KFIR 720 Sweet Home now has a construction permit for 10kw from its present site. We should be able to hear it up here.

Semoochie, I started a thread called "Can a signal upgrade be too expensive?"

How much will KFIR's signal upgrade cost? And is it worth the cost?

KFIR will still only be 184 watts at night.

With 184 watts wouldn't that at least reach Lebanon and Albany on the fringe at night? Perhaps with 10KW daytime a change will be on the horizon for KFIR.

With 720 KDWN booming in at night, KFIR couldn't easily be heard outside of the Sweet Home area.

Why do they keep on placing these local AM stations on clear-channel frequencies, then plan on bumping up the power after a few years? This makes no sense at all to me. These 50KW giants will still wipe them out!

This is a situation where a 1kw daytimer on 1370 moved to 720. It's a pretty good deal, especially now that it will be 10kw! They didn't ask for nighttime power. The Daytime Broadcasters Association convinced the FCC it was a good idea.

I can't see the 10 kw as much of a benefit if the station is still essentially a daytimer outside of Sweet Home.

The station barely made it to Corvallis before and now will clear Salem.

KFIR could act as a daytimer for Eugene.

Without at decent tower (ground system) and processing, coverage will not be that great in Salem and Eugene.

I just notice today? The KGW has cut back there noon news to a half hour. Instead of a full hour, that they have been doing for many years.

and that has what to do with towers and such?

I like to listen to KYTE (102.7),a Newport station

Is K-103 still planing to broadcast in Salem at 102.7? This is a "Towers and Such" question.

Could someone tell me what is going on with the move in 97.7 The Dalles into 97.9 Tualitin? Also, is FAA clear with the 97.9 moving to 107.9 frequency?

bump

I'd like to apologize for starting this thread prematurely. Someone mentioned the other one was gone and I couldn't find it. Now, I see it again.

Semoochie: I'm glad you did! The one I started 11 months ago is getting really show to load now.

"Could someone tell me what is going on with the move in 97.7 The Dalles into 97.9 Tualitin? Also, is FAA clear with the 97.9 moving to 107.9 frequency?"

FAA? The FCC hasn't yet approved this proposal.

"Is K-103 still planing to broadcast in Salem at 102.7?"

It seems like this plan has been thrown out the window.

I thought I responded to this question once but don't see my reply anymore. As far as I can tell, the plan to move KACI to Tualatin on 97.9 is in the very early stages. It doesn't appear to have even been proposed yet by the FCC. I think this means that they either haven't decided yet to make the proposal or are waiting for something to occur. That occurance could be finalizing the move from The Dalles to the Seattle area et al.

Yes...I wonder how many years it'll take for 104.5 to make it's move.

1.IT IS ORDERED, That effective October 20, 2006, the FM Table of Allotments, 47 C.F.R. Section 73.202(b), IS AMENDED, with respect to the communities listed below, to read as follows:


Communities Channel No.

Arlington, Oregon 295C2

Athena, Oregon 264C2

Hermiston, Oregon 261A

La Grande, Oregon 225C1

Monument, Oregon 280C1

Prairie City, Oregon 260C

Prineville, Oregon 236C1, 255C3, 267C1

Walla Walla, Washington 227C1, 239C, 246C0

Weiser, Idaho *247C1

KNRQ does NOT have to move to 107.9 due to FAA objections. 97.9 Does NOT get to move.

If that's the case then expect KXPC to be sold in the near future.

The FAA won't allow KNRQ to move to 107.9? So...Marathon Media's KXPC move isn't going to happen?

Not to long ago. KVMX 107.5 had an application on file with the FCC. To boost there power to 100kw. Does this mean KVMX and KNRQ move to 107.9 on the dail. Will not work at all at the higher end of the FM band.

Just because the aircraft band is located between 108-136 MHz, it does not mean that an FM station at 107.9 will interfere with the operations of the airport communications.

Many cities have 50KW+ FM stations on 107.9, and they are close to airports.

Here is a listing of over 100 of them at 107.9 FM

KVMX has a construction permit for 100kw from their present location. I don't believe they have anything to do with this.

I read somewhere that if a 107.9 tries HD, the HD fuzz extends into the aircraft band!

The FCC only recognizes the authority of the FAA with issues pertaining to tower construction. When constructing a new service on an existing tower, FAA notification is not required in the eyes of the FCC. The FAA thinks otherwise. The FAA has it's own interference models that must be observed when you apply to construct a new tower, and the established way to circumvent this problem is to reduce power to the FAA limit, get their OK, build it, then upply for a power upgrade and since the FAA has approved the tower, you don't have to notify them that you are upping power.

However, should any new service create a new spur up at 108 or thereabouts, the FAA can make you reduce power until the issue is resolved and filters installed.

Most airports routinely sweep their runways with test gear for interference on relevant frequencies that would screw up VOR.

The FCC - FAA turf battle is old. I am unaware in any recent changes to this struggle.

Interesting how a no nothing community like The Dalles Oregon could have two stations that are being moved into bigger markets. KMCQ to Seattle and KACI to Portland. What does that leave The Dalles for stations... I mean formats. They probably have enough stations. Any my gosh, these posts have indeed been talking about KMCQ and wondering if they will move. And as for the KACI thing, that is relatively new... at least for the posts. Most move-ins in the rest of the country have been completed in less than 3 years. Facinating how much money a station might be worth in Portland, not The Dalles! What's your guess????

The Dalles has 2 AMs and 3 FMs. In addition, a strong signal can be heard from an FM in Goldendale, which has it's antenna just about exactly halfway between Goldendale and The Dalles. It covered the latter pretty well when it was a Class A. Now it's a C2! There's also a construction permit for the Hood River FM that could hit fairly well.

"Interesting how a no nothing community like The Dalles Oregon could have two stations that are being moved into bigger markets."

I don't know who owns those stations, but it's part of a larger trend.

Clear Channel, in an ongoing strategy of redrawing the allocation map, is starting to sell off those small stations that can't be moved after downgrading them to allow for maximum coverage through upgrades in the more profitable larger markets. If left unchecked, what will be left is extremely downgraded service everywhere but the top markets.

The company sold its Aberdeen, SD stations within the past two years, now they are selling WUUS-AM and WNGA-FM in Chattanooga, TN and WGMN-AM and WVGM-AM in Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA. I've also heard the company is selling all of its stations in Idaho, except Boise.

Of course, if you can read between the lines, if Clear Channel is abandoning smaller markets it may be because they're not getting the "economies of scale" that they anticipated. If listeners aren't available to advertisers because they've abandoned synthesized & syndicated programming, CC - and other corporate players - can't make the money they need to service the debt & keep stockholders happy.

KMCQ was about the only thing I could hear all the way from Madris to The Dalles, even down in Maupin.

Andy, hope you are right.

Innovation will come from there. Service issues or not.

KBND Bend is expanding to Television. KBND-LP channel 41.

I appreciate Andy's analysis, as it shed light on a corner I'd overlooked. While I'd shared in the hope I've seen expressed that the overacquistion is now resulting in a sell-off from which some genuinely local service might revive in the shake-out, I hadn't yet grasped the overall scheme: i.e., the systematic shuffle of service grades (a bit too arcane here in Towers & Such for me to fully comprehend), which I now see as effectively a theft of media bandwidth from smaller communities by transferring it to overcrowded urban markets, worsening the viability of stations there, necessitating the outsourcing of their content.

From that angle, it's worse than scorched earth for the towns/burgs, it's actually an everybody-loses proposition.

I see an analogy in the "Newspaper Preservation Act," which, by granting antitrust exception to permit "joint operating agreements," results instead in the stifling of editorial diversity. (Long rant omitted about the Times/P-I JOA repeating the disaster, two decades earlier and only 200 miles distant, of our Journal's plotted destruction, the death of the "real" UPI in the wake of afternoon papers' failures, etc. I could also rave about the irony of Big O newsboys slapping "Information Centralization" stickers on USAToday's newsstands only four years after the Journal was shut, right on its 20-year agreement expiration...)

But back to the point: The contract for the scrapping of the P-I's presses specified precisely how bitty the pieces had to be smashed (they had to pass through a screen), which made the real purpose vividly clear. I now can see a similarly irreversible pattern in the shifting of station service grades between markets.

Kopp- I, for one, am interested to hear the extended version of the rant.

"theft of media bandwidth from smaller communities by transferring it to overcrowded urban markets, worsening the viability of stations there, "

In the past, independent ownership of stations in outlying adjacent markets (e.g. Albany, Corvallis) prevented adjacent larger market owners from upgrading their facilities. Clear Channel buys these outlying stations primarily to gain the ability to legally accept a downgrade enabling the larger market stations to up its class and/or ERP. I think even you pro-big company radio fans would be hard pressed to show how this is good for the industry. It is as said an "everybody-loses" scenario. Then, after downgrading these outlying licenses, Clear Channel is beginning to dump them. This was probably part of their strategy from the beginning, since these stations advertisers are used to paying lower spot rates than in the larger market stations and can't generate the revenue/costs ratio required by the board of directors. Even though electricity, taxes, and other costs in these smaller markets are less, they aren't small enough to get that ratio to what the big boys want.
So along comes the next fool who doesn't know this history and buys said license from Clear Channel complete with emasculated coverage and soiled reputation with the local community, its life blood of revenues. Clear Channel is a blight, a plague, a disease which must be removed. Since the government just got done with overhauling the telecom rules 10 years ago, it seems unlikely it will be addressed again in the measure that many would like to see. RIP Radio Broadcasting. The government wrote out the death warrant, and Clear Channel administered the lethal injection.

A question for Andy...is there something that's happened in Albany, Corvallis that I'm not aware of?...If you are speaking of the move of KFLY to Eugene, while still licensed to Corvallis, what it's done is expanded the listenable area and has allowed Clear Channel to increase it's revenue....the last I knew the United States allowed business to do that in a free market economy...and the last I knew KLOO AM/FM and KRKT, and KTTH haven't seen any reduction in power and are doing just fine...can you clarify that situation? I am also wondering if CC has "dumped" any stations here in the Northwest? Fact is I couldn't find, after a bit of research, that CC is selling off the smaller stations...I also must comment on the "so along comes the next fool who doesn't know this history"...if that's the case, shame on the prospective buyer on not doing his or her homework...or would that be like someone buying a home near the airport and complaining about the noise? Just curious!

Clear Channel has been known for buying smaller market stations and moving them into neighboring larger markets. KFLY and KNBQ are two NW examples.

A good two-word example of what Andy writes about: Entercom Longview.

Andy is sounding a little bitter there.

Entercom "trashed" the 94.5 signal in Longview/Kelso, to clear the way for Portland's 94.7 to move to a much better site. In the end, it was well worth it, since 94.7 (KNRK) deserves full coverage of the Portland metro.

Radioxpert you bring up a good point about KFLY and KNBQ, however the moves haven't caused the smaller markets to suffer, in fact CC actually put a country station back on in Centralia with the same calls it had before KMNT. As I mentioned in my last post, KFLY is still licensed to Corvallis and is still city grade in Corvallis, and frankly Sarge has done a good job in making KFLY a highly rated station...and the harm is??????

Clear Channel was very smart to move KFLY (Corvallis) and KNBQ (Centralia) into larger markets. Both of these stations significantly increased their coverage, while keeping their original cities of license. Job well done!

From it's new site, closer to Seattle, 102.9 KNBQ "Q Country" still puts a clear signal into Centralia/Chehalis. However, Clear Channel decided to put a second Country format on 104.3 KMNT. Doesn't that seem a bit redundant?

As I've said here before, whatever you think of them, large group owners like CC have spent more money improving the technical (and legal) aspects of many stations that were in sad conditions under previous private owners.

I don't for one minute buy that radio was so much better off being run by the small time rich rather than the big time rich.

Even back in the day the great owners were far outnumbered by the "eccentric" or "notorious" characters that have held the licenses in the past.

Public service has been getting the short shrift since way back to the 70's maybe even sixties, but I'm not that old.

There is good and bad in every situation. It is the job of those who wish to play the game to know who they are playing with.

I also don't buy that The Dalles will be less served by two automated class A FM's instead of one automated class C.

I think they're both C2s. Besides the Goldendale station, the one in Hood River is moving its antenna to better reach The Dalles.

Have to agree with your post Notalent. Entercom dropped some serious (for Longview) money on the physical plant during their years there. That included some new transmitters, an on-channel booster for KRQT (good move), and lots of new studio gear. But KLYK is practically unlistenable on the west side of Longview, even with a translator. Maybe Bicostal will fix the problem someday.

My question is: Why does 94.7 KNRK/Camas deserve full coverage of the Portland metro, while 94.5 KLYK/Kelso does not deserve the same consideration for it's "metro". Is it only because there's mo' money in Portland? One can argue that there are already too many stations the the Longview/Kelso market, so the downgrading of one is no big deal. Especially since all of them are mostly satellite or otherwise automated. But there are plenty of stations in Portland too. Does the market really need thinly disguised "move-ins" like Camas, Banks, Scapoose, Mollala?

Regarding KNBQ (never will I get used to hearing those calls attached to country music), Clear Channel did handle the situation well. The market has had a country music station since the '60s, and by moving 102.9 to Seattle, they would be leaving a big programming and revenue hole. CC was fortunate that they could move their cake and bake a new one too. Locals get their music, news and sports PBP, and Seattle gets another rimshot. Of course CC easily outbid the remaining local broadcaster for the 104.3 Chehalis freq.
Right or wrong it's all by the book. Nothing wrong with making money, but is this really what the FCC had in mind?

92.7 KMSW is a C3 and 97.7 KACI-FM is (just barely) a C2...and they cover The Dalles, flawlessly. KMSW has translator (102.9) in Hood River. Hood River's 105.5 KCGB currently has no coverage in The Dalles, but will have a little bit, once it moves. The class C; 104.5 KMCQ "Q104" is the market's only full-time local voice.

Yes, 94.5 KLYK now has a less than perfect signal in Longview/Kelso, which is too bad. However, the fact remains that the Portland station (94.7) is worth MUCH more.

Notalent also makes a good point, and the bit about "small time rich" does indeed ring home. I don't know enough myself to have an opinion on CC as an entity; besides its vocal critics, it also has plausible defenders who report welcoming the improved salaries and facilities.

I was alarmed (and perhaps a bit overexcited) by the specter of less-than-obvious possible reasons for downgrading small market stations, and still wonder if it will help or harm. (Thought I saw something like the old trick of a refiner buying a competitor's franchisee dealers only to fill their tanks with concrete.)

The turnover of smaller stations (particularly with improved plant) might still be a good thing, but it'll take time to see how it turns out. I don't feel encouraged; from the KOHI thread I can see that "mom'n pop" local radio has become a financial impossibility.

I don't see how the "Smullin model" of regional mini-networks would work in an urban area's fringe (perhaps as some kind of "necklace" around the cities?), and small-muni radio seems pretty chancy, given their rickety structure and politics.

I can't think of a type of community org or institution with sufficient resources to do the job but also lacking any agenda, besides perhaps county libraries ... so I guess it's time to reverse the tinfoil on my hat now.

Notalent: "I don't for one minute buy that radio was so much better off being run by the small time rich rather than the big time rich.

