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FCC really screws up this time in Beaumont

C

ContinuousWave

On Jan. 16, 2014, the FCC issued a FM translator for an AM in the Beaumont area. E-String Wireless was granted a translator to carry 990 KZZB AM....on 97.1!!!! The Country Legends listeners will go nuts if that is ever put on the air. However, E-String lied in their application. They claimed the tower site is at 27 Sawyer Street. That location was the old studios for KLVI until Clear Channel moved all their stations to the I-10 studios. That 250+ foot tower (which had the NOAA NWS WX radio on it even after KVI had moved out) fell during Hurricane Rita when Ralph McBride used the studios for KOLE and 1380 KRCM and had a STL shot from the Beaumont studios to the 1340 transmitter site in Port Arthur. It has never been rebuilt.

KZZB is a Class B 1KW fulltime (well its supposed to be...it has been off the air recently and was off the air for LONG periods after Rita..in fact, the 500 foot tower of its 2 tower array in north Beaumont did not have tower lights for almost 3 years until the FCC finally caught them (also caught them with no local studio presence). It does not need a translator (but the AM has ground radials issues. They were chewed up by a back-hoe under a former owner of 990 when there was flooding at the tower site and the owner decided to build a dyke around the transmitter building by digging up the earth around it!)...and the proposed translator has a very directional easterly pattern according to the CP...it would look over downtown but not cover the western side of Beaumont where the working class live. I suspect this translator would be planned for a sale later (if they ever build it...when the FCC finds out the tower site is fake, oops!)
 
I don't see how they can legally do this. There's another translator that is illegally assigned to 96.7 as well.
 
96.7 is a clear frequency....the 97.1 translator proposed operation is JUST outside the 97.1 1mV predicted contour (yeah tell that to all the radios that listen to it in Beaumont in stereo!) according to the FCC maps and the 1mV contours cannot overlap between the two but they can get close...seems the info on FCCinfo.com was not updated...originally the translator was applied for back in Aug of 13 and would retransmit KSBJ (good luck) @ 250 watts directional from the 27 Sawyer St location...then they modified it to move it to the KZZB 500 ft tower of the 2 tower array and have it retransmit KZZB but at 30watts omni directional (the old 95.1 antenna may still be on that tower)....Country Legends will still clobber it in the north side of Beauont but its probably a way for Martin to get a FM in Beaumont (10:1 he buys it if it gets built)...luckily there IS a way under Part 74 to have it shut down...if enough people complain that it interferes with KTHT, it can be forced off the air; of course the antenna could end up being shot before that happens!...somehow I think the country listeners will if they hear Martin's programming on 97.1 (drat, didnt check to see if 990 was on today; its been off lately)....

cw forever :)
 
While I understand 96.7 is clear, I don't see how a station in Jena, LA on the NE side of Alexandria can have a translator on 96.7 in Beaumont. I call BS.

cdbs.recnet.net:8080/fmq.php?facid=155391
 
I saw that after you mentioned it.....a 88.1 120+miles away?? with a local 88.1 (and they have filed for a power increase)...They cannot do OTA reception that's for sure....well, they will change the main signal sometime soon I bet..I need to take another look at that one...may be time to file an informal objection..
 
Country Legends 97.1 will be broadcasting live in Beaumont this upcoming Thursday starting at 5AM according to their Facebook page.
WTH is wrong with the FCC these days? Putting a translator on 97.1 in Beaumont is definitely a MISTAKE.
20 years ago, this would have never happened!
 
Unless something has changed recently, Beaumont/Port Arthur isn't the target market for KTHT. Not eexactly sure why Cox would care if a translator lights up in Beaumont on the same channel. I certainly don't recall hearing any advertisers out of the B/PA market airing on Country Legends, so what's the reality here? Should we in Houston contact Cox because KSBJ has a translator on 99.5, which prohibits us from hearing KISS in San Antonio? It was a regular here before the translator moved from 99.7. This would set a precedent if the Commission even entertains the idea of denying E-String's translator.
 
KTHT shows up in the ratings and has a large listener base in the BPT area....Also the 1mV contour is theorectical on paper which is how the xlator got licensed...but what is on paper and what REALLY happens are two different things and KTHT's 1mV signal actually crosses the tower site for the xlator on 97.1!

