Is WCHE broadcasting before sunrise and after sunset legally?

[drfent]

1520AM WCHE in West Chester has been signing on at 6:43AM and signing off at 5:06PM. According to the FCC’s website, WCHE is supposed to sign on at 7:15AM and sign off at 4:45PM in December. Other daytime stations in the area such as WWDB, WNWR and WPHE sign on and sign off at the exact times required by the FCC. You can practically set your watch by them. Does anyone know if WCHE has obtained special permission to broadcast before sunrise and after sunset by the FCC?

 

[rtetro]

According to their authorizations on the FCC's CDBS, WCHE has neither pre-sunrise nor post-sunset authority due to protection requirements to WWKB. Furthermore, they must reduce nominal power from 1.0kw to 0.8kw during critical hours.

I do not know what the exact sunrise and sunset times are in their case, but 5:06PM would seem a bit late for December. (For instance, I go to night mode on WNTP and WFIL at 4:30PM this month). That being said, I have seen in the past that times on the FCC website do not always agree with what is actually specifiied on the license.

 

[DG02816]

I would think the sign-on/off times would be pretty much what Rene stated. We drop to our 6 watt night power at WVCH at 4:45 pm. Back to 1 kW day power at 7:15 am. WCHE and WWKB have an even bigger problem: During the winter months starting late in critical hours, a LOUD 1 kHz tone sometimes overrides 1520, making it unreadable. This tone is the heterodyne, or beat note, from a station in Saudi Arabia on 1521 kHz, operating with 2000 kW of power. We're hearing this in the US off the back of a 4 tower cardioid. Field strength in the main lobe must be eye-popping....

 

[DanStrassberg]

This tone is the heterodyne, or beat note, from a station in Saudi Arabia on 1521 kHz, operating with 2000 kW of power. We're hearing this in the US off the back of a 4 tower cardioid. Field strength in the main lobe must be eye-popping....

You sure it isn't off the FRONT of the four-tower array and traveling 2/3 of the way around the earth to reach PA? I don't know how many reflections off the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the ionosphere that would take, but when you consider the front-to-back ratios of a lot of four-tower cardioids, it seems at least worthy of consideration With 1520s on the west coast and the other Class A in OK, it would be interesting to hear reports from areas west of Buffalo. Maybe Riad (or wherever) is blanketing all of North America.

 

[DG02816]

Dan,
That could be...1521 is in the town of Duba, on the coast, and according to Dave Hultsman of Continental Electronics,which installed it, the lobe is aimed southeast to cover the country.

 

[Lowtone]

I happen to hear this station this morning they stepped on WWKB at 6:45am. When I got into the office I went to the FCC website and sure enough they are suppose to sign on 7:15 am. Who is responsible for this ,the morning guy? Well I'm sure if his name was Howard Stern the FCC would be all over him .Lets see if they sign off on time as Drfent says they been signing off at 5:06pm,The FCC says 4:45pm. Are these guys at WCHE really above the FCC?

 

[DaveWilliams]

Sign on/sign off times vary station to station, I've have seen instances where they have varied as much as 30 minutes in the same market. Many years ago, WTUX Wilmington had one month where their sign off was 30 minutes later then the sign off of WNRK Newark, maybe 10 miles away. Then how about the stations who ran their full daytime power for the Friday night high school football games? And another example, 1560 in New York and 1530 Cincinnati go to night pattern at sunset in California! It all depends on what the license specifies for the station.

 

[satech]

It all depends on what the license specifies for the station.

The FCC says the "approximate" sunrise and sunset times for WCHE in December are 7:15 AM and 4:45 PM EST, respectively:

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=71279

 

[Lowtone]

Big Differance with 6:45am and 7:15am, Satech.Don't you agree?

 

[wcradio2]

I think you mean 'difference' Lowtone.

 

[RandyDascher]

I worked at WCHE from 2003 till 2009 so perhaps I can shed some light on this. I don’t know if they have recently been granted a PSRA or a PSSA. When I was there, I think we tried to get them but we were denied, so the sign on/off times for December were 7:15AM and 4:45PM. I believe the reason they are called “approximate times” is because sunrise on the 1st of the month, and sunrise on the 30th of the month, can be quite different. I’m pretty sure the sign on/off times are derived from the middle of the month, such as the 15th day, and then rounded off to the nearest quarter hour.

