Two stations, one frequency

[AbqAnonymous]

For the past week or so there has been a new translator broacasting on the 102.1 frequency in Albuquerque which is K271CP airing programming from KNMM 1150 AM that plays New Mexico music similar to what is on KANW most of the time since apparently it's come down to competing with public radio now.

However there is another station that has been using this frequency for about a year now. That would be KQUQ a low powered FM which is operated by Quote.. Unquote Inc. the organization that has operated the local public access cable channel for many years. They air all kinds of different music programs including electronic music, jazz and sometimes mainstream stuff as well. The transmitter site appears to be located in the south valley near Coors and Blake and the signal has not always been easy to get north of I-40. But now it is really hard to get them at all. I drove south on Coors and KQUQ did not start to come in until I was south of Central but even then there was some interference.

The broadcast map for the station is here https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KQUQ-FL

This looks like the FCC may have screwed up here or are LPFMs not considered to be of much importance?

 

[K6JHU]

A quick look at the FCC data base and maps says that K271CP 60 dB coverage area is supposed to be all north of I-40 and KQUQ is supposed to be all south of the I-40.

 

[AbqAnonymous]

There doesn't seem to be much of a signal in the eastern part of the city, but the translator can be picked up around Wyoming and westward. I can't see how only covering a fragment of a populated area is beneficial for either station. The other LPFM in town, KMGG 99.9 "The Beat" actually covers the whole city quite well from the east near the foothills.