Touch-FM Going after FCC

[The Beave]

I'd expect Nassau on 106.3 out of Nashua, that has a distant map that covers the north shore would protest any use of 106.3, as would the cape station on 106.1 that has a distant map that covers the south shore. Both stations receive unwanted interference from the existing pirate known as Touch if I had to take a guess.


PIRATES SHOULD BE HUNG

Well they are already swimming with the sharks, and they walk the plank every day with a noose around their necks... I'm just waiting for the day they fall off.

 

[spilot113]

and the pirate in Brockton wasn't bothering another station, but was bleeping up the air traffic controllers at Boston's Logan International Airport, but I guess that doesn't count.

Logan Garbage Tower needs a Upgrade .

It's always someone else's fault....

Do we see a recurring theme here...?

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Bingo! That's it, exactly...

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Logan Garbage Tower needs a Upgrade .

In addition to being a friend of lawbreakers, suddenly you're a radio engineer too?

 

[murcuryvapor]

The only possibility for anyone to get a slot on the FM band were to be if the FCC reassigned TV Channels 5 and 6 to the expanded FM band. There are some proposals being bandied about the FCC (as we speak) about that possibly happening once analog TV bites the dust in 2009. No guarantees. But Channels 5 and 6 are not going to be active in this market in less than a year from now.

But not in all markets, which is key to promulgate any sort of FM band expansion effectively. In order to serve the community, there should be similar service in all markets. But a VHF digital audio service, that could work without confusion if you design the receivers like the DTV models.

 

[murcuryvapor]

taking over Ch 5 and 6 for FM would open up 60 new FM channels. 87-88 Mhz could be reserved for non-commerical. 76-87 Mhz for Class 3 and 4 AMsto move to a Class A FM 24/7. 76-87 could be used for LPFM too. If the FCC did that , it would be smart ,unlike AM IBOC.

Go to TVfool.com and go through the top twenty markets. See how many still will use those channels after the digital transition. This would not make sense on a wide scale.

 

[aaronread]

Actually, if they co-located on the Pru (or within 1200 meters of it), 106.3 could be a usable LP-100 frequency. They'd need an FCC waiver of the spacing rules, but because no interference would be caused to anyone, the Commission just might approve it. And though Radio Brattleboro lost, that pirate in Nevada won last year-he was granted an STA to broadcast until an LPFM could be licensed to his community.

Probably not, actually...106.3 is about 30 miles from WFNQ to the north and to WWKX to the south. 73.807's minimum distance requirements for LPFM's require a lot more distance than 30 miles (48km) for co-channel stations.

However, your point about that Rod Moses' pirate in Nevada is entirely valid, and it's a disgrace that Sen. Harry Reid involved himself personally on that. However, anyone who tries to claim precedent with that would run into a different argument from the FCC. While Moses did illegally start up a station, I believe he actually did meet both minimum distance and contour separation rules. The man's in Goldfield, NV...pretty close to "middle of nowhere". In a sense, this is not all that different from all the "special rules" that Alaska tends to have when it comes to radio broadcasting, because both areas are geographically isolated and have sparse options on the radio dial (the sole other radio service in Goldfield...or even within 25 miles of Goldfield...was a single FM translator relaying a Chrisitian radio service). It still was, to put it mildly, a travesty of politics trumping science.

That said-you have uncovered a glaring problem with the FCC-there's an exception to EVERY FCC rule! Why have any rules if money and power can get you waivers of them almost 100% of the time?

I think "100% of the time" is a bit of an exaggeration...there are many, many more waivers asked for than are granted. And while rules are rules...it is an impossibility to draft rules that cover every single possible situation across the USA. But yes, you've got a point.

 

[tomservo]

Don’t get Clemons started on the FCC fine.

“Why would they give us a fine if they already know that our station doesn’t interfere with other larger stations?” Clemons asked. Then he answered.

“Is it because you don’t want to raise the level of consciousness in communities of color? Is it because you don’t want to stop the violence in communities of color? Is it because you don’t want to unite the families of color in communities of color?”

To quote Bugs Bunny, "Ha ha ha, what a maroon."

There is only one color the FCC cares about: green. :