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Status of WFME 1560?

ajaynejr said:
I have been able to get WFME 1560 from Nashua NH (near Boston) using an "audiophile" radio (a Denon AM tuner) which I suppose has a very good tuned RF stage. Not "good" reception; lots of noise including local electrical noise. So I suppose they are operating at their proposed 10 KW from their slant wire temporary facility as their last special temporary authority specified.

I would want to question what their future could be. Would they be permitted to stay at 10 KW on the slant wire "permanently"? Would they be required to downgrade to Class B to do so? Would they be required to find and move to another frequency (probably nearby, or slightly above 1600 KHz) to do so? If the FCC took back 1560 what would it be auctioned off as? The same thing WFME used to have, 50 KW DA2?

If they stayed on 1560 (at 10 KW) they could always apply for a new antenna location and power increase at a later date.

Historically WFME 1560 (as WQXR) was 10 KW ND day/night and sharing a frequency with the same California station (now KNZR) as they applied for Class A (then I-B) status. Their past and last directional patterns suggested they continued to put out roughly 10 KW in the direction of KNZR. Their last pattern suggested to me that they had trouble proofing their antenna at one point and had to pull in the pattern to the west but some augmentations still reached west at about 10 KW
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Good questions, all. Let's tackle them:

No, it's unlikely that the slant wire can be used as a permanent licensed installation. The FCC gives stations much more leeway under STA than it does for licensed operation. Any licensed WFME operation will still need to protect KNZR's skywave as well as all the relevant co- and adjacent-channel groundwave signals. The FCC typically gives AM stations plenty of time on STA without requiring a return to a licensed facility, so it's easy to imagine the slant wire staying in use for a period of years unless someone else on 1560 complains about interference.

If WFME is ever licensed again, it would need to have at least 10 kW to retain class A status and protection of its skywave signal. Anything under 10 kW would downgrade it to class B status and only its groundwave signal would be protected from interference. It would *not* need to change channels for that - you can have a class B license on a channel where class A operation is allowed, and several former class A stations have downgraded to B (WOWO) or even D (KGA) status without changing frequency.

There is essentially no possibility of a frequency change. The only change that could be filed as a minor change would be moving up or down no more than 30 kHz. There are too many other signals packed in on nearby channels, including the daytimer on 1520 (moving to 1530) in Mineola, 1550s in Scranton and Hartford, 1570s in Bucks County PA and Long Island, 1580 on Long Island and WWRL on 1600. The spectrum is more clear for them on 1560 than anywhere else. There are no minor changes to the expanded band above 1600, so that's off the table. Also, moving to 1540, 1550, 1570 or 1580 would preclude any meaningful night signal, as those are clear channels reserved for the Bahamas, Canada or Mexico.

If Family were to surrender the 1560 license, it would not come back up for auction. AM facilities don't have a table of reserved allocations the way FM does. It would simply go away, and any other nearby station that could make a minor change could apply to make one - so, for instance, Hartford on 1550 could theoretically apply for 1560 if everything else around it would fit. If there were ever to be a new filing window for new AM signals or major changes to existing ones, the FCC wouldn't specify the parameters of the facility. It would be up to applicants to determine what would be feasible to propose.
 
The math for WFME does not add up. I don’t see the cost/benefit of building a new site for 1560. I suspect that it has few, if any listeners.
 
I popped into my car last night to see if I could pick up WFME in NE Ohio. I was picking up a religious channel that was fading in and out with a talk or sports talk station. Unknown if it was WFME as there are a couple of other religious stations in nearby states that could have been drifting in and out. Never heard a station ID from any of them.
 
There's still a lot of multi-tower directional AM stations out there. Most I guess with miniscule ratings. (I'm thinking of 1190 Dallas with 12 towers at night). I can't see how it's worth the trouble. I wish WFME the best. I personally enjoy listening to Family Radio these days.
 
@ Marcos C and PowerCow .....

