[BC] Re: AM daytimers

[Dan Strassberg]

Phil wrote (re daytimers)

"the FCC has turned them into
a dying breed by ruling that no new daytime only licenses will be
issued."

But oddly, there is no prohibition against MODIFYING the license of an
existing full-time station to convert it into a daytimer. Within the last
five years or so, several dozen AMs (mostly in the southwest), which were
licensed for fulltime operation (Class Bs with night powers of 250W or
more), got big daytime power increases (in a couple of cases, to 50 kW) at
the expense of night service. Most of these were eventually granted night
powers of a dozen watts or thereabouts--usually nondirectional.

Particularly if within 20 kHz of the station's existing frequency there is a
frequency on which higher daytime power is possible (making the change a
minor change--no need to wait for a filing window), and particularly if no
DA is required, an owner who is willing to sacrifice night coverage can
increase day coverage, sell off much of the Tx site at a profit, and rid
himself of the headache of maintaining a DA--all for the cost of the
engineering and legal fees and a high-powered transmitter.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg at att.net
eFax 707-215-6367