It’s long been branded as “Your Feel Good Island Music Station.” But those who lead the operations at this Class C1 FM serving Hilo, Hawaii, may not be feeling so good today. That’s because it is the recipient of a Notice of Violation from the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau for a rule foul it has just been warned of.
New West Broadcasting Co., licensee of Adult Hawaiian Contemporary music-formatted KWXX-FM, received the NOV from Region Three Regional Director Lark Hadley after receiving a complaint from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA observed a technical foul that all in the C-Suite should be aware of, and perhaps not leave in the hands of an engineer: “spurious emissions” in the aviation frequency band of 108-137 MHz that were more than 600 kHz removed from the carrier and were not attenuated at least 80 dB below the unmodulated carrier level. That was the determination of an agent of the Enforcement Bureau’s Honolulu Office that traveled to the “big island” of Hawai’i to investigate.
KWXX’s carrier frequency and authorized Effective Radiated Power are 94.7 MHz and 51 kW, respectively.
The Enforcement Bureau seeks more details, and explanations. And Hadley warned New West Broadcasting that its NOV does not preclude a potential Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture for the violations seen by KWXX.
Not impacted by the notice is Class C0 simulcast partner KAOY-FM in Kealakekua, Hawaii, serving the Kona area and the rural southern edge of Maui.
— With reporting by RBR+TVBR, in Paia, Maui, Hawaii
