txchipk said:
Popping up today in the FCC database is KTON 940 Belton's application to move to Lancaster running 50kw days. It looks like the tower will be east of Dallas.
I've got to say it's a gutsy move, applying for the maximum power allowed. It's similar to what the RAFFT Corporation did with a station they formerly owned. KILE Bellaire (Houston) was taken from an 800 watt daytimer to 50,000 watts, with a construction permit for nighttime operation at 1,000 watts (KILE has since applied for 19,000 watts nighttime). That huge power increase was a real struggle, taking several years and requiring a highly complex pattern; coverage is quite good in many areas but marginal in some critical parts of the sprawling Houston area. The proposed KTON pattern, as I expected, is on a somewhat southwesterly track, giving good coverage in the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area but a significantly reduced signal level in the northern part of the region.
Running 50,000 watts daytime on the higher end of the dial (at 1560 as KILE does) is quite different than doing it at 940 as RAFFT has proposed for KTON. Simply put, the signal would go much further with the same power level. While the KTON pattern is much simpler than the one for KILE (three towers vs. nine) it's still tightly packed in between co-channel stations in Texarkana and Amarillo and stations on adjacent frequencies in Houston, San Antonio, Lubbock, Oklahoma City and other places.
I'm not saying it won't work from a technical standpoint but it's far from a slam dunk. Results do vary, and regardless of what the plots and measurements may indicate there's always the potential for problems. That might include protests from other stations which would be impacted by the move.
