WPOZ/WMYZ upgrade questions

[JH_Radio]

since I'm blind, c culd someone explain to me what the upgraded 100KW would do? would it reach further? or just penitrate what it does reach so far, better? like buildings and such.

 

[w9wi]

since I'm blind, c culd someone explain to me what the upgraded 100KW would do? would it reach further? or just penitrate what it does reach so far, better? like buildings and such.

The simple answer is, both.


Specifically, increasing power from 13KW to 100KW increases the signal strength everywhere, by about 8.5 decibels.

So let's say you live 70km (about 45 miles) from the WPOZ tower, and you have a radio that requires 60dBu of signal to deliver a listenable signal. With the old 13KW power, WPOZ would deliver only 55.4dBu and you wouldn't be able to listen. The increase to 100KW will increase the signal from 55.4 to 64.1dBu and you'd be able to listen. In other words, WPOZ's reach, the distance at which you can receive the station, has improved.

Let's say instead, you're in an office building in Kissimmee, about ten miles from the tower. With the old 13KW power, WPOZ delivers 85dBu of signal which would be plenty if you were at home. But there are a LOT of noisy computers in your office, and the metal construction of the building really knocks down the signal. So while there's 85dBu of signal outside in the parking lot, there might be only 70dBu inside the building. And there might be 75dBu worth of noise from the office computers, enough to overpower WPOZ reception.

With the 100KW power, you now have 94dBu of signal outdoors. There's 79dBu left indoors, enough to overcome the computer noise. In other words, building penetration has improved as well.

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Technical notes

A dBu is the way the FCC measures the strength of an FM radio signal. 70dBu is ten times as strong as 60dBu, which is ten times as strong as 50dBu, etcetera. The vast majority of radios, operated in a typical residence, will deliver good quality, noise-free audio if operated in a place where 60dBu or more of signal is present.

In practice, the quality of the signal drops off gradually. It is unlikely you'd have a clear, strong signal at 64dBu and lose it completely at 55dBu. It might however have some noise.

More importantly, 60dBu is a magic signal strength. The FCC will not authorize any other station to interfere with the signal of WPOZ, or any other FM station, in any place where that station delivers at least 60dBu of signal.

Actually, WPOZ will install a directional antenna when it increases to 100KW. That means while it will be 100KW in some directions, it will be less in other directions. The favored directions are northeast towards Daytona Beach and south-southeast towards Melbourne.
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[JH_Radio]

ah ok, thanks for the explination.
How about WMYZ? They are also due for an upgrade right?
I'm just tryin to see in advance if WMYZ might cover say the Leesburg and The Villages area, in which case we wouldn't need the translators anymore?
does radio-locator use these D dBu figures to calculate distance and fringe for FM reception?

 

[w9wi]

How about WMYZ? They are also due for an upgrade right?
I'm just tryin to see in advance if WMYZ might cover say the Leesburg and The Villages area, in which case we wouldn't need the translators anymore?
does radio-locator use these D dBu figures to calculate distance and fringe for FM reception?

Yes, WMYZ has a permit to increase power from 1200 watts to 7200 watts. The increase brings Leesburg into the 60dBu coverage area, but it's not enough to cover The Villages.

I would not assume the Leesburg translator would go away. First, WMYZ may still feel the translator is necessary, even if Leesburg now gets more than 60dBu of signal. It may be many of their Leesburg listeners are in noisy office buildings and need more than 60dBu. Or, WMYZ may want to sell the Leesburg translator to some other station that needs a translator there.

Yes, radio-locator uses dBu figures. http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/page?p=maps"]According to their website, [/url] the Local Coverage area in red is 60dBu; the Distant Coverage area in purple is 50dBu; and the Fringe Coverage area in blue is 40dBu. Remember that the FCC may authorize other stations which will cause interference in areas where the signal is less than 60dBu. So WMYZ's fringe coverage area may be shown as including Ocala, but it is very possible you can't actually receive WMYZ in Ocala, no matter how good your radio is, due to interference from other stations.