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Multiple new LPFMs in the Houston/Conroe area

F

Frequency1

These LPFM stations have filed a license to cover their new operations:

KCVE-LP Conroe 107.3 CENTRO CRISTIANA DE VIDA ETERNA CONROE TEXAS Transmitter at 13276 Nicholson Road, Conroe
No call letters issues yet 102.5 Houston IGLESIA MUNDIAL DE ORACION INC Transmitter at 8838 Derington, Jersey Village
No call letters issues yet 102.5 Conroe MINISTERIO DE RESTAURACION CONROE TEXAS Transmitter at 13276 Nicholson Road, Conroe
No call letters issues yet 99.5 Houston CENTRO CRISTIANO MUNDIAL FE Y AMOR INC Transmitter at 2901 Frick Road, Houston
KCDF-LP 96.1 Houston CENTRO MUNDIAL DE FE INC. Transmitter at 19316 Belleau Wood Drive, Humble

Wonder if any of these really are on the air?
 
KCDF 96.1 is the Spanish language religious station that can be heard in the north part of Houston. It clashes with KBLT inside the Loop along I-10 and can be heard weakly at my Cy-Fair location. This one hit the air last year. Easier to hear with KIRP now gone. BTW the K241CO translator for KSHJ in Jersey Village is so puny that I doubt it is running its authorized 5 watts.

KCVE 107.3 Conroe has been on the air at least a year. I’ve heard it several times traveling I-45 in Montgomery County. It is audible in the parking lot of The Woodlands Mall.

The 99.5 and 102.5 Houston LPFMs without call letters are NOT on the air. Both transmitter sites are within easy range of my location, so I would quickly discover them were they on the air. Currently K258BZ Radio Dabang on 99.5 puts in a listenable signal here, while 102.5 is a clash of KMAZ, the Bellville KULF translator, and (I think) K273AL in Humble which had been running ESPN Deportees; not sure what they are running now.

Don’t know about the 102.5 in Conroe, haven’t checked when in the area.
 
All these stations should be assigned the same frequency where their signals can overlap and interfere with one another. This is madness.
 
That's just it. They don't interfere (if operated at assigned power/height/location) or the FCC never would have issued a construction permit. The engineering section on the applications require a study and demonstration on paper using acknowledged software to demonstrate there will be no interference. If you can't prove this on paper, your application is dismissed.
 
Haha the unicorns in San Antonio haven't even filled up every channel, more channels for people like me to operate small units and fill the neighborhoods around town with music.
 
I suppose you must believe in unicorns if you believe the FCC approves applications that DO interfere. Now a station overpowering or not properly constructed is another thing entirely and there are certainly some out there that are doing one or both of those.
 
If the FCC checked on newly constructed licenses, we'd not have interference problems then I suppose.
 
KMAZ's range is pretty much restricted to inside The Loop with all the new stations that have popped up on 102.5. They used to be receivable out to the Beltway. Same story with KBLT, which would make it to 290 & Pinemont when it first went on. That range has been cut by two-thirds. The station endures signal clashes less than two miles from its transmitter.

The most egregious example is KOYM 99.7, which only goes about a mile and a half before being buried by KVST. Even KHGV on the southside suffers from KVST.

Much of the overlap, though, is in areas beyond the effective coverage area for many of these stations. "Normal" listeners wouldn't bother with them. Still, it's a mess.

The FM band is badly overcrowded. And the opportunity to expand it down to 76 MHz (which should have been initiated 25 years ago when the digital TV switchover was being formulated) has now passed. With the trend towards online streaming on smartphones, the relevance of FM is beginning to fade away.
 
The FM band can never be extended below 88 megahertz because television is there and will always be there.. even now some stations are repacking down to low band in anticipation of version 3 of ATSC.. which will make low band television usable again..
 
