Congratulations to all parties involved and particularly
to Eric Schecter, KSON’s former Director of Engineering, who
performed a large part of the planning, and to Bill Eisenhamer
who was involved in this project from the beginning and still
has a large number of finish-up details to tidy up.

Following is a December 10, 2008 photo showing the remains
of the old tower (left) and the new tower structure. The new
tower was just about completed at the time of the photo but
still had a gin pole on top:

http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Images/KSON/kson_DAWN_sm.jpg

Here are some photos shortly after the collapse.

Tower Lighting

The FCC has issued waivers of the requirement to visually check tower lights annually instead of every three months when using a high tech monitoring system. Flash Technology’s ArgusON monitors have won the confidence of regulators to let broadcasters cut back on these visual inspections.

This is partcularly valuable when the tower site is remote, or difficult to reach during winter.

More when we know!

Consultants and Station Owners have been asking for twenty years for relief on burdensome rules to prove the performance of directional antennas for AM stations.

Last week the shoe finally dropped, and the Commission approved as a notice of proposed rulemaking, the analysis of directional antennas using Method-Of-Moments and rigorous monitoring standards to verify that AM antennas actually perform as they should.  The new rules only apply to series fed, non-toploaded, non sectionalized towers.

For stations meeting the specifications, it means a substantial decrease in cost to commission or rebuild an AM directional array.  The labor intensive and sometimes dangerous and always problematic field measurements may be dispensed with.

For those who choose, the old way remains available.  Several safeguards have been added – regular calibration of the entire sample system, and external measurement reference points.  The good thing about this is that it all encourages regular rational maintenance of antenna systems, instead of inhibiting repairs to ailing systems.

Stations with series fed simple radiators and solid sampling systems may want to consider going through the effort of changing over to the new regulatory scheme, especially if the system needs a good cleanup.

The complete Report and Order is available at the FCC website. This is now at the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking stage, with a comment and reply comment period, and publication period before the final rules are in place. There could still be a hitch if someone files comments that cause serious reconsideration.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/decdoc/public_and_broadcasting.pdf

I thought that you should be aware of it.
I became aware of it by reading about it in a trade journal this summer.

Basically, Public and Broadcasting is FCC 101 for the layman.  It is 33 pages long.

The html version is at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/decdoc/public_and_broadcasting.html.

Please contact your FCC attorney for relevant advice.

JIM P

Class B stations, with real full-time service are hit with a $500 annual fee in the smallest markets, but daytimers (which have equivalent daytime facilities to class B stations, but only operate during sunlight hours) have to pay an extra $25 for the privilege of shutting off at night. Stations in these little markets are public services, and the FCC ought to pay them to operate.

In markets of 75,000 – 150,000 people, where an AM station might be able to make a nickel or two, the FCC in its great wisdom also charges daytimers an extra $25 to go off at night.

By my reconning, a daytime radio station should be charged between 3/4 and 1/2 of the equivalent class B station, simply because it is a limited authorization.   I wonder whether the FCC fee setters use the Oujii  or dart board method of setting fees.  Oh!, the splendor of FCC logic ….

XEEZ 970 Radio Palacios is broadcasting an AM HD Radio signal from the U.S./Mexico border town of Caborca, Sonora, using a Broadcast Electronics transmission system.

XHTY-FM 94.5 in Tijuana on the FM Side has installed a Nautel V10 HD Radio transmitter. The station is operated by Uniradio.

Here is the link to the manual.  It can be downloaded below.
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/decdoc/public_and_broadcasting.pdf

Courtesy of Jim Pollock, PE

• Red – 3.0 mV/m – Generally the Sellable area of the station
• Purple – 0.5 mV/m – Rural protected service area, but nobody would buy ads.
• Blue – 0.1 mV/m – You might still get it on a car radio

For FM they are:

• Red – 60 db/uV or 1.0 mV/m – Protected service area for Class A and C stations
• Purple – 50 db/uv or 0.316 mV/m – A pretty weak Signal, nobody would buy ads.
• Blue – 40 db/uv or 0.1 mV/m – You won’t pick it up, except in rural areas

I determined this by comparing the plots of sample stations in Radiosoft’s Comstudy with their Radio-Locator maps. Hopefully this clears a few things up!