ITT FM 99.1 Carrier still on !

Rock Solid

Lately I have noticed that ITT FM from Tallaght IT have been leaving on there tx for several days after their temp licence dates, are they doing this to hold the frequency ? Or are Comreg telling them to leave the tx on ?

end of the road

is this after their licence is completely finished or is it they just have a couple of days break between broadcasts? if the later then it would make sense to leave the TX on both to hold the frequency and the fact it can't be good to be turning things on and off but would their licence cover this? this could be on the advice of comreg but probably not, if the former then their broadcasting illegally i should imagine, i can't see comreg asking broadcasters to keep on transmitters after licences are finished as that would leave both comreg and broadcaster open to action surely? just my 2 sence, i don't know the legalities

Infoanon

Rock Solid wrote: »

Lately I have noticed that ITT FM from Tallaght IT have been leaving on there tx for several days after their temp licence dates, are they doing this to hold the frequency ? Or are Comreg telling them to leave the tx on ?

Are you sure it was ITT, thete was no RDS on the carrier I was picking up on 99.1.

Comreg tend to get upset if you leave a tx on after the licence period (especially if its modulated...) so it is odd that Comreg have not been on to ITT if it is ITT.

As for holding a frequency, thats not necessary as any pirate on a licenced frequency tends to get raided very quickly, is it being left on to prevent a pirate using the frequency is a different question and is not beyond the laws of probability.

End of the road - switching low powered FM transmitters on and off does no damage.

Losty Dublin

A temporary licence allows you 30 days of broadcasting in a year. Many temporary stations only need a few days of air time; this is especially the case with college operations so the licence covering 99.1 may well still be valid even if the station has finished it's run. Chances are that Joe King or Foley have not had the time to turn off and collect their rig, that's all.

Fuzzy Clam

Losty Dublin wrote: »

A temporary licence allows you 30 days of broadcasting in a year. Many temporary stations only need a few days of air time; this is especially the case with college operations so the licence covering 99.1 may well still be valid even if the station has finished it's run. Chances are that Joe King or Foley have not had the time to turn off and collect their rig, that's all.

Depends on the terms of the licence. If you've only applied for certain days, then a transmitter that's still on outside of those days is in in violation of the contract.
Without knowing the details, we don't know if the days of silence are included in the dates of the contract.

Infoanon

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

Depends on the terms of the licence. If you've only applied for certain days, then a transmitter that's still on outside of those days is in in violation of the contract.
Without knowing the details, we don't know if the days of silence are included in the dates of the contract.

Did a scan closer to ITT today and indeed their TX is still on.

As Fuzzy Clam has said it does depend on their actual licence period/days, unfortunately licence details are no longer readily available on the BAI website.

Rock Solid

Still on today with rds ITT FM

Rock Solid

ITT FM Tallaght tx still on, two weeks since last broadcast date ! The BAI or Comreg must be ok with it.

Badpun

There were indeed 30 days on the licence and a fair few of those are dedicated to transmitter maintenance and similar. If ITTfm is not broadcasting but the transmitter is on, then there's your answer.

Infoanon

Badpun wrote: »

There were indeed 30 days on the licence and a fair few of those are dedicated to transmitter maintenance and similar. If ITTfm is not broadcasting but the transmitter is on, then there's your answer.

There is very little maintenance required for the ITT transmitter, maintenance of a transmitter is normally carried out while the TX is off air or by applying a dummy load.

Badpun

I said "and similar" for a very good reason. The Tx is used by engineering courses too and it's all covered in the licence. I'm not randomly making suggestions here, I work there.

Infoanon

Badpun wrote: »

I said "and similar" for a very good reason. The Tx is used by engineering courses too and it's all covered in the licence. I'm not randomly making suggestions here, I work there.

Fair enough, can you expand on 'and similar'.

Badpun

There are various projects, practical workshops, demonstrations, events and yes, even scheduled maintenance all allocated days on the licence. The contract is followed to the letter and the Tx is never turned on outside of predetermined, BAI approved days and times.