Small budget HD

[joebtsflk1]

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If this were the case, a station like KYLI 96.7 which has its main 100000 watt transmitter in the desert and its booster in Las Vegas. They would love to keep that 100000 watt transmitter off the air, because they have to bring diesel fuel to its transmitter site to power the generator since there's no commercial power. The 100000 watt main has no listeners, the 340 watt booster is the moneymaker.
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I would have guessed KYLI to have a 12 or even 14 bay antenna. FCC records say, nope, only 10.

 

[Kmagrill]

Isn't that only for daytime AM stations that have to go off at night? I thought FM and HD translators have to go off the air when the parent station goes off, or when the parent HD transmitter goes off. There was an HD translator that stayed on for months while the parent's HD transmitter was off.

If this were the case, a station like KYLI 96.7 which has its main 100000 watt transmitter in the desert and its booster in Las Vegas. They would love to keep that 100000 watt transmitter off the air, because they have to bring diesel fuel to its transmitter site to power the generator since there's no commercial power. The 100000 watt main has no listeners, the 340 watt booster is the moneymaker.

There are two types of translators, fill-in and non-fill-in. The rules are quite different for each. Commercial band non-fill-in translators have to receive programming directly of fth eair and must go off the air when the parent station is off. Non-fill-in translators are defined as any translator where any part of the translator's service contour extends beyond the primary station's service contour. A fill in translator does not have to receive its programming over the air and can remain on for brief periods when the primary is off the air. Without some sort of STA, months would probably not be legal, however.

 

[andydallas]

Isn't that only for daytime AM stations that have to go off at night? I thought FM and HD translators have to go off the air when the parent station goes off, or when the parent HD transmitter goes off. There was an HD translator that stayed on for months while the parent's HD transmitter was off.

If this were the case, a station like KYLI 96.7 which has its main 100000 watt transmitter in the desert and its booster in Las Vegas. They would love to keep that 100000 watt transmitter off the air, because they have to bring diesel fuel to its transmitter site to power the generator since there's no commercial power. The 100000 watt main has no listeners, the 340 watt booster is the moneymaker.

There are two types of translators, fill-in and non-fill-in. The rules are quite different for each. Commercial band non-fill-in translators have to receive programming directly of fth eair and must go off the air when the parent station is off. Non-fill-in translators are defined as any translator where any part of the translator's service contour extends beyond the primary station's service contour. A fill in translator does not have to receive its programming over the air and can remain on for brief periods when the primary is off the air. Without some sort of STA, months would probably not be legal, however.

A Non-Fill In translator is really for use by NCE stations with the exception of a translator owned by a third party, that is broadcasting an FM outside of the FM's 60 dBu,,but in that case the translator owner can't be compensated by the Primary, except with some limited technical support. For your normal commercial radio station you want to just look at the fill in rules.

 

[Kmagrill]

There are two types of translators, fill-in and non-fill-in.

A Non-Fill In translator is really for use by NCE stations with the exception of a translator owned by a third party, that is broadcasting an FM outside of the FM's 60 dBu,,but in that case the translator owner can't be compensated by the Primary, except with some limited technical support. For your normal commercial radio station you want to just look at the fill in rules.

Yes that's 100% right. Additionally, non-fill-ins for NCE stations that operate on the reserved part of the band (88-92mc) can be fed by other methods besides off the air reception, thereby giving rise to the so called "satellator". All translators operating in the reserved part of the band must be non-commercial. As mentioned above by andydallas, non-fill-ins cannot be owned by the primary, except in the case of the reserved part of the band.

Translators operating in the commercial band can be either commercial or non-commercial at the discretion of the owner, even if the owner is a not-for-profit entity. Commercial translators can sell 30 seconds of spots per hour to pay for the cost of operation and non-commercial translators cannot, however any translator can be directly supported by listener donations. All non-fill-in translators in the commercial portion of the band must be fed by direct over the air reception, either from the primary station or as part of a translator daisy chain. Also, AM stations may only be broadcast on fill-in translators. FCC policy does not allow daisy chained translators that extend the coverage of an AM station beyond its 2mV contour or 25 miles, whichever is closer. Nobody has yet tried to, officially, convince the FCC to change this policy to allow AM stations broader FM coverage. This potentially gives using HD signals an advantage, especially in larger metros since HD translators do not have the 25 mile limitation.

