High and
Outside |
FCC Allows
Emergency Management Agency to Place Info Radio Antenna
on 12-Story Building |
OMAHA, NE: They threw out the first pitch at the Men’s
College World Series finals Saturday at TD Ameritrade
Park in Omaha. Douglas County Emergency Management,
which has set up a temporary Information Radio Station
at the event this year is pleased that the |
 |
 |
The backdrop for TD Ameritrade Park is Omaha's
city skyline. Circled area depicts the location of
Douglas County's information station. |
FCC didn’t
throw out their license application. Why? Because the
Agency proposed locating the service more than 200 feet
in the air on the roof of a downtown building – more
than 150 feet higher than normally allowed by Commission
rules. |
 |
Setting Up the RadioSTAT Portable
Radio Antenna for the Men’s College World Series |
Pictured: Whitney Shipley (left), Assistant Director
of the Douglas County EMA; Jim Westcott (right), local
Amateur Radio Volunteer |
The Agency, which owns a portable
RadioSTAT Emergency Radio Station, exercises it each
year to provide parking, directions and visitor safety
information during the event.
But in past years, the
system’s range has been hampered by obstructions. It was
decided that the solution would be to rise above them.
Because the Agency’s portable license includes a 49-foot
antenna height restriction, something extraordinary was
required to allow its placement on a 12-story parking
garage that overlooks the venue. That something took the
form of a Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC
that relaxed the height restriction – with the condition
that standard signal limitations are maintained. Whitney
Shipley, Assistant Director of the Agency observed: “We
checked all the usual points around the perimeter of the
event and found we had a strong, static-free signal.”
She tells The Source she is pleased that the
FCC agreed to play ball. |
 |
RadioSTAT Portable Antenna Deployed Atop a
Building |
|
 |
 |
Please
Don't Go! |
Kentucky
Emergency Managers Advise When Not to Enter the
Interstate |
LA
GRANGE, KY: Ramp metering controls the rate at which
drivers merge onto a busy thoroughfare. But Oldham
County Kentucky’s emergency managers are going one step
farther by advising motorists when not to enter their
busy highway – at all!
The County, adjacent to Louisville, is bisected by
Interstate 71, a major commute route into and out of the
city. When a major incident backs up I-71 traffic,
unaware drivers often inadvertently add to the
congestion by entering the fray at one of the County’s
four interstate interchanges. Often an emergency is in
progress in the interstate corridor and safety officials
would prefer that motorists take surface routes to steer
clear of the incident while responders are working it.
Now, eight wirelessly controlled, solar-powered signs
have been installed in advance of the associated
entrance ramps to tell people to stay on the surface
streets when interstate gridlock sets in.
When activated, the signs’ 12” amber beacons flash to
attract attention, while
“Stealth Sign” LED displays can
be independently selected to advise against going north,
south or both north and south.
Designed in coordination with the Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet, the unique system is controlled
on a VHF radio frequency from the Oldham County
Emergency Management 911 Center at La Grange, Kentucky.
It may represent the first instance of a local
department of emergency management advising drivers on
the status of traffic conditions on a federal interstate
highway. |
 |
NOAA News Is Good
News? |
New York’s Homeless
Weather Radio Station Apparently Scrapes Together Down
Payment |
NEW YORK, NY: The
city’s Weather Radio Station has been missing for 19
months now. KWO-35, the service on 162.550 MHz that
residents of Southern New York and North New Jersey have
counted on for weather alerts and forecasts for decades
lost its building lease in November 2017 and went silent
except for a few brief appearances. The National Weather
Service explains that the transmitter was moved twice
during the ensuing period, and that finding “possible
new locations was challenging.”
Maybe it’s like finding a decent apartment in the city?
Now, the search is apparently over.
After being on the street for an extended period of
time, last week the National Weather Service issued a
public statement saying that KWO-35 is expected to
“return to service in Autumn 2019.”
Observers have commented on the inclusion of the “2019”
in the public statement…as if readers might not
otherwise be sure they meant this year. Writes one New
Jersey Information Radio Station licensee who once
relied on the KWO-35 weather broadcasts for emergency
alerts, “I will believe it when I see it.”
Despite the understandable cynicism, the National
Weather Service statement hits an inspiring note, after
all, saying, “If all goes well, we could have the
transmitter back sooner than anticipated.” |
|
Part 15
Times 10 |
New “Range
Extender” Product Enlarges Part 15 Coverage Areas |
 |
New Range Extender, flanked by
Talking House (iAM) Radio Transmitter |
ZEELAND, MI: A decade ago, a decision was made to
discontinue a most unique product named the “Range
Extender.” This device served to extend the signal
coverage of an unlicensed (FCC Part 15) “Talking
House” Radio Transmitter from 300 feet to a half
mile. Now, by popular demand, Information Station
Specialists has brought the Range Extender option back -
with a newly designed, professional look, industrial
design and an improved antenna format.
Company president Bill Baker showed amateur radio
hobbyists one of the first units off the production line
at the Hamvention 2019 event last month in Ohio. |
 |
“Range Extender (RE 2.5)" is unique in a number of
ways,” states Baker. “When paired with a Talking House
Transmitter, its cost is a fraction of other Part 15
outdoor systems on the market today. But the main reason
it deserved an encore is its exclusive, FCC-approved
design that includes coaxial cable.” Cable allows the
transmitter and audio gear to be housed in a building or
enclosure for safety and convenience with the antenna
mounted high on a roof or pole for maximum range.
“The difference between a 300-foot signal and a
half-mile signal doesn’t sound like much; but it really is,”
asserts Baker. “It’s bigger by a factor of ten.”
Who uses unlicensed AM transmitters in the 21st century?
Some common examples include . . . |
* Radio Hobbyists
* Summer Camps
* Historic Sites
* Antique Radio Collectors
* Public Health (PODs)
* Visitor Centers
|
* Churches
* Realty & Developers
* Parks & Wildlife Areas
* Airports - pilot / tower monitoring
* Auto Dealers
* Outdoor Ad Agencies
|
|
Information Radio Stations is a generic term
synonymous with Travelers Information Stations (TIS), Highway
Advisory Radio Stations (HAR) / Highway Information Systems &
Low Power Radio Stations (LPR). Operation of the stations is
governed by FCC Part 90.242 Rules. A FCC license is required.
Information Radio Stations may be fixed or portable.
Subcomponents may include transmitter, antenna and ground
system, digital voice player, wattmeter, cabinet with
conventional or Corbin locks, lightning arrestors for RF, power
and telephone lines, coaxial cable. Most stations employ black
maximized antennas to discourage ice accumulation and security
measures to prevent unauthorized program access. Options include
synchronization, battery backup, solar power, remote programming
by local, network or telco, multi-station audio distribution via
RF or LAN / WAN or wireless network. |