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San Diego/emergency alert stations

R

rdotinga

Hey folks,

I'm writing a story for Voice of San Diego (voiceofsandiego.org) about emergency preparedness and radio stations here in town.

One of the things i'm focusing on is how both the main emergency alert station (KOGO) and the backup (KLSD) are both Clear Channel and have transmitters near each other. If something were to knock them both out, the county would be up a creek.

Any of you have thoughts about this? Is it something worth worrying about? And how come other stations won't step up to be the backup? Seems like something KPBS or KFMB could do, but I hear it's an expensive and a hassle.

Also: What U.S. stations were able to stay on the air other than KOGO?

Thanks!

-Randy Dotinga
 
KFMB did return to the air after an hour. 1130, 1210 were on the air with carrier waves only; the studios lost power.

1170 KCBQ was the primary EBS (now EAS) at one time.

1360 is a poor choice for second because after sunset the reception sucks.

At one time the gummit would buy the generator; rules in today may have changed.

760 KFMB would be a good choice as it is 5kw day; 50kw night.

Reception in east county and north of Escondido on a majority stations from SD is iffy.

KOPA-FM's primary mission is to be a info for Pala. Nighttime 600, 1360 are lacking and 640 is for the LA area.
 
I wouldn't say the KOGO and KLSD transmitters are near each other. KOGO is in Emerald Hills and KLSD is in the armpit of Santee. I don't know about KLSD, but KOGO has full back up power that also runs KSON-FM and several other FM's. KSON-FM has back up studio power as well. Since I'm not there anymore, I'm not sure which other stations at Granite Ridge have backup power, but I would have to think most if not all.
 
RadeoEngineer said:
I wouldn't say the KOGO and KLSD transmitters are near each other. KOGO is in Emerald Hills and KLSD is in the armpit of Santee.
Click to expand...

KSDO-AM 1130 is in Santee. KLSD is north west of KOGO. I know it is confusing. As a resident of Santee near the lakes, I take a lot of heat of heat for living here. I really enjoy the suburban life; for me it is my present home.
 
For emergency alerting (e.g. Thunderstorms, Fires) NOAA radio (the poor stepchilld) also issues the alerts. The backup power for NOAA, I believe, is whatever the power for the station that the NOAA radio happens to be located on.
 
Media Hack Chris | SDR said:
RadeoEngineer said:
I wouldn't say the KOGO and KLSD transmitters are near each other. KOGO is in Emerald Hills and KLSD is in the armpit of Santee.
Click to expand...

KSDO-AM 1130 is in Santee. KLSD is north west of KOGO. I know it is confusing. As a resident of Santee near the lakes, I take a lot of heat of heat for living here. I really enjoy the suburban life; for me it is my present home.
Click to expand...

Ah, I stand (rarely) corrected.
 
Randy- All AM/FM/TV (and other services) are required to install and maintain EAS equipment and conduct regular
testing.Unless the FCC designates a particular station a non-participant,ANY broadcaster can/will be an emergency
provider.
 
The 600 and 1360 sites are pretty close to each other--perhaps a mile or so apart--
on either side of the Helix Freeway.

Get the coordinates from the FCC AM Query and plug 'em into Google Earth for a look.
 
Personally I think it would be a great idea for 760KFMB to be the LP-1 or 2. It has never made sense that KOGO and KPOP/KLSD being co-located at the same studio facility to be so vulnerable, and the transmitters are a little more than a kilometer apart. KFMB is in Santee, and fairly protected. The 760 signal is the best in SD. And it would help KFMB's image of being a news talk station.
 
Way back in the day when all of this started, nobody wanted the responsibility of LP-1 or 2, so it kind of fell in the lap of KOGO by default (since they had all that cool equipment down in the transmitter basement they could broadcast with). Especially since you were really sticking your neck out with the new EAS stuff that just never seemed to work. I was asked if I would take LP-2 for KSON-FM and I said I would seriously consider it, but it never went further. I think making KFMB a 1 or 2 would be a good move to serve the public, but you know the first question is going to be "how much will it cost? What are the potential liabilities?"
 
Mr. Buffaloe, I dont believe that, that studio in the basement exists anymore. Infact the board down there had every cap and fuse in it blown up!
 
Randy, The column today at NCTimes.com:

you missed KNX and KFI coverage of the great "Honey, I oppsed the capacitor" last week. KNX had coverage, and KFI's Tim Conway Jr., had a laugh riot with "What The Hell Did Jesse Jackson Say" with blackout coverage. There were calls from San Diego county as well.

This from two stations outside of the market and whose primary audience (for ratings) are north of the county line. There is a sizable listening to each station.

That doesn't short change the fine work that KOGO did. Rick Roberts and JM on the AM had coverage too, on 760 KFMB intermixed with KFMB-TV.
 
600kogo said:
Mr. Buffaloe, I dont believe that, that studio in the basement exists anymore. Infact the board down there had every cap and fuse in it blown up!
Click to expand...

I was being facetious. There was also a darkroom down there way back when Kogo.
 
Randy: Lynn Harper misses you.. Other than that, KCBQ needs to be forced off the air..It's an embarrassment to radio standards.
 
Mr_Radio_Diary said:
Other than that, KCBQ needs to be forced off the air..It's an embarrassment to radio standards.
Click to expand...

Plenty of defective AMs with inadequate signals have made a nice business with religious or ethnic programming. It's a legitimate use for a less-than-full-market signal, and certainly no reason to demand that a station be "forced" off the air.
 
Mr_Radio_Diary said:
.It's an embarrassment to radio standards.
Click to expand...

Radio has standards?
 
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