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What does the -AB call letter suffix mean?

IM42A said:
I found this on RabbitEars for WFMZ:

WFMZ-AB Allentown, PA

FWIW, WFMZ also hosts three other area stations on its RF channel (WPPT, WLVT, and WBPH), this per Wikipedia, though WPPT isn't listed on the RE page.
Click to expand...

This is Trip's way of distinguishing between two sets of digital replacement translators that WFMZ runs.

DRTs are a little weird. They don't get their own separate call letters at all, and are simply licensed under the parent station's license and callsign. So technically these signals on RF 7 in Philadelphia and RF 24 in Allentown are also "WFMZ-TV" but Trip distinguishes them because they carry a different channel multiplex than the main WFMZ-TV on RF 9. The DRTs carry three subchannels of WDPN 2.x in place of the WLVT/WPPN channels that share the RF 9 transmitter. And WBPH 60.1/2 shares on all the WFMZ transmitters.

The same payload of WDPN/WFMZ/WBPH is also on RF 24 in Reading, which is a translator holding a separate license as W24CS-D.
 
And to be clear, in this case, -AB is Allentown/Bethlehem. Much as WSOC-CR uses -CR for Crowders Mountain. Or the WFMZ channel 7 signal in Philadelphia is given with -PH.

There are a handful of cases like this where a DRT is not fully mirroring a primary signal and I have a manual listing set up. I really need to do it for WESH as well but haven't. It's a pain in the neck to set them up (lots of manual work-arounds to implement) but it's the price of being accurate.

- Trip
 
tripinva said:
And to be clear, in this case, -AB is Allentown/Bethlehem. Much as WSOC-CR uses -CR for Crowders Mountain. Or the WFMZ channel 7 signal in Philadelphia is given with -PH.

There are a handful of cases like this where a DRT is not fully mirroring a primary signal and I have a manual listing set up. I really need to do it for WESH as well but haven't. It's a pain in the neck to set them up (lots of manual work-arounds to implement) but it's the price of being accurate.

- Trip
Click to expand...
Dumb question, I'm assuming these suffixes are just RabbitEars nomenclature, and have no official FCC status. Is that right?
 
IM42A said:
Dumb question, I'm assuming these suffixes are just RabbitEars nomenclature, and have no official FCC status. Is that right?
Click to expand...

Correct. Legally, they're WFMZ-TV and WSOC-TV.

- Trip
 


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