To clarify- I am speaking historically. I commend Beasley for taking action to improve the WQAM signal. The directional is the only practical way to do it now.
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trusty said:
I agree with Greg Strickland. Beasley is doing the best thing possible for an AM today.
Beyond the construction of the Herald Building, the big changes have been the increase of man-made interference levels in all urban areas and the change of the rated market to include Broward County coupled with urban sprawl.
When WQAM was #1 from a few months after Storz bought it and through the 70's battle with WFUN, the market was Dade County, and the population did not extend far west and the areas from Kendall to the south were barely beginning to develop. WQAM had a monster signal for the times.
As the city crew in all directions, and interference grew, the signal became limited at night even in Dade. Then, when Broward was added to the Arbitron market in 1981, WQAM became challenged to cover the whole area. Increasing the power will put an interference free signal over a lot more of the market.
C
cd637299
Guest
As the city crew in all directions, and interference grew, the signal became limited at night even in Dade. Then, when Broward was added to the Arbitron market in 1981, WQAM became challenged to cover the whole area. Increasing the power will put an interference free signal over a lot more of the market.
[/quote]
Not to mention the Bahamas & maybe Bermuda....
As somebody who is not in the biz, I have questions:
(1) When this current stick was installed, were there contingency plans, or insurance plans, to cover any possible loss of coverage, either including or not including any possible new 560 stations that Fidel planned? or did WQAM have to just swallow any possible problems coming their way?
(2) Has this application definitely been FCC-approved? and if so, when is the target date of completion? (Maybe they'll consider re-installing HD!!) <ducking tomatoes again.
cd
[/quote]
Not to mention the Bahamas & maybe Bermuda....
As somebody who is not in the biz, I have questions:
(1) When this current stick was installed, were there contingency plans, or insurance plans, to cover any possible loss of coverage, either including or not including any possible new 560 stations that Fidel planned? or did WQAM have to just swallow any possible problems coming their way?
(2) Has this application definitely been FCC-approved? and if so, when is the target date of completion? (Maybe they'll consider re-installing HD!!) <ducking tomatoes again.
cd
According to radio-locator.com the FCC has approved the CP for the power increase and change of tower(s) site and the CP was granted 20 MAY 2010 and normally the station has 3 years to complete the work but since WQAM will be broadcasting off of the WAXY site I wouldn't think it would take the whole three years to complete things.
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WQAM-AM
drt
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WQAM-AM
drt
cd637299 said:
WQAM was licensed about 80 years ago. In the early 40's, radio in the US, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas were subject to an almost total reallocation of frequencies under the NARBA treaty. Cuba abrogated the treaty in the 60's, and the FCC allowed a number of stations, WIOD being one of them, to increase power to counter Cuba's non-treaty compliant moves on AM. The current tower is, treaty and assignment-wise, no different than the original 5 kw day 1 kw night assignment.
I know of no station that has bought insurance against future allocations or international frequency / power changes. 560 has been relatively free of operations in Latin America, treaty controlled or not, that affected its operations.
It's very difficult to give an exact date for a new directional system's completion. They will have to do most work after midnight and, probably, before 5 AM as they are sharing an installation. And then adjustments of a directional are based on, in part, field strength readings even under today's rules... directionals are complex and quirky and can take large amounts of time to get into adjustment. Some directionals that worked on paper never could be put in compliance and licensed, in fact.
C
cd637299
Guest
Oh that reminds me, David...why couldn't WQAM have applied earlier for a power boost like WIOD received? (Maybe they were just negligent?) I couldn't see why it couldn't have happened....although WIOD I suppose has had problems since the 1980s, and WQAM's interference from Cuba may not have started until the mid 90s or so.
cd
cd
cd637299 said:
WQAM did not have significant enough Cuban interference, apparently, to have warranted a waiver of the FCC rules such as 610 did in Miami or several stations in the Tampa Bay market also did. At that time, regional channels were limited to 5 kw... and any increase to overcome interference could not at the same time increase inteerference to US licensed stations. Perhaps WQAM could have increased, but only with a very difficult directional system as the everglades sites had not been built yet in the 60's and early 70's when the exceptions were made... and the exceptions were STA's and not permanent licenses.
Keep in mind that Cuban interference may actually be in line with the protection requirements for 1 kw nights on 560... not a huge area, to be sure.
The tower location has not been moved.trusty said:
It is still there (you can still see it between the McArthur Causway and the Venetian Causway).
Only the station has moved to another tower elsewhere.
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