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New Translator Window LPFM & NCE

I

IKHNetworks

The title says it all - source credits to radio world

I want to know what your thoughts are?

I think this is a great idea but only if implemented properly.

I feel there should be a cap on how many translator stations can be applied for by the same entity.

I do have some fears that it could be messy because there is already so much on the FM dial and I'm afraid of interference issues.

I also truly wonder how on earth these Translator stations will even be able to operate at the normal 250 Watts that I always hear about.
 
As a consultant who's done a lot of translator work over the years, I will be surprised if this window generates more than a few hundred applications nationwide.

The 88-92 NCE spectrum is just insanely full in most metro areas. The last window for full-power NCE applicants filled in a lot of little holes with signals as small as 100 watts ERP, and if there was a hole for a 100-watt full-power license, you're not going to do much better with a translator.

In rural areas it might yield up a little more opportunity, especially for stations trying to expand their service into relatively thinly populated areas, but again, that was mostly possible with the NCE window a few years ago, too, and a fair number of those CPs ended up not being worth building. (I had 6 full-power CPs I worked on that never resulted in stations being built, for a variety of reasons.)
 
IKHNetworks said:
I feel there should be a cap on how many translator stations can be applied for by the same entity.
Click to expand...

Some people -- myself and @Michi among them -- feel there should be such a cap, applying not just to translators but to non-comms owning full power stations.

However, the biggest of the latter -- EMF -- has already gotten so big, you couldn't enforce a cap without either forcing divestitures (I can hear them whining already) or grandfathering existing ownership (meaning it's a non-solution "solution".

IKHNetworks said:
I do have some fears that it could be messy because there is already so much on the FM dial and I'm afraid of interference issues.
Click to expand...

There are rules about translators that are already in place and do a decent job of keeping everyone's signal protected from everyone else's.

IKHNetworks said:
I also truly wonder how on earth these Translator stations will even be able to operate at the normal 250 Watts that I always hear about.
Click to expand...

Well, as @fybush just pointed out, the NCE part of the FM band (which is the only place this proposed filing window would be implemented) is already overcrowded anywhere that anyone would want to try to squeeze in a translator.

Taking L.A. as an example (there's only one market that's larger), every frequency between 88 and 92MHz is occupied by either a full-power station or one of those stations' boosters or translators. Even if Carr's proposal were to be implemented, the "filing window" would result in no applications for 100 miles around here.

I checked all of the Class D stations in the area, and none of them have an ERP above 100 watts. That is a general indicator that they are at the extreme edges of becoming short-spaced (which is not allowed under FCC rules, nor are waivers for same ever given to Class D stations).

There are some areas where a 250 watt translator gives very good coverage. There are several on the commercial band in Albuquerque, including one station I program for its owner. But anyone dreaming of 250w ERP in already-crowded areas should throw away the pipe they are dreaming with.
 
There's actually a different reason why none of those LA translators are 100 watts or more. A quirk in FCC rules exempts anything under 100 watts from having to protect stations on IF channels (+/- 10.6 or 10.8 MHz) from interference.

Because of the weird way all those second-adjacent class A signals got wedged in between the class B signals in LA, almost any channel you could use for a translator is likely to have an IF interference situation (on paper, anyway - in the real world that rule is really obsolete). And that's why you end up with so many 99-watt translators out there.
 
fybush said:
There's actually a different reason why none of those LA translators are 100 watts or more. A quirk in FCC rules exempts anything under 100 watts from having to protect stations on IF channels (+/- 10.6 or 10.8 MHz) from interference.

Because of the weird way all those second-adjacent class A signals got wedged in between the class B signals in LA, almost any channel you could use for a translator is likely to have an IF interference situation (on paper, anyway - in the real world that rule is really obsolete). And that's why you end up with so many 99-watt translators out there.
Click to expand...

I learn something new every day.
 
Along the Canadian border area reception of the 88-92 MHz Canadian stations will get blocked on the US side by those pesky NCE/LPFM translators. Guaranteed.
 
RF101 said:
Along the Canadian border area reception of the 88-92 MHz Canadian stations will get blocked on the US side by those pesky NCE/LPFM translators. Guaranteed.
Click to expand...
It's crazy how shoehorned FM has become in Northwest Washington state. Something on nearly every FM frequency from 88.1-107.9. I can often get three clashing signals on 104.9 alone. If they put any more out here, it's just going to get harder to listen to in the car. And streaming won't be a mere option anymore.
 


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