WCML-FM Resumes Programming Will Submit STA Application

[Ben Zonia]

July 30.

Notification of Resumption of Operation

NCE Station WCML-FM, Alpena, MI (Facility ID 9907)
Central Michigan University (“CMU”), licensee of noncommercial educational radio station WCML-FM, Alpena, Michigan, hereby notifies the Commission that the station resumed operations on July 30, 2024 in accordance with the station’s licensed parameters except at a reduced effective radiated power of 51 kW. CMU will file a separate application for reduced power Special Temporary Authority in connection with the current operation.

[MWmetalhead]

51 kW is pretty respectable. Glad they are back on the air. Thanks for the info.

[organman95]

What was it before 51kW?

[statmanmi]

What was it before 51kW?

92 kW per FCCdata.org: https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=9907 .

Cheers! ~~ Statmanmi

[Ben Zonia]

They are 92 kW Class C0. There may have been some elevation correction and overlap situation that caused it to be reduced from 100 kW. All the tower registration and surveying resulted in finding errors made in the days of USGS map interpolation. A maximum Class C0 would be 100 kW from 450 meters. Usually, going to Class C0 from Class C is due to a triggering event, where somebody wants to drop in a channel or upgrade.

[Ben Zonia]

Apparently, they couldn't enter it on LMS as an STA, so they entered it as a Reduced Power Notification. I couldn't get the actual application to load so as to why they are 92 kW. At the HAAT they are at, the maximum is 100 kW.

[Ben Zonia]

They increased the HAAT slightly in 2010. My guess is that with the higher ERP, it overlapped slightly with another of the many NCE-FM stations that came on the air in the mean time.

[Ben Zonia]

For Class C1, the maximum is 62 kW at 364 meters HAAT. So that's how it's Class C0, which Section 73.211 says the minimum ERP is 100 kW, until you read the fine print.