W286AQ (105.1, 250 watts vertical) is creeping closer to whatever destination the owners have in mind. The last licensed spot was near the Mineral Wells community of Chilton County, far from Northport and Tuscaloosa. The latest CP, still relaying WZZK, has it moving to the neighborhood of Gold Branch, west of Weogufka in rural Coosa County.
Most translators being moved have a pretty clear path towards a metropolitan area or town, but not this one. It's anyone's guess where it is ultimately destined.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Apex Broadcasting awarded new permit for station in Tuscaloosa
Apex Broadcasting, former owner of six stations in Tuscaloosa, has been awarded a construction permit for a new station in Tuscaloosa. The station's details: 105.1 MHz, 2.6 kW, from a tower site on Romulus Road near Microwave Road in west Tuscaloosa County, at 506 feet HAAT. See the 60 dBu protected contour map here. This site was previously used by one of Apex's other stations, (then) WLXY (now WAPI-FM).
This station is short spaced to first-adjacent WACR-FM in the Columbus-West Point-Tupelo market.
An odd site effect of this permit is that it may spell the end of one of Tuscaloosa's newest FM outlets, the translator W286BV which relays AM 1230 WTBC, The River. It's also on 105.1 MHz.
This station is short spaced to first-adjacent WACR-FM in the Columbus-West Point-Tupelo market.
An odd site effect of this permit is that it may spell the end of one of Tuscaloosa's newest FM outlets, the translator W286BV which relays AM 1230 WTBC, The River. It's also on 105.1 MHz.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Come August, WQKS adds HD digital, Montgomery gets two stations out of it
WQKS in scheduled to add HD digital broadcasting to their signal this August, and with it comes two HD subchannels being fed to area translators.
The HD-2 is feeding W263BX (100.5, 80 watts) with soft adult contemporary as "Lite 100.5".
The HD-3 is feeding W296AI (107.1, 38 horizontal watts, but with a permit to rise to 99 watts) with classic hip-hop and R&B as "Yo! 107.1".
Although Montgomery will have only four local FMs broadcasting HD, it will have eight subchannels since each runs two extra stations.
The other HD stations in town, already on the air:
WTSU in Troy runs Classical 24 on their HD-2 and BBC World Service on HD-3.
WVAS runs a mix of classic R&B and other music and current affairs on their HD-2 and gospel and R&B on the HD-3.
WXFX relays two AMs: WMSP on HD-2 and WLWI on HD-3.
EDIT: This post has been updated from its original form to correct the mistaken assumption that these stations were already on. They will come on sometime in August, according to industry sources. My apologies for any confusion.
The HD-2 is feeding W263BX (100.5, 80 watts) with soft adult contemporary as "Lite 100.5".
The HD-3 is feeding W296AI (107.1, 38 horizontal watts, but with a permit to rise to 99 watts) with classic hip-hop and R&B as "Yo! 107.1".
Although Montgomery will have only four local FMs broadcasting HD, it will have eight subchannels since each runs two extra stations.
The other HD stations in town, already on the air:
WTSU in Troy runs Classical 24 on their HD-2 and BBC World Service on HD-3.
WVAS runs a mix of classic R&B and other music and current affairs on their HD-2 and gospel and R&B on the HD-3.
WXFX relays two AMs: WMSP on HD-2 and WLWI on HD-3.
EDIT: This post has been updated from its original form to correct the mistaken assumption that these stations were already on. They will come on sometime in August, according to industry sources. My apologies for any confusion.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
WMOB denied a permit to change facilities, again.
WMOB has been between a literal rock and a hard place now for nearly a year and a half, and a recent filing by the station's owners has just been denied by the FCC.
