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Question about WGMR

O

observationguy

Guest
Everyone here refers to WGMR as 50,000 watts. The sales staff also says it is 50,000 watts, however radio-locator.com and fcc.gov both list it as 8,500 watts. I know that elevation has something to do with it possibly but the 'real' 50,000 watters are listed as such. Is WGMR really 50,000 or not?
 
I would have that helicopter that is going to do the Penn State traffic reports fly over the tower site and see what the hell is going on!
 
8,500 watts is correct, but the elevation of the tower on Rattlesnake Mountain gives it a coverage area of 50K.
 
John Harlow said:
8,500 watts is correct, but the elevation of the tower on Rattlesnake Mountain gives it a coverage area of 50K.
Click to expand...

Correct. Transmitter output power is not the same as effective radiated power. This is determined by a value of the transmitter power output (TPO) versus the antenna's height above average terrain. The usual Class B power output is 50,000 watts vs. a 500 foot HAAT antenna. When you raise the antenna height, power must be reduced commensurately.

Hope that answers your question.
 
Thanks, but it does not completely explain it. Other stations with an ERP of 50,000 will still have 50,000 documented on the fcc data. IE WFGY shows 30,000 and WRKW shows 50,000. These stations also have high elevations yet have the ERP on the license, not the TPO. I'm confused.
 
observationguy said:
Thanks, but it does not completely explain it. Other stations with an ERP of 50,000 will still have 50,000 documented on the fcc data. IE WFGY shows 30,000 and WRKW shows 50,000. These stations also have high elevations yet have the ERP on the license, not the TPO. I'm confused.
Click to expand...

You're getting ELEVATION and HAAT (Height above average terrain) confused. HAAT measures the
height of the antenna over the average altitude of the land within the service area of the facility.
For example, the average altitude of the land around Denver Colorado is around 5000 feet... quite
high by our PA standards. ELEVATION is simply the height above sea level, which is meaningless
when calculating a facility service area in a particular location.

WRKW is licensed at 152 Meters HAAT. WGMR is licensed at 357 Meters HAAT. Therefore,
WGMR's antenna is in a much higher location as compared to the land in the area that is services.

Here's a web page that will help you understand this better:

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/fmpower.html
 
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