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Washington KXLE-FM downgrade

A new resolution to the KJET 105.7 Puget Sound upgrade has been made. Everyone is a winner! ( Money changed hands to make this happen per the posted agreement.)

Today SMG-Yakima filed to move KRSE to a site called Elephant Mountain, southeast of Yakima. The signal will stay on 105.7 but downgrades from Class C1 to Class C2. KRSE will be short-spaced to KONA but still compliant.

KJET gets a serious upgrade. KXLE stays on 95.3 as a Class C3. ( Any guesses what will happen to KRHR? Original strategy called for a downgrade to Class A.)

Overall :

Draft Copy « Licensing and Management System « FCC

Licensing and Management System
enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov

Engineering:

Agreement ($$)
 
RF101 said:
A new resolution to the KJET 105.7 Puget Sound upgrade has been made. Everyone is a winner! ( Money changed hands to make this happen per the posted agreement.)

Today SMG-Yakima filed to move KRSE to a site called Elephant Mountain, southeast of Yakima. The signal will stay on 105.7 but downgrades from Class C1 to Class C2. KRSE will be short-spaced to KONA but still compliant.

KJET gets a serious upgrade. KXLE stays on 95.3 as a Class C3. ( Any guesses what will happen to KRHR? Original strategy called for a downgrade to Class A.)

Overall :

Draft Copy « Licensing and Management System « FCC

Licensing and Management System
enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov

Engineering:

Agreement ($$)
Click to expand...

no need to guess, @bossbill is a member here, he knows as well as anyone whats going to happen in this who kit n kaboodle
 
My guess is Positive Life Radio will take 105.7 KJET. They just expanded their La Grande signal to a 91.1 (full-power but still quite low power...no longer on the translator).
KRSE's new transmitter is on the Konnowac hills near Moxee (just like KYPL and KXDD).
 
Somebody with deeper commercial pockets like Bustos Media might want to jump at KJET too. While the South Mountain signal will be challenged on the northside, Tacoma and Seattle will be well-served. Bustos has enough format options that this would make sense. The "Urbana" format might be a good start for younger bilinguals.
 
I'm unsure if Bustos is even that interested in the Urbana format. Sure, they've got Urbana on some stations (an AM in Portland, couple of HD subchannels/translator and a station just south of the border in Nogales), but if they were really serious about expanding Urbana, they'd expand it to Tri-Cities, Yakima and Wenatchee first. I'm waiting for the day they decide to put Urbana on KZML-HD2 (currently it's a simulcast of KZUS 92.3).
 
For those keeping track of the KJET upgrade shift here's the conclusion:

* KJET 105.7 Union, Upgrades to C0 AT 33 kw , 672 M HAAT
* KXLE 95.3 Ellensburg, Stays at C3 1.7 kw ERP, 380 M HAAT (does not shift to 105.7)
* KRSE 105.7 Yakima, Downgrades to C2 20 kw ERP, 236 M HAAT (and SMG gets compensated for the move to Elephant Mountain)
* KRNR 95.1 Odell (OR), Downgrades to Class A, 1.2 kw ERP, 224 M HAAT
* KZGI 96.9 Sedro-Woolley, Upgrades its Class A 1.15 kw, -115M HAAT. Moves from 105.7 which is where it currently sits.

I am not sure if the KRNR downgrade is still needed but the FCC granted it anyway.,
 
I hope KZGI listeners enjoy all the picket-fencing and interference from CJAX Vancouver. Which is what will happen. Both frequencies don't matter - they are both Vancouver powerhouses. Jack 96.9 makes it nearly to Everett on a normal day.
 
KZGI is a non-directional signal so it's limited to the west at 1150 watts. If Bustos Media were to throw in a fancy directional antenna at the-soon-96.9 then "La Gran D" might work a little better to the south. Still, the Skagit Valley floor remains unforgiving for any US co-channel signal when it comes to cross-border interference.
 
Interesting - KRHR Odell today did file their L2C for a downgrade to Class A. Why bother? There must be something else at work. We'll see it filed in the next few weeks.
 
crainbebo said:
I hope KZGI listeners enjoy all the picket-fencing and interference from CJAX Vancouver. Which is what will happen. Both frequencies don't matter - they are both Vancouver powerhouses. Jack 96.9 makes it nearly to Everett on a normal day.
Click to expand...
CJAX makes it down to North Bend (in north facing spots) on a normal day.

I wonder if Bustos might upgrade KZGI to HD to at least give some listeners the ability to listen without interference, yet CJAX is also in HD so it might make things worse.
 
RF101 said:
Interesting - KRHR Odell today did file their L2C for a downgrade to Class A. Why bother? There must be something else at work. We'll see it filed in the next few weeks.
Click to expand...
The coverage difference between the Class C3 and A is surprisingly slight, at least on paper!
 

