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

["Les Rayburn" <les@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not debating KXEL's responsibility or anything like that. I'm pointing 
out
some facts. At this point, we don't even know what happened. As someone 
pointed
out, KXEL might have had a generator that failed when needed. As someone
who works with emergency management types everyday of my life, I must have
seen that happen a hundred times.

We don't know that they made a decision not to invest in one or what other 
factors
may have influenced that decision. But we seem to jump to conclusions and 
then
sit here in judgment of their actions. Without knowing all the facts, that's 
always
an unwise decision.

Likewise, when a DX'er hears a station at loud levels past sunset, many 
assume
that the station is "cheating". To me, the phrase cheating implies 
deliberate violation
of the rules. Granted that is sometimes the case...maybe even the majority. 
But not
always. Automation systems fail. Inexperienced DX'ers confuse propagation 
variables
for higher power, on and on.

Then a few DX'ers take this even further by calling either the FCC or 
another station that
they think is being interfered with to report the "cheating". I've spent 
hours on the phone
apologizing for just such mistakes.

The other fact is that there is no FCC rule that requires stations to have 
backup power.
I think that would be a reasonable condition for the use of public airwaves. 
So write your
congressman and complain. While you're at it, complain about the rules 
changes that
allowed a handful of corporations to buy hundreds of stations, automate 
them, fire most
of the staff and take a valuable tool in an emergency and turn it into a 
cash machine
for some stockholders who live thousands of miles away.

My opinion isn't based on speculation, it's based on experience. Think about 
it. One DX'er
upsets an engineer. That engineer works for clear channel and is active on 
their internal
e-mail list. He posts about the incident---dozens of other clear channel 
engineers get
a bad image of the hobby. DX'ers tests get harder to arrange.

Think it can't happen. It did. One DX'er in Utah did something stupid and I 
spent months
trying to apologize, and clear things up.

Look at this subject line..."KXEL deserves a reprimand or license 
revocation". Now imagine,
you own the station. Imagine that you bought a generator and it failed ten 
minutes after it started.
Or that the fuel had went bad...or...whatever. Now someone forwards you an 
e-mail from a bunch
of hobbyists who don't live in your market, your advertisers don't care 
about, and your
station makes no money off of. What would your reaction be?

Frankly, I'm tired of being on this soapbox.

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: "saulamdx" <saulamdx@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] KXEL deserves a reprimand or license revocation


>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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>
>
>
>
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