New Sports Parking Lot

[xmtrland]

I'm lucky that all the AM stations I have to worry about are all located within 6 miles. None switch at the same exact time. They all switch within 5 minutes unless the remote control craps out. I know here on Vashon it seems that the north end of the Island runs about 5 minutes faster than the south end. This got me realizing, there some locations that can be a few miles apart but have different mode change times. Might make a good thread, the two closes sites with different mode/switch times.

I recently had to upgrade the outdoor lighting controls at home and now using internet connected plugs and bulbs that control the on and off as determined by sunset. The lights seem to now drift over the month to actually track the sunrise and sunset.

Maybe they could not find an old lamp timer and are using one that drifts the time over the month.

My dogs are great time references, their tummy timers go off at the same time every day when it's time eat.

 

[EricStein]

The seller of KHEP, Gabrielle Broadcasting, has filed with the FCC to change to remain a Class B station, but run only 700 watts from the KXEG tower at night. If approved, this should help them cover west Phoenix and parts of Glendale during nighttime hours.

 

[asugeorge1]

The seller of KHEP, Gabrielle Broadcasting, has filed with the FCC to change to remain a Class B station, but run only 700 watts from the KXEG tower at night. If approved, this should help them cover west Phoenix and parts of Glendale during nighttime hours.

Wow, 1580 KHEP-AM has made a lot of FCC filings these past few months. They can't seem to make up their mind on what kind of station they want to be.

If they stay as a Class B station, wouldn't they have to cover their city of license (Tempe)? And would 700 watts of night-time power be enough to cover Tempe all the way from Maryvale?

 

[KeithE4]

If they stay as a Class B station, wouldn't they have to cover their city of license (Tempe)? And would 700 watts of night-time power be enough to cover Tempe all the way from Maryvale?

From roughly 38th Ave. & Indian School, it should be doable, at least on the west side of Tempe. Probably not in the areas south of Baseline, however. We'll have to see.

KDUS runs 500 watts at night and doesn't cover the entire city of Tempe, its own COL. It disappears at Elliot Rd, just one mile south of the towers. It covers most of the city, but not all of it. Apparently, that's OK as long as part of the COL is covered.

 

[KeithE4]

The seller of KHEP, Gabrielle Broadcasting, has filed with the FCC to change to remain a Class B station, but run only 700 watts from the KXEG tower at night. If approved, this should help them cover west Phoenix and parts of Glendale during nighttime hours.

If they could run 12 kW ND from Mesa when the 6th tower fell, I wonder why they can't run at least close to that power from west Phoenix?

 

[davideduardo]

If they could run 12 kW ND from Mesa when the 6th tower fell, I wonder why they can't run at least close to that power from west Phoenix?

I don't know how they got the 12 kw ND-N even then. They have severe protection requirement for Mexico, as well as for the LA station.

 

[EricStein]

I don't know how they got the 12 kw ND-N even then. They have severe protection requirement for Mexico, as well as for the LA station.

They could probably go 12kW using the three towers of 1360 KPXQ (with nulls toward L.A. and Mexico) and cover Tempe as a split-site operation (remember, CRC pays rent to Salem to run KFNN from the KKNT towers). But, do they really want the extra expense when AM listening is declining?

 

[davideduardo]

They could probably go 12kW using the three towers of 1360 KPXQ (with nulls toward L.A. and Mexico) and cover Tempe as a split-site operation (remember, CRC pays rent to Salem to run KFNN from the KKNT towers). But, do they really want the extra expense when AM listening is declining?

You are right about the expense. But it is fun to speculate.

I think the issue is that 1580 is a Mexican (former) 1-B clear and US operations have to protect the entire Mexican border as Mexico can use the assignment anywhere in the country. So any new location in PHX would be unable to send much signal anywhere from SSW to almost due East.

 

[DrAkbar]

I don't know how they got the 12 kw ND-N even then. They have severe protection requirement for Mexico, as well as for the LA station.

