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Alpha's War, Chalk Hill's Casualty...

P

purpledevil

Guest
Alpha Media has won the bidding war from Auction 98, that results in the beginnings of a new Class C2 in Longview on 107.9 for a bid of $83,000 to join its existing five station cluster in the Tyler/Longview market.

Great news for Alpha, but no so great for our friend Chuck. Just a little ways down the road from Longview, is a little spot on the Texas map named Henderson, and within the city limits of Henderson (right off 79) sits Chalk Hill's co-channel translator K300CX, rebroadcasting KDOK. Obviously, the C2 takes precedence over the translator, so what now for "All Hit Radio" 107-9?
 
Chuck will be able to answer better than I can, but I suspect he'll find another frequency and move there. I'd have to think there would be some available frequency there.
 
The quick answer is I'll have to move it to another frequency. There are several frequencies that I think will work, but I'm not sure how well they will get along with my current antenna which was custom made to be very directional in order to keep the FM signal within the 2 mv contour of KDOK AM.

The ironic part is the FCC announced Auction 98 one day after I filed for K300CX's Licence to Cover. That's after almost ten years and one frequency change, waiting on the the FCC to issue a CP. Timing is everything, I guess. When I found out about the 107.9 auction for Longview, I asked if I could move it now, so I wouldn't waste a bunch of money in signs, printing, promotion and similar things that would be useless after a frequency change. In a nutshell, the answer was "NO," I'd have to wait until the CP for the new station is issued, then I could apply for a move. It seems silly to me. (expensive too).
 
Chuck, it was really good to meet you in Austin at the TAB conference. Hopefully you can get a frequency at the upper end of the FM band that will work with your current antenna...
 
Hey, Chuck....did you see the post in Dallas/Fort Worth about Ron Chapman's last board being for sale? $350 on Craigslist.

The headline part about "Chalk Hill's Casualty" made me think something catastrophic had happened. Glad to see it's not as bad as it sounded. Of course, that may be my engineering naivete showing there.
 
No, I didn't see the Craigslist post. I don't visit it very often. I don't think I was the one using the word "casualty." It is more of an expensive inconvenience. It could be worse.....
 
Chuck said:
I don't think I was the one using the word "casualty."
Click to expand...

I know it wasn't you....it was the OP. I was merely stating the alarm with which I reacted to seeing those three words together.

On a related note, I traveled to Henderson for a funeral this past Wednesday. Yes, I checked out AM1240 and K300CX. Really enjoyed the music mix. Another great job of quality programming. Thank you, sir! With regard to AM1240, I want to say I started picking it up just a little west of Tyler on IH-20. Does that sound right?

Also, if 107.9 is translating an AM using the AM's OTA signal, how is it possible for the FM to be in stereo? Are you running the AM in stereo now?

I was rather impressed with how KDOK sounds. The processing you're using, IMO, gives music radio on AM a very listenable quality. I was not fatigued after listening for awhile like I have been with other AM music stations (what of them are still around). Honestly, I could not decide between the AM and the FM which I found more enjoyable. Again, great job.
 
The Henderson translator is being fed off air by our 105.3 translator in Kilgore. 105.3 is fed directly via a licensed STL link. I actually prefer some songs, especially the ones from the 1960s, on the 1240 AM signal. Maybe that is because it's the way I heard them when they were new.

I'm glad you enjoyed the sound of the station. AM doesn't have to suck, although the FCC has done little to help the matter.
 
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