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Translator Update!

D

DeadElvis

A few months back, I posted about the massive number of translators applied for in the Memphis area.

OK, y'all know... there's NOTHING I enjoy more than nosing around in public records. Ah, the joy of reading filing after filing for hours at a time!

So, it appears one has been approved since last post. W244BY on 96.7 was approved in May (a modification to a previous CP, it seems). This will 38 watts at about 100'. Transmitter would be on New York street. It should cover Midtown quite well. Owner is K-Love.

K-Love apparently has yet to construct its other CP. W249BN/Ellendale was approved a year or so ago. It's apparently on one of the TV towers out East. It's just 10 watts, but is nearly 1000' up. If you leave out East, you'll hear it. Yup, K-Love.

Time would imply that, at least, Ellendale should be constructed soon. It was approved in June, 2004. Tick, tock.

There are still a BUNCH of applications out for Memphis-area translators, far too many to go into. But, soon, we'll be in a sea of FM religion.

If you're like me, and our esteemed Moderator, and enjoy straining your ears to hear far-off FM signals, this will get annoying.

BTW: any word on when the Collierville LPFM goes on?

DE
 
> A few months back, I posted about the massive number of
> translators applied for in the Memphis area.
>
> OK, y'all know... there's NOTHING I enjoy more than nosing
> around in public records. Ah, the joy of reading filing
> after filing for hours at a time!
>
> So, it appears one has been approved since last post.
> W244BY on 96.7 was approved in May (a modification to a
> previous CP, it seems). This will 38 watts at about 100'.
> Transmitter would be on New York street. It should cover
> Midtown quite well. Owner is K-Love.
>
> K-Love apparently has yet to construct its other CP.
> W249BN/Ellendale was approved a year or so ago. It's
> apparently on one of the TV towers out East. It's just 10
> watts, but is nearly 1000' up. If you leave out East,
> you'll hear it. Yup, K-Love.
>
> Time would imply that, at least, Ellendale should be
> constructed soon. It was approved in June, 2004. Tick,
> tock.
>
> There are still a BUNCH of applications out for Memphis-area
> translators, far too many to go into. But, soon, we'll be
> in a sea of FM religion.
>
> If you're like me, and our esteemed Moderator, and enjoy
> straining your ears to hear far-off FM signals, this will
> get annoying.
>
> BTW: any word on when the Collierville LPFM goes on?
>
> DE
>

i'm so exicted i could jump off the bridge!
whooot...

fm band is about to be worthless for anything but listening to the cookie cutter locals

time for xm or sirrus?

thank god for mp3 cd's and 10 gig mp3 players so i think i will survive...

i guess i'll just dx uhf signals
very fun to do from an 18 story apt
i generally can watch abc 33/40 in Birmingham with no tropo or any type of enhanced conditions present
 
I am not sure it is going to be the wasteland it might appear on the surface.

While there are a BUNCH of applications out, many are mutually-exclusive. And, some of those mutually-exclusive apps are by the same applicants, usually EMF (K-Love). So, even they, it seems know that most will not be granted.

Then, there are a few that look flawed from the start. There is an application for 107.9 in Memphis to translate WWBM in Georgia. On its face, this violates the rules, as translators above 92.1 may not be fed via satellite. Thank you, dive through.

So, we'll see.

And, yeah... it's tough to miss channel 33 (actually a Tuscaloosa licensee) from the Birmingham area. 5 megawatts ERP @ 2000'... that's pimped up, yo! Strangely, when I was going to Birmingham more regularly, I found the local translator of the station(s) on channel 58 on Red Mtn. to put a better signal over the City. It really should be ABC 33/40/58, if you ask me.

> time for xm or sirrus [sic]?

For me, probably. But, not for the obvious reason.

DE
 
Re: Translator Update!For engineers ONLY PLEASE!

