When I learned of the 1941 NARBA treaty that set aside how the AM frequencies were to be used between Mexico, Canada, and the United States, I was struck by how little of the AM band was set aside for local frequencies. I assumed this was all part of the necessary compromises but if it had been me, I probably would have insisted that all frequencies between 1230 and 1490 kHz be considered for local use instead of the regional use many of these frequencies were given. If all of those frequencies had become local frequencies, we would have had a lot fewer stations with very weak nighttime signals and requiring multi-tower arrays than we do now.
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What the FCC should allow: Keeping only FM translators while silencing their AMs
- Thread starter Bill-in-CT
- Start date
Colombia did just that:
540-1000 up to 100 kw with no duplication in the country, except for extreme distances.
1010-1250 up to 10 kw with multiple stations
1260 and above 1 kw with many stations.
There were no directional stations except a couple of cases (810 and 820) that pushed their power to one area on purpose. There was no night power reduction, and night signals were only protected against first adjacent in the market area of each.
Nobody wanted the local stations except in smaller communities. The ones in bigger markets seemed to always be struggling and changing format.
alert the press, i agree with David.... i think a big problem with am in the us is craptastical facilities in terms of coverage, directional, low power.. just so they could fit one in back in the day.
Just because you can put up 5 towers, but have to operate on a generator doesnt mean you should for a mid band AM
Maybe there weren't any.
Three towns near where I live had small FM stations that increased power and moved to Charlotte.
David had one of the best ideas a couple of months ago: a wise AM operator should have an aux site (roof top longwire or whatever) ready to go. So when something bad happens you notify the Commission and keep the translator going with minimum disruption.
With AM stations turning in licences almost monthly a used "aux" transmitter might be possible.
I always wondered why some AM stations in larger towns never thought to "up grade" their towers so they could lease space to cell companies. The cell companies wouldn't have to deal with NIMBYS because the tower is already there.
With AM stations turning in licences almost monthly a used "aux" transmitter might be possible.
I always wondered why some AM stations in larger towns never thought to "up grade" their towers so they could lease space to cell companies. The cell companies wouldn't have to deal with NIMBYS because the tower is already there.
Exactly, but a very interesting phenomenon is happening. When these new FM stations arrived from the migration process, most were assigned 25 kW, but the commercial market wasn't prepared for such high demand. In several cities, FM stations subsidize AM operations with joint sales. But today, there are locations that are not profitable due to the harshness of these new frequencies.
for many technical reasons, it can be a time consuming, expensive pain in the ass and not worth it
Yep - more value for the cell phone operator, less value for the broadcaster to go thru the pain in the ass to accomplish this.
A dozen years ago? There may have been some value in doing this - again, that pain in the ass that the cell operator would need to pay for.
Sure they do. One of the reasons for AM's decline is that consumers own a bunch of FM-only tuners.
I only own two AM tuners: one in my car and one that I bought specifically to DX with. The various portables I have elsewhere in the house are FM-only.
I doubt WLW’s FM translator gets much listening outside of downtown office buildings. The 94.5 signal is terrible throughout much of the area, even inside the I-275 loop. The terrain is too hilly for translators to be of much use in Cincinnati. And for the 94.5 frequency in particular, there is a Lexington, KY station, 85,000 watts at 638 HAAT, just 70 miles south as well as a 94.5 about 45 miles north in Dayton. Both can cause interference to WLW’s translator.
While 700 WLW is consistently at the top of the ratings with its powerful AM now, eventually I’d think they will in fact need a full power FM. Again, translators don’t do well in this market, despite what the Radio-Locater maps depict.
Plus, in most cases, an AM array is going to be in low lying terrain. Possibly in a swamp, likely far away from the population. Not the ideal location for a cell repeater.
There is only one AM I know of that has done this. It was WXLW in Indianapolis.
They took a 3 tower array, demolished it, downgraded to Class D, and built two cell towers on the property, in place of two of the old AM radiators.
As you probably know, Indianapolis is not known for its swampy ground or seaside lagoons, and WXLW's tower site had long ago been swallowed by sprawl.
Wow! All of the radios I own have both AM and FM reception. And, for now, I won't have it any other way!
Ironically, KSKO had a cell antenna on the AM tower when it was a few miles outside of town 200-250 feet up.... site was demolished and license turned in. cost $60K a year in generator fuel to power it, wasnt on city power.
They moved to a much shorter tower, closer in with a booster behind the school and service has sucked
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Noisy downtown office buildings?
With 5g
If the Verizon and AT&T build out their 5G networks to compete with T-Mobile's 900mhz system, they are going to have to secure a bunch of sites due to the shorter distance and weaker building penetration of their higher 5g frequencies. A long term rental contract from a cell company is something a bank will take as collateral. In a city, shorter towers for smaller cells is the future. Of course you don't want a 1010 Atlanta fiasco.
I'm not sure about this. The Class A and B AM stations tended to be the ones that survived through the 90s in some form. The Class C and D (Class III and IV in the old system) mostly lost commercial viability when the Docket 80-90 FMs started to sign on (circa 1990).
1000 watts non-directional on one of the local channels just doesn't cover much. It'll cover a small city adequately, but not a whole radio market. That's a big part of the reason lower-power stations could not compete. Ad buyers came to see stations as serving a market that was usually several counties in size. If you're 1230 WFOM, a local channel licensed to a suburb of Atlanta, it eventually came to be that there was a very limited ad market independent of Atlanta. If not for being bought by a consolidator in the 1990s, WFOM probably would have gone under.
KBET-AM in Las Vegas has been off the air for years but the 250 watt translator on the mountain is operating illegaly.