Victoria, Texas changes, upgrade could affect Houston area

[Houston_Tornado]

KHTZ / Ganado, currently on 104.7 running 50K on a stick 522ft between Victoria and Edna has a CP to move to 94.9 and upgrade to 100K on a stick almost 1500 ft up just west of Palacious. Format says "Lonestar Radio" and the city of license still says Ganado.. a HUGE increase for them, covers a huge part of the coast. Local covers from just east of Lake Jackson down to about 50 miles south of Port LaVaca on the coast, up between Wharton and Rosenberg, and to the west it barely covers Victoria. Fringe goes into Galveston Bay and into Houston and Southwest, up past Sealy and out west past Cuero and Refugio.

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/KHTZ-FM

KVIC / Victoria, currently on 95.1 running 6500 watts on a stick 522ft just southeast of Victoria has a CP to move to 104.7 stays in the same place but upgrades to 12,700watts.

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/KVIC-FM

 

[fredcantu]

Their tower is 75 miles from loop 610. That's quite a haul for a rim shot even at 1,500 feet.

 

[Doctor_Technical]

Sure seems like a popular spot to place tall-towered FM signals...

 

[jras20]

FYI KHTZ 104.7 has been off the air for well over a year now or more as I can remember. I think this move will help KVIC in the long run. KGSX effects them in a bad way a LOT of the time.

 

[Infamous]

Hmmm....lose the 60dbu signal into Victoria to get it into El Campo and Wharton? I'm not sure if this move seems logical. That's a lot of money just to move closer to Houston but still not be close at all. They are better off staying where they are at now in my opinion.

 

[rageradio]

UGH!! 94.9 is the frequency I use for my ipod XM Skydock. Its hard to find open frequencies.

 

[Mediafrog+]

The new facility will provide at best "barely there" reception into metro Houston under normal conditions. However summertime tropo should provide a surprisingly good signal into the city. Basically a YMMV situation.

I wonder if this is a first step towards an eventual move closer to Houston, perhaps from the new KJOJ-FM stick, if that CP ever gets built?

 

[gabigley1]

I wonder if this is a first step towards an eventual move closer to Houston, perhaps from the new KJOJ-FM stick, if that CP ever gets built?

What is the point on building the new KJOJ-FM stick? They don't seem to have much to gain by building it. ???

 

[fredcantu]

I wonder if this is a first step towards an eventual move closer to Houston

Since 94.9 near Palacios and 94.5 in Missouri City are both Class C's, the closest their towers can be is 105 km or 65 miles which is their distance right now. So 94.9 can't move any closer to Houston unless 94.5 moves north... and why would they.

 

[Mediafrog+]

What is the point on building the new KJOJ-FM stick? They don't seem to have much to gain by building it. ???

It would improve reception of 103.3 in Houston metro just enough that Liberman could possibly shuffle formats among its stations. Perhaps moving the La Raza simulcast to 96.9 (providing similar southern fill-in to the current 103.3 facility) and allowing the upgraded 103.3 to run a FM simulcast of KEYH or provide a better FM signal for La Bonita, which currently lacks decent coverage of most of Houston metro.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I wonder if this is a first step towards an eventual move closer to Houston

Since 94.9 near Palacios and 94.5 in Missouri City are both Class C's, the closest their towers can be is 105 km or 65 miles which is their distance right now. So 94.9 can't move any closer to Houston unless 94.5 moves north... and why would they.

Correct, but that assumes that the various adjacent channel separation requirements stay the same...which they might not.

 

[jd]

Fred makes a good point, of course, that 94.5 (or for that matter any of the stations on Missouri City sticks) would have no reason to move from there. Besides, any move(s) would open up all sorts of new spacing problems with both co- and adjacent channels. The original premise in this thread (which, by the way, is old news) is that a station owned by Roy Henderson is going to get a "huge" upgrade. That's open to debate since even with a full 100kW signal the tower will be in a rather undesirable location and will remain there unless something changes drastically. I don't think it will, and as alluded to earlier the winner in this as I see it is KVIC, which is finally going to get a "clear" channel and won't get mauled by distant high-powered stations.

Correct, but that assumes that the various adjacent channel separation requirements stay the same...which they might not.

