KNSJ still off the air

[sdwulfdawg]

San Diego's Social Justice matchstick of a station at 89.1 fm is still off the air due to ice buildup on the station's antenna on Monument Mountain in Descanso.

Apparently the station's engineer is on a month's honeymoon in Hawaii and nothing can be done about the station being off the air until he gets back.

Kind of like the saying about whether a tree has fallen in the middle of the forest if you knew about or not.

This whole thing may totally kick their plans for their new Ramona station totally off kilter.

 

[Signal Geek]

Guess that comment about KNSJ's engineer away on honeymoon was not a joke. The station is STILL off the air. Does anyone know if they filed papers to make it legal? BTW, I didn't see anything on KNSJ.Org about being silent. In fact, it doesn't appear they've updated the homepage in months -- they still show events from last year.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Guess that comment about KNSJ's engineer away on honeymoon was not a joke. The station is STILL off the air. Does anyone know if they filed papers to make it legal? BTW, I didn't see anything on KNSJ.Org about being silent. In fact, it doesn't appear they've updated the homepage in months -- they still show events from last year.

A quick check of the CDBS Database at fcc.gov shows no STA to be silent for KNSJ.

How long have they been off? 10 days requires notifying the FCC simply that youre silent. 30 days requires filing for permission to be silent.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

A quick check of the CDBS Database at fcc.gov shows no STA to be silent for KNSJ.

How long have they been off? 10 days requires notifying the FCC simply that youre silent. 30 days requires filing for permission to be silent.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" They are so totally clueless on everything they do....

KNSJ was supposed to start up their Ramona station by this time. They were planning on simulcasting KNSJ San Diego and then go on their own.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" They are so totally clueless on everything they do....

KNSJ was supposed to start up their Ramona station by this time. They were planning on simulcasting KNSJ San Diego and then go on their own.

This was filed 3/14/19 as to why KNSJ is silent


Exhibit 1
Description: MASSIVE ICE STORM BREAKS ANTENNA, NEED TIME TO REBUILD

A SERIES OF ICE STORM OVERLOADED THE ANTENNA AND BROKE ELEMENTS CAUSING EXCESS REFLECTED POWER SHUTTING OFF THE TRANSMITTER.

WORKING ON GETTING REPLACEMENT PARTS AND TECHNICIANS TO REPAIR THE ANTENNA TO SPECIFICATIONS.

 

[johndavis]

Time to hold some bake sales at the Social Justice Flamethrower...

 

[Signal Geek]

I think this is the second time "ice on the antenna" has been blamed for KNSJ's extended periods off the air. Meanwhile, another San Diego County non-com FM at about the same 6200-foot elevation, 88.9 KSDW, has never had similar outages.

 

[davideduardo]

I think this is the second time "ice on the antenna" has been blamed for KNSJ's extended periods off the air. Meanwhile, another San Diego County non-com FM at about the same 6200-foot elevation, 88.9 KSDW, has never had similar outages.

They have been noted off the air many times for well over the notification limits without filing for an STA. The whole thing is a farce, as it covers nearly nobody... the 70 dbu covers less than 4000 persons (many of whom are likely not woke enough to listen).

 

[Signal Geek]

Yep, that 70dbu covers more rattlesnakes and coyotes than people. To better reach the "woke" folks, they should have put the transmitter on those high-rise apartments between Hillcrest and North Park. Although perhaps that would be too close to KPBS's 89.1 translator in La Jolla.

 

[Frequency1]

Their proposed station in Ramona at what looks like a ridge with no power or even a road to on 89.9 expires 07/13/2019.

 

[Frequency1]

Their Ramona station now has call letters assigned to it of KUMI-FM.

 

[Signal Geek]

Their proposed station in Ramona at what looks like a ridge with no power or even a road to on 89.9 expires 07/13/2019.

No, there's a dirt road to the transmitter site (Hot Springs Mountain). Not sure if there's power at the summit, but for decades it had a fire lookout structure (now abandoned or dismantled). So there's at least a foundation that could be the base for an antenna.

 

[davideduardo]

Their proposed station in Ramona at what looks like a ridge with no power or even a road to on 89.9 expires 07/13/2019.

I believe I read on their website way back when they applied for the CP that they intended to put solar and batteries on the hilltop. All green.

 

[The New Chico]

Well, it can be done. KTAO in Taos, NM runs 1200w ERP off the grid via solar, batteries, and (I hear) a backup diesel. It was out of necessity but is also good marketing in a place like Taos.