It was impossible to do a morning show all year round from 7AM-10AM because during part of March, October and December we had to wait until 7:15AM to turn on the transmitter, and in January we had to wait until 7:30AM to turn it on. Also, the signal at that time was so weak that the topic of most callers was how they couldn’t hear us over WWKB. Eventually we moved the morning show to midday to avoid the poor reception.

Sunset. The daytimer’s arch enemy.

 

[DG02816]

Randy,
I have to agree. I can't tell you the number of calls I get at WVCH when we drop to our 6 watt night power, and people complain about hearing Toronto's CFZM instead. I imagine you also got calls about the loud 1 kHz whistle from the Saudi's 2000 kW monster on 1521. Sunset...the enemy of the Class D AM'er! If WCHE is indeed operating before sunrise and after sunset with no PSRA/PSSA, then they're illegal and could face a fine.

 

[wcradio2]

RD, I still like the idea of a set time. I believe you suggested, way back, a 6 to 6.
6am to 6pm. It'll never happen, to much paperwork and bs. But that would give the
old time day-timers a definite schedule to fill that stayed constant for all concerned parties.
Programmers, sales, and listeners.
As far as someone suggesting WCHE stepping all over WWKB at any point... bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha...

 

[MarcB]

I think it's all a bunch of BS.

In 2004 I did my own show on WXCT AM 990 in Southington, Connecticut on Fridays from 8PM-10PM. A timer automatically powered the station down to 80 watts and changed the pattern at 8:30PM in June and July and at 8:00PM in August. Fast forward to 2010 and they were powering down automatically at 7:30PM in June and July and 7:00PM in August. (On a side note, they're not powering down right now. - I think Mr. Tetro at WNTP in Philly needs to call Davidson's Corporate office again).

Anyway way back when George and Norma Stevens owned WXCT (then known as WNTY) sign on was at 6:00AM and sign off was at 8:30PM, running at full 2500 watts. On Fridays when they carried Southington High School Football they'd sign off immediately following the conclusion of the game - 9:45PM for example. They also used to carry Minor League Baseball first the now-defunct New Haven Ravens and then The New Britain Rockcats. Sign off would be immediately following the conclusion of the game once around 10:47PM.

 

[Lowtone]

As far as someone suggesting WCHE stepping all over WWKB at any point... bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha...
I perfer listening Randi Rhodes during my drive home.And since WWKB is 50K watts out of NewYork its possible to hear them in chester county. I'm sure if I was in New York WCHE wouldn't be stepping on them.Correct me if I'm wrong since you seem to enjoy correcting my grammer.I perfer Randi Rhodes after sunset rather then wche info commercials about colen clens.It is after sunset after all when WCHE is suppose to be off
Failed the spelling Bee ,Lowtone

 

[HadYourPhil]

Ahh... The non-existent "football exemption".

 

[wcradio2]

... it's grammar...

 

[DanStrassberg]

I worked at WCHE from 2003 till 2009 so perhaps I can shed some light on this. I don’t know if they have recently been granted a PSRA or a PSSA.

As far as I know, since WCHE is east of WWKB, WCHE qualifies for a PSSA but not for a PSRA, A Class D AM that is co-channel with a Class A and is located within the Class A's protected 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave contour is not entitled to a PSRA, but it may (and most do) sign on at its own local sunrise notwithstanding that, technically, it interferes with the Class A's service within the Class A's protected skywave contour. Since the Class A's skywave is not protected until sunset at the Class A, the Class D, with a PSSA, can remain on the air at drastically reduced power from its own local sunset until the Class A's sunset. During most months, sunset in Buffalo is probably 1/2 hour later than sunset in Chester. So a PSSA would allow WCHE to remain on the for about 1/2 hour after the time it apparently signs off at present. The question is whether it would be useful to anyone for WCHE to do so. Even though it is technically daytime in Buffalo during that half hour, WWKB's skywave must be HUGE in eastern PA and WCHE would be lucky to be allowed more than about 3W during that half hour. The good news, such as it is, is that, FWIW, WCHE probably could operate ND with those 3W Quite likely, however, that someone standing with a portable radio on WCHE's ground radials would get WWKB a lot better than he could get WCHE.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Trying to delete the duplicate copy of my message.

 

[Lowtone]

It'll never happen, to much paperwork and bs.


I think you mean Too much paperwork and bs.