WMOB, owned by Buddy Tucker Associates (BTA) and carrying a religious format, is currently licensed to a site just east of the Alabama River, where I-10 dives underneath at the twin Wallace Tunnels. Late in 2008, construction on an abutting industrial site commenced, and it soon became apparent that the construction was affecting the station's pattern. By the time the construction was nearly finished, the metal buildings were coupling with the signal and greatly attenuating the pattern to the point that the station was no longer in compliance with its license. In addition to this issue, the daytime power of 5 kW was enough to cause RF burns to people in the building coming into contact with any exposed metal of the structure. This required the station to lower power to 3.3 kW during the day.
In addition to this, FEMA has considered a plan to build a berm along the western part of the property, which would destroy a significant portion of the ground radials, further affecting the viability of the signal. Due to all these problems, WMOB has sought and received ongoing STAs (special temporary authorities) to operate from a nearby site while the owners come up with a mitigation plan. The latest STA was just granted this month for another 180 days and can be read here.
BTA has recently acquired the old WLVV 1410 AM (now WNGL) site, just a short jog down the causeway from the WMOB site. WNGL (owned by Archangel Communications) abandoned this site in 2010 for one in the city of Mobile proper. The STA for WMOB has used one of the two existing towers for 1 kW of daytime only operation. BTA has also put in a few applications to move WMOB to this site permanently. While it's barely two miles east of the old site, it has been an uphill battle for BTA to get licensed at this prospective location. The latest denial is due to the proposed site's failure to cover an adequate amount of Mobile, the city of license. Strangely, the proposal has WMOB boosting day power to 9 kW, but this is still not enough to meet the requirements set forth by the FCC. Increasing power further may not be an option, as WMOB has to fit between WWWL in New Orleans, WCOA in Pensacola and WFFF in Columbia, MS. (See the last application's coverage maps and more here.)
Section 73.24(i) of the Commission's rules stipulate that the 5 mV/m contour must cover 100% of the city of license, and the NIF (non-interfering contour) must cover at least 80%. The FCC concluded that the latest application would reduce coverage of Mobile by 14.2% for the 5 mV/m contour and 2.3% for the NIF. This has nothing to do with population, but everything to do with area. So while BTA asserts that more Mobilians would be covered under the new proposal, the fact that it does not cover the entire city's area is enough to get the application denied.
WMOB, owned by Buddy Tucker Associates (BTA) and carrying a religious format, is currently licensed to a site just east of the Alabama River, where I-10 dives underneath at the twin Wallace Tunnels. Late in 2008, construction on an abutting industrial site commenced, and it soon became apparent that the construction was affecting the station's pattern. By the time the construction was nearly finished, the metal buildings were coupling with the signal and greatly attenuating the pattern to the point that the station was no longer in compliance with its license. In addition to this issue, the daytime power of 5 kW was enough to cause RF burns to people in the building coming into contact with any exposed metal of the structure. This required the station to lower power to 3.3 kW during the day.
In addition to this, FEMA has considered a plan to build a berm along the western part of the property, which would destroy a significant portion of the ground radials, further affecting the viability of the signal. Due to all these problems, WMOB has sought and received ongoing STAs (special temporary authorities) to operate from a nearby site while the owners come up with a mitigation plan. The latest STA was just granted this month for another 180 days and can be read here.
BTA has recently acquired the old WLVV 1410 AM (now WNGL) site, just a short jog down the causeway from the WMOB site. WNGL (owned by Archangel Communications) abandoned this site in 2010 for one in the city of Mobile proper. The STA for WMOB has used one of the two existing towers for 1 kW of daytime only operation. BTA has also put in a few applications to move WMOB to this site permanently. While it's barely two miles east of the old site, it has been an uphill battle for BTA to get licensed at this prospective location. The latest denial is due to the proposed site's failure to cover an adequate amount of Mobile, the city of license. Strangely, the proposal has WMOB boosting day power to 9 kW, but this is still not enough to meet the requirements set forth by the FCC. Increasing power further may not be an option, as WMOB has to fit between WWWL in New Orleans, WCOA in Pensacola and WFFF in Columbia, MS. (See the last application's coverage maps and more here.)
