KIKK on at Night

[Mediafrog+]

My question is why was it still feeding CBS Sports Network? Is the network hardwired into the transmitter? Had it simply been a transmitter problem, it would have been dead air.

What we hear as "CBS SportsRadio 650" runs 24/7 on KKHH 95.7 HD-3. The AM simply crashes in and out of that program stream for its daytime operation.

Of course by January 1, 2021 the station will have a new name as use of "CBS SportsRadio" comes to an end as part of the Entercom merger agreement.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

sounds like poor engineering management. When control systems fail, a station should automatically go off the air. In this case, a module or circuit that controlled sign on and off stopped working. The remote monitoring should have alerted the engineering staff and, absent a way to manually control those functions, the station should have gone off pending arrival of an engineer.

When a transmitter loses remote control capability, it is supposed to tun off.

then a lot of stations are violating things.. I cant tell you how many stations i've caught operating at night outside licensed parameters

things happen.

 

[TheBigA]

I cant tell you how many stations i've caught operating at night outside licensed parameters

Lots of people exceed the speed limit and cheat on taxes too. The govt has been cutting the FCC's budget for years.

 

[AnyHuman]

The FCC isn't going to do anything when they can't even get around to enforcing the rules in San Antonio. There's a TV channel that has been broadcasting on 87.9 for several months and is still there. See https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?719405-KFLZ-LP-now-broadcasting-on-87-9

 

[davideduardo]

The FCC isn't going to do anything when they can't even get around to enforcing the rules in San Antonio. There's a TV channel that has been broadcasting on 87.9 for several months and is still there. See https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?719405-KFLZ-LP-now-broadcasting-on-87-9

The use of LP Channel 6 Analog facilities to produce FM audio just below the standard FM band has been accepted by the FCC for many, many years... Many believe that the final analog to digital conversion of even the LPTV stations will end this practice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNYZ-LP is an example of a "Franken FM" in New York City on 87.7 with video on analog Ch. 6.

At last count, there are at least 24 of these running legally in the US.

Among the major markets that have them are New York, Chicago (highly rated soft AC), Dallas, DC, Atlanta, Denver, San Antonio, Riverside/San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Cleveland, San Jose, Norfolk, Memphis, Syracuse, and quite a few smaller markets down to Anchorage and Amarillo.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

The use of LP Channel 6 Analog facilities to produce FM audio just below the standard FM band has been accepted by the FCC for many, many years... Many believe that the final analog to digital conversion of even the LPTV stations will end this practice.

Yes, but operating the "television" station's aural carrier on 87.9 is not legal.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, but operating the "television" station's aural carrier on 87.9 is not legal.

Ah, I thought that was a typo by AnyHuman. The remainder of the Franken FMs seem to promote "87.7" as the dial position.

 

[radiogooroo]

sounds like poor engineering management. When control systems fail, a station should automatically go off the air. In this case, a module or circuit that controlled sign on and off stopped working. The remote monitoring should have alerted the engineering staff and, absent a way to manually control those functions, the station should have gone off pending arrival of an engineer.

When a transmitter loses remote control capability, it is supposed to tun off.

Well, you would think so.

But as it turns out, this station is equipped with Burk's flagship remote control system.

Which doesn't offer an interlock for the transmitters on its network connected Plus-X devices.

So, when the power supply for the network switch connecting the ARC Plus Touch to the Plus-X 600 fails, nothing happens.

It's simply not like the old days, where if you lost the dry pair to the transmitter site and the two ends of the remote control stopped conversing, it would open a relay that would drop the carrier. There's no such relay these days.

 

[ThatVoice22]

Someone kicked the sleeping dog --- KIKK actually signed off at 545 pm today.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Someone kicked the sleeping dog --- KIKK actually signed off at 545 pm today.

yes, as i posted.. engineering was notified as soon as i saw this post, im friends with one of them, and they fixed it the next morning. power supply in a piece of equipment went bad

 

[davideduardo]

It's simply not like the old days, where if you lost the dry pair to the transmitter site and the two ends of the remote control stopped conversing, it would open a relay that would drop the carrier. There's no such relay these days.

Interesting. Wouldn't that be a violation of FCC rules regarding positive control of the transmitter?

 

[radiogooroo]

Interesting. Wouldn't that be a violation of FCC rules regarding positive control of the transmitter?

Honestly not sure.

It's been kosher to control transmitters with dial-up remote controls since the 90s. How would anyone know that someone had trenched through the phone line leading to their remote control system until they actually tried calling it and there was no answer?

How would such a system even know there was a loss of control downstream from itself?

The Burk Plus-X interface devices have no intelligence of their own. They rely on the main ARC Plus Touch unit for everything.

