WKEY reducing ERP from 26 to 6 kW !!

[k8jd]

WKEY FM in Key west has a construction permit to change from 26 to 6.1 KW ERP ! Same antenna height and location. WHY would they do that ?

[Kennelly Heaviside]

Well, they do serve a whole lot of ocean.

Maybe another station is squeezing in or upgrading somewhere else, and they paid them to downgrade?

Maybe to save on power bills?

Can't find a clue in this application though.

https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/datae ... 7&goBack=N

[Turkeytop]

Their transmitter is old and breaking down and they don't want to spend the $ to fix it?

[k8jd]

Well maybe they just replaced the antenna with one with fewer elements, I can see the tower on google earth image several years old and they had maybe, 6 elements, a smaller antenna would produce lower ERP.
I see using a biderectional antenna for a station with a chain of islands as the coverage area
When I was in the keys, I coud hear most of the stations in Miami having high power.
I think all the AM stations in the Keys have gone dark except Radio Marti in Marathon.

[k8jd]

I downloaded the CP application and found they are currently QRT and have to replace the old antenna and feedline. they are indeed going to a slightly lower gain antenna with shorter element spacing . Must have taken a lightning hit or other ant damage to be off air now. The CP involvees going to be relicensed at a lower class. From C-2 to C-3/
I was wrong about all FL Key AM being gone , WKEY's sister AM station on 1600 is on-air.

[Kennelly Heaviside]

Airport code is EYW for the airport closest to Key West.

http://vfrmap.com

It looks like they are on a very short tower, circa 160 feet, and probably can't increase height much because of the proximity to the airport. This might cause an excessive RF field at ground level, perhaps requiring a new antenna and lower ERP to fully comply. The 6.1 kW preserves the Class C3 status, just as 26 kW preserved the Class C2 status.

[k8jd]

Back when I was getting into BC engineering work I researched low tower with high ERP Vs Tall tower with less ERP for FM stations. Interesting conclusions. .The low tower's signal faded faster with distance but lingered a good distance more . The high tower went a little
bit more distance with a strong signal , but faded rqpidly after that.

[Kennelly Heaviside]

Back in the late 1960s and 1970s, when WFMK 99.1 was 116000 watts ERP from 300 feet, and WKAR-FM 90.5 was 125000 watts from around 800 feet, and WUOM 91.7 was 230000 watts from around 450 feet, WKAR-FM was strong during normal conditions. Both WFMK and WUOM achieved about the same signal as WKAR-FM during early morning Summer tropospheric events, all about 40 miles away. I also remember that WMUZ 103.5 was also strong during tropo at that same distance, but for some reason, I don't remember WOMC 104.3 being that strong during tropo events. WJFM 93.7 was too far away to be that strong though.

[k8jd]

Back in the Day , a lot of statons got to run over 100000 W !! Little by little they got cut down. I think each time they had to modify a license they were shut down to less than 50 or 100 kW! I know when MUZ Put up the new tower (300 to 500 Ft.) they got relicensed from 115 to 50 kW !
I recall hearing WJEF in Grand rapids all day and night when WHFI went off air to put up a new tower or some antenna change. I think they were 470 kW, at that time (may have been one of the highest ERP in the US) ! I lived with my parents in Livonia then.

[Kennelly Heaviside]

There was no de jure limit to ERP in Zone II, which Michigan used to be part of, until the early 1960s. The only limit was the practical limit of transmitter power and antenna gain. WJFM got two older 25 kW transmitters from WKZO-TV, and combined them to get the high ERP level. Later they went from 500 kW H to 470 kW H and 63 kW V, using separate H and V. Around 1980 they ran STA with 250 kW circular, until they got a new transmitter and antenna to settle on 320 kW circular. It is still the highest ERP, but only in the US now, not the world. It would fade in and fade out from 100-400 miles where there were no cochannel stations. But 3 kW Class As also faded in and out at 100 miles plus if there was no cochannel or strong adjacent channel nearby.

[ftballfan]

Back in the late 1960s and 1970s, when WFMK 99.1 was 116000 watts ERP from 300 feet, and WKAR-FM 90.5 was 125000 watts from around 800 feet, and WUOM 91.7 was 230000 watts from around 450 feet, WKAR-FM was strong during normal conditions. Both WFMK and WUOM achieved about the same signal as WKAR-FM during early morning Summer tropospheric events, all about 40 miles away. I also remember that WMUZ 103.5 was also strong during tropo at that same distance, but for some reason, I don't remember WOMC 104.3 being that strong during tropo events. WJFM 93.7 was too far away to be that strong though.

I saw that WIAA ran 115kW at only about 350 feet when they were on 88.3. When they moved to 88.7, they dropped to 100kW, but with a HAAT of around 1,000 feet