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Fibbing for Jesus

C

caveman97

Guest
A new station recently came on the air on 88.1 Mhz and it programs religious music from the K-Love satellite service. Billboards all over Tucson proclaim that the station has 50,000 watts. A check with the FCC web site indicates that it actually has 160 watts. KLTU is licensed to Mammoth but it appears to transmit from Mt. Bigelow. Getting a station on 88.1 that close to Channel 6 is not all that easy. One wonders why nobody ever got 88.1 a long time ago. KLTU is part of Doug Martin's empire which also includes 690 and 940 in Tucson.
Now that K-Love is on a full service station, is there any hope to get rid of the multitudes of translators that carry the same programming into the same market?
 
> A new station recently came on the air on 88.1 Mhz and it
> programs religious music from the K-Love satellite service.
> Billboards all over Tucson proclaim that the station has
> 50,000 watts. A check with the FCC web site indicates that
> it actually has 160 watts. KLTU is licensed to Mammoth but
> it appears to transmit from Mt. Bigelow.

The station actually has the technical equivalent of 50,000 watts. Given that its transmitter is a half mile above sea level, its actual power is going to have to be pretty low. A mathematical formula dictates the maximum power at a given height, but a full class C2 is always going to have the technical equivalent of 50,000 watts regardless of actual power.
 
Re: Fibbing for Jesus: yes and here's why...

> The station actually has the technical equivalent of 50,000
> watts. Given that its transmitter is a half mile above sea
> level, its actual power is going to have to be pretty low.
> A mathematical formula dictates the maximum power at a given
> height, but a full class C2 is always going to have the
> technical equivalent of 50,000 watts regardless of actual
> power.

They actually are fibbing, and you've just gotta believe they'll be cleaning up their act, pronto. Given the station's antenna height of 1083 meters above average terrain (AHAAT) and the C2 class, the FCC's FM POWER online program gives the 50 kW equivalent as 591 Watts (0.591 kW), not 160 Watts (0.160 kW). This significant power reduction most likely gives them an acceptable interference ratio with TV channel 6, which they are required to protect. Really, 50 kW equivalent is technically (and otherwise) wrong to claim.

-----------------------------------------

FMpower Results

Class C2 facilities for Equivalency Determination:

Reference ERP = 50.000 kW
Reference HAAT = 150.0 meters
F(50,50) 60 dBu protected contour at 52.2 km distance

Equivalent ERP (rounded per 47 CFR 73.212) = 0.590 kW
. . at . 1083.0 meters HAAT


Unrounded ERP = 0.591 kW for 1083.0 meters HAAT

Class C2 stations are authorized in AZ.

Source: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/fmpower.html
-------------------------------------------------

KLTU AZ MAMMOTH USA

Licensee: GOOD NEWS RADIO BROADCASTING, INC.
Service Designation: FM 'Full Service' FM station or application

Channel/Class: 201C2 Frequency: 88.1 MHz Construction Permit
File No.: BPED-19960229MA Facility ID number: 79359
CDBS Application ID No.: 590140

32° 24' 54.00" N Latitude Site in Mexican Border Zone
110° 42' 56.00" W Longitude (NAD 27) Distance to Border: 120.0 km

Polarization: Horizontal Vertical
Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 0.16 0.16 kW ERP
Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 1083. 1083. meters HAAT
Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 2630. 2630. meters AMSL
Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 41. 41. meters AGL


Non-Directional Antenna ID No.: - Pattern Rotation: 0.00


Additional Individual Tower Information from the Antenna Structure Registration database.
(Use the Registration Number link for detailed information.)

ASRN
Site
Elevation
(meters) Overall Height
Above Ground
(meters) Overall Height
Above Mean Sea
Level (meters) NAD 83 Tower Coordinates
----------------------------------------------- Convert to
NAD 27
Latitude Longitude
1002407 2589.2 66.1 2655.4 N 32° 24' 54.0" W 110° 42' 57.9" To NAD27

Source: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html
 
Re: Fibbing for Jesus: yes and here's why...

> Amen.
>
As if the four other places you can pick them up on the dial are not enough. The sum total of them is easily over 50 kilocycles
 
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