> A few months back, I posted about the massive number of
> translators applied for in the Memphis area.
>
> OK, y'all know... there's NOTHING I enjoy more than nosing
> around in public records. Ah, the joy of reading filing
> after filing for hours at a time!
>
> So, it appears one has been approved since last post.
> W244BY on 96.7 was approved in May (a modification to a
> previous CP, it seems). This will 38 watts at about 100'.
> Transmitter would be on New York street. It should cover
> Midtown quite well. Owner is K-Love.
>
> K-Love apparently has yet to construct its other CP.
> W249BN/Ellendale was approved a year or so ago. It's
> apparently on one of the TV towers out East. It's just 10
> watts, but is nearly 1000' up. If you leave out East,
> you'll hear it. Yup, K-Love.
>
> Time would imply that, at least, Ellendale should be
> constructed soon. It was approved in June, 2004. Tick,
> tock.
>
> There are still a BUNCH of applications out for Memphis-area
> translators, far too many to go into. But, soon, we'll be
> in a sea of FM religion.
>
> If you're like me, and our esteemed Moderator, and enjoy
> straining your ears to hear far-off FM signals, this will
> get annoying.
>
> BTW: any word on when the Collierville LPFM goes on?
>
> DE
> DE I was just wondering . Isnt there a limit on the number of LPFM's one can own in a particular area? I mean that is a bit much just to "save" lost souls in the Memphis area.
 
Re: Translator Update!For engineers ONLY PLEASE!

> > DE I was just wondering . Isnt there a limit on the number
> of LPFM's one can own in a particular area? I mean that is
> a bit much just to "save" lost souls in the Memphis area.

Yes, BUT...

According to the Rules, one LPFM is all you get...

"No authorization for an LPFM station shall be granted to any
party if the grant of that authorization will result in any such party
holding an attributable interest in two LPFM stations separated by less
than 12 km (7 miles)."

That 47 CFR Sec. 73.855(a).

But, don't confuse LPFM and translators; they are two different things entirely.

LPFMs are just small, non-commercial stations, capped under current rules at 100w @ 100'. The can and should locally originate programming.

Translators are governed under a completely different sections of rules, and there are many differences. Among those, ownership caps:

"More than one FM translator may be licensed to the same applicant, whether or not such translators serve substantially the same area, upon an appropriate showing of technical need for such additional stations. FM translators are not counted as FM stations for the purpose of Sec. 73.3555 of this chapter concerning multiple ownership."

That's 47 CFR 74.1232(b).

But, translators MAY NOT locally originate; they just rebroadcast the mother station (usually off-air, but in some cases, satellite delivery is OK). And, the power/tower heights caps are looser.

So, Educational Media Foundation ("EMF"), or whoever, need only show "technical need," meaning a coverage hole, and they may be good to go. Technical need does not have anything to do with programming need. The FCC notes, "As used in this section need refers to the quality of the signal received and not to the programming content, format, or transmission needs of an area."

So, EMF can hang a bunch of transmitters on Memphis towers, and they plan to do so.

Hope this helps.

BTW: You captioned your posting as, "For engineers ONLY PLEASE!" Just for the Record, I am not an engineer.

DE
 
I propose a simpler motivation:

If they can't get a 100 KW FM, put on enough translators to cover the same area. Probably cheaper to run as well.<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
Re: For engineers ONLY PLEASE!

> > > DE I was just wondering . Isnt there a limit on the
> number
> > of LPFM's one can own in a particular area? I mean that
> is
> > a bit much just to "save" lost souls in the Memphis area.
>
> Yes, BUT...
>
> According to the Rules, one LPFM is all you get...
>
> "No authorization for an LPFM station shall be granted to
> any
> party if the grant of that authorization will result in any
> such party
> holding an attributable interest in two LPFM stations
> separated by less
> than 12 km (7 miles)."
>
> That 47 CFR Sec. 73.855(a).
>
> But, don't confuse LPFM and translators; they are two
> different things entirely.
>
> LPFMs are just small, non-commercial stations, capped under
> current rules at 100w @ 100'. The can and should locally
> originate programming.
>
> Translators are governed under a completely different
> sections of rules, and there are many differences. Among
> those, ownership caps:
>
> "More than one FM translator may be licensed to the same
> applicant, whether or not such translators serve
> substantially the same area, upon an appropriate showing of
> technical need for such additional stations. FM translators
> are not counted as FM stations for the purpose of Sec.
> 73.3555 of this chapter concerning multiple ownership."
>
> That's 47 CFR 74.1232(b).
>
> But, translators MAY NOT locally originate; they just
> rebroadcast the mother station (usually off-air, but in some
> cases, satellite delivery is OK). And, the power/tower
> heights caps are looser.
>
> So, Educational Media Foundation ("EMF"), or whoever, need
> only show "technical need," meaning a coverage hole, and
> they may be good to go. Technical need does not have
> anything to do with programming need. The FCC notes, "As
> used in this section need refers to the quality of the
> signal received and not to the programming content, format,
> or transmission needs of an area."
>
> So, EMF can hang a bunch of transmitters on Memphis towers,
> and they plan to do so.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> BTW: You captioned your posting as, "For engineers ONLY
> PLEASE!" Just for the Record, I am not an engineer.
>
> DE
>
Yeah, I know, I just like talking to people like yourself and engineers who actually know a lot more about technical stuff than I do. Its really more interesting reading about tech stuff than reading about the daily bashings.
 
