Down on the lower right side of the screen the Enforcement Actions show a second case regarding Birach Broadcasting in just a few weeks, two different stations.
Down on the lower right side of the screen the Enforcement Actions show a second case regarding Birach Broadcasting in just a few weeks, two different stations.
There is also a Birach station here in the St. Louis area, and I have wondered about its operation, although I am not a whistle blower nor complainer, so I emphasize that I have no actual knowledge of the inside circumstances.
The station is 1kW daytime, has a CP (construction permit) for 10kW day 200 Watt night.
The station has been heard on the air at night, but that may be part of the construction process. Other nights it’s not on.
In general, it’s the poorest AM signal in the market, sounds like it’s a hundred miles away.
kc8gpd says
well at least it’s full power
well at least it’s full power licensed stations and not p15am’s!!!
for years these licensed stations were getting away with all sorts of violations all while at the same time turning in part 15 lpam’s simply because they are taking away listeners.
glad to see karma is finally biting them on the arse!!!!
i have long believed and still do believe in karma it’s the ultimate equalizer!!!!
and it’s about time the FCC is putting it’s efforts where it should be putting them where the real interference causes exist.
now if we could only get them to revoke authorization for those two noise generators known as BPL and IBOC and start cracking down on poorly manufactured equipment hitting the market from china and such that generate more interference than a bunch of part 15 am/fm’s could ever generate we would be doing good.
Carl Blare says
Behind the Wall of Racket
You know, Robert, I totally agree about IBOC for sure…. it needs to go.
That’s the so-called “HD” radio, also called “digital radio.”
Only a few local stations run it, the word is there are no listeners with HD radios.
One station had their “HD” buzz-saw turned off the other night, and I clearly heard a station from somewhere that otherwise would be totally covered up. That makes IBOC more like a jamming transmission than a useful radio service.
I could legitimately complain about not being able to get the station that is covered up.
If our part 15 station covered up a wanted signal we would be violating the regulation that says, “Cannot cause interference.”
channelx1610 says
HD Radio is terrible
I agree with the complaints about HD Radio. I have a pocket HD Radio (Insignia NSHD01 I believe) and it is the worst FM radio I have ever had. The HD signals from Cincinnati (25 miles southwest of here) drop out way too easily and Dayton reception is impossible (Dayton is about 45 miles northeast from here, analog signals have slight hiss on decent radios).
As for AM, I have no clue about digital reception. What I do know is the HD hash on analog AM is terrible. The hash from 700 WLW-HD knocks out everything from 670 to 730 on my Aiwa NSX-350M. Also, 740 from Newport, KY (EWTN Catholic radio) has hints of hash on it.
I heard a rumor that 1590 WSRW, 500 Watts, Hillsboro, Ohio (32 miles east of here) is broadcasting in HD now. If they are, Channel X is doomed. 100 mW is not enough to overpower the hash.
The thought of having to find another open frequency makes me nervous. Nothing is open at night. Even 1610 has skywave from 1610 CHHA Toronto (some spanish language station).
kc8gpd says
the entire am band especially
the entire am band especially the mid and x bands here is full of icrap making those bands virtually useless for any type of usable part 15 am.
channelx1610 says
I used to enjoy AM DXing…
…but HD radio has ruined that thrill. Way too much hash. I think the FCC should get rid of IBOC and switch to DRM. I’ve heard DRM is better, but I don’t know for sure. By the way, DRM is Digital Radio Mondiale. It is the digital format used for AM and shortwave in Europe.
Carl Blare says
Praise From One Guy
Over in Tepei, Tiwan, which I can’t spell, Keith Perron of PCJ Media, producer of The Happy Station and Media network Plus, really loves DRM.
But on radio, why would any kind of digital be better than analog?
kc8gpd says
AM..De-clutter the AM Band.
AM..
De-clutter the AM Band. those stations with multiple am licenses in the same market? Time to send dome of those redundancies dark.
after the am band is cluttered put the bandwidth back to 30 khz (15 khz audio bw)
Require GPS syncing of carriers.
require receiver manufacturers to have minimum performance specs on their receivers.
require and enforce the rules. make these slum station owners bring their facilities back up to spec.
require station implement CQuAM and manufacturers put it in their receivers.
require proof of performance measurements be made again and that station adhere to minimum performance specs.
we still have an opportunity with TV5&6 to extend FM band a little a put the displaced am’s there like should have been done.
forget icrap on am or fm!!!!
