Re: LPFM and translators

["R.L. Caron" <k4gp@peganet.com>]

<< Neither are WEVO or WMPG, for that matter. >>

But WMPG, by truthfully making the claim that many of its students live in
Portland (the call letters stand for the 'University of Maine at
Portland-Gorham') has a more legitimate claim on the frequency than does
WBCN, which has none at all in that location. For the record, they never
objected to the allocation of 104.1 for translator service in Portland.

According to FCC rules, a Class B FM's signal is "protected" from
interference out to 40.5 miles. Beyond that, any coverage is a bonus. We'll
probably be hearing more about the various protected contours when the LPFMs
start to sprout in the countryside and existing stations make claims of
interference. Over the years, better transmitting plants and more sensitive
receivers have extended the practical range of the average FM station
considerably ... but those protection curves were never changed to reflect
modern technology. Now, this little bit of neglect may haunt some station
owners ... who will come to realize that as much as 50% of their present
coverage enjoys no FCC protection whatsoever.

Other protected contours are 17.6 miles for Class As, 27.8 for B1s,and 57.1
for Class Cs.

It'll be interesting to watch for a flood of translator applications. The
new LPFM rules give priority to translators currently authorized or those
whose applications are tendered before the publication of the filing window
for Low Power applications. Looks like this will be the last hurrah for
translators, as LPFM is sure to lap up whatever frequencies might remain
after this one, final feeding frenzy.