​

RF101 said:
Interesting - KRHR Odell today did file their L2C for a downgrade to Class A. Why bother? There must be something else at work. We'll see it filed in the next few weeks.
Click to expand...
Checkmate. As predicted , here's the filing as a result of the KRHR 95.1 Odell, Oregon, downgrade:

KXLE-FM has requested an upgrade from C3 to C1 on 95.3 at ASR #1043133 just east of Yakima. With an HAAT of 432 meters, it will have a monster signal of 40 kw ERP. This is at the KYKV / KFFM tower site.

As a side note, timing is everything. This KXLE "Now-Upgrade" paperwork was filed as soon as the FCC approved the KRHR downgrade.

Study:
 
Last edited:
With KXLE at 40 kW in Yakima, I could see there being a need for KXLE to either add another booster or expand their existing CP (KXLE-FM1) to cover Ellensburg itself. Neither KYKV (5.4 kW) nor KFFM (100 kW) are 100% clear in Ellensburg, and KYKV has a translator on 88.5 at the current KXLE site that covers Ellensburg.

An upgraded KXLE would likely be stronger in Wenatchee, Moses Lake and Othello where its current signal is already receivable, but beyond those three cities, it would be overridden by K237DP Kennewick to the south, KPND Deer Park to the east and K237AW Chelan to the north. Any of these three stations being knocked off the air for whatever reason (i.e. power outage, maintenance, etc.) would result in KXLE's reach extending well across the basin.

The new 40 kW contour also almost completely covers the contour of K237GY Prosser including its transmitter site. Despite its contour, K237GY itself can be received across an area from Union Gap to the western edge of the Tri-Cities, and Cabbage Hill above Pendleton, OR. If KXLE upgrades, it also has potential to be received in Tri-Cities (western side, where K237DP Kennewick is blocked) and across portions of north central Oregon.

My above comment is based on what I've already observed with KFFM and KYKV.
 
KXLE going to 40KW and serving Yakima? First of all, that forces them out of the Ellensburg community where they have served for the last 50 years. Secondly, I predict if they move to Yakima, the decades-old country format is gone, and they will be flipping to another music format. Possibly adult contemporary. They can't compete with KXDD and 92.9. And I can tell you that the 103.1 Selah signal has a lot of noise even in Ellensburg! There are still mountains in the way! And forget Cle Elum.

I can't see this going through, and I expect a lot of backlash from Ellensburg locals.

For La Estacion de La Familia's sake, they could easily move K237GY to 97.5 (now that KOLW is defunct).
 
crainbebo said:
KXLE going to 40KW and serving Yakima? First of all, that forces them out of the Ellensburg community where they have served for the last 50 years. Secondly, I predict if they move to Yakima, the decades-old country format is gone, and they will be flipping to another music format. Possibly adult contemporary. They can't compete with KXDD and 92.9. And I can tell you that the 103.1 Selah signal has a lot of noise even in Ellensburg! There are still mountains in the way! And forget Cle Elum.

I can't see this going through, and I expect a lot of backlash from Ellensburg locals.

For La Estacion de La Familia's sake, they could easily move K237GY to 97.5 (now that KOLW is defunct).
Click to expand...
It will still cover Ellensburg. https://www.fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=35957
 
crainbebo said:
KXLE going to 40KW and serving Yakima? First of all, that forces them out of the Ellensburg community where they have served for the last 50 years. Secondly, I predict if they move to Yakima, the decades-old country format is gone, and they will be flipping to another music format. Possibly adult contemporary. They can't compete with KXDD and 92.9. And I can tell you that the 103.1 Selah signal has a lot of noise even in Ellensburg! There are still mountains in the way! And forget Cle Elum.

I can't see this going through, and I expect a lot of backlash from Ellensburg locals.

For La Estacion de La Familia's sake, they could easily move K237GY to 97.5 (now that KOLW is defunct).
Click to expand...
If it meets the legal requirements for going through, it will go through. This is all about creating marketable signals. The folks behind this have done it before. The Union station is now a viable Seattle rimshot. The KXLE move in creates one of the better Yakima valley signals. This is a maximization of spectrum. I don't expect much backlash ftom the E-burg locals, but even if there was, that will not stop the move from going forward. Drop in a booster in downtown Ellensburg, or move the little Cle Elum translator over to Ellensburg- "problem" solved.

As far as format, probably Spanish lauguage and religious would be my guess. But that is not the problem of the signal creators- that is up the org that buys the signal. Just like it is up to the org that buys the Union signal.
 
Out of curiosity, I thought perhaps Class A KITI-FM 95.1 (Winlock, Washington) might be able to squeeze out a C3 upgrade thanks to the KRHR downgrade and the KXLE tower move (and power upgrade).

The simple answer remains a strong "No".

KITI-FM is cornered in mainly by these signals:
* KUOW 94.9 C1 Seattle
* KBGE 94.9 C3 Cannon Beach OR
* KLYK 94.5 A Kelso

Lesser limiters are :
* KRXY 94.5 A Shelton
* KXXK 95.3 A Hoquiam
* KNRK 94.7 C2 Camas
* KRHR 95.1 A Odell
* KXLE 95.3 C1 Ellensburg
* KBFF 95.5 C0 Portland
 


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