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Lack of US stations?
I was once told that it is illegal to broadcast a shortwave signal
with US as a target. (Not sure if that applied only to VOA or shortwave in general) Is this true for non-government stations? (ham radio the obvious exception, I'm talking about broadcast stations like the BBC) Why do there appear to be very few or no US based stations? (except religious programming spilling all over the dial)? Are there any broadcast stations that also broadcast on shortwave frequencies? Jamie -- http://www.geniegate.com Custom web programming (rot13) User Management Solutions |
wrote:
I was once told that it is illegal to broadcast a shortwave signal with US as a target. (Not sure if that applied only to VOA or shortwave in general) Is this true for non-government stations? (ham radio the obvious exception, I'm talking about broadcast stations like the BBC) FCC regulation 73.701 defines an "International broadecasting" station as one "...the transmissions of which are intended to be received directly by the general public in foreign countries." Stations licensed under this Subpart F are the only privately-owned stations allowed to broadcast to the general public anywhere on shortwave. So yes, it's illegal for privately-owned U.S.-based shortwave stations to broadcast to the general public within the U.S.. However, a common tactic is to choose an official target area in Canada or Mexico, such that the station must beam most of its power across desirable areas of the U.S. to get to the border. For example, pick a transmitter site near New Orleans. Pick the most effective frequency to serve ITU Zone 9, the Canadian Maritimes. You can be pretty sure this frequency will also deliver a heck of a signal to the New York and New England areas... FCC regulations don't apply to federal government-owned stations. However, it is my understanding that an Act of Congress establishes a similar prohibition against the Voice of America or other U.S. government-owned stations broadcasting to a domestic audience. I can't cite that law though. Ham stations are not officially "broadcasting" - they are communicating with specific other amateur stations, or attempting to establish such communications. They're regulated under Part 97. There are other shortwave services that aren't broadcasting to the general public, and they too may communicate domestically. None of this applies to stations outside the U.S.. The FCC cannot prohibit Canada, or Britain, or Germany, or Iran, or any other country, from broadcasting to the U.S.. And they don't try. Why do there appear to be very few or no US based stations? (except religious programming spilling all over the dial)? There aren't enough listeners to make it financially viable. People have tried. In my lifetime, WRNO New Orleans and KUSW Salt Lake City have both tried commercial shortwave broadcasting. Neither station succeeded - both are now religious outlets. -- Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com |
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dxAce wrote: Doug Smith W9WI wrote: wrote: I was once told that it is illegal to broadcast a shortwave signal with US as a target. (Not sure if that applied only to VOA or shortwave in general) Is this true for non-government stations? (ham radio the obvious exception, I'm talking about broadcast stations like the BBC) FCC regulation 73.701 defines an "International broadecasting" station as one "...the transmissions of which are intended to be received directly by the general public in foreign countries." Stations licensed under this Subpart F are the only privately-owned stations allowed to broadcast to the general public anywhere on shortwave. So yes, it's illegal for privately-owned U.S.-based shortwave stations to broadcast to the general public within the U.S.. However, a common tactic is to choose an official target area in Canada or Mexico, such that the station must beam most of its power across desirable areas of the U.S. to get to the border. For example, pick a transmitter site near New Orleans. Pick the most effective frequency to serve ITU Zone 9, the Canadian Maritimes. You can be pretty sure this frequency will also deliver a heck of a signal to the New York and New England areas... FCC regulations don't apply to federal government-owned stations. However, it is my understanding that an Act of Congress establishes a similar prohibition against the Voice of America or other U.S. government-owned stations broadcasting to a domestic audience. I can't cite that law though. It's the Smith-Mundt Act as has been pointed out here numerous times. Additionally, there was a brief period back in the 80's as I recall when someone, somewhere, got a hair up their behind and for a time it was difficult to even get a QSL from the VOA due to the Smith-Mundt Act. Cooler heads eventually prevailed. dxAce Michigan USA |
In: , dxAce wrote:
FCC regulations don't apply to federal government-owned stations. However, it is my understanding that an Act of Congress establishes a similar prohibition against the Voice of America or other U.S. government-owned stations broadcasting to a domestic audience. I can't cite that law though. It's the Smith-Mundt Act as has been pointed out here numerous times. I read about this law, thanks for the refresh on the title dxAce! While the law makes sense (particularly in the context of when the law was passed, but same principle applies today) I can't really comprehend how a private shortwave station would be held to the same law, as it (smith mundt act) is designed to prevent government run propaganda (as we can see it worked flawlessly ;-/), wouldn't private owned stations be excluded from this? Jamie -- http://www.geniegate.com Custom web programming (rot13) User Management Solutions |
In: , Doug Smith W9WI wrote:
None of this applies to stations outside the U.S.. The FCC cannot prohibit Canada, or Britain, or Germany, or Iran, or any other country, from broadcasting to the U.S.. And they don't try. Why do there appear to be very few or no US based stations? (except religious programming spilling all over the dial)? There aren't enough listeners to make it financially viable. People have tried. In my lifetime, WRNO New Orleans and KUSW Salt Lake City have both tried commercial shortwave broadcasting. Neither station succeeded - both are now religious outlets. Hmm.. might be good reason to discourage anyone from trying, we don't need the same religious programs on even MORE frequencies... (I'm all for freedom of religion and all, but... this is kind of crazy) Your point about Canada brings something else to light, seems to me that Canada has some extremely sparse areas that would be out of range for normal MW and FM broadcasts, ideal candidates for shortwave broadcasts? (When I lived there it was in a very populated area but some places, like saskatchewan (sp) seemed extremely sparse) Yet I can think of only 1 private english station. (AM 1010 and 6070khz) Wonder why more stations aren't targeted toward Canada (or originate in Canada)? Or, are there a bunch and I just can't seem to pull them in? (6070 doesn't usually come in) Jamie -- http://www.geniegate.com Custom web programming (rot13) User Management Solutions |
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"dxAce" wrote in message ... wrote: In: , dxAce wrote: FCC regulations don't apply to federal government-owned stations. However, it is my understanding that an Act of Congress establishes a similar prohibition against the Voice of America or other U.S. government-owned stations broadcasting to a domestic audience. I can't cite that law though. It's the Smith-Mundt Act as has been pointed out here numerous times. I read about this law, thanks for the refresh on the title dxAce! While the law makes sense (particularly in the context of when the law was passed, but same principle applies today) I can't really comprehend how a private shortwave station would be held to the same law, as it (smith mundt act) is designed to prevent government run propaganda (as we can see it worked flawlessly ;-/), wouldn't private owned stations be excluded from this? Somehow I think the same law has been made applicable to the privately owned stations, though I'm not 100% certain about that. The law was intended to protect the clear channel AM stations from national competition back 60 or so years. |
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