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KAAY to sport a whopping 80-watt night signal! (But it's non-directional)

NoMoreLurking

NoMoreLurking

Seen on American Bandscan -

KAAY 1090 requests removal of nighttime directional antenna & nighttime power reduction to 80 watts. To remain 50,000 watts during the day.

From FCC files, here's the proposed map of KAAY's amazing nighttime coverage:Screen Shot 2022-02-12 at 7.03.46 PM.jpg
Once this CP is built, people within the Little Rock city limits can be fairly confident that they won't be bothered at night by RF burns from the 1090 facility.
 
Wow. Now who will fill up the 1090 gap in the middle of the country?
By the way, I don't know what the ground Conductivity is like in Arkansas, but Local 1480 KRAE gets out surprisingly well with 72 watts at night.
 
WBAL Baltimore gets protections on 1090 so everyone else goes low power....

Does that proposed pattern even cover the city of license?

I guess that is going to save them a ton on the electric bill
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Wow. Now who will fill up the 1090 gap in the middle of the country?
Click to expand...

Probably nobody. The reality is that the cost of upgrading any signal on or to 1090 for a nighttime signal isn't worth the effort. The return just doesn't exist on an investment like that.

gr8oldies said:
That but don't count on preachers buying time.
Click to expand...

From what I can tell, KAAY isn't getting much, if anything, on its nighttime programming anyway. Most of its weeknight programming would seem to be repeats of its daytime schedule. I found two programs on its schedule that don't seem to run during the rest of the day, and at least one would appear to be donated airtime. The ministry's website doesn't even list KAAY as an affiliate.
 
At least at 80 watts KAAY can go off the air at sunset. If your power is under 249 watts, it's your option to use nighttime power. Considering so many stations lose money at night, this might save this once legendary AM from the fate of so many AMs these days.
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Wow. Now who will fill up the 1090 gap in the middle of the country?
By the way, I don't know what the ground Conductivity is like in Arkansas, but Local 1480 KRAE gets out surprisingly well with 72 watts at night.
Click to expand...
With KAAY out of the way, there are a few possibilities for those in the middle of the country: WBAL, KMXA, XEPRS Tijuana...maybe even KFNQ Seattle with a good receiver. It'll probably depend on ionospheric conditions.

Here, XEPRS is dominant at night; KFNQ during greyline hours.
 
Were other stations complaining about the nighttime coverage with 12,500 omni watts? I reported on the DX forum that I've heard them regularly the past month or so up here in Ohio and sometimes causing interference to WTAM.
Don't know if that played any kind of factor, or if KAAY is simply acknowledging that it's not worth the investment or return to have decent coverage at night.
 
schmave said:
Were other stations complaining about the nighttime coverage with 12,500 omni watts? I reported on the DX forum that I've heard them regularly the past month or so up here in Ohio and sometimes causing interference to WTAM.
Don't know if that played any kind of factor, or if KAAY is simply acknowledging that it's not worth the investment or return to have decent coverage at night.
Click to expand...
My guess is the FCC isn't going to permanently license facilities like the 12500 that can still cause interference to WBAL and others. KAAY will essentially be a 50000 watt daytimer
 
schmave said:
Were other stations complaining about the nighttime coverage with 12,500 omni watts? I reported on the DX forum that I've heard them regularly the past month or so up here in Ohio and sometimes causing interference to WTAM.
Don't know if that played any kind of factor, or if KAAY is simply acknowledging that it's not worth the investment or return to have decent coverage at night.
Click to expand...

Current FCC policy allows Stations with a DA to request an STA for up to 25 percent and operate ND.. thats an automatyic given, kinda.. unless there are complaints of interference. But that doesnt mean you'll get that permanently.

Theyre losing any grandfather status they had and they also now have to protect other stations and cause less.
 
I think this is a financial decision. Most all AM stations excepting a few, lose money at night. As a business owner would you prefer to burn through several thousand dollars each month and the upkeep dollars on the time of day revenue that does not exceed expenses or perhaps cut the expense and have the option versus requirement to be on the air during money losing hours. KAAY will be a daytimer.

If there were interference issues it would be known. Interference is allowed in areas where you have no right to a clear signal. If a station must be protected to point A and there is interference 100 miles further away at point B, it is 'accepted' by both stations and the FCC will say it is outside the protected coverage. If you think of radio stations as businesses, you realize they wouldn't care. The advertiser has no expectation of a listener in another state coming to their business and that listener is not counted in the ratings, so that distant listening area is of no monetary value to the station. Complaints cost money to even file (attorney & engineer), so why spend a few grand over a couple of listeners that neither increase the listening audience in the ratings or live close enough to shop with the advertisers.
 
b-turner said:
The advertiser has no expectation of a listener in another state coming to their business and that listener is not counted in the ratings, so that distant listening area is of no monetary value to the station. Complaints cost money to even file (attorney & engineer), so why spend a few grand over a couple of listeners that neither increase the listening audience in the ratings or live close enough to shop with the advertisers.
Click to expand...

But but but.. try and convince old radio guys and radio geeks of that who whine and moan over the lack of large skywave signals
 
As other posts have said, the bottom line here is return on investment. There are few AM's today worth spending significant money on to repair a directional pattern.
 
I wonder if they plan on selling the "back two thirds" of their site. If you look at the satellite picture:

www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com

There are some businesses close. Being Class D, they could just relocate and duplex on another AM's tower and sell the whole site. . The 50KW daytime should cover the City of License (Little Rock) easily.
 
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