 

[seattlesarchiebunker]

...on the flip side, you have KRDX near Tucson that is well known for broadcasting daytime hours only (when the panels are generating power). I do believe this is the US’s only daytime FM station

Solar is a tricky thing to get done right. If done properly, it opens up a lot of viable mountain tops that were otherwise too difficult for broadcasters to run power to. On the flip side, if you don’t plan for enough battery power to run the station during dark/gray days, you’re stuck with a dead station or running a diesel generator at $4.50/gallon. Not cheap...plus (at least for residential sites), California does not allow you to run “off the grid” in the legal sense. Even if you don’t take a watt of electricity from PG&E/SDGE/SCE/etc, you still (legally) have to be connected to the grid. That’s a huge expense if KNSJ’s new station is required to do such a thing. Running power up a remote mountain is laughably expensive...

From personal experience, I run panels up in NorCal that have a maximum output of about 10kW/hour to a home. Generally they put out about 6kW at any given daytime hour. 6kW is about what your dryer or central AC consumes in a given hour. Or, for a fully-built, 6kW class A, 6kW will run the tx and rack equipment. On the flip side, electricity bill is next to nothing every month.

For solar panels, installation in CA, plus batteries to keep that power stored, you’re talking about $40-60k. Not chump change for a small station. And that’s not even factoring in any connections to the grid that may be required.

 

[DaveBayArea]

Well, it can be done. KTAO in Taos, NM runs 1200w ERP off the grid via solar, batteries, and (I hear) a backup diesel. It was out of necessity but is also good marketing in a place like Taos.

And this signal is 300 watts ERP with a highly directional antenna. Probably less than 100 watts TPO counting losses. Plus you need some way to keep the transmitter cool so that adds to the power. Still, I would think you could do it with a power consumption of about 1200 watts during the day, dropping down to 200 or so at night when it gets cool, depending on how they process the signal at the TX site. Conceivably it could just repeat KNSJ, in which case it's translator equipment for a full-power license. Technically quite doable.

Dave B.

 

[davideduardo]

.
For solar panels, installation in CA, plus batteries to keep that power stored, you’re talking about $40-60k. Not chump change for a small station. And that’s not even factoring in any connections to the grid that may be required.

As mentioned before, this is a very low power operation. I'd agree that, with a high antenna gain, they only need around 100 to 200 watts into the antenna to get 300 watts H&V ERP.

Transmitters at that power are very efficient, and need relatively little cooling as they do not dissipate much power as heat. Think something in the range of a couple of computer-style fans. You'd have some more power requirements for lights and they rack of audio and compliance gear. The STL would have to be RF based, so that needs power, too.

But if done cleverly, we are talking about perhaps 400 to 500 watts with the lights on. The hilltop is high enough to be cool year-round, day and night. I suspect no AC is needed for such a min-power operation.

I suspect that the costs for solar with batteries is less than a quarter of what you mention.

 

[Frequency1]

As mentioned before, this is a very low power operation. I'd agree that, with a high antenna gain, they only need around 100 to 200 watts into the antenna to get 300 watts H&V ERP.

Transmitters at that power are very efficient, and need relatively little cooling as they do not dissipate much power as heat. Think something in the range of a couple of computer-style fans. You'd have some more power requirements for lights and they rack of audio and compliance gear. The STL would have to be RF based, so that needs power, too.

But if done cleverly, we are talking about perhaps 400 to 500 watts with the lights on. The hilltop is high enough to be cool year-round, day and night. I suspect no AC is needed for such a min-power operation.

I suspect that the costs for solar with batteries is less than a quarter of what you mention.

No legal station ID on KNSJ.

 

[Frequency1]

No legal station ID on KNSJ.

Today is the day the Activist's Ramona station KUMI-FM on 89.9 CP expires. Wonder if they will make it on the air?

 

[seattlesarchiebunker]

Today is the day the Activist's Ramona station KUMI-FM on 89.9 CP expires. Wonder if they will make it on the air?

I can just picture some engineer dashing up the mountain as fast as he can in his car to set up a Ramsey transmitter for a few hours and trying to “technically” get the station on the air according to the FCC.

In all actuality, they probably have a few days/weeks to submit a license to cover or request an extension. The FCC has gotten quite more laid-back these days...I’ve seen stations with a CP that has been expired for months get a license to cover.