 

[TomT]

In the commercial band the status of the primary station determines whether a translator is commercial (must pay a regulatory fee) or non-commercial (no fee).

 

[ftballfan]

WLKI and WLDR are two examples of small market stations that run HD Radio. WLKI has two translators that broadcast its subchannels over a 15-20 mile radius.

 

[Kmagrill]

In the commercial band the status of the primary station determines whether a translator is commercial (must pay a regulatory fee) or non-commercial (no fee).

Sort of, but not necessarily. Translators carrying commercial stations that earn no money and are supported exclusively by donations (or are unfunded except by their owners) do not have to pay regulatory fees.

 

[andydallas]

There are two types of translators, fill-in and non-fill-in.

FCC policy does not allow daisy chained translators that extend the coverage of an AM station beyond its 2mV contour or 25 miles, whichever is closer. Nobody has yet tried to, officially, convince the FCC to change this policy to allow AM stations broader FM coverage. This potentially gives using HD signals an advantage, especially in larger metros since HD translators do not have the 25 mile limitation.

The 2 mV/m and 25 mile rules tend to confuse people, you can't have the 60 dBu of the translator go past either. We have in many cases put a translator 20-23 miles away from an AM, on the other side of the population, and shoot the signal back toward the AM's tower, which if perfectly legal as long as the 60 dBu coming out of the 'back' of the antenna doesn't go past the 25 mile/2 mV/m lines. This allows the most powerful signal toward the edge of the 25 miles (normally the problem, not the 2 mV/m)

 

[Tom Wells]

Suddenly, I want small fm translators at the rim of my part 15 AM signal. Haw!

 

[xmusicmatt]

Suddenly, I want small fm translators at the rim of my part 15 AM signal. Haw!

Problem is Part 15 AM is not licensed.. so I really doubt FCC would allow a Part 15 to be used as primary program feed on a translator.

 

[Tom Wells]

I was mostly just poking fun at the "less efffective" FM part 15 service.

I prefer my music on AM anyway.

 

[Kmagrill]

Problem is Part 15 AM is not licensed.. so I really doubt FCC would allow a Part 15 to be used as primary program feed on a translator.

Licensed primarys only for translators. But folks without licenses can lease unused HD channels and get a translator. Poof! You have an instant radio station.

 

[andydallas]

now the FCC is letting LPFM's use up to 3 translators,, before it was none

 

[bossbill]

Thought it was two. Shouldn't be any. If the commission wants 100 watt LPFMs, that should be it, not 250 watt translators on top.

 

[Kmagrill]

The FCC, for whatever reason didn't want to amend the rules to permit 250W LPFM stations, but they ran a study in 2011 of the existing LPFM stations on the air and found that lack of effective coverage was a major problem for them (Duh). So, rather than changing the LPFM rules, they actually made a move that would make LPFMs considerably more effective by allowing them to own translators. Basically, the FCC did an end run around their own rules.

 

[Chuck]

If they were really serious about "local-ism" the easy thing to do would be to allow translators to originate local programming. Problem solved... (Of course, it doesn't work that way.)

 

[Kmagrill]

If they were really serious about "local-ism" the easy thing to do would be to allow translators to originate local programming. Problem solved... (Of course, it doesn't work that way.)

Yes, that comment has been raised in another thread. The TV translator/LPTV rules allow this. Further, LPTVs can be, and often are, commercial. A TV translator can become an LPTV and vice-versa at will. Why this wasn't done for LPFM is unknown.

There was also no limitation on LPTV ERP, only on TPO. I've seen (analog) UHF LPTV stations with ERPs in excess of 80kW with 1kW TPO.

 

[DudeFan]

If they were really serious about "local-ism" the easy thing to do would be to allow translators to originate local programming. Problem solved... (Of course, it doesn't work that way.)

But haven't the commercial broadcasters been complaining forever that there are too many stations? Yet, they are creating more by using analog translators to relay their HD-2 and -3's. None of which have anything local about them. Not that the main channels are anything but voicetracked, either.