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Boston Globe and Touch FM

I am assuming they used the word megaherts instead of watts.
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Oh, of course. Honestly, I was so confused that such a simple - yet no doubt probably true - explanation just never occurred to me. :-[

I would imagine that TOuch is running more that 100 watts. And, even simply operating at 100 watts is not always legal, right Aaron?
(I know Aaron has experience with ABFR.)
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Yep. Wattage alone is meaningless in FM unless you account for height...specifically HAAT - Height Above Average Terrain. I'm too lazy to go check the actual rules at the moment, but IIRC for LPFM the rule is that a facility cannot have more than 100 watts no matter what. However, if their antenna is above 30 meters HAAT then they must lower their ERP accordingly. I think the stated goal is for your average LPFM facility to have a 5.6km diameter to their 60dBu service contour. Or maybe it was 5.6km radius, but I think it's diameter; LPFM's are not supposed to go all that far. Anyways, if your antenna is below 30 meters HAAT, it doesn't matter - max power is still 100 watts.

From what I've heard, I would not assume anything about TouchFM's actual ERP. Transmitters that can do more than about 30 watts are not cheap, and even just 30 watts from the right location (on top of a hill, for example) can cover a pretty wide area. KPCC in Los Angeles is a measly 600 watts but they cover the entire city thanks to the generous height afforded by being on top of a mountain. Well, okay, their building penetration stinks...but still!

I doubt TouchFM bothered paying for a real antenna array (they cost about $25-50k) so they're probably running vertically polarized (to avoid the halving of ERP from circular polarization...and makes it easier to hide) into a single antenna with a 20-50 watt exciter, sans power amplifier. If it's on top of a hill, it would cover all of downtown Boston easily. On the other hand, if it's NOT on top of a hill, and the antenna and/or feed line are inefficient, or it's a one-bay CP antenna, it could be a 500 watt transmitter and it would have the same coverage area.

AM is a whole different ball of wax, though. I can neither confirm nor deny that ABFR was running a 20 watt Radio Systems carrier-current AM transmitter through an ATU and into a homebrew TIS antenna on the roof of their Cambridge Street studios. ;D Still, I remember listening to ABfree and their signal wasn't the greatest...even with the higher power transmitter. The 10 watt TIS on 1650 out at Logan gets out better thanks to a much better ground connection and being that close to salt water.
 
Don't live in Boston, but found this topic from the rotating topic list at the top of radio-info. I read about this pirate FM here a year ago.

I have mixed feelings about this. The law is the law and if everybody who wanted their own station went on the air, you would have a giant mess. BUT the NAB did indeed heavily lobby congress to pass the 3 space adjacency rule(and Bill Clinton signed it) because they are rich and powerful and LPFM license seekers are generally not rich and powerful. This is the mother of all problems in America - legislation for sale for those who have. Have nots need not apply. The FCC's own engineers said at the time that a 2 space adjacency would NOT cause interference. But, why let fact get in the way with giant cash contributions for our esteemed members of Congress.

If I were this station, I'd keep the power level down, but keep broadcasting.

Bring back LPFM and give everybody a voice.
 
aaronread said:
I doubt TouchFM bothered paying for a real antenna array (they cost about $25-50k) so they're probably running vertically polarized (to avoid the halving of ERP from circular polarization...and makes it easier to hide) into a single antenna with a 20-50 watt exciter, sans power amplifier. If it's on top of a hill, it would cover all of downtown Boston easily. On the other hand, if it's NOT on top of a hill, and the antenna and/or feed line are inefficient, or it's a one-bay CP antenna, it could be a 500 watt transmitter and it would have the same coverage area.
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None of the pirates I've attempted to find here in the Boston area have attempted to hide their antennas at all, most are extremely obvious. 106.1's antenna is at the location that's been advertised many times as their studio location. 101.3 is on Blue Hill Ave, right across from Franklin park, which is on somewhat of a hill.
 
This may come as a shock to you....but even with LPFM...not everybody gets a LPFM station...and not everybody gets a "voice".
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No, my caustic friend, nothing about LPFM comes as a shock to me as I know quite a bit about it. Licensed stations as low as 10 watts would be allowed to broadcast and while literally everyone will not get their own voice, many will.

As CC, Entercom and the other corporate radio giants make little positive contribution to the airwaves, community radio should be allowed to flourish.
 
cee said:
As CC, Entercom and the other corporate radio giants make little positive contribution to the airwaves, community radio should be allowed to flourish.
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How do you define "positive contribution?" I agree that community radio should have a place, by the way. But it seems you're painting with an awfully big brush.
 
cee said:
Licensed stations as low as 10 watts would be allowed to broadcast and while literally everyone will not get their own voice, many will.
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I think we learned back in the 70's...that the goal of more stations for the sake of more stations isn't always better.

cee said:
As CC, Entercom and the other corporate radio giants make little positive contribution to the airwaves, community radio should be allowed to flourish.
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This is assuming that "community radio" will be making "a positive contribution"?

That's quite an assumption.
 
This is assuming that "community radio" will be making "a positive contribution"?

That's quite an assumption.
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No assumption at all.
 
cee said:
This is assuming that "community radio" will be making "a positive contribution"?

That's quite an assumption.
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No assumption at all.
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I positive contribution by starting up a bunch of pipsqueak stations that no one listens to?
 
A 10 watt station can cover an entire town. My high school radio station was 10 watts, and only went 2 miles reliably (but I managed to DX it 25 miles away). It served to educate us on how a good radio station is run, and had a lot of community involvement. It got quite a lot of listeners for its small size. A 10 watt station isn't completely useless, especially with Internet streaming today. It can be the primary source of local news for a community.
 
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