AM on FM translators

[Shane]

My understanding, although it doesn't seem to make sense, is that the FCC's R&O on AM stations being the parent station for an FM translator had a restriction that the translator had to be already existing as of a certain date now in the past and that a new translator could not be used for this purpose.

Do I have that correct?

[BroadcastDoc]

Correct, but one could buy an existing out-of-market translator and file an app to move it.

[Deep Thought]

Currently, the translator has to have been a CP or licensed as of May 1, 2009 to be eligible for AM fill-in service. The 60 dBu cannot exceed the AM 2 mv/m daytime contour or 25 miles from the AM site, whichever is less.

[Shane]

Thanks. Forgot about the ability to move an existing translator, albeit in steps, and how that would look on when the translator was last licensed without looking at the background. It became an informative study! Could one also change the frequency of such a translator as it is being inched across geography or does it have to remain on the same freq?

[BroadcastDoc]

If I'm not mistaken it's treated much like a mod for a normal license in that you can change city-of-license, power, and frequency.

[Deep Thought]

As long as the moved facility is MX with the license, it is a minor change.

[Shane]

MX?

[Deep Thought]

Mutually exclusive. The licensed and proposed could not both be granted simultaneously under current allocation rules.