> Is Am 830 actually
> moving to the Memphis area, or are they still haveing
> problems with the tower location and the city of license?
We don't know if it's coming yet.
The application is still pending at the Commission, so only time will tell. The application does show a transmitter site, so I don't know if that's a big issue.
10kw Daytime. Sounds religious to me.
> I am aware that a Texas businessman has the interests of
> building AM 1550 as a religious station. But just looking at
> this from a jocks standpoint, wouldnt it cost millions just
> to build the tower site and still have minimal coverage? I
> think the max you can run a station on that frequency is
> 1000 watts.
The application for Germantown is still pending, too. No CP yet. Applicant's name is BRET D. HUGGINS, who lives in San Antonio. His company, E-String Wireless, Ltd., is the applicant for several FM translators, mainly in the Plains States. I smell religion!
And, yes, it would cost a chunk to build this one out. Night is a 6-tower array, which, besides the engineering headaches, takes a bunch of real estate. Fortunately, it's high on the band, so the shorter towers take up a bit less space. 1/4 wave is only about 150' high. Radials to make a ground plane would be the same.
Now, as far as coverage. No, 1kw is not the cap on power on 1550. 1550 is a clear channel (note... not the proper noun!). 50kw is possible, if one can fit it in. In the past, there was a 50kw day/10kw night station in Jackson, MS on frequency (who remembers WOKJ, home of "Hillbilly Willy" in the late 1980s? Yeeee-haw.). It has faded, though, into the mists of radio history.
This application is for 2kw day, and 250w at night. So, the day signal will probably cover Memphis OK; nights will be a bit tough, outside the favorable lobe (which, with 6 towers, could be tight).
It may well be quite some time before 1550 gets on.
DE