> I am not sure it is going to be the wasteland it might
> appear on the surface.
>
> While there are a BUNCH of applications out, many are
> mutually-exclusive. And, some of those mutually-exclusive
> apps are by the same applicants, usually EMF (K-Love). So,
> even they, it seems know that most will not be granted.
>
> Then, there are a few that look flawed from the start.
> There is an application for 107.9 in Memphis to translate
> WWBM in Georgia. On its face, this violates the rules, as
> translators above 92.1 may not be fed via satellite. Thank
> you, dive through.
>
> So, we'll see.
>
> And, yeah... it's tough to miss channel 33 (actually a
> Tuscaloosa licensee) from the Birmingham area. 5 megawatts
> ERP @ 2000'... that's pimped up, yo! Strangely, when I was
> going to Birmingham more regularly, I found the local
> translator of the station(s) on channel 58 on Red Mtn. to
> put a better signal over the City. It really should be ABC
> 33/40/58, if you ask me.
>
> > time for xm or sirrus [sic]?
>
> For me, probably. But, not for the obvious reason.
>
> DE
>

yeah but how many miles away is that... i am sure it pushes the far limitations of uhf reception

i see 17 & 21 but they are very very weak most of the time....
the hd's for Bham seem to be on occupied channels here

27 & 45 Tupelo/Columbus area are usually not there or are very weak...

WCBI-DT i do get most nights

sometimes i get 14 in Florence but 26 is usually nothing or is very weak

54 in huntsville seems to get out well also its probably the 2nd strongest very far out signal to 33....

on 15 i get a mix of a low power in Ponotoc ( don't ask me how )
and WXVT Greenville

16 i get Jackson Tn

have a good view of the Horizon is nice...

too bad fm is already a mess due to height and distance to the 100k sticks :(
 
> yeah but how many miles away is that... i am sure it pushes
> the far limitations of uhf reception

There really is no limit to UHF reception.

Sure, on the least active day of the year, UHF is limited to the "radio" horizon, a point something slightly beyond the visual.

But, when conditions are right, that theoretical STOP sign vanishes. The troposphere changes moment to moment, and often it will allow bending of the signals across the curve of the Earth. You may have noticed that on FM, from time to time. Perhaps you have happened across a Nashville station, or Paducah, or whatever.

The best FM reception I have mde via that mode in the car was Kansas City. I have gotten significantly further in other ways.

UHF does the same thing, and is theoretically better at it. The playing field gets evened by things like atmospheric absorbtion that increases with frequency, and by loss of signal through feed lines, etc. But, I digress.

In my younger days, I used to play with TV reception. UHF was seen from many hundreds of miles away. It was particularly spectacular across the Gulf of Mexico when I lived on the Coast. UHF TV across the water from 500+ miles out was very common.

I am sure that Radiosaur might also have some insight on this facinating topic. But, this is a bit far afield from the topic of translators, I suppose. So, I'll stop pontificating.

DE
 
> I propose a simpler motivation:
>
> If they can't get a 100 KW FM, put on enough translators to
> cover the same area. Probably cheaper to run as well.
>

Is there any chance any of these translators could be for Air 1? I would definitely be for a translator to bring them into Memphis.
 
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