Even back in the day the great owners were far outnumbered by the "eccentric" or "notorious" characters that have held the licenses in the past. "

That is not a fair assessment. For example, in 1990 there were 14 FM's in this market, each license owned by a separate owner. Many owners had other stations in the Northwest and even elsewhere. Today, 13 out of 14 of those licenses are held by 3 companies. Of those 14 companies, I don't see the number of "eccentric or notorious" characters you allude to. Maybe on the AM dial, hell, I worked for Howard Slobodin at KVAN when I first hit town, and there was Dave Jack and Bill Failing, but the FM's were mostly owned by small to medium size corporations that were all very responsible broadcasters. I'm in no way trying to attack what few jobs there are left in broadcasting, although they certainly doesn't appear to be anywhere near the diversity of opinions, music and attitudes that I experienced in the past. Radio is pretty boring and every time I talk myself into listening in to a few stations I don't see any improvement. That is not to say those who are doing there thing on the air aren't trying to do their best. New age radio people are very defensive, and don't always seem to grasp the change for the worse that ownership deregulation has brought about. Having lots of money in the corporate coffers for new equipment does not guarantee squat when it comes to quality service. Before the onslaught of consolidation and the automation it swept in with it, the term "radio station" had a lot more meaning than it does now. It was someplace you could always call for a quick answer to a quick question to just about anything. Now if it keeps on raining, don't expect to call a radio station to find out if the levee broke.

I worked for Vic Ives in the 80's. is that small time rich or eccentric enough for ya??? I also worked for Don McCoun briefly... Today Taft/Nationwide would be considered small time too.

A lot more has happened since the "onslaught of consolidation." for instance 200 channels of cable TV with all the music anybody could want... The WWW with even more music and free downloads... Ipods or portable file players with enough capacity to hold the libraries of every radio station on the air and more.

The term radio station and the meaning it had with it was gone long before consolidation.

Your points make sense if listeners lived in a monolithic world where they only paid attention to radio to meet their enertainment needs. that is not a true view of the consumer of content in todays world.

not to defend voice tracking and automation but we can't overlook the obvious when comparing things today to the past

I think for the most part radio has forgotten the SHOW part of this SHOW BUSINESS, which has nothing to do with corporate ownership or group consolidation.

KMIH/KMCQ: Footnote/postscript to the big shuffle:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003336914_radio02e.html

In response to Notalent

The problem with the way radio is done today is that it is still pretending it sounds just like it did in 1980 on 1/10 the budget and 1/3 the people.

Doesn't work!

I just read a report today. That said public television station KSPS ch 7 in Spokane. Is currently off the air. The station lost top 200 feet of it's broadcast tower. There web site has pictures of the collapsed tower. Looks likes ice damage got to it.

last night I noticed that KKCW (103.3) HD digital was off the air... the HD is still off as I write, anybody know whats going on?

Rumor is that the move in thing is happening in The Dalles, is that with KACI or KMCQ?

KMCQ is moving to Covington WA. They're attempting to move KACI to Tualatin but there seems to be a stall.

As the year is coming to an end. Two of our local broadcast stations. Are coming up on some big milestones. First KXL-AM has been on the air for 80 years. And KGW-TV will be turning 50 years old soon.

I think the loss of the "show" from show business in radio has little to do with dereg. I think that happened when researchers convinced management that they could produce a more consistent business model by turning an art form into "paint by numbers".

The first company to break that wide open was The Research Group, in about 1978.

Dereg, however, did create an incentive to centralize.

On the strategy of moving facilities and service levels around, the only thing missing is a process at the FCC to put it all back together when needed. What happens when a small community starts growing, and five stations is no longer enough? Will owners of underperforming stations getting their butts kicked in cities like Portland decide to engineer "move-outs", so they can be big fish in underserved small ponds?

KMCQ is moving to the Seattle market April 1.

From Allaccess:

The deal to sell Hot AC KMCQ (Q-104)/THE DALLES, OR from MID-COLUMBIA BROADCASTING, INC. to FIRST BROADCASTING has been filed with the FCC in another step towards the station's move to the SEATTLE market (with new city of license COVINGTON, WA) in 2007. The price will be $5.1 million if closed before MARCH 31 and $5.3 million if afterwards.

The filing follows a settlement that will see MERCER ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL's noncommercoal KMIH/MERCER ISLAND-SEATTLE move from 104.5 to 88.9 FM to make way for KMCQ's move north. On TUESDAY, KMCQ GM JOHN HUFFMAN told listeners in an on-air announcement that the station's last day in THE DALLES will be MARCH 30 and that the station plans to fire up its new 25 kw SEATTLE signal on APRIL 1.

Hmmmm. April fools day.

How about the 97.9 move-in to Portland. When will this take place?

Earlier in this thread, there was a brief discussion of KNRQ 97.9 being blocked by the FAA from moving to 107.9. This could slow or prevent a move into Tualatin. I don't expect anything to happen up here until this problem is solved.

How about 96.3 move to Portland from Warm Springs (96.5) or 102.7 move to Portland from Newport. (Wishful thinking)

Biggest problem is Olympia on 96.1. They aren't likely to give up any coverage of Seattle. Moving 102.7 to Portland would force K103 to 103.5 which in turn would force the Fish to 104.3. Even if you moved everyone else, stations in Portland and Seattle would probably not be willing to give up coverage and at least one of them would have to drop to a Class C0. If there is ever a time when there are no analog signals, it could probably happen without adjacent interference but by then, what will the world be like?

With 104.3 in Chehalis, there is no way KFSH is going to move on that channel.

How about small towns having licensed FM stations?

Not until they find a way to pay for them.

How many more FMs does Portland need?

Is KYTE FM in Newport a financial failure?

It does not matter if a newport station is making money or not, the point is if there is a way to move it down the highway, to a place where it can make MORE dough (and/or lower expenses), then pack up and call the moving van.

What do you mean?

Would you agree with me that Portland has more than enough FMs?

For the answer to be yes, Portland would need to have "enough" FMs that didn't suck. Since they mostly suck, the answer is no.

Unfortunately, move-ins will probably make the situation worse, not better.

62kgw must not know some stations believe in community. Of course that went out of the portland market years ago. KYTE in newport has been approached to move at least three times in the last 20 years and each time rejected so that the central coast can have a big signal committed to serving its area.

What places could KYTE have moved to?

Rearranging bandwidth allocations has only become an option as a result of broad consolidation of ownership, in itself the big error the government made and now must live with. Moving assignments around has NOTHING to do with serving the community and EVERYTHING to do with $$$$$. Radio is all about selling commercials to buyers and that's all it's about. Anyone clinging to some historical notion of community service should wake up.

Even if the present owners are committed to the community, eventually they will sell. The next owner might not give a rip about the newport community, thus might just make purchase as part of bigger scheme to shuffle frequencies around such that one gets added to a bigger market.

When did KTRO switch to stereo? I see KPDQ is still mono.

Not meant to be in stereo...glitch's with the transmitter due to weather last week...will notify engineering.

It was still in stereo the last time I checked.

How come 910 KKISN is low power this afternoon?

Tower #3 repair. Now that the guy anchors have been stabilized: obstruction lamp and beacon fixtures have been replaced with LED ones.

Kent, what was the (low) power output? It seemed quite weak this afternoon. Was the pattern different than normal? I then heard some funny noises around 4:45, more than the usual nitetime mode changover interruption. Was the older transmitter on? Please tell us more, if you have time?

kisn died today

Black Monday at Kisn today...all automation...all the time! We will have a few live Saturdays left....sad.

NOOO!! SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!

It's been my default station since I was 6! I was hoping we'd make it to 50. I hope they keep the KISN identity. I don't quite know what to say. I may need a couple of years to think about it.

Stoner- you should go over to KHITS!

Khits wants no part of the old Stoner...The format is too tight for me anyway to have any fun with it...and I never came back for a paycheck anyway. I'm currently working on a new deal & very excited about it. I will wind it down with Kisn with a few more shows. My guess is Kisn will have a new ownership soon which will be interesting. That is my hunch. Why Khits did not grab John Williams & Scotty is a great mystery to me. They are both dedicated pros & I was proud to work with those guys. Pro's to the end at the Mighty 91.

I don't think anyone can honestly say they get into radio for the paycheck. You really like what you do...that is the only reason....unless your just a lazy SOB (not going to name names--but they are in the eugene market) who just sit read the paper and collect the $$$$$$

Stoner, thanks for all the memories.
I have lived here only 9 years, and I loved KISN and all the jocks there, You , John Williams, Scott tom , Donavan and Deb, it was real old time Rock and Roll!

When did the KXL transmitter move to Sherwood?
I am looking at the K entries in the business listings in the front of the new dex yellow pages.