The FCC doesn't permit interference WITHIN A STATION'S PROTECTED CONTOUR. In this part of the country, that means that stations are supposed to be protected within their 60 dbu contour. (California and the area east of the Mississippi work with less powerful FM stations, but they are protected out to their 54 dbu contours.) Since most car radios can receive a very clear signal out to the 50 dbu contour or farther, that means that a very large peripheral area of listenership is NOT protected...even when everyone plays by the rules.

Interference is not really an issue for 2nd or 3rd adjacent stations. It is generally a modest issue for 1st adjacent stations even if they watch their modulation. But for co-channel facilities, the interference can be horrible! The FCC rules are very, very inadequate regarding stations on the same frequency, and the rules allow for a great deal of real-world interference. And we don't even get the brunt of this problem since we are on the coastal plain where the simple methods used for calculating FCC contours are fairly useful. In rolling hills or rugged terrain, Longley-rice is a better predictor of interference, which can occur in patchy areas, but which may indeed trouble many listeners. And that doesn't even consider the issues related to HD radio sidebands, etc.

There are a few new considerations/procedures the FCC uses to mitigate some of these problems, but they may be hard to apply since they depend on complaints from listeners who cannot adequately hear the station that is receiving interference, etc.

But even within the rules, many stations (especially rimshot stations) can suffer serious interference.

It is a shame that TV repack didn't open up anything below 88.1, but the FCC is more focused on money derived from the sale of bandwidth than on protecting FM...let alone improving FM.
 
DJ the DJ - Excellent review on what is protected, what's not, and why stations may interfere, but still be in compliance. Unfortunately, there are too many LPFMs and translators that purposely exceed their licensed power and intrude on other stations' protected contours. The FCC created a monster in allowing so many tiny signals as it can't keep up with their proliferation.
 
I'm all up for lower power, especially these days when not so many people listen to radio, and even less people listen to AM than FM. Think of it, why would a 50 KW AM run all night when most people who prefer higher quality would listen to the FM translator it might have? I'd surely listen to the FM unless I was a DXer.
Also I've heard of so many stations in smaller towns running with so much power and covering only cows and horses, like KLMO in San Antonio.
 
AnyHuman said:
I'm all up for lower power, especially these days when not so many people listen to radio, and even less people listen to AM than FM. Think of it, why would a 50 KW AM run all night when most people who prefer higher quality would listen to the FM translator it might have? I'd surely listen to the FM unless I was a DXer.
Also I've heard of so many stations in smaller towns running with so much power and covering only cows and horses, like KLMO in San Antonio.
Click to expand...

Read this before you say "not so many people listen to radio"...

Nielsen.jpg
 
stan said:
David, you would agree that in most of the cases you cited, AM is not the band of choice?
Click to expand...

Definitely. In most markets, the listening to AM by those under 50 is down to well under 10%.
 
Somewhat of an update: Although they do not appear to be on the air yet, a couple of new Houston area LPFMs now have call letters:

99.5 in NW Harris County will be KOHV-LP
102.5 also in NW Harris County will be KJFI-LP

Also the new 102.5 in Conroe is KJHJ-LP

All apparently are, or will be, Spanish language religious formats.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Somewhat of an update: Although they do not appear to be on the air yet, a couple of new Houston area LPFMs now have call letters:

99.5 in NW Harris County will be KOHV-LP
102.5 also in NW Harris County will be KJFI-LP

Also the new 102.5 in Conroe is KJHJ-LP

All apparently are, or will be, Spanish language religious formats.
Click to expand...


I think the new 99.5 will also transmit Radio Dabang,

The other 102.5 will also be ESPN DEPORTES.
 
Mrtejano said:
I think the new 99.5 will also transmit Radio Dabang,

The other 102.5 will also be ESPN DEPORTES.
Click to expand...

Wrong on both counts, as you are confusing them with translators on those frequencies, or are just guessing.

Radio Dabang is a commercial station. LPFMs have to be non-comms (although some push the envelope on that.) Same with ESPN Deportes. And perhaps you are not aware that the ESPN Deportes network is shutting down in September?

It’s almost a certainty that KOHV, KJHJ and KJFI will be Spanish language religious.
 
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