Another good point, but as we all know the current spacing requirements date back to the 1980's when the FCC approved the various sub-classes that allowed many new stations to be authorized, and has allowed many others to upgrade their facilities. It not only permitted many low power "local" (Class A) stations to double their power from their former level of 3,000 watts but the FCC action made designated Class A frequencies a thing of past of the past by permitting all classes on all channels. In addition FCC rules were later revised to authorize "contour protection" stations through the use of directional antennas.

Despite what has happened since all those rule changes, however, it's worth noting that the basic minimum separation requirements really weren't changed all that much, whether we're talking mileage or co- and adjacent-channel spacing. Frankly, I'd like to see the separation requirements revised once again to make them somewhat more realistic in view of today's technology. But after many years in this business I still believe that the FCC is unlikely to make any substantive changes in that regard soon, if ever.

 

[fredcantu]

I remember someone warning of the "AM-ization" of FM with stations at all power levels and directional antennas. They were right. And Hybrid Digital Radio adding hash to the sidebands made things even worse.

 

[wxman76]

Wasn't 95.1 KVIC once a 100kw back in the 90s?

I recall with a good tropo bend, KVIC once sometimes could be heard clearly at Cedar Park (just north of Austin). I find it kinda odd that they once mighty 95.1 out of Victoria is now being whittled down to nothing.

 

[fredcantu]

Wasn't 95.1 KVIC once a 100kw back in the 90s?... I find it kinda odd that they once mighty 95.1 out of Victoria is now being whittled down to nothing.

IIRC-- They sold their soul to Univision and downgraded so that Univision could upgrade a 95.1 in Comfort, TX and move it into the San Antonio market.

 

[jd]

That's right. And going back a little further, KVIC was downgraded due to FCC rule changes in the late 1980's, although listeners didn't notice. Because they were on a short tower the station was re-classified as a Class C1 (still with 100,000 watts). KVIC kept that status until the downgrade to a Class C3, which occurred ten years ago when KRNH moved from Kerrville to Comfort, upgrading to a Class C1 with 100,000 watts. Incidentally, KVIC has been operating all these years with an antenna height of less than 500 feet but as mentioned above they got out very well during tropo conditions when they were at 100kW.

 

[fredcantu]

That's right. And going back a little further, KVIC was downgraded due to FCC rule changes in the late 1980's, although listeners didn't notice. Because they were on a short tower the station was re-classified as a Class C1 (still with 100,000 watts). KVIC kept that status until the downgrade to a Class C3, which occurred ten years ago when KRNH moved from Kerrville to Comfort, upgrading to a Class C1 with 100,000 watts. Incidentally, KVIC has been operating all these years with an antenna height of less than 500 feet but as mentioned above they got out very well during tropo conditions when they were at 100kW.

The nice thing about having the power-- even on a short stick-- is that it keeps the tropo problems to a minimum in your immediate listening area.

 

[wxman76]

On a somewhat related topic, I recall KVIC being at 93.3 briefly around 2000. Then they went back to 95.1 around 2001. Anybody remember that exactly timeline of when KVIC was at 93.3?

 

[jd]

KVIC wasn't on 93.3 although 95.1 did change call letters for a while back then:

KVIC from 01/30/2001
KRNX from 02/01/2000
KVIC from 01/12/1981
KCWM prior to that

And for 93.3 Port Lavaca here's the call letter history:

KITE from 03/02/2001
KRNX from 01/30/2001
KPLV from 11/16/1987
KKBH from 03/15/1985
KAOC from 04/12/1983

 

[wxman76]

KVIC wasn't on 93.3 although 95.1 did change call letters for a while back then:

KVIC from 01/30/2001
KRNX from 02/01/2000
KVIC from 01/12/1981
KCWM prior to that

And for 93.3 Port Lavaca here's the call letter history:

KITE from 03/02/2001
KRNX from 01/30/2001
KPLV from 11/16/1987
KKBH from 03/15/1985
KAOC from 04/12/1983

Thanks for that clarification. I just remembered that the Hot AC format went from 93.3 to 95.1 at that time in 2001. Soon, KVIC evolved to more of a CHR format while KEPG 100.9 (co-owned I think) went from mainstream CHR to rhythmic. Thats how I remember it, but you seem to remember that better that I do.