From the Radio World “Who’s Buying What” page: San Francisco’s 88.5 KQED(FM) is now using GeoBroadcast Solutions’ SFN technology to boost its signal in the East Bay area.
The public radio and NPR member station is using four MaxxCasting nodes.
The gallery below displays depictions of the station’s coverage using the Longley-Rice formula. The first image shows KQED’s coverage without the nodes and the second image shows its coverage with the four nodes as well as the exact locations of the nodes.
According to a release from GeoBroadcast, KQED is using the nodes to improve its signal in Contra Costa County. Three of the nodes are co-located with SFNs that GeoBroadcast deployed for Bonneville stations, as we reported in 2021. The three nodes are located atop Vollmer Peak in Orinda, Rocky Ridge in San Ramon and Wiedemann Hill in San Ramon.
GeoBroadcast also provided this view of the coverage the nodes provide, displaying a field strength overlay from 57 dBuV/m and above.
KQED is also using a fourth node on Briones Peak in Concord that is not combined with any other transmitters. All four of the licenses for the nodes were granted as boosters by the FCC in September.
[Related: “WKSU Puts MaxxCasting to Work in Ohio”]
The East Bay Hills are the first range of mountains east of the San Francisco Bay and cross both Contra Costa and Alameda counties, climbing as high as approximately 2,180 feet, according to Doris Sloan’s “Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region.”
Bay Area broadcasters with their primary signals over on the San Francisco Peninsula either atop San Bruno Mountain or the iconic Sutro Tower have been challenged by the terrain over the years.
GeoBroadcast said the solution aligns with current FCC regulations. The manufacturer launched the SFN technology in 2013 as a way of eliminating common problems with legacy booster systems.
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