Re: yesterday's LTAR; I'm on TV

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>Well, with the new translator, people in that northern
>fringe area of WMWM's signal won't get us at all
>anymore, even if they got "spotty" reception from
>us before. While I have been at WMWM for nearly 20
>years, at this point I just show up to do my shows
>on Sunday and I don't know for sure if WMWM protested
>the proposed WUMB plan, but I would guess the FCC
>must have contacted them...

I don't believe the FCC assumes responsibility for contacting stations
when applications are filed that "might" impact those stations' signals.
The most they do is provide a listing of applications on file; it's then
up to the station (or their engineers, or their lawyers) to keep track
of which ones might be an issue for them.

Also, there are often times when a station can be received some distance
beyond what the FCC considers to be its protected contour.  This could
result in a station having no technical grounds on which to contest an
application, even though the applied-for signal will cause interference
to real-world listeners.  That may have been the case here.

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