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Improved AM Reception

T

trusty

So... you're the GM of an AM station in a market that has outgrown your signal. You want to be able to compete, especially at night, and you don't know what to do.

Then you think.... FM translators. Put them in 2 or 3 of the most lucratrive areas outside 285. They give you listeners and ad revenue, and you don't have to lease time on another station to get there.

Has anyone in Atlanta (or any market) done this with success?
 
Up until now that has not been an available option. Translators not allowed for AM stations. Then in recent months a broadcaster in SC and one in TN were given some kind of "special dispensation".

Is this a new direction? Is this an experiment?

Stay tuned.
 
and the TN station is WGNS...licensed to Murfreesboro (a Nashville 'burb)...
Rutherford County is one of the fastest-growinp areas in the US.

WGNS programs totally to Rutherford County...resisting the temptation to try and
be a Nashville station: being on 1450...that's a good move...and they've been doing
very well for many years. BTW...the translators are NOT heard outside of Rutherford County,
but gives WGNS a real signal (especially at night, when 1450 fades into the roar)

here's their link: http://www.1450wgns.com/index.htm
 
There are 2 AMs in SC who are simucasting their programing on FM translators. As mentioned above WRHI/1340 in Rock Hill is one, the other is WDXY/1240 in Sumter. Both are using translators that were formerly used to rebroadcast other FM stations in the same station group. From a practical standpoint, it is doubtful thsi will happen on a widespread basis---it is VERY difficult to get a CP for a new translator, mainly due to the thousands of new applications filed by "religious" broadcasters. Do you think there is even one frequency open for a translator in the Atlanta area? I know there is not in Charlotte.
 
The translators seem to be very common among religious broadcasters. I understand that J 93.3 has several in the area and one in Sandy Springs in Cobb County.
 
>> The translators seem to be very common among religious broadcasters.

And these are translators repeating an FM signal. It has to really irritate a lot of small town AM daytimers that a religious station in Idaho or somewhere can get a translator frequency by the local AM can not.

First point: Many religious stations have translators for positive reasons. They want to "spread the message" and the translator brings the message to an area otherwise unreached.

Second point: There is a land-grab of sorts as religious broadcasters in some cases are simply grabbing all the open slots they can so that they will have some "assets" for sale or trade as the use of and need for religious channels morphs.

Third point: Part of this is a POLITICAL foray by religious broadcasters. They hate NPR and everything it stands for. In some cases they are simply "squatting" on spectrum to make sure it is not available for some local group to bring NPR to town.
 
A translator can not keep a new station from being licensed. Translators are a secondary service which can be put off the air by any full service allotment. This is not being done to keep NPR "out."
The "land-grab" explanation is correct. Many broadcasters, not just religious, made a big grab for spectrum. ClearChannel applied for hundreds, maybe thousands, of translator freqs.
Why not let the AM daytimers have a chance to use FM translators? That is a better idea than letting Calvery Chapel, or Radio Training Network have hundreds of them to do network programming.
Better yet.....turn off ALL the translators and re-license them as low power FMs.....and give AM daytimers a bias.
 
Moving signals out of the AM band is not improving AM reception, it's migrating AMers to new spectrum.
Improving AM reception means removing QRM and/or improving S/N ratio.
More people seem ready to give up and move out of AM.
If people value their noise-creating devices so much, they are the ones who made the choice.
They really don't seem to care that they ruin their own and others' AM reception.
It is the fault of the FCC that so many pt 15 non-complying devices were permitted.
 
Translators are not the answer

Poor ground conductivity hurt the AM band in the ATL. That's an unfortunate confluence of geology and geography. Sprawl is finishing the job. FM repeaters around the Perimeter (I-285) won't help.

Thanks to sprawl there's only one really viable AM signal in the ATL, WSB-750. It helps explain why the Braves and Falcons are heard on FM.
 
romer979fm said:
and the TN station is WGNS...licensed to Murfreesboro (a Nashville 'burb)...
Rutherford County is one of the fastest-growinp areas in the US.

WGNS programs totally to Rutherford County...resisting the temptation to try and
be a Nashville station: being on 1450...that's a good move...and they've been doing
very well for many years. BTW...the translators are NOT heard outside of Rutherford County,
but gives WGNS a real signal (especially at night, when 1450 fades into the roar)

here's their link: http://www.1450wgns.com/index.htm
Click to expand...

The two translators for WGNS 1450 are on the AM 1450's tower and have nearly identical coverage!
 
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