Re: [IRCA] Interesting article in Radio World: Sign Off, and Save Some Money

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Paul Thurst, director of engineering for Pamal Broadcasting Ltd. in
Albany,
> N.Y., posted an article 8/13/09 at http://www.rwonline.com/article/85412.
> Opening line: "A few years ago I was tasked with finding out what was
wrong
> with our night coverage on 1420 WLNA(AM)." Closing line: "It is time that
we
> broadcasters started cleaning up our act, stop wasting energy and start
> saving a little money in this time of tight budgets. Besides, it might
make
> the AM band almost listenable again overnight." Interesting reading for
> dxers!

Signing off at night is a common thought among broadcasters.  At one of my
clients, that did come up recently.  Management didn't want to sign off for
a couple of reasons.  First, they considered that being off would result in
a button press on a radio.  That way when the radio was turned back on, it
would not be tuned to their station.  Second is a technical reason that I
agree with.  When a station goes off, it can be a failure point when it's
restarted.  Many years ago I worked at stations that sign off, and it was an
occasional problem at sign-on.  A few places where I work do not have heat
in their transmitter buildings.  In winter the room will drop temperature
down to the point where condensation will happen.  Moisture can cause
serious deterioration over time.  At what was then WJAR-920 the building
heat failed.  The older RCA transmitter was needed and the condensation in
the high voltage power supply caused the plate transformer to be destroyed.
Took literally months to get the right replacement.  Another client is a
daytimer with no heat at the transmitter site.  Sign on in winter is
occasionally an issue.  On the rare, severely cold nights all they do is cut
audio and leave the transmitter on.

There is a possibility that the failures and resultant loss of air time and
repair costs would completely eat up the power savings.

The AM band would be *far* better off if there was compliance with the FCC
Part 15 regulations.   Way too many sources (besides IBOC) have brought the
noise floor up many decibels.  RF interference from other stations is an
issue, but broadband noise is at least as bad.  TVs, internet and computer
equipment, wall wart power supplies, and even traffic lights all contribute
to this.  These parts should not be allowed if they cause this.  Even high
quality equipment can be an issue.  My wife has an expensive Mac laptop and
it makes a series of buzz noises every 100KHz from LW right through the SW
bands.  It's even a problem on a small antenna at the top of my tower, so it
has quite a bit of range.

As we've seen, there are significant numbers of stations that don't seem to
switch to their licensed night facilities.  The FCC doesn't seem to search
these out, so they are becoming more common.  That has been a thread in this
list where some folks think that it shouldn't be mentioned.  Personally, I
think posting a comment here when a station is suspected of this isn't a bad
idea.  Reporting to the FCC is not something I'd do myself unless it
affected one of my clients.  In that situation it's just business.

Hobby-wise would I like to see sign-off policies back where they were
fifty-plus years ago?  Oyez...

Craig Healy
Providence, RI


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