[cma-l] CR on AM

Fri Sep 26 11:37:26 BST 2014

Dear All

I have only been half following this, but I do get the gist of it. Ian talks
about folk not really doing their homework properly and he does have a case.
However, I can point out that in our case the allocation of frequency /
power / coverage was a bit of a mish mash cock-up.

As you know, we were in the '''restrictions''' category, we had to endure
the constant whinging from the local commercial Station (silk) and it was
this that meant our launch was not going to be plain sailing. The truth is,
if we had said our main coverage area (officially) was Macclesfield, we may
not have gotten the licence. That's why we had to walk around on egg-shells
and go for Bollington (just outside Macc) with a view to including
Macclesfield. We have always maintained that without Macclesfield the
project is a dead duck, and that still applies.

On a scale of 1- 10 our coverage came in at about 7. Off to the North West
we drift into areas that we don't want, with half dead spots just 4 miles
down the road in Macc. All that said, we were getting away with it until
Ofcom licensed Real in Wales .... they now peck at us with hisses and
crackles and spurts and we do know that we have lost listeners because of
it. On a scale of 1 - 10 our coverage in Macclesfield has now dropt to 6 !
and inside some buildings possibly 2 !

We do need to be nearer to Macc and/or higher .. there may soon be a
discussion about a transmitter move and we are literally only talking about
half a mile tops. This would at least push Real / or is it Heart ?    back a
bit.

So the point I'm making is some Stations are where they are due to matters
outside of and beyond their control. The thing that frustrates me (which
kinda backs up Ian)  is that sometimes doing a few tweaks doesn't harm
anyone, it doesn't interfere with anyone but you still get told no.

The main objection for us seems to be ''well, you're not licensed for
Macclesfield''        yes but    we're not licensed for Macclesfield because
you wouldn't let us/the rules wouldn't let us be licensed for Macclesfield.
We have always argued this case since day dot, and it is a valid point. Silk
fm had a power boost and are now out of the 116,000 category, they are over
200,000               so, silk changed the rules, so did Ofcom, we didn't.
All we are doing is running alongside the rules. We are out of one
restriction, not because it was the correct and moral thing to do, but for
the complete wrong reasons. I still have a very nasty taste in my mouth
re:- this matter

I find that in our business certainly over the past 10 years, there has been
one hell of a lot of goalpost moving and ignoring things that don't suit.
What's good for Geese and Ganders spring to mind as well.

Mmm ?

Nick

  _____  

From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
[mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Ian Hickling
Sent: 25 September 2014 19:09
To: RJ THORNE; The Community Media AssociationDiscussion List
Subject: [cma-l] CR on AM

We see this all the time.

Applicants take advice and make vital decisions without consulting a
propagation specialist and wonder why they don't get the coverage their
Licence requires.
The original Application goes in with a notional transmitter site and a
coverage area someone has drawn on an OS map with a pencil round a jam-pot
lid - or something not much better qualified.

When it comes to installing transmission the site has already been agreed
and we have to do what we can with what we're given - and then get questions
afterwards when the result isn't good enough.

With VHF/FM we can plan reasonably well to give the coverage that's
specified. but we're always up against this "25 plus 25 giving a 5km radius
fits all" edict which in most cases simply isn't enough.

At the moment we're looking at a station licensed to cover two towns whose
centres are 6km apart and the urban area alone spans a minimum of 12 km but
Ofcom refuses to consider two transmitters.
So we proposed 100 + 100 on a central single site and that's refused too.

Ofcom predicts coverage with its own excellent software from the Applicant's
proposals, tells him it's not good enough, but won't allow another
transmitter or higher power.

With MW/AM as illustrated below it really is a shot on the dark - and who
suffers?
The Licensee - who goes ahead and spends his (and other peoples') money -
and then wonders why his project fails.

OK - an over-simplified analysis maybe - but let's see who disagrees?

  _____  

Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:34:03 +0100
From: rj.thorne at btinternet.com
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Subject: Re: [cma-l] CRonAM

There may well be life in the old dog yet but after our experience with
Forest of Dean Radio I never want to be on AM again. Throughout the life of
the station we constantly got complaints about the quality of the signal and
spent thousands looking for ways to improve it. Even with two frequencies
and two transmitters (one of which had 250 watts) there were whole areas of
the Forest where the signal was either too poor to listen to comfortably or
didn't exist at all, especially at night.(We did get picked up in Sweden
though).

I'm not a technical bod and didn't understand many of the discussions and
suggestions made except that most of them cost way more than we could
afford, still didn't offer too much and certainly couldn't guarantee we'd
get what we needed. The geography and geology of the Forest were major
factors it seems, as were the hundreds of thousands of trees. 

Personally I'm convinced the way forward for those who can't get FM is to go
digital in whatever form becomes universally available.

From: fantasy office <office at fantasyradio.co.uk>
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk 
Sent: Thursday, 25 September 2014, 12:33
Subject: [cma-l] CRonAM

it's true to say AM is not considered very sexy these days, but there's life
in the old dog yet.

Our first RSL broadcasts were on AM back in 1995, using a transmitter of my
own design, and we had good daytime reception over a wide area, with none of
the black spots you often get on low power FM! The antenna design is vital
for AM, but we were on 1 watt EMRP and we had listeners as far away as
Sweden and Germany. It's worth remembering that there are far fewer stations
on AM these days, causing less interference, so for community broadcasting,
AM could be very worthwhile. especially when backed up by a good quality
stream.

If anyone would like more info on AM, feel free to get in touch.

Phil Dawson

  FANTASY RADIO 97FM 
DEVIZES AND MID WILTSHIRE

office at fantasyradio.co.uk
07710 027389 

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