ISS has came out with a new portable high power AM antenna for the budget strapped licenced AM stations which appears to be proving popular
Antenna Aims To Ease AM’s Tower And Land Crunch. https://www.insideradio.com/free/lower-cost-antenna-aims-to-ease-am-s-tower-and-land-crunch/article_e7a27c5e-ce91-4d9f-90f0-a3bacb040f4e.html
Excerpts
Technological innovation and AM radio don’t often go together, but Information Station Specialists (ISS) is looking to change that. ... .., it has developed a new compact antenna design could offer AM broadcasters a more affordable path to keeping endangered licenses on the air.
ISS has received authorization to test its Magnum K1 AM Broadcast Antenna at 1,000 watts, a milestone that moves the design beyond the Federal Communication Commission’s short-term special temporary authority use .... The FCC granted permission .... Baker says the approval reflects a regulatory environment that has become more supportive of practical AM solutions.
“This isn’t a waiver. It’s not outside their rules,” he says. “It’s within their parameters. From their perspective, they just have to make sure it meets the standards.” .....
“The actual target is all the little Class C’s,” Baker says, noting smaller operators face the greatest pressure from rising costs and site losses. .... Stations are already beginning to file applications using the new design, even as testing continues. “We hope it will save a lot of licenses simply because it’s affordable,” Baker says. Emphasizing its appeal is fundamentally economic rather than technical. ..."
Also reported in Radio World:
Information Station Specialists Preps New AM Broadcast Antenna
Less than 50 feet in height, it supports up to 1 kW of power .... will offer AM station operators a path for an affordable antenna with a “fly under the radar” footprint. .... the antenna is designed to specifically support up to 1,000 watts of power on middle and upper AM frequencies. ... “Testing thus far proves it has the efficiency to be a full-time antenna for many Class B, C and D stations that operate on frequencies 900 kHz and above,” Baker told us. ...
“Because the antenna’s design is series-resonant with a matching network, an antenna tuning unit is not needed,” he said. ... The Magnum k1 joins other antenna and tuners offerings from Information Station Specialists, including “The Lowdown”, a 630-meter amateur radio antenna, “The Range Extender,” a Part 15 antenna and tuner and the Matchbox impedance matching network.