The LPFM Store
Easy LPFM Radio Licensing
The LPFM Store has set up hundreds of low power FM and commercial FM radio stations across the United States, and also supports hundreds of other installations in other parts of the world. We can assist you or your organization to start a new Radio Station – either broadcasting on a low power basis, on a commercial full power FM frequency or the internet. If you’re interesting in starting up a new LPFM radio station or an FM radio station, you’re in the right place!We are broadcasters ourselves, and are one of the very few LPFM broadcasters that have made the progression to obtaining a full power FM frequency and operating commercially, enabling us to offer unparalleled support through all the stages of building and operating a radio station.
National EAS ETRS Forms Due August 2018
It’s nearly National EAS Testing time. The FCC is getting ready for the 2018 National EAS Test. All radio and television broadcasters, including LPFM radio stations are required to fill out the ETRS form one by August 27. I can prepare and file the three forms for you for only $150 per station. 903-270-1500
If you are doing this yourself, The FCC will need identifying information on a participant’s location, its EAS equipment and monitoring assignments, and contact information for EAS purposes. Form One requires each EAS participant to file a separate Form One for each EAS decoder, EAS encoder, or unit combining such decoder and encoder functions.
It’s nearly National EAS Testing time. The FCC is getting ready for the 2018 National EAS Test. All radio and television broadcasters, including LPFM radio stations are required to fill out the ETRS form one by August 27. I can prepare and file the three forms for you for only $150 per station.
Resilient public alert and warning tools are essential to save lives and protect property during times of national, state, regional, and local emergencies. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is used by alerting authorities to send warnings via broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline communications pathways. EAS participants, which consist of broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireless providers, are the stewards of this important public service in close partnership with alerting officials at all levels of government. The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are unavailable, providing an added layer of resiliency to the suite of available emergency communication tools.
The EAS Best Practices Guide was created in partnership with EAS participants to support incremental improvements by providing basic guidelines for EAS operation and maintenance.
Congress Explores Tools for Shutting Pirate Radio
Boosting FCC fines to as much as $2 million, penalizing building owners and stepping up raids in major Radio markets are among the options Congress is considering for combating illegal broadcast operations under legislation unveiled last week in a House Telecommunications Subcommittee hearing. The measures are intended to protect against interference with licensed broadcasters, the Emergency Alert System and airport flight controls, as well as radiation exposure to nearby residents and workers.
The bipartisan PIRATE Act, co-authored by Reps. Leonard Lance, R-NJ, and Paul Tonko, D-NY, would employ a combination of heightened penalties to stem the growing spread of pirate radio operations in communities throughout the country. Illegal operations are being found on the AM and FM bands alike, with FCC enforcement officers discovering transmitters operating from rooftops, balconies and other properties.
Tropospheric Ducting – What Happened to My Station?
What Happened to My Station?
Steve Callahan for Radio-Guide Magazine
It’s been good season for tropospheric ducting along the New England shore. You might not be familiar with the term “tropospheric ducting,” but you just might have experienced it and not known why.
We’re all familiar with the way that AM signals bounce at night and come down far from their point of origin. Anyone who has listened to the big 50,000 Watt clear channel AMs knows the thrill of hearing a distant AM on a regular radio. I was once surprised to hear WBZ from Boston while in a traffic jam one night in Atlanta, Georgia. An AM station’s “skywave” component reflects off the ionosphere as it cools down at night and the usually transparent-to-AM layer turns reflective and the AM signal comes back to earth far from it’s transmitter. Frequency and tower height influence the degree of skywave along with seasonal differences and weather conditions.
LPFM Waiver on New EAS Reporting Duty Requested
In November 2017 LPFM an advocacy group petitioned the FCC for relief to LPFM radio stations concerning meeting new multilingual EAS reporting requirements.
Citing low publicity surrounding an order adopted by the FCC in March 2016 and lack of input from LPFM stations, REC Networks has filed a motion for either a blanket waiver or extension of time for LPFMs.
Currently the FCC has established that all EAS participants must report some EAS details to their State Emergency Communications Committees by Nov. 6. The information includes:
- Description of any actions taken by the EAS participant to make EAS alert content available in languages other than English to its non-English speaking audiences; and
- Description of any future actions planned by the EAS participant to provide EAS alert content in languages other than English to its non-English speaking audiences, as well as an explanation of the decision to plan/not plan such actions.
A separate reporting requirement due by Nov. 13, known as Form Three, should detail the results of the most recent National EAS Test.
- WorldCast RDS Encoder Shipping in FebruaryWorldCast’s Audemat marque is soon to be shipping a new RDS encoder, Audemat RDS Encoder. Built on the company’s FMB80, the RDS encoder carries the expected RDS/RDBS tools (e.g. artist name, song titles, traffic message, EAS, etc.). But looking forward it adds an MPX-over-AES digital audio ...
- Marketing Your Station in 2019Ask a radio advertiser: One of our medium’s strengths is the ability to target specific audiences with affordable frequency. So as the program director or marketing director of a radio station, you’d probably buy spots on a direct format competitor … if they’d sell them to you. They won’t; I’ve ...
- AM Preemphasis — Time for a New Curve?Larry Langford is owner of WGTO(AM) and W244ds in Cassopolis, Mich. He has been in radio since 1965. His commentaries on radio issues such as those facing AM owners are a recurring feature. Read his past articles by searching for “Langford.” There have been numerous articles about reducing AM ...
- UNLV Students Use Crystal Radio to Win HackathonThe results of the inaugural Media Innovation Hackathon are in — and the winners proposed yet another use for AM/FM frequencies. In a press release, Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley said the ideas “ignite our thinking as a media company preparing for the future.” Chosen by experts from ...
- FCC to Tackle Filing Issue Related to EEOWhen it gets back to work after the government shutdown, the Federal Communications Commission will have a fair amount of work on its plate — including a formal vote on equal employment opportunity enforcement, which one nonprofit organization is hoping will bring about changes that it says are 14 ...
- Dash Radio Celebrates the Human TouchGiven that online broadcaster Dash Radio is reaching more than 10 million listeners monthly since its launch in August 2014, the company must be doing something right. And what Dash is doing right, said founder Scott Keeney (aka DJ Skee) “is offering listeners online audio that is curated and ...
- IK Expands Tablet/Smartphone Mount LineIdeal for organizing smart devices around the studio, IK Multimedia is adding a new line of tablet computer and smartphone mounts, the iKlip 3 series. The iKlip 3, iKlip 3 Video and iKlip 3 Deluxe provide mounting options for keeping smart devices within visual range and at visually useful angles ...
- World Radio Day 2019 Underscores Radio’s Role in Encouraging PeaceThe 8th annual World Radio Day will take place on Feb. 13. With the theme “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace,” the 2019 edition is emphasizing radio as a “vector of peace.” In anticipation of this year’s event, Radio World spoke to UNESCO’s Chief of Media Development and Society, Mirta Lourenço, to ...
- Will ABC Shortwave Broadcasts Really Be Restored?PERTH, Australia — In response to the article Opposition Will Restore Shuttered ABC Shortwave Broadcasts, the CEO and board chairperson who made the decision to switch-off the last remaining domestic and international shortwave broadcasts are now no longer with the ABC. They claimed a lack of ...
- When Audio Is a Utility, Distribution WinsConsensus from those who measure trends is that audio consumption is up! C’mon … this has gotta be cause for celebration for the radio industry. Haters will be quick to point out that consumption is being fueled by streaming services like Spotify, combined with the still-emerging — but assumed to ...