My first roundie!!!

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

It is clearly stated as 100 kw in the FCC page that I linked to.

jr

I stand corrected. I just looked up WQEN on RadioStationWorld.com and found the station does in fact have a 100kW ERP signal on 103.7 MHz. There is also another FM station in Birmingham, WZZK-FM, on 104.7 MHz, that runs 100kW ERP. However, since Dave (VK member TUD1) is some 20 miles from WQEN's transmitter, I doubt the station's signal is anywhere near strong enough to overload his tuner's front end.

BTW: The most powerful FM stations here in Ohio, again according to RSW.com, have 50kW ERP output. Forty-six years ago there was an FM station on 107.9 MHz in Newbury, Ohio, 40+ miles from Cleveland, that had a 140-kW ERP signal, 70kW vertical and 70kW horizontal polarization. The station decreased its ERP output to 16kW or so after numerous complaints of interference to stations in Pittsburgh and in Canada. Don't quote me on this, but I think after this incident the FCC capped the maximum ERP output for FM stations in the Great Lakes region at 50kW. There is one other station in Ashtabula, Ohio, near Lake Erie, that has a 50-kW ERP signal and probably one terrific antenna system that allows the station to cover 100+ miles in all directions. The antennas were damaged in a major snowstorm last year, limiting the coverage to probably less than fifty miles (I remember it was quite weak here in Fairport Harbor, 35 miles from Ashtabula), but they were soon rebuilt and now the station's coverage area is probably better than it ever was.