One of the six towers used at night fell and Disney received an STA for 25% of their licensed day power of 50kw, thus the 12kw non-D. Can't run forever on an STA, so the new owner (Gabrielle) had plans for the prime acreage in Mesa. He was running a Bible thumper out of Maryvale and figured he could move the transmitter there, diplex it and run 50kw day. By downgrading to Class D, he could go non-D at night with 95 watts and not worry about coverage in the city of license, Tempe.

Then comes along a savvy buyer (CRC) who probably wasn't too excited by the new night coverage and a second engineering study was commissioned by Gabrielle. Guess what? Someone at Vir James figured they could run 700 watts at night and still be non-D. The interesting twist is the station wants to revert to Class B status. (all of this is transpiring while CRC is doing an LMA with Gabrielle)

And the plot may thicken. Will the lone objector to 15~Eighty going from 50kw nights to 95 watts resurface? Any application is fair game, so time will tell if the PhD candidate makes this topic even more interesting!

 

[CAVEMANager]

Might as well add a comment about 1580 covering most of Arizona. In Tucson KNST-790 has a strong second harmonic on 1580 and that could cause a problem. Also my belief is that the dominant station on 1580, XEDM in Hermosillo, has been off the air for some time. The treaty with Mexico may require protecting the border but if XEDM is going to be off the air indefinitely the Mexican government might be persuaded to allow the new sports station to send some power to the south.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Might as well add a comment about 1580 covering most of Arizona. In Tucson KNST-790 has a strong second harmonic on 1580 and that could cause a problem. Also my belief is that the dominant station on 1580, XEDM in Hermosillo, has been off the air for some time. The treaty with Mexico may require protecting the border but if XEDM is going to be off the air indefinitely the Mexican government might be persuaded to allow the new sports station to send some power to the south.

It's not "off the air for some time", it's AM-FM migrated. It's now XHDM-FM 102.7.

I could see the modification, but that requires modifying international treaties. It's especially plausible for Mexico now that they held an auction with AM frequencies that basically were reclaimed from migrants. They put up 66 stations. 35 received no interest whatsoever. Of the 31 stations that did get bids, 14 stations (including 650 Hermosillo) went to a company whose sole current purpose is to sell vacations (what a waste that's going to be). Two were AM-FM migrants that proceeded to cheaply buy back the AM frequency (XEMU Piedras Negras and XEEL Fresnillo). The rest went to a variety of bidders, only a handful of whom also sniffed at FMs.

 

[davideduardo]

Might as well add a comment about 1580 covering most of Arizona. In Tucson KNST-790 has a strong second harmonic on 1580 and that could cause a problem. Also my belief is that the dominant station on 1580, XEDM in Hermosillo, has been off the air for some time. The treaty with Mexico may require protecting the border but if XEDM is going to be off the air indefinitely the Mexican government might be persuaded to allow the new sports station to send some power to the south.

Something tells me that Mexico is not going to graciously give up their right to a clear channel, even if no broadcaster really wants to use the channel. And if AMLO wins next year as the polls indicate, it is even less likely that Mexico will give up even a tidbit of its national patrimony.

 

[DrAkbar]

The Nurse and I would like to know how the first Consulting Engineer missed the 700 watt night power possibility the second CE presents. Hmmmm...that's over 7 times more juice than the 95 watts the FCC accepted. Because Class D's are maxed at 250 watts for nighttime service, 15~Eighty has to request a return to Class B status. So What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a goin' on with these C.E.s?

 

[KeithE4]

Something tells me that Mexico is not going to graciously give up their right to a clear channel, even if no broadcaster really wants to use the channel. And if AMLO wins next year as the polls indicate, it is even less likely that Mexico will give up even a tidbit of its national patrimony.

Since 1580 was allocated to Mexico by NARBA in 1941, I wouldn't think they have to for any reason. But they can put a station on that frequency anywhere in the country, as they see fit, not just in Hermosillo, right?

 

[davideduardo]

Since 1580 was allocated to Mexico by NARBA in 1941, I wouldn't think they have to for any reason. But they can put a station on that frequency anywhere in the country, as they see fit, not just in Hermosillo, right?

The original NARBA allocation is for a clear channel on 1580. As such, it is portable. There would be a question as to whether any later Comisión Mixta agreements modify that status.

