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KFLZ-CA

A

Anonymouse

Guest
San Antonio Spanish Christian radio station KFLZ-CA 87.7 (Radio Oasis) is off the air. I can't find anything on their Facebook or website, but the stream's still on.
Also no word on the other Radio Oasis station (KYRQ 90.3, which has been off the air for over 6 months now.

Just a month ago we had three Spanish Christians here in town on FM, now the only one left is the 98.9 rimshot.
 
Anonymouse said:
Also no word on the other Radio Oasis station (KYRQ 90.3, which has been off the air for over 6 months now.
Click to expand...

Take a look and you'll find nothing in their application file about being silent, nor any admission of being off the air for more than 30 days during their term of license. Not surprisingly, the FCC gave them a rubber stamp renewal just last Friday.
 
They get away with it because no one takes the time to report the violation. The system does work when the offending station is reported to the appropriate field office. Happened just recently to a religious translator here in Houston.
 
I got word back about KFLZ today, they're "fixing it". When I asked if it would be the same format they didn't reply though.
 
KFLZ came back on the air today, same Radio Oasis format.
Except, now it's transmitting at 87.70 and not 87.75, at least according to my MP3 player. Tested it. Also it is in stereo now, and seems to come in a bit clearer. The audio quality on this thing sounds perfect!


Not sure if the TV side of the station is still up though.
 
fredcantu said:
I believe the TV side is a requirement even if it's a still image.
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Fred is (as usual!) correct: KFLZ-CA is, as far as the FCC is concerned, a TV station and must broadcast a video signal. A similar station in Anchorage, Alaska tried operating with only the audio signal and got cited for it.
 
I don't have an outdoor antenna to pick up the tv signal but my question is can they even do stereo on 87.7 or is that now because they might not be on tv?
 
TV stereo and FM stereo aren't the same animal. They can do stereo on Channel 6, but your radio won't pick it up.
 
The funny thing is last time I was able to get 87.75 at a clear signal to see if it was in stereo, it was actually transmitting a stereo signal but the programming on it was just mono. They should make use of the stereo if they're broadcasting in stereo.
 
Kent said:
TV stereo and FM stereo aren't the same animal. They can do stereo on Channel 6, but your radio won't pick it up.
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Huh that's interesting. What exactly do you mean by "radio won't pick it up" ? So how is it there is a stereo indicator lit up on the radio? Will it show stereo but just not be in stereo? Or are they broadcasting using an FM stereo transmitter and not a TV transmitter?
 
There are a couple of FM stations in the U.S. that (legally) operate on 87.9--KSFH in Mountain View, California, and K200AA in Sun Valley, Nevada. There have also been some TIS/HAR stations that have popped up in the frequency.

The FCC should go ahead and authorize FM stations on 87.7 and 87.9 in most of the country where there is no TV Channel 6. Most radios tune those frequencies anyway, so there is no barrier to implementation. Brazil now uses those two frequencies as well as 87.5, IIRC.

What really needs to happen is the expansion of the FM band down to 76 MHz.
 
Molon labe said:
Huh that's interesting. What exactly do you mean by "radio won't pick it up" ?
Click to expand...

As Fred mentions, you can pick up the audio, but it won't be in stereo. I'm not an engineer. So, I'm probably not explaining it very well, but MTS (Multichannel Television Sound) is what TV uses for stereo while FM stereo uses a sum (left channel plus right channel) and difference (left channel minus right channel) signal. A mono FM receiver will use the sum signal while a stereo receiver will use the difference signal to get the left channel and subtract it from the sum signal to derive the right channel. While MTS is a similar concept, the delivery system is slightly different. You have a sum channel and a difference subchannel used to derive a stereo signal. Your typical FM receiver doesn't get the stereo subchannel, which means you have a mono signal on your FM tuner.

So how is it there is a stereo indicator lit up on the radio? Will it show stereo but just not be in stereo? Or are they broadcasting using an FM stereo transmitter and not a TV transmitter?
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I've never seen a stereo indicator light up on a radio when listening to channel 6 audio. I would assume a broadcast on 87.7 that lights up the stereo indicator is broadcasting FM stereo on a TV frequency, which is illegal. However, I suppose your receiver could work differently than those I've seen, and, maybe, something like close proximity to the transmitter could be causing it to light up in stereo without actually receiving a stereo broadcast.
 
They're using an FM stereo signal, I'm sure of that. When it came back on the air it was actually at 87.7 on the dot, not 87.75. Now it's at 87.75 but it's still in stereo and all the radios I've tested it on say it is. I can also hear static sometimes as if it is in stereo.

My guess is they got a new FM stereo transmitter but I'm not sure if the TV side is up, don't have a TV antenna. Also the reception seems fairly better over here by Babcock and Huebner than it was a couple years ago.
 
Yeah I'm in Adkins right now and picking up 87.7 in full stereo crystal clear. It would seem that they are using a full power transmitter with a stereo encoder.
 
The standards for (analog) TV stereo and FM stereo are different, so a TV station broadcasting in stereo with the stereo TV standard will *not* light the stereo pilot on a FM radio, and will *not* be in stereo on a FM radio.

However... the FCC regulations for analog TV do NOT require the use of the TV stereo standard. It is perfectly legal for an analog TV station to broadcast its sound using the FM radio stereo standard. Furthermore, because of a loophole in the regulations it's legal for a LPTV station to modulate its audio 300% so that it will be of proper volume when received on a FM radio. (because the standard for analog TV audio modulation is 1/3 of that for analog FM radio)
 
dougw9wi said:
The standards for (analog) TV stereo and FM stereo are different, so a TV station broadcasting in stereo with the stereo TV standard will *not* light the stereo pilot on a FM radio, and will *not* be in stereo on a FM radio.

However... the FCC regulations for analog TV do NOT require the use of the TV stereo standard. It is perfectly legal for an analog TV station to broadcast its sound using the FM radio stereo standard. Furthermore, because of a loophole in the regulations it's legal for a LPTV station to modulate its audio 300% so that it will be of proper volume when received on a FM radio. (because the standard for analog TV audio modulation is 1/3 of that for analog FM radio)
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Including the 50kc kick over so radio will receive the station proper. Even with such a minor offset, most radios would receive the station and receive it in stereo, including digital tuners.
You'd think that the extra modulation would interfere with the video signal. That's 100kc more room the extra modulation would take.
 
As for the programming of KFLZ I've noticed them adding a lot more English Christian music especially at night. Perhaps they're trying to pick up more listeners/dollars with both languages? I can't imagine a Spanish Christian station doing terrific in ratings or donations (especially one with such a weak signal).
 
kc4rae said:
Including the 50kc kick over so radio will receive the station proper. Even with such a minor offset, most radios would receive the station and receive it in stereo, including digital tuners.
You'd think that the extra modulation would interfere with the video signal. That's 100kc more room the extra modulation would take.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's enough extra modulation to get in the way of the video. In any case, these stations are all about the audio. If there's audio interference to the video -- they really could care less.
 
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