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WNYZ-LP 87.7 FM Can Permanently Broadcast As a Radio Station

B

Barry

According to InsideRadio, the F.CC. will permanently allow the handful of radio stations around the country operating on 87.7 FM to continue broadcasting. They have remained on the air with temporary authority. In this area 87.7 FM is used by Radio Korea, on WNYZ-LP (TV channel 6). As with the other FM6 radio stations, they are utilizing recent technology that makes it possible for TV channel 6 to broadcast a digital video/audio signal, plus an analog FM signal.
Apparently there have been few if any complaints of significant interference caused by these stations during the time they have been on the air with temporary authority.

From InsideRadio
 
The FM radio in my wife’s car (Ford Escape) only tunes down to 87.9. I was wondering how common that is for car tuners. Here in Chicago we have MeTV FM on 87.7. They advertise on buses/etc. I wonder how often people try to tune in but can’t.
 
DrJerry said:
The FM radio in my wife’s car (Ford Escape) only tunes down to 87.9. I was wondering how common that is for car tuners. Here in Chicago we have MeTV FM on 87.7. They advertise on buses/etc. I wonder how often people try to tune in but can’t.
Click to expand...
Perhaps that’s one of the major reasons there haven’t been more radio stations broadcasting on 87.7 FM. The F.C.C. recently considered a proposal, supported by NPR, to permit stations on frequencies even lower than 87.7. They rejected it on the grounds that few radios in the U.S. can tune down that low, and the belief not many people would buy new radios designed to pick up those frequencies.

BTW, it seems silly that these stations are only permitted to broadcast if they are using the signal of a low power TV station on channel 6. In New York, the TV programming is merely a formality, to make it legal. I read that channel 6 in this area exclusively broadcasts silent movies! Guess that results in minimal royalty fees.
I expect it‘s a similar situation in other cities with radio stations using 87.7 FM.
 
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DrJerry said:
The FM radio in my wife’s car (Ford Escape) only tunes down to 87.9. I was wondering how common that is for car tuners. Here in Chicago we have MeTV FM on 87.7. They advertise on buses/etc. I wonder how often people try to tune in but can’t.
Click to expand...
Many radios I have seen do go to 87.7 or 87.5 (since 87.5 is the lower end of the FM band in ITU Regions 1 and 3). Some of the older Ford radios I had experienced only go to 87.9. I feel the FCC punted on NPR's request for 87.9 (which we opposed) and our request to use 87.5, 87.7 and 87.9 for low power stations. They also punted on the issue of FM to channel 6 protection rules (for the second time), despite REC proposing technical rules based on ITU standards. On the latter, they claim they do not have enough information.. yet there are about 80+ LPTV stations across the country with NCE stations in their contours. There are plenty of test cases they can look at. I am not happy the FCC punted on the FM->TV6 protection issue.
 
My last car‘s stereo went down to 87.5. I also had (and still have) an FM modulator that also goes down to 87.5. It was really nice using it and never hearing any interference no matter where I drove.

I rented a car a few years ago whose radio only went down to 87.9. It may have been a Ford Escape as someone else mentioned. As bad luck would have it, I was driving to Chicago, so I couldn’t even listen to MeTV-FM.
 
Michi said:
Many radios I have seen do go to 87.7 or 87.5 (since 87.5 is the lower end of the FM band in ITU Regions 1 and 3). Some of the older Ford radios I had experienced only go to 87.9. I feel the FCC punted on NPR's request for 87.9 (which we opposed) and our request to use 87.5, 87.7 and 87.9 for low power stations. They also punted on the issue of FM to channel 6 protection rules (for the second time), despite REC proposing technical rules based on ITU standards. On the latter, they claim they do not have enough information.. yet there are about 80+ LPTV stations across the country with NCE stations in their contours. There are plenty of test cases they can look at. I am not happy the FCC punted on the FM->TV6 protection issue.
Click to expand...
In the UK, 87.7 and 87.9 are reserved for temporary services, "pop-ups" at low power for up to a month at a time. They used to be used a lot more than they are now for small-town services or college radio, but these days get used very irregularly for religious observances like Ramadan, or occasionally events like music festivals. DAB and internet streaming has taken over from the old annual month-long college or small-town radio broadcast. 87.5 is only ever used by pirates, as a WFM signal on 87.5 bleeds over into a non-broadcast area of spectrum.

Other countries do use 87.5 legitimately - notably Spain and Italy, from where I often receive stations on 87.5 during Sporadic-E conditions. Russia and Turkey also make relatively heavy use of 87.5, but it seems to be shied away from in the UK and the rest of northern Europe.
 
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