The KXL transmitter site is still on a hill in the Damascus area...

Not really much of a hill. Just south of Downtown Damascus. Been there since they vacated the Sunnyside site.

plateau

How come the telephone company thinks the KXL Transmitter is in Sherwood?

IF KKISN can't afford to pay DJ's, how can they come up with the dough for fancy new tower lights?

FCC Regs...or else! (One of the few remaining teeth in the FCC regs, come to think of it...)

There is no FCC regulation specifying LED tower lights.

LED tower lights are much more expensive than the incandescent kind. however... its just like automation.

after a large initial expense they save money in the long run.

lower cost of operation and longer life meaning less human costs involved in changing out bulbs.

I imagine it's an FAA reg that requires lights.

I also suppose that it costs as much to send a guy up to change the light bulbs as the LED fixtures cost.

There must be one helluva lot of LEDs in those tower lights. Anybody know details?

Both the FAA and FCC have regulations about tower lights. Some 16 years ago, WOKJ (Jackson, MS) had their license revoked because of non-functioning tower lights that they refused to fix.

The regulations about tower lights dont specify whether they are LED or incandescent. that was my point.

They could use whale oil, that would save electricity. There might be some out of work lighthouse keepers available to trim the wicks each day.

Oh great! Now you've gone and woken up Greenpeace!

Nice going.

I stand corrected...It is, indeed, FAA specifications for obstruction lighting. (My cold medicine hasn't worn off yet...)

Look at it as a long term investment. LED lamps last maybe 10-12 years longer and use 90% less power than incandescents.

Look at it as a long term investment. LED lamps last maybe 10-12 years longer and use 90% less power than incandescents. And the cost of someone climbing those towers every year or so is quite high.

....There must be one helluva lot of LEDs in those tower lights. Anybody know details?....

Go read this months newsletter on the SBE 124 web site. There is a link to the data sheets and company.

According to Dialight's webpage, it appears that most, if not all, of their beacons use a relatively low number of high power LEDs as opposed to arrays of 100+ 5mm LEDs.

Some earlier LED beacons used large arrays of conventional-sized LEDs. I can't remember who manufactured this style of beacon. What I do remember is that these beacons were not made to be field serviceable, whereas the Dialight products do have replaceable parts.

I would imagine that these big LED array beacons would have had 200-300 LEDs based on an illuminator project that I built, where 100 5mm LEDs fit into a desk lamp housing with a diameter of about 4.5 inches.

LED's are being used in emergency vehicle light bars, even replacing strobes. Brighter and use 16 amps 'sted of 60 amps. Saw them on brand new Explorer sheriff trucks. Very low profile.

If Entercrime is trying to dump 910, then they would not be worried about replacing tower lights in the future, and not worried about electric bills, so why spend bucks for fancy new LED lights? OR is this example of realtor's advice to put new lighting in to brighten up the place to appleal to buyers?

Version 3 of the LED beacons, that were featured in Dialight's SBE meeting presentation on Tuesday the 9th, have fewer and brighter LED's than previous versions, and a reflector. Earlier versions had MANY more LED's and no reflector.

LED beacons use 96% less power and last 5 times longer, and the flasher is built in. That translates to 80% less tower climber labor. And, if you install them when the tower is built, whatever you use to get the AC onto the hot tower can be much smaller, too.

Entercom has eight AM towers in the Portland/Salem market, and all but KKSN Tower #3 were converted by last summer. This tower was the last one to get LED's because its guy anchors were only recently stabilized, and it couldn't be climbed before that.

Without derailing the discussion too far off topic, are there reliability issues when really big arrays of LEDs are used? The photos that I remember seeing of the older LED tower lights had what looked like hundreds of 5mm LEDs; I didn't realize that those beacons had been made by Dialight, too. I have noted that LED traffic lights and tail lights sometimes have groups of LEDs that glow dimly, flicker, or don't glow at all. When I started seeing these types of failures, I was pretty dismayed because I had expected that LEDs and modern circuit board assembly techniques would be robust enough to work for decades. Did Dialight address this issue at all in their presentation?

The more connections you have, the more opportunities for failures. If printed circuit board is involved, there is possible bad solder joints, with that too. Poor solder joints might behave ok for a couple years until lots of hot cold cycles lets corrosion begin, then you have an intermittant, or an open.

My educated guess is that, indeed, this type of failure with LED arrays happens because of circuit board corrosion. Since LEDs run pretty cool, I could see how one could get condensation on the circuit board if the LED array is not properly sealed. I remember reading that Dialight potted most of the components of their LED arrays, presumably to protect them from moisture. This had the side effect of making them non-serviceable in the field.

Jan 11, 2007... old WOR tower demolition:

http://www.fybush.com/featuredsite.html

Not broad band enough for HD ?

They already have the new digital towers operational!

Apparently the old towers could handle IBOC HD ok...The move was prompted by the desire to use the land for a luxury golf-course development.

http://www.fybush.com/sites/2005/site-050506.html

KRKO Could Begin 50KW Construction This Summer.

The Daily Herald:

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/01/23/100loc_a1krko001.cfm

KNRQ 97.9 Eugene just filed to move to Tualatin, 940 watts ERP.
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id =464035

That would leave quite a hole on the FM band in Eugene, with nothing between 96.1 and 99.1. Maybe, Newport's 97.5 KSHL could move into Eugene at 97.7?

I can get KRKO OK at night sometimes--but,hey,doncha just LOOOOvvvve that local owner?

OK, we're looking at 940 watts at 470 meters HAAT from the Skyline tower. I wonder where KRRC will move if it's approved and I can't see why it wouldn't be. At some point, whoever eventually ends up with this station will probably do some shuffling to get more power.

It looks like Hood River's 105.5 KCGB has moved to it's new site. Can anyone hear it in Portland? KCGB has a new translator at 96.9 in The Dalles.

That's a long way from Portland and it's still a Class A. While it appears to put a fair amount of signal into The Dalles, it doesn't seem to go as far west as North Bonneville. I doubt if anyone has any kind of reliable reception in the Portland area.

From the old site, I could hear 105.5 KCGB on I-84, in spots between 148th and 181st.

I thought that the original plan was to move 97.7 from The Dalles in to Portland and move 107.9 Albany to 103.7 and move 97.9 Eugene to 107.9, and 103.7 Lebannon to Paisey Oregon. I'm I wrong on this?

That was the original proposal, which hit a road-block with the FAA.

This isn't a proposal. They don't need one anymore. It's a direct application.

Yes, it's amazing that the FCC now considers this kind of move a "minor modification".

Does anyone else think that Marathon (KXPC's owner) could be working out a deal with Cumulus? 97.9 could be going to Marathon, as it moves into the Portland market. Cumulus could then acquire KXPC, move it to Eugene, and replace 97.9 with 103.7!

So 97.9 is going to be a Class A station or Class C3 for Tualatin? Also, will 97.7 KACI-FM relocate to 97.5 or 98.3 for 97.9?

I don't know what KACI is going to do now. My guess is that they will be offered a substantial sum to relocate so KNRQ can have more power, once they move to Skyline. KNRQ applied for a Class C3 with 940 watts @ 470 meters HAAT.

940 watts? That is a peeshooter for the Portland market, can they be a class c2?

If KACI-FM could be paid to downgrade to a C3, Portland's 97.9 could upgrade to a C2.

If KACI were out of the picture, they could probably be a C1. I believe the Rainier station is holding them back from higher power.

What about KCYS 98.1 in Seaside, I think it will prevent from KNRQ to be a class C1.

You're probably right. It's hard to keep track of all these new stations. They might be able to move it though.

i think the correct term is PEAshooter.

I'm tryin to think if there's any way for 97.7 KACI-FM to move to another channel. 97.5 would be impossible due to 97.5 in Tri-Cities, and KNLR in Bend, 98.3, forget it due to KEYW, the only other frequency would work is 95.1, but would it be too close to KIOK?

There's also 95.1 in Prineville, and in Monmouth/Salem.

