Re: LPFM - Tech Question

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>But aren't the day-to-day requirements for Class A stations stricter/more
>cumbersome than for LPFM (that is, the same as for any full-power FM)?

Having been involved in the operation of a Class A station (albeit a
non-commercial one, but I don't believe commercial operation involves
many if any more requirements) for over 15 years now, I'd have to
say that the requirements aren't that cumbersome at all.  You have
to do a legal ID every hour, monitor your EAS sources (and do a
weekly EAS test - btw, EAS is required for the LPFMers, too), and
make sure your transmitter isn't putting out too much power or
drifiting off-frequency.  The first of those three requires nothing
more than a clock; the last two, a couple pieces of equipment that
together cost less than your transmitter will.  Perhaps the commercials
have to be logged, just as we log our underwriting statements, but
again that's not all that difficult.  Aside from those, there's a
couple pieces of paper that have to be filed annually, and the license
has to be renewed once every seven or eight years (i.e., so infrequently
that I can't remember the exact interval anymore :-).

Seems to me that the day-to-day requirements of running any small
business (making sure your bills get paid, making sure your customers
(advertisers) pay their bills, taking care of your taxes, etc.) are
far more onerous than the basic FCC requirements for a station.
But that's just my opinion.  Maybe Bob B. should weigh in on this
one... ;-)

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu