Paul Thurst – Page 32 – Engineering Radio

Status of AM revitalization

It has been about five years since the AM revitalization initiative was first proposed by the FCC and about five years since the first rules changes took place. Those rules changes included:

FM translators for AM stations
Allowing stations to use MDCL (Modulation Dependent Carrier Level)
Changing some of the antenna radiation efficiencies requirements
Changing some of the allowable interference towards other stations requirements
Loosening some rules regarding proofs, MOM, nighttime coverage over the city of license, etc

Things that were not addressed:

Receiver quality and technical advances
Ambient noise levels on Medium Frequency (among other) bands
HD Radio or any other digital modulation scheme

Things that were discussed then changed subsequently as a separate initiative:

The main studio rule, which was eliminated for all broadcasting stations

What has been the net effect of these changes? Has any of this revitalized AM radio? The net effect has been approximately more of the same. There have been many stations that have applied for and received licenses for FM translators. Those stations, in most cases that I am aware of, receive some benefit of extra revenue because of this. Stations with carrier power levels of 10-50 KW have taken advantage of MDCL technology to save some money on their electric bill. Nothing wrong with that.

For stations that use a directional antenna, proofs of performance and other DA matters with the FCC have become slightly easier. Medium Frequency (MF) directional antennas are very large, require a lot of land, are expensive to build, license, and maintain. I know of several stations which have downgraded from a class B station with a directional antenna to a class D station with a single tower and greatly reduced nighttime power. Those downgraded stations certainly benefit from an FM translator.

I have heard from more than one AM station owner who says after four years, they are going to “turn in their AM license and just keep the FM.” I am sure that they are not informed regarding translator rules. Perhaps, however, the FCC will allow this in the future; a sort of back-door commercial low-power FM station classification.

The AM band zenith occurred in November of 1991 when there were 4990 licensed AM stations in the United States. As of June 30, 2018, the total stands at 4633. That is a decline of 357 stations. There are currently 90 AM stations listed as silent. That represents a decline of approximately 9 percent or less than 1/2 of one percent per year.

The last number of AM stations actually transmitting HD Radio that I found was approximately 110, which differs from the iBiquity (and FCC) number of 240. The FCC database includes stations that are currently dark or stations that were transmitting HD Radio at one time but have since turned it off. Either way, it is a small percentage of licensed stations. As of this time, AM HD Radio appears to be a non-starter. In other parts of the world, Medium Frequency DRM seems to be doing well. The difference seems to be that the DRM operation is all digital and the digital carriers have a much higher power level than that of the hybrid AM HD Radio being used here.

Of those 4633 standard broadcast stations, approximately 260 belong to iHeart radio, Cumulus owns approximately 120 and Townsquare owns approximately 80. That accounts for 460 stations. The remaining 4000 or so stations currently on the air are owned by medium-sized corporations or individual owners. The reason for the distinction; I have noticed that large corporate owners tend to concentrate resources and effort on those licenses that will make the best return, e.g. FM stations. Of course, there are a few exceptions to that trend, often in major markets.

Of those 4000 or so remaining AM stations, most seem to be treading water. They are making enough money to stay on the air. There are a few AM stations that are doing remarkably well. Those are the ones with primarily local content. The vast majority of AM stations are running some type of syndicated talk. News/talk and sports radio are the two most common formats. Conservative news/talk seems to be the bread and butter. Liberal news talk has been tried, but none have succeeded.

Last May, the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. That federal law prevented gambling on outcomes of professional and college sports games. With the overturn of that rule, individual states can now legalize sports betting. It will be interesting to see what states allow legalized sports gambling and whether that has any effect on the various sports radio formats. I can see where individuals and odds makers may want to get good inside information regarding team dynamics and so on. The sports network that can furnish such information may be in a good position to carve out a niche.

Music can and does sound good on AM when it is done correctly. There is a great misconception that AM fidelity is poor. That is not necessarily so. There are a good many AM receivers these days that have much better bandwidth than the previous generation receivers. I am noticing that car radios in particular sound much better. Yes, there are still problems with electrical noise and nighttime interference. There are still technological improvements that can be made for analog AM on the receiver side.

In summary; the revitalization efforts have benefited some AM stations in some areas. The truth is, that many AM stations have been let go for so long that there is no saving them. Other AM stations that are still viable are making a go of it. In nautical terms; there is six feet of water in the hold, the pumps are working and the ship is not sinking… for now.

WKIP

This was the radio station that I listened to (or rather, my parents listened to) when I was a very young kid. From this source, things like school closings, weather, lunar landings, news, sports and traffic could be heard. At one point, there was a guy called the “Traffic Hawk,” (real name Don Foster) who flew in a Cessna 172 east and west over main street in Poughkeepsie advising drivers of any slow downs in the area. That’s right, Poughkeepsie, New York, population 30,000, had it’s own eye in the sky, broadcasting live from the aircraft overhead. Actually, I think he also flew up and down South Road (US Route 9) in the vicinity of the IBM plant, which employed quite a few people in those days.

There was also a guy who tried to break the Guinness Book of World Records by staying awake the longest, this happened several times.