95.1 in Primeville is Moving to 95.7. Whoops, I forgot about KSND 95.1 in Salem Or.

Also, does anybody thinks Culumus will move 96.1 KZEL to Portland to 96.3?
By moving 96.5 to 96.7 and downgrade/relocation from Warm Springs to Bend, and move KXXO 96.1 in Olympia up north to share with 99.3 tower and directionalized towards Portland.

And you thought the FM auctions were fun.

The floodgates have really been opened with "City Of License" now a "Minor Change".

There's another 96.1 in Vancouver BC that would probably prevent KXXO from moving to the other tower and I don't see them giving up any Seattle coverage.

96.1 KXXO should be able to move to 99.3 KDDS-FM's tower, without a problem. (If Vancouver's 99.3 CFOX isn't a problem for KDDS-FM, then 96.1 CHKG shouldn't be a problem for KXXO.) Interference sharing has been allowed between the U.S. and Canada. Bellingham's 92.9 KISM and Vancouver's 93.1 CKYE are only 45 miles apart, and (unless you're using a narrow FM tuner) they splatter all over each other!

Another good point! I have to get out more.

...and now for my next miracle! KWLZ Warm Springs has applied to move to West Linn(I wonder if they heard me)on 96.3 as a Class C3. It's for 2.9kw directional(everywhere but south)from the Stonehenge tower at 297 meters HAAT. This is part of a contingent application with KXXO Olympia applying to relocate to South Mountain. Kudos to E-Dawg for suggesting the last part; he just had the wrong station. This should wreak havoc with any number of LPFMs and translators.

I was thinking that KWLZ would want to beat KZEL to the punch. Good call!

97.7 KACI-FM has applied to move closer to Portland. How will this play out with 97.9 KNRQ's application?

It's further south. Is it actually closer?

CP for a 100 watt LP (on 96.3) in Hillsboro, I assume that it would get "bumped" if 96.1 or 96.3 were to move into the area ?

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=134266

Also one in McMinnville, Woodburn, Salem and the Satellator on Mt Scott...all 96.3...a major bump of up to 4 stations in the area...

Now, there is 1 place left on the FM dial for the Portland market. After the propose move-in of 96.3 and 97.9. (102.7FM) Now does anybody has some suggestions moving 103.3 to 103.5 and 104.1 to 104.3?

See, I told you about 96.3 coming to Portland.

Now I can see what Portland FM dial will be like.

88.3 KBVM Portland C-2
89.1 KMHD Gresham C-1
89.9 KBPS Portland C-2
90.7 KBOO Portland C-1
91.5 KOPB Portland C-0
92.3 KGON Porltand C
93.1 KTRO Gladstone C-3
93.9 KPDQ Portland C-1
94.7 KNRK Camas C-2
95.5 KXJM Portland C
96.3 KWLZ West Linn C-3
97.1 KYCH Portland C
97.9 KNRQ Tualatin C-3
98.7 KUPL Portland C-1
99.5 KWJJ Portland C-1
100.3 KKRZ Portland C
101.1 KUFO Portland C
101.9 KINK Portland C
103.3 KKCW Beaverton C
104.1 KFIS Scappoose C-2
105.1 KRSK Mollala C-1
105.9 KIJZ Vancouver C-1
106.7 KLTH Lake Oswego C
107.5 KVMX Banks C-0

Or how about grouping the stations by antenna farms. And listed by order of power.

Skyline
100.3 KKRZ Portland C
103.3 KKCW Beaverton C
91.5 KOPB Portland C-0
105.1 KRSK Mollala C-1
105.9 KIJZ Vancouver C-1
97.9 KNRQ Tualatin C-3

Sylvan
101.1 KUFO Portland C
101.9 KINK Portland C
106.7 KLTH Lake Oswego C
107.5 KVMX Banks C-0
98.7 KUPL Portland C-1
89.1 KMHD Gresham C-1
88.3 KBVM Portland C-2
89.9 KBPS Portland C-2

Stonehenge
92.3 KGON Porltand C
95.5 KXJM Portland C
97.1 KYCH Portland C
99.5 KWJJ Portland C-1
93.9 KPDQ Portland C-1
90.7 KBOO Portland C-1
94.7 KNRK Camas C-2
104.1 KFIS Scappoose C-2
93.1 KTRO Gladstone C-3
96.3 KWLZ West Linn C-3

I'd list Sylvan first since they're going up to 501 meters. It just occurred to me that KWLZ won't have to change call letters when they move to West Linn because it sounds like they are already there.

KTIL has applied to move to Government Camp! It's a Class C2 on 94.3.

Oh! BTW, what will happen to KRRC 97.9? Where will they go? Since all of the PDX radio dial will be full.

>>KTIL has applied to move to Government Camp! It's a Class C2 on 94.3.

Did'nt that just happen a few years ago with 104.1...another Tillamook station with the same calls...moving into PDX????...what goes around comes around...

94.3 would be able serve Gresham quite nicely. Maybe, 1230 KMUZ's format will move to 94.3?

Oh I hope not.

It looks like KNRQ didn't know about KACI applying to move closer to Portland and are now shortspaced as a Class C3. To alleviate this, they have modified to Class A. I presume this is a temporary measure. They say they can cover Tualatin from Skyline with 70dbu, even at the reduced power. Somehow, I find that hard to believe.

I wonder if Cumulus is in the process of making an offer to take care of KACI-FM.

I'm sure they'll come up with something. They dropped to a Class A so the applications wouldn't be mutually exclusive. That could tie things up for quite awhile.

NRQ missed 80-90 docket a number of years ago, and has not had to drop 100KW only because it has remained "grandfathered" on the same antenna with no changes.

KACI's shot at Tualatin would have required a frequency change for NRQ in Eugene, which the FAA nixed, because of potential catastrophic interference.

I noted the frequency hole for 97.9 8KHZ between KKSN-FM & KUPL, when KUPL-FM moved form 98.5 to 98.7 several years ago. It got mentioned up the food chain when I got involved with Cumulus in the fall of 04.

They're as slow as molasses in the winter when it comes to implementing changes...so who knows?

If 97.9 moves to Portland, Newport's 97.5 KSHL could move into Eugene, as a class A at 97.7.

Forgive me if this isn't the place for this question, but does anybody have owndership information?

I can't imagine Cumulus will operate 97.9 as a stand-alone, same for KWLZ or KTIL.

The www.fybush.com tour of the Pacific Northwest has begun.

Here comes another one! The Mount Angel station has been granted. It's on 1130 with 25kw directional toward Portland! Add that to 10kw on 1150.

Everytime I tune to 1150 at night, the signal seems just as strong as it does in the daytime.

25kw to the north? Won't that make the folks at CKNW kinda upset?

To Dexter:
The Cumulus business model is not to operate stand-alone stations. My speculation is that once KNRQ moves, they will sell it... they will buy a cluster of other Portland stations to compliment it. Or, they will program and operate KNRQ out of the Eugene facility.

Anyone else have ideas on this?

It's only directional toward us in the daytime. At night, they drop to 490 watts and reverse the pattern. I believe you meant CKWX. CKNW is on 980.

I see we have a new K-Love translator. It's on 95.9 with 19 watts and licensed to Tigard. At no time did I lose it on my way home. On the other hand, it didn't come in very well either.

K240CZ is most likely replacing KLVP 1040 AM.

Flybush Media is now in the Beaver State. www.fybush.com

http://www.fybush.com/featuredsite.html

Looks like 1080 went off the air for something.

This is huge news and I can't believe I haven't heard anything about it until now! The FCC has rescinded ALL presunrise and post-sunset authorizations for the former daytimers and will replace them with new ones. The new levels are reported to be far lower than what many stations have had! I presume this means that stations that have had the good fortune to sign on at 500 watts for the last 40 years are going to be in for a rude awakening! It's effective March 11. Imagine not ever being able to sell the first hour or 2 of morning drive again!

Yes! I remember reading about this in All Access last month. Didn't think to post it and now I can't find it. Did find something on it in Radio World:

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0100/t.2488.html

That's the article I saw too. I wonder if there's a way to find out what the new levels are other than attempting to contact each station. This could really hurt some standalones!

