KRKO applies to increase day power to 50 kW

[DanStrassberg]

KRKO has been running 34 kW ND days from the tall tower at its new site. At night, KRKO runs 50 kW DA from the four towers at the site. Now, based on measurements that demonstrate that the official soil-condutivity map is optimistic, the station has applied to increase its day power from the tall tower to 50 kW. The increase, combined with the tall tower's high radiation efficiency, will give KRKO a daytime signal that would be adequate for a Class A AM, even though KRKO is a Class B.

 

[TowerLamp]

Kudos to Andy for having the guts to hang in there and make this happen. In an era when all have but written off AM radio it's good to see someone succeed. Now let's get that 1520 project on-line!

 

[Andrew Skotdal]

Dan, most people would never notice the KRKO efficiency meets the Class A threshold. I never expected anyone to pay attention to that...too bad we're not lower on the dial. Great observation.

TowerLamp, thanks. I agree about 1520. Hopefully that will be up by the end of the year - just waiting for the FCC at this point. It won't set any records, but for once we zero in on a final option for programming, I think it's going to work well as a local (not regional) signal - particularly in building penetration.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Dan, most people would never notice the KRKO efficiency meets the Class A threshold. I never expected anyone to pay attention to that...too bad we're not lower on the dial. Great observation.

Now, if you were to use that tower for 1520--even if only for the non-CH daytime hours--it would be even more efficient because of the shorter wavelength/higher frequency (and possibly because of the slightly oversized ground system). At 1520, the tower is just barely taller than 1/2 wavelength. I think the efficiency would work out to about 385 mV/m/kW @ 1 km.