Translator mania

September 19, 2016 Off By Eric O'Brien

With the recent window opening for FM translators to be moved up to 250 miles away from their original location, I thought it would be a good idea to make an easy list of FM translators in the Pittsburgh area. Many of them predate the current window and have been in place for a while, but many more of them have come to see the light of day in recent months.

The following information is compiled based on FCCdata.org, a fascinating website independent of the tied to the FCC information database. (If the site interests you in any way, you may consider a donation to them to keep it alive.) All of the information is current as of the date of this being written, and for historical purposes this particular post will not be updated.

Due to the various stages of progress be stations may be in, the listings are his current and is accurate as one could make out based on the information given. Licensed stations are denoted with “Lic” while those in various stages of construction permit are noted with “CP”. (In the case of licenses being moved from various locales into the area, some are still listened as licensed in their former location and construction permits in their new location.) “Mod CP” shows stations who were in the CP mode in their original locale before being sold and moved “Mod” is for Modified and usually relates to the change in City of License. These stations still have to be on the air by the time the 3-year CP allowance requiring some to act quickly.

The notes section contain information confirmed on the FCC FM Query.

Did you know that an FM translator does not have to be legally identified the exact same way as a full-power radio station? FM translators must be identified on the air three times a day – between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m., between 12:55 and 1:05 p.m., and between 4 and 6 PM. Translator call signs are usually a “W”, the channel number, and two more letters. For instance, W231BM Pittsburgh is the legal identification for WKHB’s translator. “W” as with all stations east of the Mississippi River, “231” being the channel number for FM frequency 94.1, and “BM” being the two additional letters to the callsign.

Alternatively, translators do not have to be legally identified on the air so long as the operator identifies the station through a Morse code signal attached to the transmitter once an hour. Most station operators choose that method while others choose to identify the station like the normal legal IDs that you hear at the top of the hour.

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