Re: [IRCA] A Message from Scott Bailey, GM/CE WMRO-AM, Gallatin, TN

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> KVAS 1230 Astoria used to do that when I worked there in the 70s.
> Instead of dropping to 250w where no one outside Astoria could hear
> them, they would stay on 1 KW until the ballgame ended. So it has been a
> factor for many years. Like you, I have no problems with that. A station
> has to pay the bills. I draw the line when stations just decide to say
> on day power 24/7.

It really is irrelevant what we think about that.  It's what the FCC field
guy thinks, or what the other stations on the same frequency think which
then leads to the FCC.  Would it be over the line for an owner to modify his
station so all the meters read low power, yet it was at high power?  Same
offense, just better concealed.  I read of a station in the mid-Atlantic
that did just that.  The only way they were caught was by an FCC field guy
who used his meter as a portable radio, and didn't see a signal drop at the
appointed pattern change.  A follow-up visit showed everything hunky-dory
with the readings, but the field meter told a different tale.  It's the same
offense.

I'd bet that I could stuff a Gates 5 transmitter with Gates 1 badges and
meter faces in at WNBH-1340 and it would never be noticed.  It's a non-d
station, so no monitor point readings would ever be taken.  It's the same
power day/night, so no power change would ever happen.  If I ran it at 4kw,
it would double the field strength at any location.  About a 3db difference,
and hardly noticeable.  The noise on 1340 is such that after dark it
wouldn't make much difference.  If it were to be done, the first
incremential power-up would be in June, and adding fifty watts per day.  By
the end of July, it'd be at 4kw from 1kw.  All under summer low-DX
conditions.  When DXers noticed the station more frequently in the fall, I
could attribute it to "ground system work" or "tower work".  Any number of
plausible causes.  Who would guess?  Eventually it would just become part of
the landscape and be ignored.  And, that station participates in the
alternative inspection program run by the state broadcast association.  That
essentially guarantees that an FCC inspection will never happen.  I've been
through these, and if the meters look right, it will breeze right by the
inspector.  Needless to say, I won't do this, even if the chances of getting
caught are exceedingly remote.

Legally there is no difference.  The act of jazzing the meters to hide the
offense does heap on some charges, but it's still the same infraction,
running over power.

Going to your situation..  If KVAS were to have run 4kw day and 1kw night
with the appropriately modified meters to give it a legal appearance, do you
honestly think they would ever have been caught?

I certainly can see the point of view that this is a nearly victimless
crime.  And, I have no personal vendetta against stations that do warp the
rules.  As long as it has little or no effect on me, I'm happy.

I suppose the whole point was that it's just silly to brag about violating
the rules, especially in a worldwide forum.  It's also silly to grouse about
DXers when they have absolutely zero impact on your bottom line.

Craig Healy
Providence, RI


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