Re: Dodgers on KXTA-1150

[dan.Strassberg@att.net]

Officially, KXTA's night power is 44 kW. But that's sort 
of a vagary of the FCC's new system for figuring AM 
powers. In the old days, the night power would have been 
listed as 50 kW and some sharp-eyed student of the AM 
database would have noted that the night array appeared 
to have a pattern rms field about 6% lower than that of 
the day pattern. (A 6% reduction in field translates to 
roughly a 12% reduction in power, which is equal to the 
ratio of 44/50.) Curiously, such a situation exists in 
reverse at WRKO, which is listed as 50 kW-U. WRKO's 
night rms is significantly higher than its day rms.

I imagine that in the heart of the LA basin, KXTA must 
have a killer signal. Yes, it's diplexed with KTNQ, and 
uses all five of KTNQ's towers, which are 200 degrees at 
1020, and a whopping 225 degrees at 1150. 225 degrees is 
about the maximum practical height for standard 
radiators, so the efficiency must be very high. I think 
the rms field is the equivalent of well over 100 kW from 
minimum height radiators. Combine that with a narrow 
pattern (the reason the signal wasn't so hot in Santa 
Barbara) and you have a pretty good recipe for a good 
signal in the city and the close-in suburbs. The pattern 
maximum must be the equivalent of around 500 kW ND from 
towers of minimum efficiency. Of course, the TX is east 
of LA, in (I think) Industry City, so KTNQ/KXTA unlike, 
say, KFI and KNX, get no benefit from the salt water. 
Still, it's a top-notch facility and quite a tribute to 
what was then Jacor's engineering staff that they made 
it all happen so fast.

Now for a bit of trivia, that you, Scott, may have seen 
with your own eyes (and videotaped), but I've only heard 
about. The KTNQ/KXTA array is apparently a _rooftop_ 
installation, and it wasn't when it was built! What I've 
heard is that, after the towers went up, KTNQ sold or 
leased the rights to built a huge warehouse _under_ the 
array. I understand that the warehouse was built by 
excavating the site and that the warehouse roof now 
hosts the stations' ground system. Pretty clever, these 
Americans.

> Kevin Vahey wondered...
> 
> >A little off the New England track Garrett and I apoligize for that, but can
> >someone explain how XTRA in Los Angeles on 1150 snared the Dodgers?
> >(actually KTRA) and have the Dodgers slipped that much that they are now on
> >a 5 KW in Southern California?????
> >
> >This would be like the Yankees on WMCA, I don't get it....        
> 
> An ironic comparison, really, and here's why: Both WMCA and KXTA are
> former class III stations, now class C, no longer bound by the old
> 5kw limits on the class.
> 
> In the case of WMCA, that means that long-delayed CP to boost power
> to something like 30 kW.
> 
> In the case of KXTA (the correct calls on the former KIIS AM), that
> meant a major power increase around the time the station got the 
> Dodgers.  KXTA now runs 50 kW day and something well over 5 kw night,
> diplexing with, if memory serves, KTNQ 1020.
> 
> I'm told it's a pretty good signal over most or all of the LA
> basin.  When I was in Santa Barbara in January, it was audible but
> far from strong. (At the time, Clear Channel was relaying KXTA's
> "XTRA Sports" programming over KXXT-1340 in Santa Barbara; while
> that and several other simulcasts -- like KCKC 1350 San Bernardino --
> have since ended, KXTA is still simulcast on a few stations in places
> like Apple Valley.  It's NOT a straight simulcast with CC-programmed
> "XTRA Sports 690," XETRA Tijuana-San Diego.)
> 
> The KXTA power increase was accomplished by buying and taking dark
> two other 1150s in California, KBAI Morro Bay (near San Luis Obispo
> and Hearst Castle; its towers were still up in January) and KMXN
> Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco.
> 
> Even with the Dodgers, KXTA has been less than a ratings powerhouse
> in LA...
> 
> -s