From the public notice :DA 07-938

"Licensees are reminded that, if a station is authorized for greater nighttime operating power than the value shown on the PSRA or PSSA, the licensed value takes precedence."

"Authorized": what's on their current license.

Instructions to find out the new PSSA/PSRA power levels are also in this document, here:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-938A1.doc

I believe this roll-back is merely to compensate for the new earlier Daylight Savings time start, and only covers this 3-week period....but none of us will know until we see the "roll-backs" on a chart for specific stations. However, it could just be an FCC excuse to fix earlier screw-ups on their part, too.

Hey Robin....so who's choice was it to leave Cumulus...it must have been yours if your still around as a consultant....Also what is the status of "The Moose" movin to a bigger stick ?

I don't understand what daylight savings time has to do with power levels. They've always been based on standard time.

Whatever Robin may know, he probably isn't able to discuss it.

They're finally having the power levels discussion on the engineering board of radio-info.com.

It looks like the FCC has cancelled 1640's construction permit for 10kw directional nighttime per the applicants request. I wonder if someone knows anything about that. Ok, I found out where they list PSA & PSSA powers on CDBS. It's under "station info". For each station you type in, at the bottom of the page is a correspondence folder. When you click on that, up comes PSRA and PSSA links. 1010 is 1 watt presunrise and between 1 and 2 postsunset. Incidentally, it looks like critical hours is down to 500 watts from 1.1kw. 1150 keeps its 500 watts presunrise but first hour of PSSA is no more than 50 watts and the second hour is 10 watts. The highest power before was over 200 watts with 47 watts the second hour. 1410 was a big surprise. I may have been basing their power on their former site. PSRA is 12 watts and PSSA is listed as 500 for the first hour and 198 for the second!

z100 tower suck so do pre sunrise operation if no r n b then how bout picture of snoopy dogg doggy hangin from mooovin antena

what u all think bout dat

(sorry, I think this was the only thread freeesh hasn't jumped on)

Seriously, "...The FCC has rescinded ALL presunrise and post-sunset authorizations for the former daytimers and will replace them with new ones....

on the surface this seems to be just another case of a guv'mint agency doing something just to do it. Hell let's change something just for funsies! Surely there are more pressing items on the docket.

From the FCC today, "Never Mind. Forget we said anything".

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-1076A1.doc

In other words keep doing what you were doing and we'll get back to you sometime this fall.

Why is the fcc's web address named after a waterfall in Iceland?

GCC has applied to make some major changes in Bend. They've applied to move KXIX, Bend (C0) from 94.1 to 92.9, while moving KRXF, Sunriver (C2) from 92.7 to 94.1. This would leave room for 94.3 (C2) in Government Camp.

Meanwhile on the TV side in Bend. KTVZ will be putting in a new LPTV. The station will be called KQRE-LP. Which will carry programing from Telemundo.

I finally broke down and bought an HD Radio. I drove south today to check out the various signals. I listened to KNRK HD2. The first dropout was at the Keiser exit. It was mostly OK up to about Market Street. I switched to KIJZ HD2 and it first dropped out at about Turner. I turned around at the Jefferson exit, unable to lock onto any other Portland stations. I switched back to KKCW and it was steady. It may have lasted longer going south if I had it locked in earlier. I switched to KZEL HD for several seconds and it was fine. I decided to try KEX. It didn't lock in until after Turner. From there on, it bounced back and forth until I got to Keiser which means it didn't have a better HD signal south than KNRK. By the time I thought it was solid, I switched to KBPS HD and it was fine. I checked 1330 and it didn't try to come in HD until past Wilsonville. It locked in for good at around I-205. I would say that exceeds 60dbu by a long shot in a lot of cases. I consider this a success from a listeners standpoint.

Thanks for the report! (I'm still using the analog-only factory unit in the car.) Which HD Radio unit are you using? Some have reported picking up Portland FM HD, fairly close to Eugene.

Speaking of HD, I heard what sounded like IBOC HD "buzz" on Bend's 100.7 KMGX.

I just picked up a Sangean HDT-1 HD component tuner today (mainly needed it to monitor analogue RDS/RBDS) but I tried the HD and the audio quality actually suprised me. I was expecting artifact filled audio like XM or Sirius, but from my first impression, HD Radio seems to have the artifacting to a minimum.

I am also suprised that I am able to hear HD signals at my location northwest of Sheridan at the bottom of a valley, approximately 60 miles from PDX.(With a moderately good outdoor antenna of course)

KMHD, KBPS, KBOO, KOPB, Z100, K103, 105-1 The Buzz, and KIJZ's HD signals are solid. KGON is spotty, and Charlie is a no-show.(Everything from Stonhenge is "Multipath City" here.)

Analogue sounds pretty good on this tuner as well. I am able to monitor the LPFM on 96.3 from McMinnville(about 12 miles away over a hill) with nearly full quieting when blended into mono. KSLC from Linfield is audible, but very scratchy. (KSLC used to be full quieting here with a good antenna until the 90.3's from Salem and Mt. Hood signed on the air)

Still only one DTV from PDX, though.(ion tv's four virtual sub channels on 22-1,22-4, using actual VHF channel 4. When the "big Change" happens in 2009 and 8, 10 and 12 go digital only on their respective VHF assignments, we'll be able to get those over the air as well. yippee.

KBOO is on the Stonehenge tower! I wonder why you aren't having any problem with them. If this sounds familiar, I wrote the same thing a day or 2 ago but qualified it with "unless they've moved". This time, I checked and it's still there but you really had me going for a minute! Incidentally, there was a significant dropout in the Terwilliger curves on KRSK-HD2 but just about anything from Sylvan or Skyline is usually ripped to shreds there anyway, being right up against a portion of the west hills. I drove through a wooded, hilly area south of the Milwaukie Expressway and it was rock solid so apparently, the signal has to be comparatively weak from distance or multipath has to be pretty bad before there's a problem. If you're waiting for the price to come down before buying one of these things, I can only say, it has. How much would you expect to pay for an AM-FM CD with controls for XM, Serius, MP3, wavefiles and CD changer, all with a 7 band equalizer, 5.1 surround sound and remote control if it DIDN'T have HD Radio? Mine was under $200, making it the cheapest after market in-dash unit I've ever purchased! It's a JVC KD-HDR1 and I was out of the store after installation in less than 1.5 hours and only because I left and came back! By the way, in my driveway, 103.7 comes in much better than it did as do 104.7 and 101.5! I can also actually hear 90.3 now. I see I misspelled "Keizer" twice in my previous post. I'll try not to let it happen again. Another thing: I wasn't particularly thrilled with the sound on KEX. It may have been the processing but I would think they would know better. It's certainly a lot better than any AM I've ever heard but wouldn't really say it sounds like FM either. One thing's for sure though: It sounds a whole lot better that what was on 1330's HD!

Yes, AM "HD" doesn't sound much like analog FM. The watery artifacts are quite noticable, but I'll take it, over the sound of today's analog AM tuners.

Semoochie:
KBOO uses "low level" HD combining, so that the HD signal goes through their analog transmitter output amplifier, and onto the "master" antenna. Most other stations at Stonehenge use "aux" antennas at a lower level on the tower for HD.

Qpatrickedwards:
Do you get KZEL and KWAX (HDs) from Eugene ?

The lower power on KBOO might be why I can receive it and not KGON or Charlie.(lower power seems to equal less multipath.)

I haven't tried KZEL and KWAX. Maybe I'll turn the antenna towards Eugene and try it this evening, but I'm not expecting much because we don't get much from Blanton here. KVAL-TV and most of the Eugene FMs are nearly non-existent or very weak due to the mountain range due south of us. Coburg Hills stations are very clear. KODZ 99.1 sounds like a local. Analogue KEZI and KMTR can be had with the simlpest outdoor aerial. (an 8-bay UHF antenna with a 10dB amp about 10 metres above the ground will also get me a reasonably solid grasp on KEZI's and KMTR's HD signals.)

