WHMP on FM

[Scott Fybush]

Paul B. Walker, Jr. wrote:
> When I asked my friend, he said the word came down from their attorney 
> that this was how the station was to be ID'd... I've heard Ams who ID 
> the translator every hour, calls and all.. maybe the attorney was just 
> being on the safe side.. there's nothing wrong with going "WXYA Anytown, 
> W300ZZ Anytown" every hour, or burying "w300zzanytown" in between 
> comemrcials and runnnig the AM ID at the top of hour.

There's nothing wrong with playing it safe, no...but if we're going to 
talk about what the rules actually are, and not just what "my friend 
told me," it's helpful to look at what the rules actually are, straight 
from the FCC's mouth.

The AM translator rulemaking is here:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-09-59A1.pdf

...and the end of paragraph 22 on page 11 is the relevant passage:

"With respect to the issue of “conforming” call signs, adopting the 
proposed call sign naming system would be contrary to the current system 
utilized by other translator stations. Moreover, because the current 
system for FM booster call sign selection allows for conforming call 
signs, allowing FM translators also to conform their call signs could 
prompt potential conflicts with FM booster call signs. Therefore, we 
will continue to use the same translator call sign system in place for 
FM stations. Stations using fill-in FM translators can and do promote 
the availability of those translators with on-air announcements on their 
primary stations and other promotional techniques."

Read on to the "implementation" section at the end, where the FCC tells 
us what changes it's actually making to its existing rules, and you'll 
see that 74.1283, the section that governs on-air identification, isn't 
changed by the translator rulemaking.

If I were an AM station running an FM translator, I'd be using hourly 
inaudible FSK IDing for the translator callsign - and calling it 
"WSDF-FM" the rest of the hour on the air. Why confuse listeners with 
the meaningless gibberish of "W245QJ, Anytown"? (And remember, I'm a 
legal-ID geek here...)