Sports Radio article in Chronicle

[purplejay]

interesting article from David Barron in today's Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5008970.html

LET THE WAR BEGIN!!!!

 

[jd]

interesting article from David Barron in today's Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5008970.html

LET THE WAR BEGIN!!!!

Barron wrote an excellent article, one of the best I've seen, about Houston's sportstalk stations. Unfortunately, however, it looks like he was given some technically wrong or misleading information by one of them.

"KGOW's signal is 50,000 watts during the day and 100 at night..."
No, they're not licensed for 100 watts at night. They're a daytime-only station with pre-sunrise and post-sunset authority. Under their present PSA and PSSA 1560 can use 33 watts or less for two hours past sunset. Then they must sign off and can return to the air at 6AM with 149 watts (this time of the year) until sunrise, when they can fire up the 50,000 watt daytime rig.

"but [GM Richard] Topper said the station, which will broadcast 24 hours..."
They can't legally do that until the nighttime site is completed and licensed. Their present nighttime operation (such as it is) also must legally be from the daytime transmitter site and only during the hours described.

"...has approval to boost its night signal to 1,000 watts and will do so by next spring."
That part is true. With a six-tower directional array off Eldridge north of I-10.

"The station eventually hopes to build a 19,000-watt tower."
That would require a different location from the site currently being built. Construction of the higher-powered facility, a nine-tower directional array north of Katy, can't begin until it's approved by the FCC. That could take a very long time and might not happen at all.

In a sidebar listing that describes the facilities of Houston area sports stations, you'll find this for KGOW: Transmitter power: 50,000 watts daytime, 100 watts nighttime (application pending for 19,000-watt nighttime). Transmitter location: Near Rosharon in Fort Bend County.
As said before, besides not legally being 100 watts at night, this minor point: the transmitter is six miles west-southwest of Rosharon, south of FM 1462 in rural Brazoria County.

 

[CW]

interesting article from David Barron in today's Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5008970.html

LET THE WAR BEGIN!!!!

"The station eventually hopes to build a 19,000-watt tower."
That would require a different location from the site currently being built. Construction of the higher-powered facility, a nine-tower directional array north of Katy, can't begin until it's approved by the FCC. That could take a very long time and might not happen at all.

In a sidebar listing that describes the facilities of Houston area sports stations, you'll find this for KGOW: Transmitter power: 50,000 watts daytime, 100 watts nighttime (application pending for 19,000-watt nighttime). Transmitter location: Near Rosharon in Fort Bend County.
As said before, besides not legally being 100 watts at night, this minor point: the transmitter is six miles west-southwest of Rosharon, south of FM 1462 in rural Brazoria County.

Given it was a newspaper writing a story for non technical people, it was pretty good (took over 3 pages!)....
KILT's transmitter (4 towers) is actually on West Road west of I45 (just down West from Frys)....790's 9 towers are just west of there...As for other technical issues, ehh they didnt do bad....I did note Pat Fant's comment on east of KFNC's site is gold for advertisers??? Well then why are they doing that? I never hear anything for BPT on KFNC or 103.7

 

[schmave]

Nine towers for 790?! Wow. I know I live in their main lobe (or very close to it) in the Inwood Forest subdivision. I was in Katy working Friday night and could hardly hear 610, 790 and 950. 740 was fairly strong outside a very little crosstalk underneath, which may not be too surprising given that I was about 50-60 miles from the tower.
CW, your post answered a couple questions for me. I moved down here just more than a month ago and was wondering where some of the AM towers are located. I know KTRH is far northeast of town up near Dayton. Is 950 up north too? It would make sense. Listing other stations here would be appreciated as well.

 

[CW]

Nine towers for 790?! Wow. I know I live in their main lobe (or very close to it) in the Inwood Forest subdivision. I was in Katy working Friday night and could hardly hear 610, 790 and 950. 740 was fairly strong outside a very little crosstalk underneath, which may not be too surprising given that I was about 50-60 miles from the tower.
CW, your post answered a couple questions for me. I moved down here just more than a month ago and was wondering where some of the AM towers are located. I know KTRH is far northeast of town up near Dayton. Is 950 up north too? It would make sense. Listing other stations here would be appreciated as well.

I'll try to list what I know...I get a little confused by some I dont deal with or listen to on a regular basis.

