Use of (analog) Channel 6 for Audio Only (as FM 87.7)

[Peter Parker]

I am not sure this belongs here since it deals with analog broadcasting and the forum title refers to digital OTA but there is nowhere else to put it. If current use of broadcast frequencies for anlaog use is forbidden go ahead and lock or delete the thread.


that being said i see a discussion in another forum about whether or not a broadcaster with a license to broadcast at channel 6 (on an LP Basis) is actually a pirate broadcaster if they use it for audio only and show up at 87.7.

There is such a broadcaster in DC and I know the practice has become more common since the digital tv transition. I also note that it occurs in some other cities and that it is usually a LICENSED channel 6 broadcaster (Boston is an exception that city did have a pirate broadcaster using the frequency).

Does anyone know if these broadcasters are actually violating any law or regualtion by doing this?

 

[Mr Tony]

nope they're not violating any law. They have to show a video pattern to comply. They get the TV station and takes advantage of the audio on 87.7

couple examples
87.7 "The Ticket" in Denver
KXDP-LP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KZND in Anchorage use to do it (they have moved to 94.7). They have to show something of video so they had a camera facing downtown Anchorage

 

[Jim5506]

We have a channel 6 station KFMP-LP that also broadcasts a video slate and FM audio only.

 

[dfergie]

Lost our channel 6/ 87.7 when they went digital... I liked listening to to the tv news on the way to or from work...

 

[Arcade]

KFDM channel 6 here in Beaumont, TX. was on 87.7 for many many years.
Everybody hated that we lost the radio channel when they went all digital.

 

[Mr Tony]

When I lived in Duluth, MN the NBC station would advertise on their channel that you could "listen to your favorite programs" on 87.7

Other than the news and maybe a sporting event I cant see listening to a program

 

[Peter Parker]

I am pretty convinced that the poster in the other forum just has an axe to grind. I remember listening to ch 6 on the radio when my parents used the only tv in the house to watch another station as well. That is a bit different than the situation the other poster described (a ch. 6 that was only intended to be heard not seen) but if Ia am not mistaken even the LP analog stations will have to go away soon.

 

[Don_M]

... if I am not mistaken even the LP analog stations will have to go away soon.

Yup. One way or another, the days of channel 6 analog audio at the bottom of the FM band are numbered:

• Fox Charley Charley has announced its intent to transition low-power analog television stations to digital broadcasting, but has yet to set a firm deadline. The agency made a bit of noise about a date in 2012, but it's hard to see how that's going to happen since it's just nine months away.

• Even if the transition never happens, the FCC's implementation of the "national" "broadband" "plan" would all but assure the end of LP and CA analog services in the top 100 markets as full-power broadcasters bump them out of existence in any spectrum-repacking scheme.

 

[Mr Tony]

Here in Minnesota a lot of the low powered translators upgraded to digital a year ago. Not to turn this political but I guess there was some government money thing for low powered to upgrade too. There are lots of spots where the low powered translators were owned by community groups who relied on those.

 

[Peter Parker]

Here in Minnesota a lot of the low powered translators upgraded to digital a year ago. Not to turn this political but I guess there was some government money thing for low powered to upgrade too. There are lots of spots where the low powered translators were owned by community groups who relied on those.

i suspect though that the stations that are using their Ch. 6 license to operate a radio station have no interest in going digital since that pretty much prevents them from operating in this manner.

 

[Mr Tony]

exactly.

 

[Don_M]

There are lots of spots where the low powered translators were owned by community groups who relied on those.

We've seen much the same thing out here, Ice. Several CAs and LPs went digital in the weeks and months following the full-power DTV transition. Most of these UHF operations stood to save a great deal of money on their monthly electricity bills by switching from CA/LP to LD early.

In addition to the co-ops you mentioned, perhaps hundreds of counties and taxing districts in the West offer similar services. Locations in rural CO/UT/AZ/NM ("The Four Corners") that can receive signals from this association have a wide-ranging OTA selection that puts what's available in Denver to shame, and Denver is a top-20 market! The FCC has to date been conspicuously silent as to where these translator operators/associations fit within a "repacked" future.

 

[Tower Guy]

i suspect though that the stations that are using their Ch. 6 license to operate a radio station have no interest in going digital since that pretty much prevents them from operating in this manner.

That's not certain. WNYZ in New York City had been operating their DTV transmitter with a reduced bandwidth which allowed room for a signal on 87.7. The FCC indicated that they would not license it, so they returned to analog. WRGB in Schenectady operated briefly on 87.9 MHz. WRGB used V-pol transmissions on FM to minimize DTV interference.

It's not clear why the FCC acted as they did. I'd speculate that it's one or more of the following:
WNYZ-LP was running up to 3 KW ERP on 87.7 but was licensed for 300 watts DTV.
The FCC didn't want to set a precedent.
There were unresolved FM interference issues with 88.1 and/or 88.3 MHz.
The mandate from Congress was that all full power analog transmissions would be turned off on June 12, 2009. FM is analog.

 

[Peter Parker]

I am not certain i understand what you are trying to say in your post tower guy. Are you saying some of these stations may want to go digital?

BTW while the FCC mandates that full power TV bew shut off on 6/12/09 that did not apply to LP TV or FM radio.

As for WRGB i thought they were operating on channel 6 as a digital TV station. Are you saying they tried to ALSO broadcast analog audio on 87.9? Interestingly I grew up not far from that station in a one TV household and i remeber listening to NBC programs (it was an NBC affiliate then) on cheap transistor radios.

i am not disputing you really I suspect I just don't understand what you are saying.