RadioInsight.com has reported that Bustos is getting ready to launch "Exitos" 93.5 K228EU and "La Z" 94.3 KZZR. I'm guessing that a format change to "Exitos" is coming to 1520, which will "feed" the 93.5 translator.
http://www.exitos935.com
http://www.lazeta943.com
So what station is feeding 93.5? Is Bustos violating an fcc rule? None of their other stations seem to be feeding this translator
If they feed the translator with an over-the-air pickup of the 1520 signal, I wonder whether they will bother to roll out HD-Radio or even just C-QUAM at 1520? Or, if the FM translator of AM 1520 is mono, will "anybody" really notice?
Fill translators (of AM or FM stations) are usually fed by the STL. Rebroadcasting an AM signal on FM, wouldn't make sense, with AM's lack of quality, plus nighttime skywave interference.
I just noted that 93.5 is on the air now. The programming does not match that on 1520.
What does 93.5's legal ID say? Are they using someone's HD-2 or 3 to "feed" it?
Just heard "K228EU Portland".... no help there! They are broadcasting solid music, no commercials, no matching HD2 or HD3 source that I can find. Ipod on "random"? Perhaps for testing they are not required to use a station source ?
I tuned in 93.5 a few times today, and I noted that there are a few seconds of dead air between the songs. It almost sounds like a CD changer or a MP3 player. The last thing that I heard play was "Le Freak" (!!)
I wonder how long 93.5 can legally run this way. What music are they playing? What does their signal sound like?
>>"K228EU Portland"
I can actually pick them up somewhat in Salem!
For the most part, the music on K228EU is Regional Mexican (the only notable exception was Le Freak). The signal is in stereo and seems to have a modest amount of processing. The 99 watts from the West Hills make it to Hillsboro pretty well.
I listened all the way to work and home again. I didn't hear any fading or for that matter, multipath interference. Maybe, all our stations should be 100 watts! 
I don't like what I think of as Traditional Jazz. To me, it's the audio equivalent of "fingers on a chalkboard". Also, I'm not particularly fond of Hip-Hop but today, I heard a genre of music that completely changed my life. Imagine if you will, cutting off the audio on the beat! That's what I heard on 93.5 this morning. Let's hope this isn't a trend.
I drove up to Wilsonville to hear 93.5 in full stereo. Along with the Latin songs, I heard Lady Gaga, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Soul II Soul, and Yolanda Be Cool Vs. DCUP. The signal was spotty around Salem.
Maybe they should call the station "Carousel 93.5" (in reference to the CD carousel that is most likely supplying the music).
Postscript -> The somewhat impressive coverage of this signal reminds me of the "Delta FM" pirate that played reggae on 100.7 many years ago. I suspect that they were probably running about 100 Watts from some vista on the West Hills.
>>Along with the Latin songs, I heard Lady Gaga, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Soul II Soul, and Yolanda Be Cool Vs. DCUP
Another version of "AOR" radio..all over the road---and from a CD player?
Not a great start...yes great coverage for power...gonna wipe out the 93.5 in McMinnville...KKJC.
>>>>on 100.7 many years ago. I suspect that they were probably running about 100 Watts from some vista on the West Hills.<<<<
Actually, about 1.3 miles SSW of the new Bustos translator. And on a Continental 802A exciter (maybe 40 watts TSL at about 3 meters above ground level). Not that I have any details or anything. 
These 100 watt translator could be the wave of the future. Think of all the signals we could squeeze into Portland.
These translators really are the wave of the future. Portland could eventually have 92.7, 95.1, 96.7, 97.5, 99.1, 100.7 on the West Hills.
In a number of other countries, I think that is how they do it. Instead of having 50-100 kW blowtorches that are well-protected, they cram as many modestly powered (500W - 5kW) signals onto the band as they can. When I visited the small, largely rural fishing community of Bocas Del Toro in Panama, I counted about 30 local signals on the FM dial, all easily receivable on a cheapie windup flashlight/radio combo. Many of these signals were translators carrying programming from Panama City and other larger cities.
EDIT ADD: I just heard an "EXITOS" ID on 93.5. However, the signal strength has deteriorated quite a bit from where it was yesterday. On a portable radio, it is getting clobbered by adjacent 93.3.
Could it just be due to 93.3 KKNU coming in extra strong tonight? Here in Eugene, Portland FM's are coming in stronger than average.
