Re: [IRCA] FCC to consider FM translators for AM stations?

Actually, I think it’s a good idea. I’ve wondered for a long time why the FCC wouldn’t allow it.

When we talk about interference, it’s not just the overcrowding of the AM band that is the problem. It’s all the noise on the band – which IMHO – is a more severe problem. The WSM story in the article is a good example. There is so much hash on the band from electrical sources that coverage has suffered dramatically.

When I first got into broadcasting back in the late 60s, it was normal to consider one’s coverage area to be the 0.5 mV/m contour. Even today this is the standard contour used on most coverage maps. However, the noise situation has really made that standard obsolete. Now, it is often much more practical to consider somewhere between 2-5 mV/m as being about the extent of a listenable signal – unless, of course, one is out in the middle of nowhere, where electrical noise is minimal.

From my own long term experience, looking at WNTP’s coverage between twenty-five years ago and now, I can see a dramatic difference. Sure, there’s a lot more nighttime skywave “interference”, but that is not the major issue we face. The problem is that in a region the size of Philadelphia, the electrical noise is just overwhelming in some locales. A great example of this is an intersection that is less than two miles from both our site and KYW’s. At this corner the electrical noise is so bad that there is not a station on the AM band that can be listened to – including WNTP, KYW, and WFIL – all of which place signals well over 350 mV/m at that location. We have tried to get PECO to inspect their system in that area, but have had little luck.

At the risk of sounding overly pessimistic, it seems that AM is dying a slow death due to technical issues. IBOC is indeed a problem. Nighttime skywave interference in many cases is also a problem – although we depend on that wonderful skywave for our hobby. But it is, I believe, electrical noise that will be the hand that nails the final spike into the coffin.

As I have noted before in this forum and many others, AM broadcasters would be much better off if a new VHF or UHF band were created that is strictly digital and for the sole purpose of providing relief to AMs. To create such a band would require about 20-25 mHz of spectrum. It could be handled much the same as the expanded band, giving the broadcasters a 5 or 10 year overlap. Whether or not to move to the new band would be voluntary. The advantages: no more electrical interference; no more skywave issues; the digital audio would place the migrated AMs on a par with their FM counterparts; and the AM band becomes less crowded. I think those four reasons, in and of themselves, would provide a major impetus to move.

It seems like it would be a win-win proposition. Of course, it will never happen because the FCC more than likely wouldn’t have the backbone.

Rene F. Tetro
Lansdale, PA, USA
W2FIL, WPXG816, WPXU288
Coordinates: 40D12'41"N 75D18'22"W
Grid: FN20IF
Email: rtetro@xxxxxxxxx