Do any of you know of any AM station that operates with one site during full daytime operation and another site during critical hours? Kind of expensive for a Class D, but when you consider that these stations may be owned by a big company with other sites available anyway, it would seem advisable in certain cases. I don't think that there is any regulation that would prohibit it, but perhaps our experts here know for sure.
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Two Site Operation During Daytime and Critical Hours
- Thread starter Schroedingers Cat
- Start date
Do you mean:
A) One site for day, another for critical hours, off the air at night
B) One for day, another for night
C) One for day and critical hours, another for night
D) One for day, another for critical hours and night
E) One for day and night, another just for critical hours (I think ??? this is the one)
F) Three sites: one for day, a second for critical hours, a third for night
Try: LMGTFY.
(we are living in critical hours!)
A) One site for day, another for critical hours, off the air at night
B) One for day, another for night
C) One for day and critical hours, another for night
D) One for day, another for critical hours and night
E) One for day and night, another just for critical hours (I think ??? this is the one)
F) Three sites: one for day, a second for critical hours, a third for night
Try: LMGTFY.
(we are living in critical hours!)
I did do several searches but could not find it.
Most likely A, D, or E.
The FCC is cracking down on Class D night operation that doesn't serve the community of license, even though the regulations haven't required it for Class Ds. Seems strange when they have bent over backwards with the Class D and other AM translators and HD-2 and HD-3 translators.
Most likely A, D, or E.
The FCC is cracking down on Class D night operation that doesn't serve the community of license, even though the regulations haven't required it for Class Ds. Seems strange when they have bent over backwards with the Class D and other AM translators and HD-2 and HD-3 translators.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
WMNY-AM in McKeesport (Pittsburgh) PA is a two-site operation. Originally licensed to McKeesport, PA
about 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. They have moved the daytime stick to a location just east of
downtown Pittsburgh to cover the populated areas a little better. At least the populated areas with
money....McKeesport is a sad, depressed former mill town at this point.
But at night they drop down to 1kW and move to a tower in far southern Allegheny County near
the original City of License. The station is barely audible in Pittsburgh during that time.
Not sure what they do for critical hours, but back when they were doing talk the afternoon
guy used to joke about "The Low Power Hour" during his show in the wintertime. So my guess
is that they were shifting to that other tower.
This station is the former WMCK/WIXZ, where Rush Limbaugh had his first radio gig.
about 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. They have moved the daytime stick to a location just east of
downtown Pittsburgh to cover the populated areas a little better. At least the populated areas with
money....McKeesport is a sad, depressed former mill town at this point.
But at night they drop down to 1kW and move to a tower in far southern Allegheny County near
the original City of License. The station is barely audible in Pittsburgh during that time.
Not sure what they do for critical hours, but back when they were doing talk the afternoon
guy used to joke about "The Low Power Hour" during his show in the wintertime. So my guess
is that they were shifting to that other tower.
This station is the former WMCK/WIXZ, where Rush Limbaugh had his first radio gig.
There are some unique CH situations where the 5 mV/m contour must be maintained over the city of license, even when it is quite low power. Even at high power, the signal may not reach a large population center. NIMBYs, zoning, meddling competitors, and the restrictive cost of a directional antenna also complicate tower placement. So there are situations where it would be advantageous to have separate sites. A single shared existing tower would probably work best for a separate site in such a situation.
I would also be interested in stations with vastly different directional patterns, even if they're off the same set of towers, such that there are different, almost non-overlapping areas covered daytime vs. nighttime. For one example, let's say you get blanketing interference from one such station in the daytime even with a radio that's so insensitive it can't detect a 50kW on 540 with a 1/2-wave antenna 10 miles away across a saltwater path. At sunset, the signal would suddenly become undetectable even with a large antenna, even though there may be no actual change in transmitter power. Possibly, another skywave signal on the same frequency would simultaneously come up (due to their change in pattern/power) strong enough so it would have wiped out the local even if it was still on day power.
Maybe I should start another topic for finding stations like that?
Maybe I should start another topic for finding stations like that?
I'm not suggesting that this is an ideal situation. However, since there are so many large group owners now with many tower sites that it does become practical and feasible in some cases.
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