RI front page.. Moving AM's to FM new extended band. Who would benefit?

[Kenny Atkinson]

From the front page of Radio Info who in this area would benefit if Am stations were forced to migrate to a new extended FM band?

I would assume. All of them would be able to bid on frequencies and power.Is this how they did it with TV?

How about this?

Your WALE's,WBLQ's and WARL's would have a prime opportunity to get a really powerful signal.


If this was going to happen in the next few years. Owning WALE would be at an advantage today if they were forced to migrate to FM.Just turn the transmitter on 1 day a year to keep the license active.

As for Dipaola in Westerly with 1230 this would put him in a good position too.


Thoughts.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

I imagine this would also benefit Hall (1340/1450), the evangelical church in Seekonk who owns "Shine 1220"....and especially RIPR, whose main signal is on 1290.

I love the idea of migrating AM's over to FM...but...76 to 88 MHz only give you an additional 60 channels. I'm not at all sure how you squeeze the many thousands of AM's in that limited amount of RF space. I suppose that's what the engineering types get paid for.

The only downside to this plan?....It would benefit Peter Arpin.

 

[fullabaloney]

Here we go with the weekly "I worked at WARL, they screwed me, and I'm still not over it yet" post. Do you see radio people who actually lost good jobs venting on here? No, it's only the ones who lost jobs they wouldn't take now if you begged them.

 

[VelvetR]

In Rhode Island some might benefit.

Elsewhere, in states of any geographic size, the net effect would be to deny ANY radio to immense areas. Face it, FM, even at high power, is line-of-sight. Build a tall enough tower and cover big areas. Throw in a few hills or mountains and big areas hear only silence.

Or satellite.

 

[MissAM]

Fullabaloney... Based upon my knowledge regarding WARL and Peter Arpin and Dighton Rockhead, and you supposition based upon fantasy... I must say, you are not only fullabaloney, but full of a lot of other stuff as well!

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

In the interests of full disclosure....in front of God and everybody......

I have never worked for Peter Arpin, whether it be at WARL, or any other station he's ever been involved with.

I just happen to know the sound of really bad radio when I hear it...and by extension....really bad ownership.

And brother......THIS IS IT ! ! !

 

[DG02816]

Dighton is correct in saying tne present 200 kHz spacing would yield only 60 channels. We could double it by going to 100 kHz spacing as in Europe.

 

[fullabaloney]

We know WARL is bad radio. We know WALE is bad radio. The unnatural obsession with these stations amazes me and can only come from people who have been burned by them in the past unless you think constantly driving it home that they do and always have sucked is going to make them change. It won't. They exist for the sole purpose of providing jobs for people who insist on working in radio in any capacity. You take a job there, you know it will end bad.

 

[MarcB]

Extending the FM band won't work period. They expanded the AM Band to 1700 in the 90s and it took a long time for manufacturers to make radios that went up to 1700. And further more no one is gonna go shell out money for a new radio to hear the expanded FM band, especially if their existing radios work fine. (just like with HD Radio). I bought a TV back in 05 and it still works fine so I never upgraded to an HDTV (even when I was working). Someday if I get a job and want a bigger TV I will buy one, but until then this one works fine.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

Extending the FM band won't work period. They expanded the AM Band to 1700 in the 90s and it took a long time for manufacturers to make radios that went up to 1700. And further more no one is gonna go shell out money for a new radio to hear the expanded FM band, especially if their existing radios work fine. (just like with HD Radio). I bought a TV back in 05 and it still works fine so I never upgraded to an HDTV (even when I was working). Someday if I get a job and want a bigger TV I will buy one, but until then this one works fine.

Piont well taken on your tv. But if you wanna watch ota you are forced to buy a new tuner.I would think the fcc would force manufactures to include the new band for future use.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

unnatural obsession

Unnatural obsession?...No.

Taking delight in pointing out the absurd, and laughing out loud?...YOU BET!

Let's face it. Operations like those love nothing better than to be able to go about thier business while 'flying under the radar screen'. What we do here is nothing more than shining the bright white light on the goings-on of cockroaches, snakes, and worms.

Will it make them go away?....No. But it makes some of us feel so much better!

AND NOW....back to the main point of the thread...

If one reads further down in the Radio-Info front page piece, FCC Commissioner Clyburn says that she's not asking for the Commission to move on the Ch. 5-6 idea today, but seemed to mention it only in the larger context of how RF spectrum could be better used to serve the needs of the 21st. Century.

MarcB's point about the old TV's is a great one. I also have older TV's that still work great....and although they no longer can get over-the-air TV, they still are perfectly useable with subscription services. Likewise....the majority of people out there feel the same way about thier home stereos and car radios.

Expanding the AM band to 1700 back in the 90's was a great idea.....but the goal of uncluttering the AM dial got subverted by stations who wanted to have 2 frequencies for as close to forever as possible.

Expanding the FM band could very well turn out the same way.

 

[Speaker of Truth]

If it costs money, and AM stations are ordered to make the leap whether they want to or not, what you could have are a host of signals being made avaliable for whatever the market will bear..which could mean some interesting local radio--or a lot of Religion and Spanish..

 

[rick1340]

i read that the same thing is going on in canada, not sure why this is happening. if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[w9wi]

i read that the same thing is going on in canada, not sure why this is happening. if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I don't know of any move to expand the FM band in Canada. (though of course if we do it here in the States they'll pretty much be forced to follow suit)

There are many Canadian AM stations moving to FM, but they're moving to the "regular" 88-108 band. There are some differences in policy up there which have made channels available for these moves. For one, they've been slower to license new stations, so unused FM frequencies have been available even in some substantial cities. (for example, there are still two 100,000-watt channels and a 50,000-watt channel available in Saskatoon) For another, they're willing to authorize stations at 600KHz separation -- the FCC requires 800KHz in the States. For example, in Calgary a 100,000-watt station has been authorized on 101.5, 600KHz from an existing 100,000-watt outlet on 102.1. That would not be allowed in the States.

 

[northwoods]

WARL is bad radio.

I don't listen to them (Online) on a regular basis, but I do make it a point to log on to the station (if I'm awake early enough since I work the overnight shift on Saturday nights) late Sunday mornings to listen to Guido and The Doo Woppers show. Other than that, there isn't any other reason for me to listen in.

 

[northwoods]

I bought a TV back in 05 and it still works fine so I never upgraded to an HDTV (even when I was working). Someday if I get a job and want a bigger TV I will buy one, but until then this one works fine.

I have the same TV that I bought in 96 and still continue to use it to this day since it still works fine. Once it goes, then I'll get a flat-screen TV. Till then, I keep what I have.