“Every AM station owner or engineer with a weak or nonexistent night signal needs to pay attention to this issue.”
That’s according to professional engineer Ted Schober of Radiotechniques Engineering, who wants the FCC to remake its pre-sunrise and post-sunset system for AM stations.
Last week, as reported here, the commission reversed course due to a computer glitch and rescinded new power level decisions for pre-sunrise and post-sunset authorizations after many facilities were left with drastically lower power levels for those times.
Schober said he’s prepared a petition for rulemaking to overhaul FCC Rule 73.99.
He wants the commission to amend the 500-watt maximum power limitation for extended hours operation; make all Class B and D stations eligible for extended hours operation provided that they cause no interference; and establish the Intermittent Service of Class A stations as ending at sunrise or 7 a.m. local time at the site of the Class A station, whichever is earlier, and the extent of the Intermittent Service Area as bounded by the location of 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave contour, as modified by dinural curves.
Also he wants the FCC to permit extended hours operation using the Day, Critical Hours, Night, Auxiliary or a single element of any licensed directional antenna; calculate new extended hours operation power using Section 73.182 and the dinural curves to protect domestic adjacent-channel stations; and procedurally establish extended hours applications as minor change applications to cover costs of administration by the FCC.