Took a drive to the site this morning...sure enough, NO antenna at 151m on the tower for the translators..only antenna at 76m high was the STL dish for 990 AM (Which is transmitting noise/hash today.....sounds like the STLs are off and the rcvr squelch is open)...Could hear KTHT loud and clear in stereo right in the proposed main lobe of the xlator.....SOOO that means they lied about building out the translator...(otherwise, they could not file for a license to cover!!!)..

Yep, time for a few emails and calls....pictures included, of course!!!

I hate it when a broadcaster knowingly lies....but when a religious one lies, that's 10x worse...and they deserve to be FINED hard....I guess they think they are above the FCC rules (but Jesus said give to Caesar what is his and the FCC license is from the FCC, not God)
 
Unregistered said:
Unless something has changed recently, Beaumont/Port Arthur isn't the target market for KTHT. Not eexactly sure why Cox would care if a translator lights up in Beaumont on the same channel. I certainly don't recall hearing any advertisers out of the B/PA market airing on Country Legends, so what's the reality here? Should we in Houston contact Cox because KSBJ has a translator on 99.5, which prohibits us from hearing KISS in San Antonio? It was a regular here before the translator moved from 99.7. This would set a precedent if the Commission even entertains the idea of denying E-String's translator.
Click to expand...

IF you read the FCC Part 74 rules, a translator has NO protection or priority over ANY other broadcast signal...no matter what the signal level, etc...If any listener (and the more the merrier!) complains, the xlator MUST mitigate the interference to an acceptable level, NO MATTER what the desired main signal level is (could be 30-40dbu...doesnt matter!!)...up to and INCLUDING removing the xlator signal from the air...its been done before.....

IF you can prove you can hear KISS out of San Antonio on a regular basis with no local 99.5 xlator on, then you have a case...You obviously have not read Part 74 of the rules.
 
BTW its the listeners who are pissed...they dont want to lose Country Legends.....does better than NASH crap or KYKR does...(Cumeless and iHeart owned respectively)...in fact 1600 KOGT in Orange with its smaller market does damn well for a stand alone MUSIC AM....its omni day but at night, only covers Orange proper...(directional due south from its site)....

I grew up listening to Houston stations (KILT, KULF, KRBE, KAUM, KLOL, KLRY and others)....top40 didnt hit FM in the BPT market until the mid 70s and then it was KWIC....then KAYD FM joined....(Hicks had a chance to move the top40 format from KLVI to 94.1 then KBPO and could have cleaned up....had better coverage than KWIC or KAYD and 106 had not signed on yet.....at night it covered the entire area and without Gordon Baxter driving away the top40 listeners like he did on KLVI, 94.1 would have cleaned house with the crew we had ;) )....
 
The difference here, of course, is that nowhere within K258BZ's current coverage was KISS ever reliable or regularly picked up by any average listener. Just us geek types interested in doing such a thing. Country Legends, on the other hand, puts a serviceable signal throughout the B/PA area every day. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

A better example of what's being attempted in Beaumont would be if E-String were to attempt to place a translator on channel 279 in, let's say, Sealy. I can assure you there would be complaints galore heading towards the Commission if Air 1 was interfered with, even though it's a rimshot to Houston, and not well received on the western end of the metro.
 
Very good analogy PD!!! Very true!!! Same thing is a 100.7 xlator tried to sign on in West Houston....you can bet Salem and its listeners would be screaming to the FCC (and of course Salem could not own it)
 
ContinuousWave said:
Very good analogy PD!!! Very true!!! Same thing is a 100.7 xlator tried to sign on in West Houston....you can bet Salem and its listeners would be screaming to the FCC (and of course Salem could not own it)
Click to expand...

For a number of years we actually had a similar situation with LPFM KBCP 107.9 in Brookshire, which stepped on KQQK big time. Heading west on I-10 I could hear KBCP from Katy Mills Mall to around mile marker 711 past Sealy. It took a big bite out of KQQK's western coverage. KBCP has been off the air for over a year; supposedly purchased by the Royal Independent School District (southern Waller County) which has yet to relaunch it. (KBCP was previously the original KQLC, which later got a Class A license for 90.7.)

Some LPFM first adjacents will be a tight squeeze for some of the rimshots, such as KCYB/KHJK, plus the proposed Fairbanks 98.7 translator elbowing against KTJM.
 
