KSLZ: ANALOG VS. DIGITAL

 

More spectrum waste from radio’s Public Enemy Number One. KSLZ (107.7 MHz), a Top 40 station since 1997, has a morning show aimed at people who can barely pass the entrance exam to kindergarten (M.J.), plays music that isn’t really music at all, and has had a series of program directors with negative attitudes about “homegrown” talent and radio personalities over 30 years of age. Now, they’re the most spectrally inefficient FM radio station in St. Louis. Here’s the damage.

 

Frequency    Before KSLZ went digital                                                 After KSLZ went digital

 

107.1 MHz     WEAI Lynnville, IL (Fair signal)                                       Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands in some areas

107.2 MHz     Clear                                                                                      Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands in some areas

107.3 MHz     WDDD-FM Johnston City, IL (Fair signal)                    Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

107.4 MHz     Clear                                                                                      Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

107.5 MHz     KWBZ Monroe City, MO (Occasional reception)        Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

107.6 MHz     Analog sidebands from KSLZ                                        Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

107.7 MHz     Center channel                                                                   Center channel

107.8 MHz     Analog sidebands from KSLZ                                        Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

107.9 MHz     KLTE Kirksville, MO (Occasional reception)               Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

108.0 MHz     Upper limit of FM broadcast band                                 Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

108.1 MHz     Lower limit of aviation radio band                                 Wiped out by KSLZ digital sidebands

 

KSLZ’s conversion to digital could potentially cause problems for FAA licensed pilots as well; the wasteful sidebands extend into the lowest frequency authorized by the FCC for the Aviation Radio Service. 108.1 MHz is set aside for aviation interests, not for commercial or non-commercial analog or digital radio broadcasting. With the waste of spectrum space as far as 600 kHz away from the main channel, this is the most wasteful of all FM digital operations, in terms of spectrum space, with 1 MHz of space wiped out.