt.
> Wilson).... but that signal reached all the way to San
> Diego! I think the ERP was 3000 watts....
> >
>
 
> I noticed that many of L.A.'s FM stations are alot different
> in radiated power in comparison to other cities such as
> Dallas or Houston.
> There are FM stations here in Texas that are at 100k.
> Is it different in California due to the terrain?
> I noticed that KBIG 104.3 is at 84,000 Watts and KOST 103.5
> is at 12,500 Watts.
> This seems weak to me.
> Maybe being at the top of Mt. Wilson makes up for the rest
> of the power?
> What if for example: KBIG and KOST were both at 100K using
> their existing tower heights, what would be the outcome?
> Just curious.

There are no 100 kw FMs in LA, or SoCal. The maximum allocation is 50 kw @ 500 feet. If a station that is a conforming B moves to Mt Wilson, the conforming power would be about 5,000 watts at that height. However, most LA FMs were licensed prior to class B standards, so they are "grandfathered" and allowed to operate (but not protected) at the higher level. Anything over about 4 kw on Wilson is grandfathered.

The #1 station in LA is KIIS, at 7,800 watts from Wilson... it covers the market very well. In the past, 4,800 watt KSCA has been #1.

It's all about Wilson being 5000 feet AMSL and having an HAAT of over 3000 feet.
 
> There are no 100 kw FMs in LA, or SoCal.

KMYI on Soledad is grandfathered at 100 kW. Also, I think KPFK is grandfathered at 110 kW, from Wilson.
 
> > There are no 100 kw FMs in LA, or SoCal.
>
> KMYI on Soledad is grandfathered at 100 kW. Also, I think
> KPFK is grandfathered at 110 kW, from Wilson.

What I meant was that there are no Class C 100 kw at 2000 feet... sorry I was not clear. Every nonconforming station is grandfathered.
>
 
Re: Who runs with the most power on Mount Wilson, and why?

> KPFK with 112,000 Rebellious Watts. The official Station of
> the SLA!

That last tongue-in-cheek remark was offensive, Scott.
<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
KPFK

> > KPFK with 112,000 Rebellious Watts. The official Station of the SLA!
>
> That last tongue-in-cheek remark was offensive, Scott.

No offense intended? The SLA used Pacifica's KPFK in North Hollywood to Air their demands, leaving Tapes in the Parking Lot. The Police took care of the Situation and we got Patty Hurst back!
 
Actually....

Your 5000 watt statement is wrong....
Due to the height of Mt. Wilson, a full facility conforming class B there could only run about 640 watts. KPPC is one, for example.

All the other FM stations there are grandfathered superpower class B stations. Indeed, many of them are notified to Mexico as class C (100 kW) FM's...




> > I noticed that many of L.A.'s FM stations are alot
> different
> > in radiated power in comparison to other cities such as
> > Dallas or Houston.
> > There are FM stations here in Texas that are at 100k.
> > Is it different in California due to the terrain?
> > I noticed that KBIG 104.3 is at 84,000 Watts and KOST
> 103.5
> > is at 12,500 Watts.
> > This seems weak to me.
> > Maybe being at the top of Mt. Wilson makes up for the rest
>
> > of the power?
> > What if for example: KBIG and KOST were both at 100K using
>
> > their existing tower heights, what would be the outcome?
> > Just curious.
>
> There are no 100 kw FMs in LA, or SoCal. The maximum
> allocation is 50 kw @ 500 feet. If a station that is a
> conforming B moves to Mt Wilson, the conforming power would
> be about 5,000 watts at that height. However, most LA FMs
> were licensed prior to class B standards, so they are
> "grandfathered" and allowed to operate (but not protected)
> at the higher level. Anything over about 4 kw on Wilson is
> grandfathered.
>
> The #1 station in LA is KIIS, at 7,800 watts from Wilson...
> it covers the market very well. In the past, 4,800 watt KSCA
> has been #1.
>
> It's all about Wilson being 5000 feet AMSL and having an
> HAAT of over 3000 feet.
>
 
Re: Actually....

> Your 5000 watt statement is wrong....
> Due to the height of Mt. Wilson, a full facility conforming
> class B there could only run about 640 watts. KPPC is one,
> for example.

Yep... you are right. And a Class A up there is something under 50 watts, I believe.
>
> All the other FM stations there are grandfathered superpower
> class B stations. Indeed, many of them are notified to
> Mexico as class C (100 kW) FM's...

Even KSCA, at 4800 watts, got an equivalency of its higher power off Flint Peak.

I'd like to say I missed my decimal point... but I simply forgot to verify the data.

By the way, KLYY did go to Wilson when the Arcadia transmitter burned, using about 40-some watts ERP out of a Yagi. It acutally sounded pretty good, but, of course, had a hard time inside buildings. This was like KRCV 98.3 with 600 watts at Johnstone Peak... signal was available all the way into parts of OC, but listenable nowhere.
 
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