According to the signal strength meter on the portable radio I used, the signal level did go down. Wednesday night, I could get 6 out of seven bars. On Thursday, the most I could get if I moved around and positioned the antenna correctly was 3-4 bars. KKNU was getting up to 5 bars. My location is in downtown Hillsboro, so I am considerably closer to the 93.5 transmitter.
This morning, in the car, I noticed that the picket fencing was much worse than the last time I drove, which was Wednesday evening.
Wow, who's the engineer there? Usually new stations power up than power down?
Today from Hillsboro, on my Icom, I measure 93.5 to be about the same strength as 91.9 (K220IN), both about S-9. K228EU was perhaps 6-10 db higher than that a few days ago...What happened?
K220IN transmits with 11 watts from 6 meters higher on the same tower.
Are the sticks for these stations on Skyline? 93.5 gets clobbered here in Aloha.
Yes they are... the antennas for K228EU and K220IN are almost 200 meters above the ground level, you should have a clear shot. Likely your receiver is overloaded by strong signals on other frequencies, perhaps try reducing/attenuating your antenna.
This turned up today on the FCC site:
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101414385&formid=350&fac_num=87066
They are indeed now re-transmitting 1150 KLPM.
Looks like a typo in the ERP box. (0.99kw?)
La Paloma ya no vuela.
I took a quick listen to 1150 and 93.5, during which time I heard an ID for "Exitos 93.5." 1150 has discontinued its Christian format to simulcast Exitos. Most likely, this is a promotional stunt.
HAATs and Watts:
I may be confusing something here, but how can K228EU be authorized for 99 watts
anyway?
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=87066
If they are on the ch 8 tower at 192 meters AGL, their antenna is only 80 meters below the ch 8 antenna.
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=34874
The ch 8 antenna has a calculated HAAT of 524 meters, which to me would imply that the HAAT of K228EU is approx 444 meters. According to the FCC chart that Andy_brown posted on another thread, the max. power allowed for that HAAT is only 13 watts.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=131f86e0fdffff259d8c33e43ece48e8&rgn=div8&view=text&node=47:4.0.1.1.3.10.3.10&idno=47
What point am I missing here?
93.5 is a fill-in translator, and fill-in translators can have an ERP of up to 250 watts (in most cases). I'm guessing they settled for 99 watts because of possible interference with another station.
Retransmitting 1150 would make sense. 1150 KLPM does not make it out to Beaverton/Aloha at night.
"93.5 is a fill-in translator, and fill-in translators can have an ERP of up to 250 watts"
Thanks! so there is no *specific* adjustment made for HAAT, as long as other parameters are satisfied, such as the 60dbu contour from the translator staying inside the 60dbu* contour of the main transmitter, and interference conditions being satisfied ?
*it appears that in this case, with an AM station it is inside the 2mv/m contour.
This is directional. I'll bet what we heard before was a nondirectional test.
Why the heck are they using 1150 instead of 1520? If 93.5 was a translator for (the much more powerful) 1520, it would not have to be directional, cutting off the west and south sides of the metro!
I wonder if 1520 will become a simulcast of the new 94.3 KZZR.
Since 1150 has flipped to "Exitos", we can expect new call letters. My prediction: KEXI
I find it a bit fishy that if one were to listen only to the on-air station branding, one would be left thinking that K228EU were the main station and that they were being simulcast on 1150 kHz. This is probably legal, but it runs somewhat counter to the spirit of the 93.5 translator being a translator. I was also about to make a comment about 93.5 being a translator for 1520, not 1150, but I can't find anything on the FCC's query that lists KGDD as the parent station. How does one find this information on the FCC's page?
Does anyone know the date when KLPM 1150 flipped to "Exitos"?
"I was also about to make a comment about 93.5 being a translator for 1520, not 1150, but I can't find anything on the FCC's query that lists KGDD as the parent station. How does one find this information on the FCC's page?"
I don't know of a specific list of source stations for translators... I usually look at License filings, CPs or mods to CPs to see what station is listed. I found the info below on this document (which was also the source of the map that I posted above):
"Exhibit 3
Description: CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES
THE TECHNICAL FACILITY WAS CONSTRUCTED AS AUTHORIZED IN THE THE UNDERLYING CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.
OF NOTE, THE PRIMARY STATION FOR THE TRANSLATOR FACILITY HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM THAT NOTED IN THE UNDERLYING CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.
