An FM translator in the North Carolina Triangle region has returned to the airwaves, but a co-channel operator in Virginia argues its operation violates FCC rules.
Radio World previously reported on an interference complaint filed by Tom Birch, president of Lakes Media. The company owns 98.3 WLUS(FM) “US 98.3,” a Country-formatted Class C3 station licensed to Clarksville, Va. Its antenna is located just across the North Carolina state line in Granville County.
The translator in question, 98.3 W252EL(FM), is licensed to Cary, N.C., and owned by Curtis Media. It rebroadcasts 570 WQDR(AM), which airs a rock format as “The Triangle’s Rock FM.”
WLUS and the translator are approximately 49 miles apart.
In April, the FCC ordered W252EL to go silent until it could implement a directional antenna pattern that avoided overlap with WLUS’ 45 dBu contour.
To return to the air, Curtis needed to install a new directional antenna and provide a proof of performance to ensure the antenna’s pattern conforms to what was authorized in the translator’s construction permit.
Curtis said it did so, and as a result, W252EL is back on the air, as of a Sept. 5 license filing, which it says is in line with the construction permit the FCC granted.
But Lakes Media contends that the continuous operation is an open violation of the commission’s authorization for testing.
Curtis points to filing
Curtis installed a Propagation Systems Inc. FMY-1 directional antenna at 150 watts ERP. In a Sept. 5 filing with the commission, it provided an antenna proof of performance through consultant Charles Anderson. It also provided an analysis that showed the new antenna has no impact on the radiation patterns of WQDR(AM) and WKIX(AM).
Lakes Media argues that while Curtis is authorized to test the new pattern, to operate it continuously is in “open violation” of the FCC’s authorization for testing.
In a release, Birch lamented the resumed interference to WLUS, urging the commission to change its regulations regarding interference.
“As the FCC primary Class C3 licensee on this frequency, I should not be required to incur significant legal and technical expense, nor the loss of advertising revenue, to fight interference within my protected 45dBu contour,” Birch said in a release.
Birch added that any interfering party should be required to shut down within 30 days and reimburse the owner of the affected station for all expenses incurred in the future.
But Curtis Media President Don Curtis told Radio World that the translator’s return to the airwaves is in accordance with the commission’s authorization.
Eight complaints
After W252EL signed on in August 2024, Lakes Media filed eight documented listener complaints with the commission from communities in northern North Carolina, including Franklinton, Youngsville, Wake Forest, Creedmoor and areas along Interstate 85, that cited interference to WLUS along its southern 45 dBu contour from the Cary translator.
On Feb. 10, Curtis filed a report in response to WLUS’ complaints, acknowledging interference at the sites in question through an independent study. Two days later, it filed for an antenna modification, missing the Feb. 10 deadline the commission had set.
Curtis proposed the new directional antenna, which despite being filed after its deadline, the Media Bureau found satisfactory. Because interference with its original antenna persisted, however, it ordered the translator to go silent until the new antenna could be implemented.
The antenna was installed earlier this month and upon installation, Curtis turned back on the translator’s transmitter. Birch and WLUS contend it is the third time since 2016 the station has faced “illegal interference.”
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