560- Beaumont; 1 omni day, 4 towers at night. All located NW outside Bridge City Texas
610- 4 towers right off West Road west of I45
650- single tower in Pasadena
700- 3 towers off FM road north of Tomball (south of 1488)
740- 4 towers SW of Dayton (south of Hwy90)
790- 9 towers (not all used in both patterns) in NW Houston....west of KILTs
850- 5 towers SW side of Houston-nw of 59 and east of 99. South of Westheimer and NW or WNW of Sugarland airport
900- 2 towers I think for their flea power signal at night...close to city of license
920- not sure but they are south in ALvin I think....
950- 3 towers off I610 NE side of town....cant miss em off the loop..omni day5KW/DA to SW 1KW night iirc
980 is somewhere on N side but Ive never been to there
1010 east of 59 between Beltway 8 and loop610...5 or 6 towers last time I counted but Im not sure
1050- west of Houston with too much power to be legal....not sure of array
1070 on N south of 1960 and side off Kurkyndahl (I never spell it right) 11 towers; 1 shorter than the others..
1110 I think??? Dont know
1140 in Conroe 3 towers; pattern to the east (protecting 1150 in College Station) Best thing they could do is swap to 1160 and get 1150 in Port Neches to take 1140...thus giving them each more flexing..1140/1160 could then change pattern south and 1140 Port Neches could increase power;improve pattern BUT it will never happen
1180- 4 towers 50kw day off 1314 NW of Porter area....cant miss the towers..right off the highway...and I bet 100:1 the pattern AINT what was submitted to the FCC....
1230 - same tower as 102.9 east of downtown
1320- two tower I think in Pasadena...right off Hwy 228
1360?? D0ont know
1380- moving from Beaumont, single tower near Conroe...big whoop....
1400 two tower in League City (FIRST Class D to do so...this opens up a can of worms)
the next site I have been to is 1590 Radio Disney...6 tower north of 290 before the beltway
Then there is 1560 which has the monster tower site south of the Houston area with 50KW but still trying to get their night site built and approved on NW side...have not been to either two....
THats it for now...I may rattle my brian during daylight hours and come up with more

MOST Houston AMs "go to the coast" at night. Thats the way they were built to protect existing Class I-As ,etc in the early days thus no hgh power omni station was allocated to Houston (which sux)...Lately some like KGOW have reversed the trend by getting sites south and going north with the pattern but it is narrow and doesnt cover the city well like KTRH does..850 was the same way...started as competition to KTRH in the 70s as KEYH (KEY Radio)....Daytimer only but 10KW into that array SMOKED right up Hwy59....Killer signal BUT KOA kills it at night since 850 goes to 180 watts out then...without KOA, KEYH has coverage into BMT at night and up 59 probably to Lufkin...but with the 50KW blowing and going in Denver, forget it.

 

[Mediafrog+]

the next site I have been to is 1590 Radio Disney...6 tower north of 290 before the beltway

The six tower array along 290 between Tidwell and Fairbanks-North Houston (behind the Northwest Marketplace Shopping Center) is the nighttime site for KLAT 1010. The KMIC 1590 site is four towers in near northwest Houston close to the intersection of Tidwell and Goldspier.

 

[ChuckTiller]

880 KJOJ has 3 towers on 1314 and Foster Rd. just east of Conroe.

900 KREH has 3 towers, 5000 watts day and 10 watts at night (A very miniscule flea)

920 KYST has 4 towers on 29th street in Texas City

980 KRTX Its 1000 Watt single tower for daytime is still on Radio Lane in Rosenberg since it's inception as KFRD many years ago. The 4000 nightime 4 tower location is near I-10 off 2855 northeast of Brookshire.

1050 KCHN has 4 towers east of Bellville on 359 with 410 watts day with a CP for 650 watts at night located just off I-10 west and 1489 in Brookshire. (Originally licensed to Liberty as KPXE)

1070 KNTH does have 11 towers, however at night only 9 of them are in operation.

1110 KTEK has 6 towers off county road 833 in Alvin

1360 KWWJ has 3 towers in Baytown

1430 KCOH has 3 towers between McCarty Rd and I-610

1520 KYND has 3 towers off Cypress-Rosehill Road

 

[Bobby Chaffin]

Actually 790 only has 8 towers. 4 are used in the day and 8 at night. Actually one was knocked down a few years ago. I'm not sure if C.C. has put the other one back. For years 790 was running 1 kw at night with the tower knocked down instead of the 5 kw they can run with all 8 towers.

 

[stan]

Chuck, why does 1070 have 11 towers?

 

[mrtexmex2007]

??? How do you all know this stuff? Do you all actually go all arounf town just to find out the tower locations???????

 

[ChuckTiller]

Stan, back in the late 1960s 1070 KENR (now KNTH, of course) was engineered in as a 5000 watt daytimer. It is my understanding it took a lot to squeeze it in. As a US-Canadian clear allocation, it had to protect the signal of WDIA Memphis to the northeast, KOPY Alice to the southwest, KWEL Midland to the northwest; all on 1070. It also had to protect co-channel 1080 KRLD Dallas. KENR went 24 hours in 1972, with 10000 watts day and 5000 watts night. The transmitter site is off of FM1960. Lots of snakes out there; always watch where you walk.

Mr Texmex, I cheat! I use www.Radio-locater.com to get my info. Although, I already knew most of it from personal experience by visiting and working at some of these radio stations.