WBIX night signal

[Dan Strassberg]

I suspect that as of this morning (sometime after 9:00 AM) WBIX began
operating with its new nighttime DA but with power lower than the 2.5 kW
specified in its CP. Between noon and 1:00 PM, power appeared to increase
somewhat--perhps to as much as 2.5 kW. As far as I know, the FCC never
granted program test authority but did grant special temporary
authority--presumably to operate during the daytime with the new night
facilities--albeit probably at a power lower than that specified in the CP.
Once the engineers think they have the array tweaked properly--or tweaked as
well as they believe they can tweak it--I expect that the FCC actions will
show applications for program test authority, augmentation of the nighttime
standard pattern, and a license to cover. I expect that the FCC will fairly
quickly grant the application for program test authority, but at reduced
power, and that such operation will continue for many months until the FCC
staff is satisfied that the array is stable. After that, the FCC will decide
on the application for pattern augmentation. Once that is granted, a license
to cover should be granted. It would be most unusual if the FCC took less
than six months to grant a license to cover for a complex array on a Class A
channel--and the process could take MUCH longer. Last time, no license was
granted in almost 15 years. But by changing the formulas it uses to
determine the protected contours of Class A AMs such as co-channel KYW, the
problem is supposedly now enough simpler that the array has a decent chance
of working.

If the array were being built from scratch today, the towers would not be
exactly equally spaced and they would not be in an exactly straight line.
Instead, they would be slightly displaced from their ideal locations to
optimize the pattern to compensate for the presence of reradiating
structures and anomlies in the soil conductivity. However, when you start
with towers that are already in place, as the designer of this setup did,
it's too late for such measures. The last resort will be a reduction in
power. Using the same array, WAMG was granted 3.4 kW-N, whereas its original
CP was for 3.5 kW. It certainly appears that the new WAMG/WBIX setup was
designed (or at least implemented) with much greatrer care than was the
conversion of the array from 1060 to 890 10 or so years ago.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367