-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WSJC 810 back on the air
- Thread starter flytrap
- Start date
Amen,Brother!
Yes. It would be nice for WSJC to have an FM translator. Magee has certainly grown over the past couple of decades. There is a lot of money in the town that wasn't there back when I dealt with WSJC. Just, sadly, the chances of a translator for Magee are practically zero.
Under the Rules, only an existing translator can be used for such a purpose. There ain't one in Magee. So, the only option is moving an existing one in, which is a daunting, very time-consuming process. I doubt anyone would have the patience, assuming there is even one that would fit.
Still, it would be a service to the community.
DE
Under the Rules, only an existing translator can be used for such a purpose. There ain't one in Magee. So, the only option is moving an existing one in, which is a daunting, very time-consuming process. I doubt anyone would have the patience, assuming there is even one that would fit.
Still, it would be a service to the community.
DE
If anything, a potential translator would be headed to a bigger market like Jackson. That's what's happening in Birmingham now. They're up to three translators and CC is in the process of adding a fourth, all playing formats relayed from HD-2 subchannels.
Dunno if it's been mentioned yet, but if magic were to happen and they were to snag a translator, the smart thing to do would be to drop the power on that big AM down to something manageable like 1 kW. It's a shame there's a 25-mile limit to FM translators relaying AM stations, otherwise I'd advocate for a 250 watter in Jackson and make a go as a new Jackson FM.
Dunno if it's been mentioned yet, but if magic were to happen and they were to snag a translator, the smart thing to do would be to drop the power on that big AM down to something manageable like 1 kW. It's a shame there's a 25-mile limit to FM translators relaying AM stations, otherwise I'd advocate for a 250 watter in Jackson and make a go as a new Jackson FM.
I haven't been able to find anything at all in the FCC R&R that says a translator has to be located within a certain distance of its COL, nor have I been able to find anything that says a translator even has to put a signal over its COL. The reason I checked is there are two translators near me that do not put any signal over the COL, and neither is located in the same county as their COL. Both are located farther away from their COL than a 250 watt signal could be expected to cover, especially in the terrain where they are located. It looks to me like this is another gaping loophole the FCC has left wide open for abuse.
I don't know what crazy rule they have for city of license. A lot of translators are on the move in Alabama right now and many have drifted far from their original location whilst still having the original COL. For example there's one licensed to the city of Northport that's actually in Coosa County, about 100 miles away. They usually change to a proper local town/city after they get to their final destination, but not always. I've begun adding the actual community of coverage after the COL on my site's translator lists in cases where they don't match. There are ~30 that don't match!
As for the 25 mile rule, I couldn't tell you exactly where in the rulebook it is, but this is on the FCC's encyclopædia site, regarding fill-in translators and boosters:
_________________________________________________
An FM translator may rebroadcast an AM station only if the translator is within the SMALLER of (1) a 25 mile (40 km) radius circle from the AM station's transmitter site AND (2) the AM station's 2.0 mV/m contour.
_________________________________________________
As for the 25 mile rule, I couldn't tell you exactly where in the rulebook it is, but this is on the FCC's encyclopædia site, regarding fill-in translators and boosters:
_________________________________________________
An FM translator may rebroadcast an AM station only if the translator is within the SMALLER of (1) a 25 mile (40 km) radius circle from the AM station's transmitter site AND (2) the AM station's 2.0 mV/m contour.
_________________________________________________
Not to get too deep into this, BUT...
The FCC is now more conscious of abuses in translator moves. A particular operator in Florida took things too far with "serial" moves of his facility, done with mobile installations in parks and parking lots. The Commission was unimpressed. Now, it is easier to move a translator further in one hop, but that's all you get. So, it seems, a translator must be fairly close to its targetted market now, or it won't fit.
http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/201...-multiple-hops-are-an-abuse-of-fcc-processes/
So, unless there is a worthy translator near beautiful Magee now, it's unlikely there ever will be.
I love reading admin law. LOVE IT!
DE
The FCC is now more conscious of abuses in translator moves. A particular operator in Florida took things too far with "serial" moves of his facility, done with mobile installations in parks and parking lots. The Commission was unimpressed. Now, it is easier to move a translator further in one hop, but that's all you get. So, it seems, a translator must be fairly close to its targetted market now, or it won't fit.
http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/201...-multiple-hops-are-an-abuse-of-fcc-processes/
So, unless there is a worthy translator near beautiful Magee now, it's unlikely there ever will be.
I love reading admin law. LOVE IT!
