I have often wondered why the four Class A FM's on Baldwin Hills 93.5, 102.3, 103.1, and 103.9 don't have translators to serve the southern portion of the SFV. If it wasn't for the Hollywood Hills and Santa Monica Mountains, those four FM's would be putting 60dBuV/M in the southern portion of the valley. Just curious.
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FM's on Baldwin Hills
- Thread starter blindowl
- Start date
You would need to make a translator appear on a frequency that is properly spaced with the full-powered stations in the market and there aren't any.
If you mean an on-channel booster, none of those stations contours make it over the Hollywood Hills into the valley. A booster cannot extend the coverage of a main station, only fill in holes in its protected contour.
If you mean an on-channel booster, none of those stations contours make it over the Hollywood Hills into the valley. A booster cannot extend the coverage of a main station, only fill in holes in its protected contour.
Thank you lanceventa.
Lance is correct. Hollywood Hills block line of sight from Baldwin Hills to the San Fernando Valley. This is reflected in the FCC curve contours of Baldwin Hills stations, and a translators or booster for San Fernando Valley would not have useful FCC curve coverage.
I suppose the next question is why Baldwin Hills stations don't relocate to towers on the Hollywood Hills? If FCC rules permit it, they could. But then the effective radiated power would be greatly reduced (to not exceed a Class A facility) and this would lead to performance anxiety about penetration and having a tiny ERP.
Right now, the stations have the comfort of been 6 KW (or close to it) and a strong signal in West LA.
Baldwin Hills stations probably have more signal strength in the Hollywood to Santa Monica corridor than Mount Wilson stations.
And Mount Wilson stations are shadowed in this area from a line tangent to Verdugo and Hollywood Hills.
This means that at some point north of I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) Mount Wilson stations turn into multipath (in analog FM).
Baldwin Hills stations have multipath there as well from the signal reflecting back from Hollywood Hills.
Up in the Hollywood Hills (south side) analog reception of Mount Wilson stations is filled with multipath. With a portable radio, on some days San Diego stations came in better than Mount Wilson stations. This is mitigated by the jaw-dropping million-dollar view enjoyed by some in the Hollywood Hills on clear days.
If you go up to Mount Wilson on a clear day, you will be amazed and humbled by the clear view to millions of people, then you will be shocked at the brutal terrain blockage to areas of significance, also containing millions of people.
All of this is well known to engineers in LA.
Apart from the radio facilities, an interesting thing about Baldwin Hills is the presence of operating oil wells (at least in the 1990's when I was in the area).
I suppose the next question is why Baldwin Hills stations don't relocate to towers on the Hollywood Hills? If FCC rules permit it, they could. But then the effective radiated power would be greatly reduced (to not exceed a Class A facility) and this would lead to performance anxiety about penetration and having a tiny ERP.
Right now, the stations have the comfort of been 6 KW (or close to it) and a strong signal in West LA.
Baldwin Hills stations probably have more signal strength in the Hollywood to Santa Monica corridor than Mount Wilson stations.
And Mount Wilson stations are shadowed in this area from a line tangent to Verdugo and Hollywood Hills.
This means that at some point north of I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) Mount Wilson stations turn into multipath (in analog FM).
Baldwin Hills stations have multipath there as well from the signal reflecting back from Hollywood Hills.
Up in the Hollywood Hills (south side) analog reception of Mount Wilson stations is filled with multipath. With a portable radio, on some days San Diego stations came in better than Mount Wilson stations. This is mitigated by the jaw-dropping million-dollar view enjoyed by some in the Hollywood Hills on clear days.
If you go up to Mount Wilson on a clear day, you will be amazed and humbled by the clear view to millions of people, then you will be shocked at the brutal terrain blockage to areas of significance, also containing millions of people.
All of this is well known to engineers in LA.
Apart from the radio facilities, an interesting thing about Baldwin Hills is the presence of operating oil wells (at least in the 1990's when I was in the area).
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