Re: [IRCA] KXEL deserves a reprimand or license revocation

[saulamdx <saulamdx@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think it comes down to how the opinion is expressed.
If rudely, then I'd agree with you, Les. But if a
constructive comment, put civilly, causes such
distress that stations cease to QSL or conduct DX
tests, and hold DXers in ill repute - well, I think
that's an over-reaction on their part. Although I
don't QSL anymore, I do appreciate DX tests, but I
also think stations - particularly the biggies - have
a responsibility to the listener that transcends
market doctrine. Like one DXer observed here, I wonder
what KXEL's owner thinks, in retrospect, about being
off for more than a week. Or the owners of stations
whose automation systems or staff fail and they stay
on at night when they're not supposed to. I'll bet
most of them do want to know. As a DXer, effectively a
dedicated radio listener, I am happy to help them.
I've even told a few engineers I know that I'm happy
to listen. One engineer who oversees a huge tower farm
regularly tell me when they either go down completely
or to reduced power. He's expressed interest in
knowing how they perform under unusual circumstances
in areas beyond the main contours. I only wish I had
engineering skills and the proper meters to 'read'
signals accurately. Frankly, I'm not terribly moved
about stations whose owners and/or management don't
give a damn about their listeners. Like another
lister, I thought WWL did a bang-up job during Katrina
and in the aftermath, though I continue to hold the
N.O. Times-Picayune newspaper staff as particularly
exemplary in the face of what really was a dangerous
situation. My guess is KXEL would have floated away.

--- Les Rayburn <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I'm not aware of any FCC regulation that requires a
> station to have backup 
> electrical
> power as a requirement for license. Your points
> about lost revenue and the 
> greater
> public good are certainly valid, but there could all
> kinds of reasons why 
> the
> station decided against purchasing an emergency
> generator.
> 
> Besides, there outage has given a lot of DX'ers the
> opportunity to log
> some new stations...which I thought was the point of
> this club/e-mail list.
> 
> Why so many DX'ers seem to want to sit in judgment
> about how stations
> should and do conduct their affairs is beyond me.
> These posts will likely
> find their way back to the management at KXEL making
> it harder to
> obtain a DX test, QSL's or other consideration from
> them in the future.
> 
> My advice is to think before you post. :)
> 
> 73
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Les Rayburn, director
> High Noon Film
> 100 Centerview Drive Suite 111
> Birmingham, AL 35216
> 205.824.8930
> 205.824.8960 Fax
> 205.253.4867 Cell
> http://www.highnoonfilm.com
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Scott Fybush" <scott@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club
> of America" 
> <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 1:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [IRCA] KXEL deserves a reprimand or
> license revocation
> 
> 
> > Mike McKenna wrote:
> >> Having a back-up power system is NOT an FCC
> requirement.  They have a
> >> radio tower and a studio -- so they deserve a
> gold star -- not a
> >> fine.
> >
> > A gold star? Hardly.
> >
> > If you're setting out to serve the public,
> emergency conditions like
> > this are precisely when that service is most
> needed. Whether or not a
> > generator is an FCC requirement, and it's not,
> there's still a higher
> > expectation that a class A signal like KXEL will
> be prepared for the
> > likelihood that at some point, it will lose
> utility power.
> >
> > It's also just good business sense; the revenue
> KXEL is surely losing by
> > not being on the air for a week must have far
> outweighed what a
> > generator would have cost by now.
> >
> > At least KXEL isn't an EAS LP-1 or LP-2 station
> for its region - though
> > one of its sister FMs, KFMW 107.9, is, and I think
> it lost power as well.
> >
> > Any radio station that wants to portray itself as
> a supplier of vital
> > information to its community should make room in
> the budget for a backup
> > supply of power to keep it on the air when its
> services are most needed.
> >  You think the people of north central Iowa won't
> remember that KXEL
> > was missing in action this week?
> >
> > s
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