In September 2021, a wholly owned Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary literally changed how FM broadcast antenna manufacturers validate directional pattern studies for new FM broadcast antennas.
In fact, the research conducted by Dielectric played a key role in a FCC filing of a Petition for Rulemaking, written with leading broadcast consultancy Merrill Weiss Group. Now, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has teed up an Order that would bring “regulatory relief” to this group of broadcasters using the MHz band.
The FCC at its May 19 monthly Open Meeting will consider the Order, which if approved would allow broadcasters to verify patterns using computer modeling rather than real-world testing.
“This will decrease regulatory costs and bring our FM regulations in line with other broadcast services,” Rosenworcel said.
At present, FM stations using directional antennas are required to provide physical measurements to verify their directional pattern when seeking a license. To do this, stations must either build a full-size mockup of the antenna or build a scale model.
That costs money, but thanks in part to Dielectric, cost savings could be on the way. Just don’t call it “modernization,” terminology favored by the Pai Commission.
With Dielectric’s help, the FCC has set the course for the first directional FM pattern verification rule change in 58 years. It aligns FM with other broadcast products; computer-based antenna modeling using computational methods has been used for TV station antenna modeling since 2017.
“This is simply long overdue,” Dielectric VP of Engineering John Schadler said in September 2021. “FM is the only FCC service that still requires a physical range measurement, and anyone who has worked with range measurements knows that accurately measuring radiation patterns is extremely difficult. Simulated pattern verification is much more economical with less chance of error — it just makes sense.”
A docket on directional antenna performance opened in late October, with a comment date of December 30, 2021 and a reply comment date of January 14, 2022.
— Additional reporting by Brian Galante, in Boston