I was looking into getting the JVC in dash HD unit, but I found out that it doesn't seem to do analogue RDS/RBDS, so I had to pass on it.

No KZEL HD and spotty KWAX HD. We're just in too lousy of a location for Blanton stuff.

Enough of me messing with this HD Tuner, the Canucks are on Sportsnet right now.

GO CANUCKS GO!

There's something I'd like to say about HD that came as a surprise to me: I keep hearing that the difference between HD and standard FM is "barely perceivable" or some such phrase. This simply isn't true. The difference is tremendous! Bass is tight and treble sparkles against a background of dead quieting! It sounds more like a compact disk than standard FM, even at freeway speeds. Anyone who thinks otherwise must either be listening to an overly processed station or has lousier speakers than I do! This has got to be the coolest thing ever! I can barely wait to get back in the car so I can listen some more!

It looks like the FCC has given final authorization to HD Radio including translators, boosters, LPFMs and nighttime broadcasting for AM stations.

KBOO actually uses "mid-level" combining, two transmitters: one FM and one FM+IBOC.

Ah! Anyway, KBOO IBOC is combined with their analog and goes along with it to the "master antenna", while most of the other stations at Stonehenge put their IBOC on aux antennas, at a lower level on the tower, possibly causing a weaker IBOC signal at a distance... or has this changed?

At Stonehenge KNRK is "high-level" combined into a 1-bay antenna at the top of the tower, FM and HD transmitters combined after their outputs. 90% of the HD transmitter power is wasted in the process.

KGON, KYCH, and KWJJ still use separate HD Radio transmitters feeding their backup antennas mounted on the tower legs. Their coverage patterns are distorted by the big legs. KWJJ-HD works GREAT south on I-5.

At a tower site, in the hills above Lincoln city, KWJJ was the *only* HD that I could receive from Stonehenge.

KBPS Public Radio Foundation's Gleneden Beach C.P. gets calls KQAC for 88.5MHz. 100 watts ERP. Antenna: 20. meters HAAT; 111. meters AMSL & 24. meters AGL.

Wonder what the calls stand for?

All Classical, with the Q perhaps being a tie-in to KQHR 90.1 (KBPS-FM in Hood River).

Sounds like a winner to me.

AM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT OF LICENSE GRANTED
---------------------------------------------------------

OR BAL-20070213ABC KFIR 23024 SHAE ENTERPRISES, INC. Voluntary Assignment of License
E 720 KHZ SWEET HOME, OR From: SHAE ENTERPRISES INC.
To: RADIO FIESTA NETWORK, LLC
Form 314

Radio Fiesta also owns KWRN(AM) APPLE VALLEY, CA KWRM(AM) CORONA, CA

Tower work starts Santa Catalina fire:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2007-05-12-wildfires_N.htm?csp=34

Bad day at KBRT !

A Slice from the past. Reality sets in, after the initial news that the new 50,000 watt KPNW signal would be heard in the Portland area as well as KUGN.

---The Oregonian, August 16, 1968 - Behind The Mike---

"Apparently the 50KW signal of KPNW in Eugene fades a short distance north of Salem on 1120 kc. During testing it was found that the signal to the North interfered with CKWX, also a 50KW station on 1130 kc in Vancouver B.C. The directional antenna also must protect KBND in Bend on 1110 kc and KMOX in St. Louis on 1120 kc. We've been unable to receive the station in Portland on a car radio."

KPNW is great in Roseburg, sounding nearly local. At the time they signed on 1120 there was little competition south of Eugene, therefore they used to have a large following in Douglas County.

Springfield is spotty due to the extreme null to the east. Beyond the eastern city limits of Springfield the signal goes away completely.

The late Curt Raynes once told of a conflict between the owner of KPIR 1500 (later to become KPNW 1120) and CBS, owners of KMOX. When the 50kw upgrade to KPIR/KPNW was still an application, CBS proposed a deal to not oppose the new interference with KMOX as long as KPNW would become a CBS affiliate. The KPIR owner told CBS no way, and CBS responded with interference protection requirements that would be very difficult for KPNW to meet. Allegedly, CBS bought out one engineering firm to nix their plan to make it work, then supposedly paid another engineering firm to keep them from working with KPNW. A third firm finally made it work.

KPNW had no network affiliation prior to acquiring ABC Contemporary after KASH dropped it in '75.

Perhaps "Billboise" or "Beenthere" can add, correct, or clarify.

On my last trip to Chilliwack BC, I was suprised to hear KPNW over CKWX's splatter in the early evenings. (I guess I probably shouldn't be suprised about that since CKWX doesn't send much signal eastward down the Fraser Valley at night.)

Even though Eugene is only 100km away from where I currently live (northwest of Sheridan), due to its tight pattern, KPNW's signal is practically unlistenable on only but the best radios.

Speaking of CKWX, when I was a teenager(early 80's), CKWX (when it was country "WX1130") quite often used to come in like a local here in the west Yamhill Valley at night. After KWJJ changed its pattern after sunset(barely listenable due to massive skywave cancellation, like all of the other Portland AM "powerhouses" (I still have memories of Bill Schonley's voice often morphing into "Donald Duck" while listening to nighttime blazer games on KEX and KGW at the time "The ball is up, its in the air, its...garble-garble...quack..." ), CKWX was the only AM country station my transistor radio could receive out here in the sticks.(I'm not sure if the old 1430 country "KGAY" out of Salem had received nighttime authorization by then.)

Also a question about KUGN, what has happened lately with their signal and processing the past year or so? In the past they seemed to be louder and have a bit more "punch." Now the audio seems a lot more "laid-back" and doesn't seem to punch through the noise as well as it once did.

KGAY had changed calls to KYKN before they had nighttime authorization. KPNW used to have a daytime directional pattern that reached far further north than it currently does. I used to pick them up around Washington Square and anything south of that. At some point, it appears they switched to running their nighttime pattern during the day.

Anyone else notice the City of Portland is budgeting to replace the 800MHz tower on Council Crest? I'd been to some of the budget forums earlier this year; didn't realize this stayed in there until pulling up Vol. 1. of the current proposed city budget.

Don't know much about the old pre-1976 KPNW.

For a while they did have a day pattern that let that deep null towards Springfield out a bit and put just a little more signal north. But that was abandoned when the owner Hobart Wilson couldn't hear it clearly in Florence where he had a house.
That also answers why KODZ has a translator in Florence.

A little bit farther north? It doesn't come in here at all anymore; You used to be able to hear it all day, not well but you could hear it and the valley was solid!

looks like the pattern has a good lobe from the Northwest to the Southwest:

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/15243-8125.pdf

I can hear it ok day or night from Hillsboro, but suspect that reception from much East of my location would be poor. Anybody know how long they have used this pattern?

Use to pick it up almost as a local station when it first went on 1120 AM around 1969-1970. Remember it as a "new station" on my 8 transister radio attached to my belt moving irrigation pipe in the peppermint fields outside of Independence-Monmouth.

The antenna system was in dissarray due to lack of maintenance until CC bought the station and fixed everything. that happened shortly after the CC purchase.

Now it is back to where it was supposed to be all along.

I suspect it was not operating correctly through most of the 90's.

...supposed to be originally at night and later on, all the time.

The May-June "FMedia!" reports: K284BF 104.7Mhz Chapman OR is adding horizontal. At present it's licensed for 16 watts at 292 meters. Chapman OR is 9 miles north of Scappoose on Oregon Hwy. 47. The antenna however looks to be on the Skyline Tower.

At this point K-Duck 104.7 comes in strong in the higher elevations of Beaverton but I expect that to change soon. By the "way" K284BF is owned by Way-FM and will rebroadcast KWYQ Longview.

Being a translator anyone wishing to hear KDUK can file a formal complaint which would cause them to have to shut this off.

send a copy to both the FCC and to KDUK.

it does not matter if you are in the primary coverage area of KDUK as long as you can reasonably listen to their signal.

I know several KDUK listeners in the Portland area, who certainly will complain. "Way FM" is wasting their time, building this translator for 104.7 MHz.