 

[asugeorge1]

Today sign-off and power down for 1580 the Fanatic was pushed back some with a sign-off time of 6:37 P.M. so apparently the station is all over the map when it comes to signing off at the correct time.

Going back to a previous point someone made about amending the treaty with Mexico to get 1580 some more power, that seems like a waste of time and money for such a high dial positioned station. I agree with David, why would Mexico just give it up?

Instead, anyone with some serious money wanting to improve Phoenix AM stations signal strength should look lower on the dial. IMO, the best stations to try to increase their power and not interfere with a clear-channel allocated station is 550 KFYI-AM and 620 KTAR-AM. With regards to 550 KFYI, I heard on this discussion board that at one point back in the 40's or 50's, 550 KOY-AM had a chance to go 50,000 watts non-directional, but they didn't pursue it due to the relative small size of Phoenix at the time. With regards to 620 KTAR-AM, although they would have to do some directional antenna stuff to protect XESS-AM in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California and KPOJ-AM Portland, Oregon and KJOL-AM in Grand Junction, Colorado, that might be something to look at. KTAR-AM is the only Phoenix AM station that comes in with relative frequency at night in LA and Orange County (when XESS-AM is not interfering). Those low dial positions would help get their signal out further away with any increase in power than anything 1580 KHEP-AM could do. That's just my two cents worth!

 

[KeithE4]

Instead, anyone with some serious money wanting to improve Phoenix AM stations signal strength should look lower on the dial. IMO, the best stations to try to increase their power and not interfere with a clear-channel allocated station is 550 KFYI-AM and 620 KTAR-AM. With regards to 550 KFYI, I heard on this discussion board that at one point back in the 40's or 50's, 550 KOY-AM had a chance to go 50,000 watts non-directional, but they didn't pursue it due to the relative small size of Phoenix at the time. With regards to 620 KTAR-AM, although they would have to do some directional antenna stuff to protect XESS-AM in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California and KPOJ-AM Portland, Oregon and KJOL-AM in Grand Junction, Colorado, that might be something to look at. KTAR-AM is the only Phoenix AM station that comes in with relative frequency at night in LA and Orange County (when XESS-AM is not interfering). Those low dial positions would help get their signal out further away with any increase in power than anything 1580 KHEP-AM could do. That's just my two cents worth!

Given how far the Phoenix metro extends now -- all of Maricopa County plus the northern half of Pinal -- both could justify raising their power to 10 kW day and night, but not 50. Neither station covers the farthest regions of the metro at night with any kind of a decent signal, but neither runs local programming then, other than overflow sports PxP on 620. Except for those games, anything on 620 can be heard via the ESPN Radio app.

 

[DrAkbar]

Given how far the Phoenix metro extends now -- all of Maricopa County plus the northern half of Pinal -- both could justify raising their power to 10 kW day and night, but not 50.

In addition to the cost of raising power, both stations may face going directional daytime. 5~Fifty most likely at night, and 6~Twenty further directional at night. Both stations are currently non-D during the day. I ♥ Debt has no money, and TMISU are not known for throwing good money after bad.

Back to topic: when 15~Eighty was running 50kw at night, the major lobe of that signal headed southwest to Gila Bend, Yuma and traversed across Baja California Norte into El Pacifico. Did a fine job of covering Tempe, Guadalupe & Ahwatukee, but everything thing else was spotty due to multiple nulls. In most likelihood, The Fanatic will do better with 700 watts non-D, than Buck did with his 50kw night signal.

 

[Sammi Brie]

The high school bus has parked in the shiny new Sports Parking Lot.

KQFN has stolen most of the AIA programs that were on KTAR with games on the EVIT stations.

 

[KeithE4]

Back to topic: when 15~Eighty was running 50kw at night, the major lobe of that signal headed southwest to Gila Bend, Yuma and traversed across Baja California Norte into El Pacifico. Did a fine job of covering Tempe, Guadalupe & Ahwatukee, but everything thing else was spotty due to multiple nulls. In most likelihood, The Fanatic will do better with 700 watts non-D, than Buck did with his 50kw night signal.

They put a fantastic signal into Ahwatukee, Ajo, and Australia, but not Apache Junction, Alpine, or Ashfork.