What's Up with KMAK-FM 100.3

[MisterGort]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

 

[mofocat]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

Yup, still off. At least a month now. Maybe two months.
Mister Rebago may be demanding some needed upgrades, KMAK's audio left a lot to be desired. A "power upgrade" is not going to happen as KMAK is pretty well hemmed in, I believe. Someone else here may be able to give some info on what the specific limitations would be, but I don't think KMAK has any real options as far as an upgrade of it's signal.

 

[kenrayc]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

Yup, still off. At least a month now. Maybe two months.
Mister Rebago may be demanding some needed upgrades, KMAK's audio left a lot to be desired. A "power upgrade" is not going to happen as KMAK is pretty well hemmed in, I believe. Someone else here may be able to give some info on what the specific limitations would be, but I don't think KMAK has any real options as far as an upgrade of it's signal.

I don't think there's a lot they can do either, because of KMEN 100.5, I think the only slight possible way to raise the power would be to lower it to the foothills below their sight or on the valley floor east of Sanger, it would decrease their overall coverage, but raise the signal intensity for Fresno, Clovis ,Sanger, Selma, Fowler, Reedley, Dinuba and the COL Orange Cove.

 

[kenrayc]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

Yup, still off. At least a month now. Maybe two months.
Mister Rebago may be demanding some needed upgrades, KMAK's audio left a lot to be desired. A "power upgrade" is not going to happen as KMAK is pretty well hemmed in, I believe. Someone else here may be able to give some info on what the specific limitations would be, but I don't think KMAK has any real options as far as an upgrade of it's signal.

I don't think there's a lot they can do either, because of KMEN 100.5, I think the only slight possible way to raise the power would be to lower it to the foothills below their sight or on the valley floor east of Sanger, it would decrease their overall coverage, but raise the signal intensity for Fresno, Clovis ,Sanger, Selma, Fowler, Reedley, Dinuba and the COL Orange Cove.

I would have to say that it's not just the fact that they only have 72 watts, it's also their overall equipment, it's outdated, and sounds poor, after all KDJK 103.9 Mariposa only has 71 watts and works well being a repeater for Merced, Mariposa and Madera County for The Hawk KKHK 104.1.

 

[kenrayc]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

Yup, still off. At least a month now. Maybe two months.
Mister Rebago may be demanding some needed upgrades, KMAK's audio left a lot to be desired. A "power upgrade" is not going to happen as KMAK is pretty well hemmed in, I believe. Someone else here may be able to give some info on what the specific limitations would be, but I don't think KMAK has any real options as far as an upgrade of it's signal.

I don't think there's a lot they can do either, because of KMEN 100.5, I think the only slight possible way to raise the power would be to lower it to the foothills below their sight or on the valley floor east of Sanger, it would decrease their overall coverage, but raise the signal intensity for Fresno, Clovis ,Sanger, Selma, Fowler, Reedley, Dinuba and the COL Orange Cove.

I would have to say that it's not just the fact that they only have 72 watts, it's also their overall equipment, it's outdated, and sounds poor, after all KDJK 103.9 Mariposa only has 71 watts and works well being a repeater for Merced, Mariposa and Madera County for The Hawk KHKK 104.1.

 

[DanielBoone]

Is KMAK FM still off the air ?? I hear that Tony Rebago no longer wants to do business with Smith and KMAK until he upgrades power.

Yup, still off. At least a month now. Maybe two months.
Mister Rebago may be demanding some needed upgrades, KMAK's audio left a lot to be desired. A "power upgrade" is not going to happen as KMAK is pretty well hemmed in, I believe. Someone else here may be able to give some info on what the specific limitations would be, but I don't think KMAK has any real options as far as an upgrade of it's signal.

I don't think there's a lot they can do either, because of KMEN 100.5, I think the only slight possible way to raise the power would be to lower it to the foothills below their sight or on the valley floor east of Sanger, it would decrease their overall coverage, but raise the signal intensity for Fresno, Clovis ,Sanger, Selma, Fowler, Reedley, Dinuba and the COL Orange Cove.

I would have to say that it's not just the fact that they only have 72 watts, it's also their overall equipment, it's outdated, and sounds poor, after all KDJK 103.9 Mariposa only has 71 watts and works well being a repeater for Merced, Mariposa and Madera County for The Hawk KKHK 104.1.

I was looking at the signal patterns between the two stations, I cannot see why the 72 watt station can be increased. I think height is a HUGE advantage but without the power increase it won't work. Lower it to the valley floor would not help because of the obstacles: trees, buildings, power lines etc. Besides, when equipment gets old, it doesn't work like it should either.

103.9 The Hawk's signal is a great repeater, or should I say "was." But not in Madera county anymore, I know, I've said it before, but that HD from KRZR blankets the frequency almost completely, even in the city of Madera. Didn't used to be that way (before May 2007). I can still hear that "hiss" taking over.

 

[DaveBayArea]

I know, I've said it before, but that HD from KRZR blankets the frequency almost completely, even in the city of Madera. Didn't used to be that way (before May 2007). I can still hear that "hiss" taking over.

It's a problem in many areas of the country. For what? I suspect that KRZR has no HD listeners other than us radio geeks. Even Vern's pirate station probably has more listeners. I'm sure it will slowly go the way of AM stereo, but meanwhile it's degrading the quality of radio. I had this idea a while back. The FCC should give stations the option of using HD or increasing their analog ERP by the same amount of power that they would put into the HD signal. So a 50 KW station could run 57 KW if they don't use HD. That might accelerate the HD abandonment process.

