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Need Help in Filing a Complaint

T

thelight1530

I need to file a complaint about a station that is interfering with our signal. I do not think the station is interfering on purpose, however, their signal is interfering with our signal in a city which provides most of our income. Here is my question - what should I include in the letter to the FCC? What exhibits should I include? What if any information do I include about our station?
If you have ideas about this situation, I would appreciate your input.

Info - this station interferes with our signal at the time we both go to high power and then again appox. 2 hrs before PSSA kicks in.

Thanks
 
Have you contacted the offending station? Have they checked to make sure everthing on their end is working correctly? (Seems like it would be the Christian thing, the neighborly thing to do.)

Is everything on your end in order? If the FCC responds to a complaint from you, they may check both the other stations operation and they may check YOUR STATION'S OPERATION.

Is this a serious enough sitution that you are willing to pay your own communications attorney a fee to write the letter for you. That may get more attention from the FCC that what you write.

Have you gotten advice from an engineer who has been through this before. He/she may have some seasoned advice on what level of interference is just normal skywave antics during the transition times, and what is unreasonable interference that should be stopped.
 
1) hire an engineer. If you do not have an engineer, stop and find one immediately. It is extremely reckless o operate without a competent engineer.

2) Have the engineer do an analysis of the signal form the other station. S/he should look at peak modulation (+ and -) and also look do a spectral analysis.

3) Have the engineer give you a written report (including a photo of the spectral analysis if it shows a problem.

4) CALL THE ENGINEER of the other station. Tell him/her that you are experiencing interference and that while you believe it is not intentional, that you have had your engineer do a study and it looks like "insert engineer's summary here". Be friendly and matter of fact. Politely ask when they expect to be able to confirm the problem and would they keep you informed.

There are more steps if this does not work, but odds are very good that this will solve your interference within a couple of weeks.
 
Make sure to get one with a field intensity meter or one that has access to one. Many AMs are bad about not switching patterns or powering down at the appropriate time. Take measurements a couple days in a row and document the location and readings along with the time they were taken. If you catch them in the act, so it's not just a mistake, call them up and politely ask for their engineer etc. Let them correct their problem before calling the dogs out on them. That's the best for both parties.
 
Before you file a complaint you have to make sure this is prohibitive overlap. From the time line you are describing the interference that is occuring sounds like skywave inerference. You have not provided any information as to what frequency you operate on, whether this is co channel or adjacent channel interference therefore making it nearly immpossible for anyone to give you accurate advice. One thing for sure is that you will need to prove the offending station is operating out of licensed parameters if you expect any FCC action. Ths can only be done by accurate signal measurements as was posted above.

I am guessing by your posting name that the station is a daytimer on 1530 KHZ with 2500 watts using an electrically short tower (56 degrees) effectivly equivilant to operating with 1000 watts into a quarterwave tower (90 degrees). If I have identified your station correctly I see there is a co channel station to the northwest of you that is licensed for 5kw daytime with a main lobe in you direction that is equivilent to about 15KW of signal. You are also on a clear channel that has 50 kw signal in Cincinnati (WCKY) that is non directional until sunset in California. The California station (KFBK) is also a 50 kw station that is non directional in the daytime. There is also a 50kw 1st adjacent that is fairly close too. Stations operating that high on the AM band can be subject to severe skywave interference for a couple of hours after sunrise and a couple of hours before sunset. This sounds like the exact phenomena you describe. IF this is your situation then it is what it is and you are out of luck as a daytimer you have no protection from skywave, but if not ignore my ramblings.

I have observed situations where stations receive skywave interference in sight of the tower. I'm sorry if this was not what you wanted to hear, but you can't change physics.

Good Luck
 
Could this situation possibly have started around March 9, 2009, or after June 11, 2008?? Without further information, and making my best guess from hundreds of miles away, I agree with the hypothesis from vacuum tube the most likely source of the interference you seem to be experiencing is the 5kw directional station to your NW. Skywave would appear to be the culprit, but if your answer to my question is "yes", then that particular station filed an STA on 3/9/09 stating that they "have experienced an unexplained shift in their operating parameters" meaning their pattern is out of whack. They also had an earlier STA on file 6/11/08 due to a newly contructed nearby tower messing up their pattern. Something is amiss, they know it and they are trying to fix it. PLEASE pick up the phone and call them before unleashing the hounds. Even a simple response to a complaint from the FCC will cost them $$$ in attorney fees. As Goat Rodeo Cowboy sez- seems like Christian thing to do. And someday the shoe may be on the other foot!
 