DE
Judging by the activity I see in the daily digest, it hasn't stopped the multi-hop process so much as just slow it down to a crawl. If someone in lucky enough to be sitting on a 250 watt authorization with some height, it's still a pretty hefty jump that's possible if the next authorization is also high power and "tall up". But the ones with $$$ in their eyes for a 1 watter at 33 feet are going to find going forward most difficult.
Right now Pamal in Pensacola is LMA'ing WBSR, a pitiful 1 kW AM, doing ESPN sports. They've been working to bring a translator to town from Bay Minette, Alabama, which is a good 45 miles away. Unfortunately they picked it up right around the time the hammer came down and after about six months it's still not in Florida yet. It's maybe one or two hops away, so no telling when it'll find its way to town.
Unfortunately it appears that broadcasters in Mississippi were slow to latch on to this repurposing of translators thing and may have lost an opportunity. Only one I know of for sure is 1450 in Clarksdale. Contrast that to Alabama, where the AM on FM count stands at about 31 stations right now, and another 7 or 8 HD2 subchannels are being broadcast on translators.
Right now Pamal in Pensacola is LMA'ing WBSR, a pitiful 1 kW AM, doing ESPN sports. They've been working to bring a translator to town from Bay Minette, Alabama, which is a good 45 miles away. Unfortunately they picked it up right around the time the hammer came down and after about six months it's still not in Florida yet. It's maybe one or two hops away, so no telling when it'll find its way to town.
Unfortunately it appears that broadcasters in Mississippi were slow to latch on to this repurposing of translators thing and may have lost an opportunity. Only one I know of for sure is 1450 in Clarksdale. Contrast that to Alabama, where the AM on FM count stands at about 31 stations right now, and another 7 or 8 HD2 subchannels are being broadcast on translators.
It seems like even the best intentions of the FCC always end up going astray. If I remember the original plan, it was to allow ONLY stand alone AM daytimers on translators. Then it became any AM, even if they already have an FM, and included fulltimers, as well as daytimers. Then it was expanded to include HD-2 subchannels, which I am absolutely against.
I fully support stand alone AM daytimers being able to use translators. A fulltimer like WSJC is questionable. It seems unlikely that a 250 watt translator would give them any more coverage area than their 500 watt nighttime signal, except maybe in a null, so where is the advantage? A case like that would take more thought. The only reason a 5 KW fulltimer wants to be on a 250 watt translator is to get on FM, which may not be a big deal in a small market, but it is a big deal if the station is in a Top 30 market. Do they really NEED to be on a translator because of signal problems on AM? Obviously not. Wasn't the original intention of allowing AMs on FM translators to help struggling AM operations?
An AM that already has an FM shouldn't need a translator, whether the AM is a daytimer or fulltimer.
The HD subchannel business is a complete sham. To me, that is a case where the FCC is abusing translators by allowing it.
I fully support stand alone AM daytimers being able to use translators. A fulltimer like WSJC is questionable. It seems unlikely that a 250 watt translator would give them any more coverage area than their 500 watt nighttime signal, except maybe in a null, so where is the advantage? A case like that would take more thought. The only reason a 5 KW fulltimer wants to be on a 250 watt translator is to get on FM, which may not be a big deal in a small market, but it is a big deal if the station is in a Top 30 market. Do they really NEED to be on a translator because of signal problems on AM? Obviously not. Wasn't the original intention of allowing AMs on FM translators to help struggling AM operations?
An AM that already has an FM shouldn't need a translator, whether the AM is a daytimer or fulltimer.
The HD subchannel business is a complete sham. To me, that is a case where the FCC is abusing translators by allowing it.
CatFM said:
They need (want) to be on FM because no one under 50 listens to AM anymore, by and large. People like me who enjoy exploring the AM band for hidden treasures are a tiny, tiny minority.
It is a definite trend in larger markets to see the heritage news/talk (and now sports) stations moving to FM and increase their ratings, sometimes significantly. There are simply people who will not turn to the AM band anymore. Modern radios have poor AM fidelity, and interference is a lost cause in some cities, even with 5 or 50 kW sometimes it's just not enough.
I hate it, but it's reality. I still love AM, especially in Mississippi where parts of the state have great ground conductivity and little man-made noise generators, but by and large it's being abandoned by the moneyed demos.
I'm also completely for putting HD-2s on translators, but that's another discussion for another time.
There is a small translator in Hattisburg at 97.7 that originaly relayed 93.5 (now 94.3) but the last several times I've been in the area it was broadcasting dead air.
WJFN 970 in Brandon has a translator on 99.1, but the FM is in Jackson and can barely reach into Brandon where the parent station is located.
WJFN 970 in Brandon has a translator on 99.1, but the FM is in Jackson and can barely reach into Brandon where the parent station is located.
Years ago there was an FM station licensed to Magee. It is now Kixie 107
- Status