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Old KSTB frequency going up for auction

M

Mediafrog+

The Class A 101.5 allocation for Crystal Beach is one of the 136 FM frequencies up for FCC auction this coming July 27. Minimum bid is $1,500.

The allocation is virtually worthless given its geographic location, but it will be interesting to see what greater fool winds up with it. It had a fighting chance when it was a C3 in the early days of KSTB.

Auction list is here: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-131A2.pdf
 
With the exception of the 107.9 in Sacramento, there are very few commercially viable signals on that list.

Some of the ones in the west might be useful to tribal nations, but I have about as much interest in bidding $1500 to cover a bunch of vacation homes in Crystal Beach as I do in bidding $25,000 to cover the Flying J truck stop on the Arizona-California border.
 
Mrtejano said:
Maybe Centro Cristiano.
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We laugh at that, but a religious broadcaster is the likely outcome. I can't see any sane commercial owner having any interest in the allocation.
johndavis said:
With the exception of the 107.9 in Sacramento, there are very few commercially viable signals on that list.
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I checked all of the Texas allocations against Google maps, and virtually all of them are out in the middle of nowhere. Not even close to a population center. Most viable might be the revived 104.1 Class C3 in the DFW area. There is also a 95.1 Class C1 in Hale Center, which could easily drop a signal into Lubbock.

Wonder if a revived 101.5 in Crystal Beach would have any effect on the KHCB translator, which is near the intersection of 288 and Beltway 8, some 35 miles away.
 
Mrtejano said:
Any coverage map available for this old KSTB frequency?
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I don't know of any. But if you know the class of the FM you can assume maximum height and power, and then find another comparable facility, measure its contour on a scaled map and apply the circle to a possible location for the new prospective facility. Remember, that facility will be hemmed in by existing stations, so there are not too many places they can locate, particularly any that are closer to the population.

Or, just look at the protected contours for that class of FM on the FCC site and you can draw your own map.

www.fcc.gov

FM Broadcast Station Classes and Service Contours

The following table lists the various classes of FM stations, the reference facilities for each station class, and the protected and city grade contours for each station class. A service (or interfering) contour may be visualized by imagining a rough circle surrounding a transmitter site at...
www.fcc.gov www.fcc.gov
 
Mrtejano said:
Any coverage map available for this old KSTB frequency?
Click to expand...
So you want to know what $15,000 (minimum) down the drain looks like?


I guess buying the license and hoping the FCC eases their spacing restrictions in the future seems like an interesting gamble. But in the meantime, you'd have to get the station up and running (or maybe not since FCC enforcement has been neutered). You'd definitely have to pay fees.

I guess you could man it yourself and play conservative, pro-Trump talk to the dolphins.
 
stan said:
I seem to recall that when it was on last it was targeting the beach and Galveston.
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Yes. Cumulus and Univision shared the site. 105.3 was simulcasting KRTX-AM, but spent most of it's time as "Beach Party 105.3" (it was a simulcast of KPTY 104.9, but references were made at TOH ID to 105.3). 101.5 was a simulcast of KAYD-FM. I believe the goal was to move both stations in at some point, but that never panned out. I know 105.3 was waiting for KPTY (now KAMA) to move to Missouri City. Not sure what prevented KSTB from making the move.

IIRC, the site was damaged after Hurricane Ike and that's the last time we heard KSTB. Univision went ahead and completed their consolation upgrade some years later instead going back to the beach.
 
A class A's max height is 100 meters, but that application here is 56 meters so that's why it's not as big of an area.
 
AnyHuman said:
A class A's max height is 100 meters, but that application here is 56 meters so that's why it's not as big of an area.
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A Class A's maximum height is whatever the licensee wants. However, they have to "downsize" the power so that the contour is identical to that of 100 meters. However, if the antenna is below 100 m. they can not increase to get equal coverage were they at 100 m.
 
The tower it was on as a C3 was destroyed by IKE, hence the shorter height as an A was done to keep the license active. The C3 site did have issues with an Entergy 800 Smartzone site right next door and 8th harmonic of 101.5 was interfering with the control channel on the 800MHz system...however, Entergy moved that site to a new site in Winnie with a fill in site at a substation west of Crystal Beach. So maybe an upgrade back to C3 may be possible?
 
ContinuousWave said:
So maybe an upgrade back to C3 may be possible?
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Wasn’t there some issue with short spacing to the first adjacent 101.7 in B/PA? You also have to move the KHCB translator to another frequency (good luck with that.) I think the two local LPFMs on 101.5 (KOER and KLJJ) are far enough away, as would be KZCL-LP in Cleveland. KXAQ in Liberty might have a problem.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Wasn’t there some issue with short spacing to the first adjacent 101.7 in B/PA? You also have to move the KHCB translator to another frequency (good luck with that.) I think the two local LPFMs on 101.5 (KOER and KLJJ) are far enough away, as would be KZCL-LP in Cleveland. KXAQ in Liberty might have a problem.
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Translators and LPFMs are secondary services and could be bumped.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Wasn’t there some issue with short spacing to the first adjacent 101.7 in B/PA?
Click to expand...

If my memory serves me correctly, Cumulus bought KSTB so it could downgrade it, move it, and upgrade 101.7. The story I remember hearing was that Cumulus was going to buy 92.5 as a replacement for KAYD when it moved into Houston. Clear Channel, however, got wind of the plan and offered more for it than Cumulus, and Cumulus had to buy the former KLOI as a backup. As KLOI had a terrible signal in Beaumont, Cumulus had to shift it further south, which meant it had to get KSTB to downgrade and move. The only way to do that was to buy it, too.
 
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