WLAV Tower Relocation - new update 7/29

[CK-722]

I doubt 97.3 WDEE or 97.3 WMJO could move much if at all; ditto 96.9 Standish, 96.5 DeWitt, 96.5 Portage and 96.7 Albion. That part of the FM dial is very crowded.

It appears under a certain FCC regulation (Section 73.3517?) that the 60 dBu contours of WLAV-FM and WLAW are not permitted to overlap. One wonders why Cumulus just doesn't apply for a waiver for 97.5 WLAW?

Perhaps these recent filings help explain Cumulus' decision to move the Sunny AC format from 97.5 MHz to 92.5 MHz?

I'll accept that as a challenge. Here. Hold my Caribou Blend. I'm a gonna find a squeeze in allotment or upgrade if it takes me all day. I've opened a few opportunities myself. Don't tell anybody or they'll steal them. And for goodness sakes, don't send the information to the Cluster Office FAX at G-3338.

Hmmm. Can Cumulus get WLUN back by moving back to Whitefeather Rd.?

[ftballfan]

I doubt 97.3 WDEE or 97.3 WMJO could move much if at all; ditto 96.9 Standish, 96.5 DeWitt, 96.5 Portage and 96.7 Albion. That part of the FM dial is very crowded.

It appears under a certain FCC regulation (Section 73.3517?) that the 60 dBu contours of WLAV-FM and WLAW are not permitted to overlap. One wonders why Cumulus just doesn't apply for a waiver for 97.5 WLAW?

Perhaps these recent filings help explain Cumulus' decision to move the Sunny AC format from 97.5 MHz to 92.5 MHz?

I'll accept that as a challenge. Here. Hold my Caribou Blend. I'm a gonna find a squeeze in allotment or upgrade if it takes me all day. I've opened a few opportunities myself. Don't tell anybody or they'll steal them. And for goodness sakes, don't send the information to the Cluster Office FAX at G-3338.

Hmmm. Can Cumulus get WLUN back by moving back to Whitefeather Rd.?

LAV moving permanently to GVSU might allow 96.9 Standish to upgrade from 3kW to 6kW.

Also, 97.5 is blocked from moving much by WDEE, WMLQ, and WKLT

[Arthur Mometer]

CMU doesn't need a higher power translator in Sterling.

[CK-722]

CK-722 wrote:

I'll accept that as a challenge.

Found one possible upgrade. Looking for more.

[CK-722]

Found another possible upgrade contingent on move. Haven't found a possible new allotment. Like you say, it's too jammed up to find too many possible upgrades.

I won't tell anybody, but are you sure you don't want to try harder near the old site?

[audiophile]

Cumulus is making a grave mistake.

[CK-722]

Cumulus is making a grave mistake.

At the very least, I would license the new facility, and immediately file an APP for something close to the old site, hopefully investigating a new site in the meantime. Unless you do extreme diligence on a DA, your'e going to lose something. WHNN's DA *MIGHT* be an exception. Sometimes a panel antenna will serve the areas you want to with a maximum ERP in each direction you want to serve. But every case is different.

[CK-722]

WLAV-FM had arguably the third best Commercial FM facility in Grand Rapids. Canada uses an "Average" ERP for DAs instead of the Maximum ERP in any direction. That would probably be in the vicinity of 22 kW for this DA. That makes it more apparent. I'll try to post a copy of the pattern. But keep in mind that the pattern is an "envelope" around the real measured pattern of the DA. If you ever see the measured lab patterns, you'll see what we mean. The real pattern is often a grotesque looking approximation. And that's the maximum of the H or V ERP that is plotted. As Larry Langford, Jr. alluded to, and he has an FM DA in South Bend, FM BC DA Design is kind of like sausage making in that you really don't want to know what happens in the Lab and Testing Range. The late great Bill Sanderson tried to get the 6 kW DA for WWBN so that it would cover Flint better from the Millington. The best they could do was 5.4 kW Vertical, less Horizontal. The best direction proof wise was 6 kW toward Saginaw, and it was nearly Circular Polarization. This was shown to be true, as it had a very good signal toward Saginaw. But the Tri Cities needed another marginal rim shot signal like they needed another hole in the head.

https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq? ... =W&size=9t

Here's a less official but better link.



https://www.fccdata.org/?facid=&call=WL ... =&lang=enC

Click the Antenna System ID.

Keep in mind that the real pattern is even smaller and more oddly shaped.

If you take the pattern and see which scale circle would match the area, you can determine the "Average" ERP like Canada uses. So if it looks like the 0.7 Relative Field circle matches the area, square 0.7 and multiply by 43 kW and you get about 21 kW. Keep in mind that the real area might match, say the 0.6 circle, which would give you 0.36 times 43 which would be 15.5 kW "average". You can get really technical and do a calculation of the RMS of the pattern, but that's not necessary to demonstrate the point. And the real sad thing is that the artificial ownership rules made them move another facility and lower it's height.

[CK-722]

In the past, there was a rule that if you had a transmitting site that was peculiarly suited to broadcast stations, the owner, even a competing signal, had to make the site available to competitors. Based on what you said, the (I still want to call it the WZZM-FM or WZZR tower) WLHT/WFGR site is so peculiarly situated. I'm not sure if or when that regulation was removed. If they used a diplex, it would be just like a lot of diplexes owned by competing owners, especially in larger markets. Money talks too, and sharing that site and costs might be mutually advantageous. Cumulus and Townsquare were cooperating on cluster ownership spin offs in the past, like Lansing going from Cumulus to Townsquare. Many AM diplexes are owned by direct competitors, like WNBC and WCBS used to be, and FMs like WLS-FM and WBBM-FM. And of course Empire, Hancock, and Sears by any other names. I think WDVD (Cumulus) and WYCD (CBS) diplex.

[statmanmi]

Approved!

As of yesterday, the FCC granted both the WLAW and WLAV Construction Permit applications.

So WLAW will go to that small tower that MWmetalhead summarized as, "...the 97.5 MHz signal is really going to turn into one big pile...".

WLAV Public File, if anyone wishes: https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/ ... materials/


One would guess that they'll have this happen as quickly as they can get all the ducks in a row (new equipment, tower crew/s, etc.).

Cheers ~ Statmanmi

[CK-722]

WGVU-TV really didn't dip before going down the hill into Big Rapids, past WBRN, by the water tower. Then as I recall, as you got up to Northeast of Reed City, where it was close to LOS again, it was viewable again, along with signals as far as 75-100 miles away, like WJRT-TV, in the analog days. I had a good Sony portable that received WLAV-FM, WZZR, and even WGRD-FM near WBRN. J.J. Duling was amazed that I could get WGRD-FM on a portable. They had to have a huqe Yagi to rebroadcast it on Weekends on the Carrier Current station. WHNN, WGER and WGMZ came in nearly all the time on the Sony with just the telescoping whip. WFBE came in even with 3.7 kW much of the time, and WDZZ after WCER-FM signed off at Night.