Dave B.

 

[MisterGort]

You all have missed the point. KMAK is only short to KNGS 100.1 B and remains locked in as a 3 KW Class AO. Smith repeatedly wrote letters to the FCC -- rather than to ask or pay KNGS to move just a few miles farther away. Smith has no cash or intellagence to understand that he could relocate from Bear Mountain just 5 miles east to the Sampson Communications site where the County is and increase ERP and height and become a Full class A - at about 500 watts ERP. And no one has clued in Rebago to the fact. Sampson even picks up Tulare County - as well as Fresno.

 

[mofocat]

You all have missed the point. KMAK is only short to KNGS 100.1 B and remains locked in as a 3 KW Class AO. Smith repeatedly wrote letters to the FCC -- rather than to ask or pay KNGS to move just a few miles farther away. Smith has no cash or intellagence to understand that he could relocate from Bear Mountain just 5 miles east to the Sampson Communications site where the County is and increase ERP and height and become a Full class A - at about 500 watts ERP. And no one has clued in Rebago to the fact. Sampson even picks up Tulare County - as well as Fresno.

Oh ya there's that whole KNGS problem, there was plenty of discussion about that fiasco w/ KMAK, but, I don't feel like looking up the archieves to refresh the memory or that whole mess.
I do remember hearing some testing from KNGS, but I don't recall them ever being on air except for brief testing.
They've not been on air for some time, not that I've heard. I wonder what holds up any on air presence of KNGS on 100.1. (So not to divert from the KMAK thread, maybe a response with an update on KNGS' status could post to an existing KNGS thread or start a new one...?)

 

[mofocat]

After a re-read of my post - I'll say please dis-regard what I had put in parentheses (). Any update regarding KNGS would be be welcome, as KNGS does impact KMAK. Kinda mixing programming vs technical aspects, but there's always some interaction between the two.

 

[DanielBoone]

I know, I've said it before, but that HD from KRZR blankets the frequency almost completely, even in the city of Madera. Didn't used to be that way (before May 2007). I can still hear that "hiss" taking over.

It's a problem in many areas of the country. For what? I suspect that KRZR has no HD listeners other than us radio geeks. Even Vern's pirate station probably has more listeners. I'm sure it will slowly go the way of AM stereo, but meanwhile it's degrading the quality of radio. I had this idea a while back. The FCC should give stations the option of using HD or increasing their analog ERP by the same amount of power that they would put into the HD signal. So a 50 KW station could run 57 KW if they don't use HD. That might accelerate the HD abandonment process.

Dave B.

Good Idea!! ;D I hope someday HD radio will fade away like Betamax VCRs did in the mid 1980's. ;D

 

[kenrayc]

You all have missed the point. KMAK is only short to KNGS 100.1 B and remains locked in as a 3 KW Class AO. Smith repeatedly wrote letters to the FCC -- rather than to ask or pay KNGS to move just a few miles farther away. Smith has no cash or intellagence to understand that he could relocate from Bear Mountain just 5 miles east to the Sampson Communications site where the County is and increase ERP and height and become a Full class A - at about 500 watts ERP. And no one has clued in Rebago to the fact. Sampson even picks up Tulare County - as well as Fresno.

Oh ya there's that whole KNGS problem, there was plenty of discussion about that fiasco w/ KMAK, but, I don't feel like looking up the archieves to refresh the memory or that whole mess.
I do remember hearing some testing from KNGS, but I don't recall them ever being on air except for brief testing.
They've not been on air for some time, not that I've heard. I wonder what holds up any on air presence of KNGS on 100.1. (So not to divert from the KMAK thread, maybe a response with an update on KNGS' status could post to an existing KNGS thread or start a new one...?)

I recall about 3 years ago hearing KZPO 103.3 Kings Radio simulcasting on 100.1 KNGS, it didn't last long, was there once a connection or were they just using the same satellite feed? The signal was not very good, KZPO had a better signal in Clovis, but I see that KNGS has a CP for 17 kw erp at a site near Avenal.

 

[jonbruce]

KZPO uses an internet feed.

 

[DanielBoone]

Going north on 99 thru Selma tonight around 9:30, I caught Thunder 100.7 out of Chico pretty good.

 

[DanielBoone]

After a re-read of my post - I'll say please dis-regard what I had put in parentheses (). Any update regarding KNGS would be be welcome, as KNGS does impact KMAK. Kinda mixing programming vs technical aspects, but there's always some interaction between the two.

Why do we care about two Spanish Station frequencies??? Isn't there enough of them already in this area???

 

[kenrayc]

Going north on 99 thru Selma tonight around 9:30, I caught Thunder 100.7 out of Chico pretty good.

KTHU Thunder 100.7, I have picked up before in Clovis during those tropo conditions, 100.7 a good open frequency in Fresno and Clovis, along with 95.5 KLOS ,that hasn't come in lately, like what was dicussed earlier, KJFX 95.7 also has added HD radio and KLOS is now blocked in Clovis.

 

[MisterGort]

Looks like KMAK is still off the air. The Sounds of Silence -- !!!

 

[mofocat]

Looks like KMAK is still off the air. The Sounds of Silence -- !!!

The sound of silence is on 103.3, not 100.3.

KMAK has been back on the air since the 1st of August. Not silent. Actually, I think the audio is improved some over what it had been before going off.

KZPO came back up to (what seems to be) full power about the same time - but today has a dead carrier, no audio.

 

[MisterGort]

I can hear KZPO fine in Hanford.