I have that Milford PA SDR among favourites here, to see if I can // some of their stations' audio with the radios here, some 60 miles SW of Milford.
It's tonight here, 1:15 AM, now November 16, and on the Milford dial I get what sounds like old-line religious music, steady if fluttery but way on top of 1560. Under it is an English station with the standard-issue 1-800-OUR SCAM stuff. Maybe it's Paducah or (more likely) Gallatin TN ; they were once quite a find under WQEW when it was was Standards. Lol -- both the wife and I IDed WMRO on two separate radios in two separate rooms.
PowerCow: I much prefer the traditional religious music over the assemblyline mediocrity of modern times. Some of it can be quite soothing. Now I'm not especially religious or devout, and never really have been; but still, I doubt God enjoys much of the current hackneyed and recycled A/C racket.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
@ Marcos C and PowerCow .....

I have that Milford PA SDR among favourites here, to see if I can // some of their stations' audio with the radios here, some 60 miles SW of Milford.
It's tonight here, 1:15 AM, now November 16, and on the Milford dial I get what sounds like old-line religious music, steady if fluttery but way on top of 1560. Under it is an English station with the standard-issue 1-800-OUR SCAM stuff. Maybe it's Paducah or (more likely) Gallatin TN ; they were once quite a find under WQEW when it was was Standards. Lol -- both the wife and I IDed WMRO on two separate radios in two separate rooms.
PowerCow: I much prefer the traditional religious music over the assemblyline mediocrity of modern times. Some of it can be quite soothing. Now I'm not especially religious or devout, and never really have been; but still, I doubt God enjoys much of the current hackneyed and recycled A/C racket.
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God is definitely over 55, so no surprise that he's still using AM.
 
Just for fun, I tried getting WFME last night in Buffalo NY with my factory OEM Subaru car radio. It was there, very weak, but "listenable" if you were so inclined. This was at approximately 6pm EST.
 
The FCC might let them continue with a long wire and an STA for many years.
 
tvk5195 said:
AM radio is going to die and meet God if the industry doesn't do something to change its aging demos. In 20-30 years there will be no listeners left!
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Firstly, it was CTListener who made that quote about God and AM radio. What I was trying to say is that God is open to using all kinds of media, old and new.

While we do not know if there will be radio in heaven (a topic for a theological forum), I understand the first part of your statement to be a figure of speech.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
@ Marcos C and PowerCow .....

I have that Milford PA SDR among favourites here, to see if I can // some of their stations' audio with the radios here, some 60 miles SW of Milford.
It's tonight here, 1:15 AM, now November 16, and on the Milford dial I get what sounds like old-line religious music, steady if fluttery but way on top of 1560. Under it is an English station with the standard-issue 1-800-OUR SCAM stuff. Maybe it's Paducah or (more likely) Gallatin TN ; they were once quite a find under WQEW when it was was Standards. Lol -- both the wife and I IDed WMRO on two separate radios in two separate rooms.
PowerCow: I much prefer the traditional religious music over the assemblyline mediocrity of modern times. Some of it can be quite soothing. Now I'm not especially religious or devout, and never really have been; but still, I doubt God enjoys much of the current hackneyed and recycled A/C racket.
Click to expand...

@Steve Green NEPA Can't be WMRO Gallatin, TN

Their format was AC/Hot AC Music.

The license was deleted a few years ago
 
Come to think of it, would there be any good reason for the FCC to not grant STA extensions to WFME indefinitely? That is, unless some other station or applicant wants to use the frequency in a better manner (here, with higher power)? Unlike stations broadcasting one hour on one day every year to hold open a frequency, WFME is broadcasting ful time, currently serving the public interest in the best manner possible without causing interference to others and short of paying possibly exorbitant rent for towers.

Except for one of the owners of an existing suitable tower array, any other applicant for 1560 would run into the same difficulties WFME has run into while seeking a new tower site.

AM radio does not have to die. There are several gigahertz of terrestrial spectrum and I can't see why a measly one and a half kilohertz of that can't be left open for more simple transmission techniques, where simple receivers (crystal radios) can continue to be built and enjoyed and get people interested in learning electronics.
 
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