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Re: Topband: 1820 BCB

To: Roger Parsons <ve3zi@rac.ca>, Topband <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: 1820 BCB
From: <rfoxwor1@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 2:46:04 +0000
List-post: <topband@contesting.com">mailto:topband@contesting.com>
---- Roger Parsons <ve3zi@yahoo.com> wrote: 
> I am over 500 miles north-east of WDOR, and their spurious signal on 1820 kHz 
> is over S9 with me in the past week or so. I do not believe this is intermod 
> as the station modulation is quite intelligible, and it cannot be a 
> coincidence that their fundamental is 910 kHz. It is also extremely unlikely 
> to be generated locally to me as my closest AM broadcast station is more than 
> 100 miles away.
> 
> I will also send a polite email to the station.
> 
> 73 Roger
> VE3ZI

Unfortunately the new normal in broadcasting, especially for
regionals like this, who typically run 1 to 5 kW, is to
arrange for a contract engineer who might 'cover' as many as
a dozen stations, and generally be 'on call' to address specific
issues. What this means is that there might be a considerable
length of time before your inquiry may be dealt with by the station.

Many smaller stations are partly to fully automated now and there
may be no one to even answer the phone. WDOR is named for Door
County, a rural area on Lake Michigan. Many AM's in such an
environment struggle to even survive these days. Their incentive
to worry about harmonics may be lessened by the realization that
the FCC doesn't seem now to care that much. Unless they did something
to cause  _another_station_  to complain about them to the FCC.
That's what gets their attention.

The days of a dedicated 'chief' at any particular station are
long gone, except (for the most part) for the largest 1A 50 kw-U
stations in the largest markets. This parallels the FCC's main
enforcement actions these days (access to the 'public file',
locking of gates around bases of towers, and emergency alert
logging). The lawyers now run the FCC and they enforce that
which they understand, and that which generates revenue for
minimal effort.

Many stations do radiate harmonics from time to time, but most of them
being outside ham bands, are noticed only by SWL's who DX them
as a 'challenge'.

Let us know if they respond.

Bob k2euh (ex- 'first phone' P1-5-6331, way back when ...)


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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK

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