For me, it was the school closings. I hated school with an absolute passion. Everyday, I would ride the school bus and say a little prayer; “…please God, make it today. Make the boiler stop working, or the electricity go out. Make the kitchen catch on fire or the roof cave in. You are a great and mighty God and I don’t ask for much. Please destroy my school today.” Alas, God did not seem interested in this.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

WKIP first signed on in 1940 with the studios and transmitter located at The Nelson House, 42 Market Street, Poughkeepsie. That building is long gone and the location appears to be the parking lot for the Dutchess County Office building. Being neighbors with some influential guy from Hyde Park made for a nice dedication speech:

It signed on with a power of 250 watts on 1,420 KC on June 6th, 1940. Soon thereafter, it changed frequency to 1,450 KC as a part of the AM band shift brought about by NARBA.

Over the years, the station went through several ownership changes. The first major technical change came in 1961, when the station transmitter site moved to its current location, then called Van Wagoner Road, now Tucker Drive. The station increased power to 1,000 Watts and installed a directional antenna for daytime use. It is one of those rare nighttime non-directional, daytime directional stations.

The directional antenna consists of two towers; tower one is 180 degrees tall (103.4 Meters or 340 feet) with 35 degrees of top loading. That is used for both the day and nighttime array. Tower two is 85 degrees tall (48.8 Meters or 160 feet) and is used only for the daytime array. This pushes the major lobe of radiation towards the north. I don’t know the reasoning behind that, but somebody spends a good amount of money to make it so.

Here is an air check from the early 1980s. Weather on that day was “Sunny, cloudy, whatever… take your pick.”

Good old Steve Diner.

Today, the station looks like this:

The 1961 WKIP transmitter building with tower

When I was growing up, my cousins lived within walking distance of this. We used to come over and throw rocks at the tower when the station was unmanned on Saturdays and Sundays. At least, I think it was unmanned because no one ever came out and yelled at us.

WKIP backup transmitter, phasor and main transmitter

Mid-1980s MW-1A still runs. The BE AM1A is the main transmitter. The phasor is the Original 1960s Gates Phasor.

This video shows how the studios used to look before they were rebuilt by Clear Channel Circa 2002 or so. At about the 2:02 mark, you will see the room pictured above as it looked in 1990.

The space between the video above and the picture below looked bad with nothing in it. It looks better now.

That clock is a collector’s item and belongs in a museum.

Installing a satellite dish

This is a replacement dish for the Comtech dish destroyed in a downburst event a few weeks ago. The first part of the job entailed the placement of the new dish on the ground. The town code enforcement officer was much happier with this idea than mounting it up above roof level along the back of the building as the old one was. Of course, this is possible due to the shift in satellites last year to AMC-18.

Finding a good spot on the radio station property was fairly easy. The studio is located in a business district, thus the sideyard requirements were zero feet, which is great. The building inspector required that we dig a test hole to see what type of soil was there. It turned out to be fill. That required the footing design to be changed somewhat and stamped by a licensed engineer. Not a major problem.

Satellite mount pole, waiting pre-pour inspection

The footing is 36 inches wide by 7 feet deep.

A little bit of water in the bottom of the hole

The mounting pipe has flanges welded to the side of it to prevent it from spinning in the concrete.

After the pour, we let the concrete set up over the weekend.

The dish is assembled and waiting for lift. We used a backhoe to lift the dish onto the mounting pole, unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture as I was on a ladder attaching the dish to the pedestal with U-bolts.

Viking 1374-990 3.7 Meter R/O dish installed

Here it is installed and aimed at AMC-18. I used the Satellite Buddy, which makes the aiming job much easier. Once the signal is acquired, I like to peak the Eb/No on the West Wood One carrier, which seems to be the most sensitive to any type of change.

Viking 1374-990 3.7 Meter satellite dish, back view

Wind damage

This satellite dish nearly broke off of its mount during a “macroburst” event. According to the National Weather Service:

A macroburst is a thunderstorm downdraft affecting an area at least 2.5 miles wide with peak winds lasting 5 to 20 minutes. The macroburst is a straight-line wind phenomena not associated with rotation…used to differentiate from tornadic
winds. Macrobursts can produce as much if not more damage as tornadoes due to the size and scope of a macroburst.

On May 15th a large group of severe thunderstorms triggered at least three tornadoes and one macroburst event in eastern New York and Western Connecticut. Winds in the macroburst area were estimated to be in the 85 to 105 MPH range.

The next morning, it took a long time to get the the clients studio. Trees where down everywhere, roads were closed, traffic lights not working, etc. This created numerous detours and traffic jams. When I finally arrived at a clients studio facility, this was the first thing I noticed:

Comtech 3.8 meter dish with broken mount

That is an older 3.8 meter comtech dish hanging on by one 3/8 inch stainless steel U bolt. The funny thing is, they did not complain about this or the lack of satellite service. The main complaint was that the studios were on generator and some of the lights and air conditioners were not working.

Comtech 3/8 inch stainless U bolt holding up 650 pound dish — Comtech 3/8 inch stainless U bolt sheared off

Comtech 3.8 meter dish support bracket twisted

This dish had originally been put up when AMC-8 was the main commercial radio network bird in the US. The dish elevation was only 9 degrees above the horizon, so this had to be put up next to the building at roof top level to clear the trees and see 139W.

I was attempting to secure the dish but in the end, the 650 pound dish was too tenuous and the weather was still unstable. There was other damage to the dish thus we decided to take it down instead. Even that took a bit of doing. We were trying find a crane or bucket truck, but all that type of equipment had been pressed into service with recovery efforts. We finally undid all the bolts and bracing and fell it like a tree.

The dish was then cut up and put in the dumpster.

The new satellite dish will be installed next to building in a lower position.