I don't suspect this is about the stations I mention, but I hear this very problem on 1530 here in Chicago.
WJJG in Elmhurst sounds fine until critical hours, then 1530 Cinncinatti, Ohio start to mangle them as badly as any stepped-on signal I've ever heard. It's 50/50 signal, and very hard to listen to. I suppose they sound fine IN Elmhurst, but environs don't get a clear signal.
I don't think I've ever heard them sign off, they're covered completely by then.
 
I know this probably won't make the original poster very happy, but after further review I think the interference complaint is unfounded. I stand by my skywave interference theory. The station in question, assuming correct identity, is a 2500 watt daytimer with a short tower and high dial position attempting to provide service to a larger community located about 20 miles east of the station. This would put the signal level at less than 1mv in the area they are complaining about interference. While this might provide a listenable signal under daylight groundwave conditions on a good receiver, but during critical hours after sunrise and before sunset it would be obliterated by skywave. To provide a listenable signal under these conditions you would probably need signal levels in the 5 to 10 mv range or more depending on skywave propagation. I really doubt the station to the northwest is a problem even if they are operating under an STA. If you read the STA's the problem was with a monitor point at 45 degrees in a null, all other points were in tolerance. Even if their DA was fouled up really bad, it would be unlikely to cause much more signal being directed towards the complaining station as this is only a two tower array and they are already in a major lobe of the pattern. You can only get so much gain from a two tower array and they are already in the lobe of the figure 8 pattern, now if they were in a null that would be a different story.
All of the above is based on skywave interference, now you may have a case for a complaint if it is a spur or harmonic of a local signal that is the offender. The best advice was for a competent engineer to analyze the situation to determine if there is prohibited interference.
 
Yep, "legal" interference can be devastating. When a new AM went on only 490 miles away that has a whopping 3500 mV/m @ 1km pointed at you daytime, even the 20 mV/m coverage area becomes a 50/50 mess in the morning for about an hour after they go to their daytime power/pattern. Then again in the evening about an hour before they go to their night pattern/power.
Only if you are a class A "clear channel" can you get a little relief from this problem.
 
Thank you guys for the responses, they have all been very helpful. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of you for taking the time to respond to my situation. I have read all of the responses and I am now looking at my options (although they are few). Again, thanks!
Jeff
 
I wish my input to you would have been more positive. It would be interesting to know if the interference is from a single station licensed to operate on your frequency. I understand not wanting to call someone out in a public arena such as this. I checked some more on this matter today while I had a moment and there MIGHT be a glimmer of hope for you. There are a few stations within about 500 miles of you that operate critical hours paramaters that reduce radiation towards you at about 6 to 10db (somewhat significant) less than their daytime authorization. There IS one station that is licensed to operated non directional daytime, but very directional critical hours. Their signal is reduced about 30db (very significant) in your direction. If one or more of these stations are switching to day power/pattern early or has a directional array severely out of tolerance, it could have an affect on your operation. If you can identify a station that is interfering on a regular basis, it might be worth a courtesy call to the engineer or manager. But be very careful in making false accusations. The only way to check for sure is to have someone to measure the signal strength of the suspected station during critical hours and then after sunrise. These measurements would have to be made in the local area (groundwave) of the suspected station.
If it is different staions or one of the class A stations, then it is probably skywave which you have no resolve other than to 1. see if a power increase is possible. 2. move transmitter closer to the area you want to serve or both. This also could involve a COL change.....all expensive.
Again I wish I could have a more optomistic view for you, but that's how I see it. I wish you well in your future operation....I still love AM radio and the little guys!
 
Also consider looking into a fm translator for your am. If you can figure out how to play that game you'll be better off all the way around. You'd have a good case to get a start for one as you have lost service. Ksky in Dallas is pulling a pretty interesting stunt in that they are on freqencies that weren't translators before, I believe. They are getting foriegn interference and the fm signals are to replace the lost coverage. Maybe you can build on that idea too, even though your problem is strictly domestic. Good luck!!
 
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