Not really....KBCP was always clobbered by KQQK OR 107.9 out of Victoria....it was never close to KQQK's 1mV contour....did NOT hurt KQQK like Victoria did (I was asst CE of KQQK...I think I know the situation 1st hand)....at the Kirkwood studios I had to play with phasing antennas to keep Victoria out of the over the air monitor so we could hear KQQK there....98.5 was just as bad...with San Antonio's DaBeat booming in...the morning ******* jock on KTJM would bitch when his wife could not hear him in SW Houston....nothing we could do about mother nature...little ass even had the VoxPro running once trying to catch me lie or say the wrong thing...I saw the screen moving, dialed up the remote control, 33KW out and 100% power...then I grabbed the jock mic and said "ITS MOTHER NATURE'S TROPO!! CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT"...


that stopped that crap...the PD, Checkie, actually understood and was a nice guy...he eventually moved the idiot off morning drive anyway.....
 
That's how I recall the 107-9 situation as well. KQQK, and before that KXTJ, blew into Brookshire consistently, and while the former KQLC would be on the air IN Brookshire, you could literally drive through the town, within sight of the antenna for KQLC and hear KQQK taking over in spots. Get perfectly still in certain spots and it was all KQQK/KXTJ. I've never personally ever heard KQLC overtake KQQK in any part of Houston, but given the right weather conditions it is plausible of course.

Now, Kicks 108 (or whatever it is currently) has dropped height on its antenna. Victoria still runs 100 kilowatts, but as I recall, it was dropped in height by several meters. Since that happened, I haven't personally heard a peep from KIXS, either in Houston or in Austin county. Combining the downgrading of KIXS, KQRO (now KLTO) leaving Cuero for McQueeney, and most recently KVIC leaving its longtime home on 95-1, Victoria's properties have really been given the proverbial thumb in the eye over the past decade.
 
Question...

ContinuousWave said:
IF you read the FCC Part 74 rules, a translator has NO protection or priority over ANY other broadcast signal...no matter what the signal level, etc...If any listener (and the more the merrier!) complains, the xlator MUST mitigate the interference to an acceptable level, NO MATTER what the desired main signal level is (could be 30-40dbu...doesnt matter!!)...up to and INCLUDING removing the xlator signal from the air...its been done before.....

IF you can prove you can hear KISS out of San Antonio on a regular basis with no local 99.5 xlator on, then you have a case...You obviously have not read Part 74 of the rules.
Click to expand...

CW..Does your comment hold true for LPFMs? Example... during the filing window in Oct 2013 an app for a 40 Watt LPFM was submitted for what at the time was an open frequency -- 106.1 near Missouri City. Then K291ce filed to relocate their translator to Rosenberg and change frequencies to 106.1 MHz ... If the LPFM is granted does K291ce have to go away?
 
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ContinuousWave said:
Not really....KBCP was always clobbered by KQQK OR 107.9 out of Victoria....it was never close to KQQK's 1mV contour....did NOT hurt KQQK like Victoria did
Click to expand...

By "big bite" I meant the western exurbs on I-10...KBCP never affected KQQK over any of the urbanized areas of Houston metro. But driving west on I-10 on a number of occasions KBCP would start fighting with KQQK around Katy Mills Mall at mile marker 740...at mile marker 732 KBCP would then dominate, with the strongest signal at mile marker 725...at mile marker 718 the two would start fighting again...and by mile marker 711 KQQK was back by itself, though much weaker than at Katy Mills. Tropo conditions from the east could of course enhance KQQK. I haven't heard any sign of KIXS since the downgrade some years back...on the previous tower they would sometimes bury KQQK at my Cy-Fair location.

The eastern coverage of the current version of KQLC on 90.7 is limited by IBOC slopover from KTSU...you have to go west of Katy on I-10...does better to the N/S/W. I can hear it with a listenable signal in the Fairfield Premium Outlets parking lot on 290 near the Grand Parkway.
 
KQQK's 1mV contour stops around downtown, past then, no protection.....at Katy Mills, who cared??? (wasnt at the Kirkwood studios....we had audio coming back from KSHN's studios where the STL shot was from so we had Off Air Monitoring...the original engineer for that setup did NOT do it right and that was before Liberman bought the stations from the CC trust)....

KQQK was not and is never been intended to be a Houston station...rimshots try......but hardly work out...KTHT is an exception....but when 107.9 first signed on as a rim shot under El Dorado (and I was involved in building those studios, etc out...felt funny years later working for Liberman and ripping them out!), ....as John Records Landecker on WLS would say,

IT SUCKED THEN and IT STILL SUCKS NOW.....
(while playing "You Light Up My Life".....I hated playing my cousin's song!!! YUK)
 
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