 

[xmtrland]

Usually the Arc-plus is installed at the transmitter and the studio connects to it with a PC running auto pilot. The new Burk Arc=plus does not need to be connected to the "studio unit" to do a pattern change or run a Macro. That's what I like about the new Burk. It does it's thing, no matter if it's talking to another unit. I have been told this is also the case with Jet-Flow. But if the network switch at the transmitter dies and the Burk Arc-touch can't talk to the plus-X devices used for relay contact closure then yes, that would be an issue.

There are alot of ways to get around the "dug up phone line" issue. install a Verizon dial up adapter and plug the Arc-plus to that. So you can dial in, even if a phone line were dug up.

You can make the Burk dial out on certain alarms including when it loses network to one of the Plus-X devices.

Sounds like the station lost the network switch at the transmitter. Even if they dialed in, since the network at the transmitter was down, the station could not switch or do a mode change. They should also review what alarms the unit actually dials out on, versus sending an email.

 

[frankberry]

Sounds like the station lost the network switch at the transmitter. Even if they dialed in, since the network at the transmitter was down, the station could not switch or do a mode change.

There is NO excuse for leaving the transmitter on the air at night when the station is licensed for daytime operation only. NO excuse.
It is the responsibility of the station's Chief Engineer to get the transmitter shut down as quickly as possible after learning that it's on the air in an unlicensed time period.
It is the responsibility of the station management to know whether the transmitter is on the air. Someone on staff should be required to make sure that the transmitter shuts down at the proper time.
Repairing the power supply the following day after reading (here) that the station is operating at night is not acceptable. The following day? Come on.

 

[xmtrland]

Repairing the power supply the following day after reading (here) that the station is operating at night is not acceptable. The following day? Come on.

Is this a billable tread? Could not resist.

I have two arc-touch systems that will sometimes skip a pattern change, Not sure why but I now have the Burk poll the pattern mode and retry the switch which has fixed the issue. With the Nautel NX50 you can also have it email you when it has a PDM inhibit. If I don;t get my PDM inhibit at pattern change I now something is up. I have 3 sites that email me or send the PDM inhibit email from the NX50. I can log in via autopilot or dial up to confirm and take action that way. If not able to address it that way, I'm only ten minutes away.

 

[kenglish]

In the SLC market, it seems like no one cares at all. We have stations that never switch to low/night power, stations that stay on the air all night...with or without modulation, and stations that make up their own schedules. Some broadcast dead air for days, or leave two pots open and carry two programs at once.

Another station is the butt of a running joke, "Is this the year they will file for a NOTAM on their tower lights?"

A 10KW daytimer (now silent and deleted) almost never turned off their carrier. Their volunteer DJs would often just continue to play records until they felt like going home, then leave. You'd think the owners would notice the huge power bill, but they appeared to have other ventures to tend to.

 

[BamaTX]

In the SLC market, it seems like no one cares at all.

We are in the digital age. Whether a daytime-only AM station like KIKK shuts off at night is probably of little to absolutely no concern for WSM.

Nobody outside of DXers care.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

In the SLC market, it seems like no one cares at all. We have stations that never switch to low/night power, stations that stay on the air all night...with or without modulation, and stations that make up their own schedules. Some broadcast dead air for days, or leave two pots open and carry two programs at once.

Another station is the butt of a running joke, "Is this the year they will file for a NOTAM on their tower lights?"

A 10KW daytimer (now silent and deleted) almost never turned off their carrier. Their volunteer DJs would often just continue to play records until they felt like going home, then leave. You'd think the owners would notice the huge power bill, but they appeared to have other ventures to tend to.

KMRI 1550 is forgetting to power down... KDYL is slightly off frequency and sounds like a low rumbling turd at night in southeast Wyoming clashing with others on the frequency.

 

[kenglish]

Hey, I think I know you from the Utah forums.

KDYL has been off-frequency for a good while. They are creating a Sub-audible Heterodyne (SAH)... although at 100 Hz, it's pretty audible. Stations are supposed to be within 20 Hz of their licensed frequency, so any "beat" with a co-channel station is not audible.
Glen Hauser brought up SAH when he asked about KSL last summer. 1160 is using Modulation-Dependent Carrier Level (MDSL), which reduces carrier level when modulation lowers...saves a ton on power bills. Trouble is, there are stations on 1160 that are off frequency enough that distant listeners hear the SAH. I remember when stations had a frequency-monitoring service that measured their carrier monthly, and sent them a postcard that was posted next to the license. Maybe that inexpensive service should return.

 

[kenglish]

We are in the digital age. Whether a daytime-only AM station like KIKK shuts off at night is probably of little to absolutely no concern for WSM.

Nobody outside of DXers care.

Like I said in another thread, it interferes with reception of many other stations on the same and adjacent frequencies...mostly in their outlying listening areas.
What's the point of running 50 KW, except to gain the extra audience? The little guys, like regionals, get clobbered even more...they need all the listeners they can get.