Once and a while I'll go over to Uwajimaya (Asian food market) and I noticed an interesting antenna on an adjacent building. I drove by the building and one of the tenants is FM Korea and I understand that they transmit on a SCA of KBOO (http://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/NB032106.pdf bottom of page 2)... Does anyone know if the antenna is used for transmitting something and what their frequencies are? I tried just looking up FM Korea on the FCC wireless licenses and came up with nothing...

Thanks!

--Chris

I know for a fact "SCA Radio Korea" (as I tend to refer it) spends quite a bit of its time--particularly on weekends--carrying a rebroadcast of Los Angeles' Korean KFOX AM radio station (1640Kc) and is located on KBOO's 67kHz SCA channel.

KBOO also has some odd Vietnamese channel on 92 that I still haven't been able to identify.

Sometimes at night I used to listen to "SCARK" on the modded radio on my bike because they carried heavy-metal and classic rock & roll (in the regular English versions.)



The SCA service itself was deregulated in the late 1980s, and I don't believe one needs to have a license to broadcaast an SCA channel (since it can't be received by regular radios without modification.) I am not really certain about the licensing bit tho. Similarly, you can broadcast an SCA channel even after the main channel has signed off for the night (a rare occurence nowdays...)

(Sidenote--I currently have three such radios that receive SCA channels, and one that also receives SAP on the TV channels. I just bought a 1960's era GE transistor radio today at a garage sale, so in the near future expect that figure to climb to four. ;o)

Actually, KFOX is 1650.

Speaking of SCA radoio, I only could pick up two SCA stations in the Portland area.

88.3 FM-SCA - Russian.
90.7 FM-SCA - Korean.

Is there any more or that's it. Also, is there a website that lists different SCA stations across the United States?

Any online resources on SCA? When I google, I get guys in armor. ;)

The official on-line resource for SCA (also known as SCS) subrarriers is

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/subcarriers/

Note the following, taken from the above Website:
"Licensing of subcarrier operations ended in 1983 when the service was deregulated." Therefore, the FCC does not keep track of what stations are using subcarriers, who leases the subcarriers, content, or the modulation scheme used.

Another page that might be helpful is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiary_Communications_Authority

Some years ago at my former place of work, I spotted a small portable monaural radio with a logo for "Vietnamese Public Radio" on it. The radio had a mode switch which could be set to "FM" or "SCA." In the FM mode, the radio could be tuned over the entire band. In the SCA mode, the tuning control was disabled. I was impressed that the SCA reception was free of main channel splatter.

"Is there any more or that's it. Also, is there a website that lists different SCA stations across the United States?"

Tune to KBOO's 92Kc. subcarrier if you want Vietnamese. (and Alfredo, that could well be the "Vietnamese Public Radio" station you refer to. I really have no idea [just a wild guess] as I have never seen the type of radio you refer to. Was the radio itself a McMartin or a Norver?)

Also, there is the "Fm Atlas" which, from what I usderstand, has a pretty comprehensive nationwide SCA directory.

"'Licensing of subcarrier operations ended in 1983 when the service was deregulated.' Therefore, the FCC does not keep track of what stations are using subcarriers, who leases the subcarriers, content, or the modulation scheme used."

Thank you!!!


Also, 89.1 used to have some odd Teletype feed on its 92 but they shut that down in a couple of years ago. Occasionally I can receive 96.1 KMXO(?) from Olympia on my Sony, and they also have RTTY or something similar on their 92.

(And anyone who's ever used a Sony ICF-36, even without an SCA demodulator installed, would know that it's not a particularly selective rig by any means!!!)

Mixx 96.1 Olympia's call letters are KXXO.
I've never personally seen an SCA radio, nor heard something that I know was off a SCA feed; most everyone that seems to know something about it says it's an old, outdated, dead technology.

http://www.radiosca.com/

That particular rig was the little radio that introduced me to "SCA Chasing" to begin with.....
They claim it's one of the most advanced SCA radios ever built but in reality it's pretty low-tech. It doesn't even include an instruction card, but operation is very straightforward. (I was able to demux KBOO's channels within about a minute after I first put batteries in the thing.) It is remarkably sensitive on the FM band tho, and I have been able to copy the Country station on 99.9MHz (I can't remember the call, but I think it's in Eugene) and 107.9 KHPE in Corvallis quite a few times listening clear up in the Coove. The little built-in speaker is pretty tinny-sounding so an external speaker, like the kind you can find for police scanners and CB radios at Radio Shack plugged into the headphone jack is a huge improvement.

(Incidentally, K-Happy did have some odd Spanish programme on its 67 until last Summer. I think it's gone silent.......)

Also Dr. Elving sells name-brand radios modded with SCA demodulators (like my Sony) and the demodulator circuit boards individually if you want to put them in your radios yourself (like I did with my Panasonic boombox.)
http://members.aol.com/fmatlas/home.html

KRKT Albany has won small market station of the year on numerous occasions!

> most everyone that seems to know something
> about it says it's an old, outdated, dead
> technology.

I wouldn't say that it is dead, but if you are running a subscription service like Muzak, then there are much better options available that provide better security and better sound. For some other applications, such as foreign language programming and cueing air talent at remotes, I would say that it works just fine.

I cannot remember the make of the "Vietnamese Public Radio" receiver.

no info yet?