WJJA & WWAZ

[larsob]

Will WJJA & WWAZ meet the July 1st deadline?

[Gilbert]

WJJA-no. From the FCC filing they made on June 29, to request an additional 6 months to get to full power (well, two months, but the FCC only does 6 month extensions):

"CIRCUMSTANCES WARRANTING GRANT OF EXTENSION OF STA

THE ORIGINAL DESIGN SET FORTH IN THE CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR WJJA-DT CONTEMPLATED USE OF WJJA'S EXISTING ANDREW ALP-32 ANTENNA IN COMBINATION WITH THE NEW CHANNEL 48 DIGITAL FACILITY. IT WAS INTENDED THAT BOTH STATIONS WOULD OPERATE OFF THE SAME ANTENNA IN BOTH ANALOG AND DIGITAL MODES.   TV-49, INC. HAD OPINIONS FROM BOTH DONALD MARKLEY AND A SECOND CONSULTING ENGINEER THAT THIS COMBINATION OPERATION WOULD WORK.

IN ITS ATTEMPTS TO IMPLEMENT THIS COMBINATION OPERATION IN CONSTRUCTING ITS DIGITAL FACILITY, TV-49, INC. CONTACTED ERI FOR CLARIFICATION ON THE TECHNICAL DETAILS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMBINATION OPERATION.   ERI INFORMED THE LICENSEE THAT, IN FACT, THE BANDWIDTH OF THE EXISTING ANTENNA WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO ACCOMMODATE THE ADDITIONAL DIGITAL BANDWIDTH REQUIRED FOR COMBINATION OF CHANNEL 48 INTO THE EXISTING ANTENNA SO THAT WJJA COULD OPERATE ON BOTH ITS ANALOG (CHANNEL 49) AND DIGITAL (CHANNEL 48) CHANNELS, AT FULL POWER.

WJJA'S ENGINEER BRUCE HERZOG ATTENDED THE NAB CONVENTION FROM APRIL 24 TO APRIL 27, AND CONSULTED VARIOUS MANUFACTURERS FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING NEW ANTENNA AND TRANSMITTER IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHER. SUBSEQUENTLY, ADDITIONAL DISCUSSIONS WITH THE SENIOR RF ENGINEER FOR ERI RESULTED IN A NEW OPINION THAT A COMBINED ANALOG AND DIGITAL OPERATION USING THE EXISTING WJJA ANALOG ANTENNA WERE POSSIBLE, WITH SOME EQUIPMENT MODIFICATIONS. SUBSEQUENT CONFIRMATION WAS OBTAINED, AND WJJA THEN TURNED TOWARD ACQUIRING A NEW COMBINER/FILTER(S) TO ACHIEVE THE COMBINATION OPERATION. APPROPRIATE EQUIPMENT WAS ORDERED ON JUNE 6, 2006, BUT DUE TO BACKLOGS, HAS NOT YET BEEN DELIVERED. SHIPMENT IS SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 10, AND THE MANUFACTURER IS DOING WHAT IT CAN TO EXPEDITE THE ORDER. CONSTRUCTION WILL BE COMPLETED AS SOON AS THE COMBINER ARRIVES. CONSTRUCTION IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETE BY AUGUST 31, 2006.

GIVEN THE CONFUSING ENGINEERING OPINIONS, (SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTATION) THIS ADDITIONAL DELAY WAS NOT REASONABLY FORESEEABLE BY TV-49, INC., AND THE DELAYED DELIVERY OF THE NECESSARY COMBINER/FILTER EQUIPMENT WILL FURTHER DELAY THE FINAL CONSTRUCTION OF WJJAS FULL POWER DIGITAL FACILITY.

WJJA HAS SOLVED ITS EQUIPMENT ISSUES, BUT NOW NEEDS SOME ADDITIONAL TIME TO COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION.

IN THE MEANTIME, WJJA IS OPERATING AT REDUCED POWER UNDER THE STA SPECIFIED IN THIS EXTENSION APPLICATION. SEE THE ATTACHED AZIMUTH PATTERN AND TABULATED DATA FOR THE AL 8W-48-PL ANTENNA.

WJJA WILL COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION AS SOON AS THE NEW EQUIPMENT IS DELIVERED, AND IN ANY EVENT, BY THE END OF AUGUST, 2006.    

ACCORDINGLY, TV-49, INC. REQUESTS THAT THE FCC GRANT THE INSTANT EXTENSION OF SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY TO OPERATE WJJA-DT AT REDUCED POWER, CONSISTENT WITH THE PARAMETERS SPECIFIED IN THE INSTANT APPLICATION."

WWAZ-no news. Sorry.

[techguy1975]

WJJA-no. From the FCC filing they made on June 29, to request an additional 6 months to get to full power (well, two months, but the FCC only does 6 month extensions):

Awww....so I have to wait a couple more months till I can see the shopping channel in HD?!  :rofl:   IMHO both Ch. 49 and the soon to be DT-48 are a waste of RF