A Class B AM radio station serving Spanish-language audiences between Ann Arbor and Detroit could face a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture from the FCC for a series of Emergency Alert System (EAS) violations — including monitoring the wrong Local Primary Stations as designated by the Commission.
Even worse, this station failed to power down at night and was using too much power during daylight hours.
A Notice of Violation was handed to Vazquez Broadcasting Corp., licensee of WSDS-AM in Ypsilanti, Mich., after an Enforcement Bureau agent from the Columbia, Md., office on July 14 found multiple EAS-related issues.
First, there was no station log available for inspection that included entries of the EAS tests received, including the required weekly or monthly EAS tests from the Local Primary Stations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).
Furthermore, the entries stored in the memory of the company’s EAS encoder/decoder, a Sage Digital ENDEC, were dated 1997.
Second, the Michigan EAS plan and FCC Mapbook states that WSDS is required to monitor WEMU-FM 89.1, the Eastern Michigan University noncommercial Jazz station in Ypsilanti; and WWWW-FM 102.9, the Ann Arbor-licensed Country station. Instead, WSDS was monitoring WJR-AM and WWJ-AM in Detroit.
There’s more: WSDS also appeared to be broadcasting at a higher power output than authorized, as the Enforcement Bureau agent at the time of inspection observed that the station was not using modulation dependent carrier level (MDCL) control technology and was operating with 1,104 watts of power during daytime hours. That’s 36.6% higher than the authorized daytime power of 808 watts.
Additionally, WSDS’s Chief Operator informed the Enforcement Bureau agent during the visit that the station was incapable of operating within its nighttime parameters. That night, the agent confirmed with measurements that WSDS continued to operate after sunset with its authorized daytime power and antenna pattern from its four-tower array at 1480 kHz.
Class B WSLI-AM in the Grand Rapids is a co-channel facility with a Class B signal authorized for 2kw at night. As such, WSDS could have created interference with a nearby station by not ceasing transmissions entirely after dark. Additionally, News/Talk WHBC-AM in the Akron-Canton, Ohio market has a 5kw nighttime signal, largely serving Northeastern Ohio. Potential interference from WSDS’s unauthorized nighttime broadcasts could have arisen. That’s because WSDS’s directional antenna monitor was not fully operational and could not provide reliable phase and current readings for each of the station’s four towers.
For Vazquez, the task now is to respond to FCC Region One Director Dave Dombrowski request for additional information concerning the violations and any remedial actions taken. Vazquez Broadcasting must submit a written statement within 20 days of September 20 explaining each violation, including all relevant surrounding facts and circumstances and a time line for the completion of any pending corrective action.