I don't think you can "reasonably" hear KDUK anywhere near the Skyline Tower. I can "reasonably" hear it on 1-205, just north of Clackamas Town Center. I'll guess about 45dbu. How far does this rule go? Can translators be prohibited around Astoria because Seattle FMs just happen to come in on the north shore?

the law does not specify where one must be... if you are trying to listen to KDUK (or any full class station) and any translator is interfering then that translator is fair game to be shut off for interfering with a licensed broadcaster.

as long as you complain in an official manner.

Seattle FM's are commonly listened to in Astoria. (I heard "I-107-7" playing in Astoria's Shakey's, back in 1990.) This is why there are no translators broadcasting on Seattle frequencies in Astoria. However, there are full class Seaside/Cannon Beach FM's on 94.9 and 98.1.

I was listening to KEX's HD and finally heard some music. I would have to say now that it does indeed sound like FM! I may have been thrown off by the choice of microphones or something else but when it comes to music, I really do think it sounds like FM. All of this leads up to my real point: Is there any reason KEX can't be nondirectional at night? I believe that they had to protect WOWO Fort Wayne, IN and vice versa but WOWO gave up their clear channel rights for a sister station in New York. I believe that frees KEX of any obligation.

There are too many other stations in this region on adjacent channels to go non-directional. While they had virtually no effect on WOWO, a major change on KEX would impact those established stations' nighttime coverage. From studying the potential for letting-out the KEX pattern we found that the minimal gains were not worth the time and money.

Thank you Chris, you're just the person I was hoping to hear from! So the thinking is, it could be done but why create more interference for little gain? I'm thinking, as the primary station on the frequency, they wouldn't have to protect anyone else. The only reason I bring this up at this late date is because I thought it might be easier to run HD if the station is nondirectional. I also thought it might be less stress on KPOJ. It was just a thought that occurred to me. Thanks again!

"From studying the potential for letting-out the KEX pattern we found that the minimal gains were not worth the time and money."

Any gain is worth the time and money spent. Otherwise they'll keep adding stations to 1190 and adjacent frequencies.

The clear channel protections for a frequency cannot just default over to another station based on a perceived historical "squatters rights". There are stations in WA, UT, CA, NV and Canada that were licensed before the WOWO downgrade. They sufficiently protected WOWO, and sat in the nulls of KEX as well. Those stations are still afforded protections that KEX must continue to meet.

An extra couple of millivolts over Mt. Jefferson does not warrant the cost of the consulting engineering, equipment, and months of work (and overnight off-air time) that it would take to execute this. Review the ratings and sales figures for Portland. I think you'll find that KEX is probably the least likely station on the AM band in NEED of increasing its signal coverage.

From the initial testing we did in taking KEX to HD in NDA it appears that the DA should work fine. Once the new rules are in effect we will review the DA again. The problem for KPOJ HD appears to have more to do with the electrical spacing between the center tower and the east tower, not the mode of operation on KEX. It is likely there will be more work on adjusting the ATU components of the array yet this year to accommodate KPOJ HD operation.

Processing voice for 24-32 kbps audio continues to be a nightmare.

Thank you for a very thorough answer! As I said, it was only a passing thought. Now, if they EVER print this in the Federal Register, we can get going.

Chrisweiss, Has the pattern changed that much on KPOJ since going to 10 kW at night that it no longer can be heard north of Seattle? The last time I spent the weekend in Everett the only station I could hear was CKRM in Regina, SK on 620 and it was very clear. On the same note, since CKRM went to 10 kW at night a number of years ago, they seem to have increased their signal in our direction. You can hear them equal and over KPOJ some nights in southern Oregon. And even heard them locally in the null of KPOJ.

I don't think the pattern is that different than the old 5 kw pattern. Although it's been awhile since I did work with that initial license from the Clackamas site. The current nighttime pattern has a null toward KCIS in Edmund, WA. It looks like Everett would fall in the center of that null as well.

The long time analog TV application for channel 40 has been dismissed. It looks like the FCC is just now getting around to some of these.

And I bet if the multiple 105.9 applications weren't sold to Jacor back in 1998, they'd probably just be getting around to that as well.

The old & New 620 coverage maps:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id =88360

In the Sunday Oregonian, The "O" Section, page O8 there is a picture (an aerial photo) of Oaks Park in 1949 during a flood. In the middle is a tower and a transmitter house on stilts to the back. This would have been KBKO 1290kc but was originally built and used in 1936 thru 48 for KWJJ.

You can see where a wooden fence (don't know the correct radio name you call this) that carries the power cable from the transmitter house to the tower, purposely built for times like this above the water no doubt. There is another fence that carries power from the "Oaks Rink Roller Skating" building (labeled) to the transmitter house.

I have another picture from 1940. From that picture I know that a second tower is out of this picture, it's to your right of the "Oaks Rink Roller Skating" building. There is another fence running from this main building to the other tower unseen.

Craig,

Have you check out the pictures that Oaks Park has on display. These pics can be found just inside the lobby of the Rink Roller.

Didn't know Oaks Park displayed old pictures. The picture I'm talking about above is most likely not among the displayed pictures, since it came from The Oregonian photo archives.

Q: When can we expect 96.3 & 97.9 to be approved? How long does the application takes?

i believe that E_dawg and Djfresh are one and the same.

There are informal objections to both applications and also the matter of Canadian clearance, which usually takes about a year. I think E_dawg has been posting longer than Djfresh has been alive!

E dawg posted this very "djfrresh" ish gem in the seattle board:


"Has about herd about 104.1 FM?

CTRC has open up the frequency for Vancouver?

What will happend to 104.1 in Bellingham?"

NOpe, I'm not djfresh.

An Engineers Nightmare!

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/070830/wrsa.shtml

"Scott Wayne Crook?!" -- of course he is a thief. Great find Craig! :o)

The woes of the 1080 site are probably common knowledge in these parts. My very last job for RTC -- before the big shakeup -- was to help ensure that our local methanimals do not make another scrap run. It is still hard to believe they did not get bit the first two times.

OK, enough time has gone by. It's time again to rant and rave about the CBS master antenna not being installed yet on the Sylvan Tower. It was supposed to be taken care of in August. I don't see it going up on the tower yet so it's still going to be awhile before those 5 stations can transmit from their new site. What I'm really waiting for is the HD installation, which should take place at about the same time. I eagerly await the 5 new HD2 formats as well as much improved reception of the main channels and this will greatly improve coverage of KVMX, going from a Class C1 to a C0.

Yes, what's the story with CBS?

The only CP that I see on the FCC site for an antenna on the new tower (asrn 1207367) is held by KINK... I may have missed something, but where are the CPs for KLTH KUPL KUFO and KVMX ?

I brought this up earlier and Kent opined that perhaps, as long as there was one construction permit, maybe that was enough. The other stations could simply file for program test authority when the time came. Even then, you'd think the FCC would have a problem with the stations that aren't full Class Cs, particularly KVMX, going from C1 to C0. Maybe they just got busy and forgot about the other 4 CPs. KVMX holds a CP but for 440 meters @ 100kw. They'd have to reduce power to 71kw on the new antenna.

Interesting! When the 3 NCE stations moved to the new tower a couple of years ago, there were 3 separate CPs. Perhaps the common ownership of the CBS stations helps to reduce the FCC paperwork ?

KBPS-FM has applied for 6kw from its present site, up from 3.5kw. I suspect this to be the power level they would have without having to protect channel 6, which they will no longer need to do after February 2009. KOIN has already given the go-ahead. I expect to see similar applications from several of the noncomms in the near future.

This "Towers & Such" thread is now over a year old. Next news poster should start a new thread.

How about an upgrade for 88.3 KBVM?

KBVM is certainly on the list of stations that might gain from the lack of a local channel 6. Please continue thread under "Towers & Such - Here It Comes Again!"

Semoochie, I just couldn't allow you to be the "thread killer" on this one, unless you wanted to be. (In that case, you know what to do)

where is the kink tower?