Section 73.24(i) of the Commission's rules stipulate that the 5 mV/m contour must cover 100% of the city of license, and the NIF (non-interfering contour) must cover at least 80%. The FCC concluded that the latest application would reduce coverage of Mobile by 14.2% for the 5 mV/m contour and 2.3% for the NIF. This has nothing to do with population, but everything to do with area. So while BTA asserts that more Mobilians would be covered under the new proposal, the fact that it does not cover the entire city's area is enough to get the application denied.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Dothan to get a local NBC affiliate.
Some news from the television broadcasting world as it's announced that Dothan will be picking up its own NBC affiliate. It's expected to debut this fall on analog low power translator WDON-LP.
Yes, that's right, a low power analog translator. Those of you using OTA who were hoping for a local signal to catch NBC in glorious high definition are going to be out of luck for now.
The translator originally carried TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), a religious network. The translator, known then as W41BN, was donated along with hundreds of other TBN properties to the MMTC (Minority Media and Telecommunications Council), who turned around and sold this and a few other small market translators to a new company called New Moon Communications. New Moon is planning on launching NBC in several small markets, detailed in the link, above.
As a translator the station will not have must carry rights on local cable outlets, so there's no guarantee they'll replace Dothan's current NBC outlets on cable, WSFA from Montgomery and WJHG from Panama City. But if they do, Dothan cable viewers may lose their HDTV feeds of NBC unless New Moon applies for a digital permit.
Yes, that's right, a low power analog translator. Those of you using OTA who were hoping for a local signal to catch NBC in glorious high definition are going to be out of luck for now.
The translator originally carried TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), a religious network. The translator, known then as W41BN, was donated along with hundreds of other TBN properties to the MMTC (Minority Media and Telecommunications Council), who turned around and sold this and a few other small market translators to a new company called New Moon Communications. New Moon is planning on launching NBC in several small markets, detailed in the link, above.
As a translator the station will not have must carry rights on local cable outlets, so there's no guarantee they'll replace Dothan's current NBC outlets on cable, WSFA from Montgomery and WJHG from Panama City. But if they do, Dothan cable viewers may lose their HDTV feeds of NBC unless New Moon applies for a digital permit.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
W267BF Demopolis on the move again.
This time it nudges a little closer towards Tuscaloosa. W267BF (101.3, 250 watts vertical, located near Greensboro) has been moving northward towards T-town for a while. The station's construction permit is for a slightly lower 245 watts vertical, with a TX site nearer Moundville. The station originally was listed as relaying Moody Bible's WMBV Dixons Mills but now is showing as WUAL Tuscaloosa.
I have no doubt the translator is ultimately destined to wind up in the Druid City at some point, the question now is, what will it carry? WUAL has two HD subchannels of programming that could find their way to the analog FM dial through this translator, or more likely another local AM will make the hop to FM. WTSK "101.3 The Truth" anyone?
I have no doubt the translator is ultimately destined to wind up in the Druid City at some point, the question now is, what will it carry? WUAL has two HD subchannels of programming that could find their way to the analog FM dial through this translator, or more likely another local AM will make the hop to FM. WTSK "101.3 The Truth" anyone?
Monday, June 27, 2011
W263BX Montgomery receives a CP Mod to boost power.
I don't think I've covered W263BX (100.5, 80 watts) yet on the blog. I don't know much history on this station, it just sort of appeared out of nowhere as a construction permit this year.
When it showed up originally, it was authorized for 38 watts from the WQKS tower in Montgomery; now it's been granted 80 watts by a modification. The station to be retransmitted was listed as WDJR out of Dothan, but has now changed to WQKS itself. Could another AM-to-FM rebroadcast be in the works for the Capitol City?
When it showed up originally, it was authorized for 38 watts from the WQKS tower in Montgomery; now it's been granted 80 watts by a modification. The station to be retransmitted was listed as WDJR out of Dothan, but has now changed to WQKS itself. Could another AM-to-FM rebroadcast be in the works for the Capitol City?
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