RE: WJLT at night (Was RE: WCBS off time...)

["Keith Fornal" <kfornal@loa.com>]

I've been getting a similar problem on 1110 here in Rhode Island.  It
seems like WPMZ 1110 in East Providence "forgets" to turn it's
transmitter off on some nights.  Tonight as I type this, the station is
broadcast in 5,000 watts of dead air once again on 1110.  This is the
3rd or 4th time I have noticed this in the past month.  I first noticed
this while driving on I-195 towards Providence from SE Mass and noticed
that there was some building interference on WBZ, which normally comes
in as a local here, day & night.  WBT 1110 normally comes in here when
WPMZ remembers to turn their transmitter off at sunset.  The station has
had run-ins with both the FCC and WBT for several years of illegal
nighttime operation with 250 watts.

Should I complain?  If so, to whom?  Will anyone care or do anything
about it?

Keith Fornal
Treasurer
Dutch Island Lighthouse Society
www.dutchislandlighthouse.org


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
[mailto:owner-boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org] On Behalf Of Martin
J. Waters
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 12:59 AM
To: Garrett Wollman
Cc: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
Subject: Re: WJLT at night (Was RE: WCBS off time...)

>Mr. Wollman wrote:
>I took the liberty of forwarding your note to WSM's CE, who is
>probably the only person whose complaints the Funny Cookie Commission
>is likely to listen to these days.  They still probably won't do
>anything.

    With the clear channel stations, that is always someone who might
care.
The WTIC (AM) / KRLD combination DX test and silent period for
maintenance
a couple months ago was partly, on the part of the WTIC CE, to try to
figure out where interfering signals are coming from. It's actually an
issue for them in their primary coverage area, with people complaining
they
can't get the station well enough.

    A few years ago I had the opposite experience during my one-person
campaign to get the now-gone-to-FM station on 1110 kHz in Ontario (just
over the Michigan border; COL escapes me now) to stop leaving its day
power
on all night, wiping out WBT over much of eastern North America. I wrote
to
the FCC, with copies to the WBT CE, and never heard from him.

    Making a very long story very short: Because that station was a
Canadian, the complaint went to the international office of the FCC
instead
of the regular "enforcement" division. They contacted the Canadian
regulators. Although many Canadian stations do the thing with ignoring
night pattern/power, the Canadian enforcement actually still takes
itself
seriously, at least when a formal case is presented. The station quit
its
violations. I was quite happy with the outcome, but I still wonder
whether
a similar complaint against a U.S. station would have gotten such a good
result.