Press Releases From Ken

April 9, 10 - New FCC action

Today I recieved a NOUO (Notice of Unlicensed Operation) citation from the FCC, same inspector, Binh Nguyen, regarding our Sublimity transmitter. We have ten days from today to either cease operation or fix the problem cited in the notice... It's the same issue we had on our primary transmitter in downtown Stayton... We have the ground connected to the water tank but he said the water tank cannot be used as a electrical ground because it acts as an antenna, thus violiating the Part 15.219 rule that says the ground and antenna cannot be more than 3 meters long... Because it's up on the tank, our alternative is to disconnet the ground completely or add a approved ground filter. We put a flilter on the Stayton site, went through field tests with the inspector, but don't know yet if the FCC will approve it.. So we're back to square one again.. I'll post updates as I have them.. Ken Cartwright

March 23, 2010 - FCC inspection

For those of you who are either Part 15 broadcasters or fans of KENC Radio, the FCC came by this morning and did a field test of the new choke/filter that we put in to bring our station into (hopefully) compliance with the ground rule issue that brought all this action. The data collected today will be sent to the FCC's OET office to be analyzed and we will know at a later date if they will accept what we are doing. This will set precedent for all of the thousands of low power AM transmitters in operation not only in the United States but other countries as well. This has been a tough fight with very little support from the owners of part 15 stations, but for us it's about our community and the fight for what is right under our constitution. Other than that, I have no comment at this time, but you can always come back to this area of our web site for updates... Thank you for your support and donations can be made to KENC Radio just by clicking on the donate button you find on this site... Ken Cartwright

February 11, 10 - Your Opinion

Your opinion means a lot to me... I'd like to know if you listen to KENC, what day(s) and time(s), what you think of our music and what would you add or subtract from what we offer... You can send an email directly to kenc@wvi.com ... Thank you, Ken Cartwright

February 4, 10 - FCC and KENC Radio

Tuesday February 2, we installed the ground filter that Hamilton Transmitters manufactured. This allows for a safe electrical ground and lightning strikes but does not allow RF to the tower. This allows us to keep our Hamilton transmitter on a 40 foot tower without breaking the 3 meter rule that the FCC mandates for low power AM Radio stations under 15.219 of the FCC code. We installed the filter and retuned. We did get some of our range back.

I sent photos of the filter installed and the retuning so the meter readings could be easily read and interpreted, to the inspector in Vancouver Washington. He emailed that he had received them but wanted to come out the next day and have me provide him with a lift truck so he could disconnect the filter and do a field strength meter reading of the transmitter without it and a comparative one with it on. I could not get a lift truck to accommodate his schedule. I notified Keith Hamilton of the intended inspection and he replied that the only way to do this was to have him check the FS readings on the ground at a distance, then remove the filter, retune the transmitter, do another FS meter reading and get a comparable reading. The inspector did not want to do it that way, so Keith suggested that the FCC in Washington give us a written sheet with instructions on how the survey or inspection is to proceed, but with Keith's suggested method. I got a call today from Inspector Bingh and he is waiting on instructions from the FCC's OET department and a written procedure. We should be ready for a lift truck and a re-inspection sometime in early March.

We have our fingers crossed that this will finally settle the issue of our NOUO complaint and if approved should set precedent for all part 15 low power AM stations. I'll post the results here when we have them.. Ken Cartwright