FM
make a new digital band and force the sunset of analog on fm.
leave AM analog. it’s a good emergency system and is efficient for emergency message dissemination and should remain analog.
and as i stated anytime a station makes a complaint against another station part 15 or licensed that complaining station should be looked at as well for violations.
it should drop the frivolous complaints down to next to nothing and make FCC job much easier in the long run and it will also make sure that a complaining station is in compliance. after all they are complaining about supposed rules violations while violating the rules themselves.
channelx1610 says
I have a couple questions about your idea, kc8gpd.
1. Would the new digital FM system work on current HD radio receivers? I am wondering this because I really don’t want a $50 paperweight that used to be a digital radio. I finally picked up an HD station from Dayton. WHKO 99.1, 500 or 5000 Watts (IBOC channel power is 1% or 10% of their 50,000 watt analog channel). By the way, if it is only 500 watts, digital signals must be less prone to interference because that 500 watt digital signal traveled 45 miles without breaking up. I can’t even pick up an analog 250 watt Clear Channel translator from 30 miles away (too much hiss).
2. Would part 15 stations be required to broadcast in CQUAM AM stereo? I am wondering because my car has an AM stereo tuner and I would love to hear every station in stereo, including my own. I think AM stereo is true HD on AM. It’s not digital, but the sound is so rich. I couldn’t believe my ears listening to 890 WLS the other night. It was AMAZING!
3. Would this restructuring of the AM band result in more variety on AM? I’m sick of hearing Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Glen Beck, and many others on the whole AM band at night. It’s like one satellite channel broadcast on every 50,000 watt station across the country. It’s ridiculous. I wanna hear some music. And only one music station on skywave (650 WSM) isn’t enough.
RFB says
Proposals
First off, if there is to be a REAL digital radio service, then it should NOT be proprietary..PERIOD!
That IBOC crap is worthless, generates a ton of in band on channel garbage not to mention co-channel garbage.
Nice way for a company to monopolize a market that is not supposed to be monopolized..but then again look at how many stations are owned by one individual or corporation even in just one city.
Part 15 AM will never be “required” to run C-QUAM. And yes, C-QUAM is superior to IBOC on AM. It would be nice to have receiver manufacturers forced to incorporate C-QUAM decoders in their radios. Never will happen. Why? Because it is not profitable to the receiver manufacturers when they know that 90 percent of the radio listening public has no idea of the difference between real stereo audio vs AM mono audio being heard through a speaker on the left and on the right. Most settle for the tinny sound being pumped into their ears via iPod earphones, hardly hi-fi of any sort or kind.
Restructuring of the AM band wont cure the lack of programing creativity or increase local radio involvement in the communities they serve. The big wet dream about IBOC was that it was anticipated to return radio to it’s glorious hey day. Did nothing of the sort. Digital or analog, if the program being forced fed is the same junk, it’s still junk by the time it’s all encoded, sent, decoded and flapping your ear drums back and forth, via analog modulation or digital modulation…same same.
Soon I will be pumping my AM stereo station’s audio on my 128kps stereo stream. The receiver I will use is the Sony ST-JX220A and it will feed the server encoder directly from the line outputs. Then everyone can hear just how good AM stereo really is.
Want radio to be like it used to be? Then radio must return to what it once was. Unfortunately we wont get that out of the current commercial corporate conglomerate consolidated one sound fits all nonsense.
RFB
Carl Blare says
Doing Math
There are about 40 useless radio stations in my market. With HD that number goes up, perhaps 50 or 60 pointless stations. Heck, with cable TV there would be about 200 channels not to watch, so I would be totally over-served with under-service.
So what I did, is start a small little radio station with a few choice programs that none of those other stations have, and that takes care of me.
Yet all that unheard, unwatched programming, goes on and on in its own vacuum. If they’d put that energy into program improvement, they might have an audience. Glad I don’t know the people who run those stations. They lack it upstairs.