Another College Station Falls - Reed College's KRRC 97.9 Portland, OR

[chokesman-review]

Not really a big surprise in this corner of the country. With an impending move-in of a Eugene station on the frequency the writing was on wall for Reed College's tiny class D.

This is per the folks at PDXradio.com:

Channel 250 is 97.9.

*** Release #27647 (Broadcast Applications) dated 1/5/2012 ***
KRRC Portland OR FM BLED-20031022AAU 250 D N 45° 28' 51.0" W 122° 37' 50.0" License 100 280 0.0 5.0
App for License for Educational FM Station; Release Item within 100.0 kilometers of Flag Point; Licensee: Reed Institute; Lic. To Cover License Cancelled And Callsign Deleted 11/29/2011 Per Licensee's Request - No Letter Sent Petition For Reconsideration Filed 12/27/2011 By The Reed Institute; Applicant: The Reed Institute

The former KRRC faced a similar situation that the former Whitworth University' KWRS/Spokane, WA, also a now deleted class D faced in the last decade - they never elected to upgrade beyond a class D facility and were sitting ducks to have someone swoop in and apply for a higher powered operation on the frequency.

It's greatly unfortunate the lack of action these organizations showed in not upgrading beyond a class D.

Whitman College's KWCW in Walla Walla, WA has steadily been encroached on to the point were the signal now extends no further than 15 miles from the transmitter until K213DP Richland, WA destroys it. Soon, a new 1kw class C2 90.5 will begin licensed to Prosser WA's Northwest Communities Eduction Center and will push KWCW's coverage back even more.

Non-Commerical licenses held by colleges or universities often don't get that there are organizations 50 deep who want to push them aside and take their frequency. They must be assertive back and think long term in protecting their license. Sadly, many don't. It's just a novelty.

 

[aaronread]

A Class D is complaining about its signal "only" going 15 miles??? The spec for LPFM's is that they're only supposed to have a service contour diameter of 3.5 miles, and that's at 100 watts ERP. That's ten times the average ERP for a grandfathered Class D. I don't know why KWCW is complaining if they're getting that good a coverage radius!

Of course, this might have something to do with the fact that KWCW is not a grandfathered Class D. It's a Class A with 160 watts ERP. :

 

[Bongwater]

Wow. I started reading about the 97.9 move in last year and I wondered what frequency they were going to move KRRC next to (they've been all over the dial.) But man alive! It's getting crowded down there too. They got another one on its way to 96.3. And everywhere in between is some translator for something.

Even 15 years ago, there used to be gaps on the Portland FM dial you could drive a KENWORTH through.....

 

[fybush]

KRRC's license was reinstated this week. Dunno where it's headed next...

 

[Bongwater]

I didn't think it would go without a fight. BUT.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KRRC#KRRC_today

"When Reed students did broadcast programming it was often uncensored gangsta rap. Because of the wide veriety (sic) of music and songs changing halfway through, the programming seemed to be originating from students' MP3 players. Station IDs or anything else identifying the station were rarely heard......"

If any of this is true, then there had damn well better be some BIGGER changes made than just the frequency.......

 

[chokesman-review]

Nice aaron,

Rolling your eyes. In no way was I saying KWCW *IS* a class D. I am more than aware of their ERP and class A status. I was highlighting how college's may neglect to notice encroachment or threats to their license very well irrespective of license class.

If you understood my original point, you'd have not rolled your eyes at me.

Clear now?

:

 

[chokesman-review]

This is a surprise.

What are their options in Portland? Any frequencies left for them?

I too, wonder where it's headed.

KRRC's license was reinstated this week. Dunno where it's headed next...

 

[uncamark]

This is a surprise.

What are their options in Portland? Any frequencies left for them?

I too, wonder where it's headed.

Seems to me that at least some of KBOO's nighttime schedule already covers the same ground as KRRC did and with a better signal.

Wasn't it KBOO who got into hot water with the FCC over a hip-hop record that they played some years ago?

 

[aaronread]

Wasn't it KBOO who got into hot water with the FCC over a hip-hop record that they played some years ago?

Yes. They appealed and were ultimately successful at getting the fine rescinded...although I have no idea how much they had to pay in legal fees to win that judgment. (And I mean that honestly. I don't know if the FCC covered the costs because the FCC lost...or if the legal work was pro bono or what...but it was a multi-year process to win so if they were paying it all out-of-pocket then I'm sure it was expensive.)

 

[chokesman-review]

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...r-college-sells-off-its-fm-license?ref=search

Looks like KRRC has been sold to COMMON FREQUENCY, INC.

So KRRC lives. The question now to me is; what can you do in Portland, OR with a class D license?

 

[uncamark]

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...r-college-sells-off-its-fm-license?ref=search

Looks like KRRC has been sold to COMMON FREQUENCY, INC.

So KRRC lives. The question now to me is; what can you do in Portland, OR with a class D license?

Well, as anyone who watches "Portlandia" knows, you put a bird on it.

 

[chokesman-review]

I just saw that for the first time maybe 2 months ago. It was the episode where they kept turning away Jenny Conlee from clubs.

My cousin in Indiana thinks the show is hilarious.

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...r-college-sells-off-its-fm-license?ref=search

Looks like KRRC has been sold to COMMON FREQUENCY, INC.

So KRRC lives. The question now to me is; what can you do in Portland, OR with a class D license?

Well, as anyone who watches "Portlandia" knows, you put a bird on it.

 

[aaronread]

My "professional guess" is to move the signal to 95.1 and co-locate it with KNRK and KBFF to get a second-adjacent waiver from each. 10 watts from up on that hill will actually have pretty decent coverage of downtown Portland. Roughly (very roughly) equivalent to K296FT on 107.1.

However, this is far from ideal if KNRK and/or KBFF run HD Radio and REALLY far from ideal if those stations run higher injection levels than -20dBc...a distinct possibility in both cases. (I'm not local so I don't know for sure) HD Radio doesn't affect third-adjacent channels too much, but it smacks around second-adjacent somewhat and completely buries first-adjacent on most radios.

OTOH, there isn't a TV6 in Portland, is there? I wonder if Portland is far enough from the Canadian border to allow operation on 87.9FM? You'd need a second adjacent waiver from KBVM 88.3 but, again, you can co-locate and pretty much eliminate interference concerns. And I don't think KBVM runs HD Radio, either. The only problem is KUPL...which is 10.8MHz away from 87.9 and located in the same tower area as KBVM. Not sure the FCC would grant an waiver for Intermediate Frequency interference. Probably not...I.F. is pretty sacrosanct. Although I suppose you could put at another location...the same tower cluster KBOO is on, for example...which might be far enough away for I.F. and there's probably so much blanketing interference around KBOO's tower that any second-adjacent interference would be moot.

 

[aaronread]

Wait...just realized something. Class D's are exempt from I.F. separation, aren't they?

OTOH, Google Earth says Portland is roughly 245 miles from the Canadian border, and the minimum distance needed for Class D's on 87.9 is 250, and that's by international treaty so good luck getting a waiver (you'll need it). So it's very, very close. Close enough that it might be difficult to find a location that can satisfy all parties.