STATION KGDD(AM) OREGON CTIY, ORGON WAS SPECIFIED ON THE ORIGINAL APPLICTION AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION PERMIT; STATION KLPM(AM) PORTLAND OREGON WITH FACILITY ID 71752 IS THE BEING REBROADCAST ON THE FM TRANSALTOR STATION. A MAP DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE IS ATTACHED. "
Why doesn't Bustos buy 1040 KXPD, and use that to "feed" 93.5? Then the signal wouldn't have to be directional.
My guess would be that Bustos Media is not doing well financially, and the price tag that Churchill put on the 1040 kHz signal is too high for them.
93.5 is simulcasting with 1150 and 1130 is now carrying their Jesus format...they made the flip a day or two ago. Prestently 1520 has a couple of retreads on the air. One in the morning and another in the PM drive. We will see how effectively they program all their stations. We will see how much music groups dictate their music selection. Am still waiting on 94.3 to go on the air.
"93.5 is simulcasting with 1150 and 1130 is now carrying their Jesus format."
HUH? I just checked 93.5 and 1150... sounds like Exitos to me.
(1130 is different,however)
Update: oops! I read the above to mean that 93.5, 1150 and 1130 were all now broadcasting the "Jesus Format".
The last I checked, 1130 was their top rated station so it seems odd to move religious programing over there.
They can't feed the 93.5 translator with 1130, which is basically a daytimer, it woudl be a waste of a signal to put spanish religious on an FM signal and I bet they will then feed their 93.5 translator with their new La Zeta 94.3 programming and definitely try and compete directly with El Rey 93.1 and I believe they will be successfull as long as they don't put that moron Nelson or El Conde on the La Zeta.
I only had to listen to 1130 for about 45 seconds to hear "Jesus es bueno" or something to that effect. So, La Paloma is alive and well; it just migrated to Mt. Angel!
Though not a Bustos station, I noted today that KXOR (660) is off the air again.
93.5 cannot be used to relay 94.3. The 60 dBu contour of 93.5 covers an area with a good portion outside of the 60 dBu of 94.3. When a commercial translator falls outside of the parent station's protected contour, it cannot be owned by or have any financial support from the owner of the main station. In other words, only "fill-in" translators are allowed in the commercial world.
1130 isn't "basically a daytimer" to the extent that 1150 is. There's plenty of signal at night in Mount Angel. You can't say the same of 1150's city of license.
What a waste of 1130 KPWX's 25,000 watt signal! "La Mexicana" was getting ratings, and they flipped it to "La Paloma" which will get no ratings!
Jay_Zie ".... and I believe they will be successfull as long as they don't put that moron Nelson or El Conde on the La Zeta" LOL.
You know what happens in Spanish language radio is that the most on-air guys think they know what good radio is since they are a big fish in a small pond or they have been around for a long time. Most don't understand how Arbitron works. Even less since the PPM was installed. The problem is not isolated to Portland it is something that happens all over the country.
I will give Bustos the benefit of the doubt that they couldn't simply take the La Paloma format off the air due to contractual obligations to the ministries that had purchased airtime from Bustos. Most likely, the ministries were required to buy at least one quarter's worth of airtime and pre-pay.
The other day, I was flipping back and forth between 1150 and 1520 to try to understand how these are separate formats. On 1150, I hear a variety of musical styles that sound fairly contemporary, leading me to think that the format is supposed to be Mexican Top-40 (which would fit with the "Exitos" moniker). 1520 seems to have evolved from Regional Mexican to more of an oldies format.
ADD-> As of my writing this, neither of the two Websites linked at the very beginning of this discussion has been updated. If I click on either one, all I see is a logo.
Why not have Spanish Pop music format in the Portland area like Univision La Kalle or Los Angeles' Exitos 93.9 FM or Las 40 Principales all over Latin America and Spain?
Picking up the 93.5 w/solid stereo pilot in the Fred Meyer NE Salem parking lot tonight...must have powered up again--
BTW-1130 audio sounds horrible...
Thanks to Kent Randles for sending this:
KLPM Portland OR AM BL-20090205ACQ 1150 B N 45° 38' 34.0" W 122° 36' 50.0" License 20 200 0.0 18
Assigned Call Sign of "KXET" (was "KLPM"); Release Item within 100.0 kilometers of Flag Point; Licensee: Bustos Media of Oregon, LLC; New or modified call signs assigned
*** Release # (New or Modified Call Signs) dated 1/28/2011 ***
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