Low Power Radio

My Application Was Acccepted, Now What?

After your application is accepted, you must wait 30 days to see whether anyone in the public files a petition to deny against you. Information about petitions to deny.

Construction Permit

If no petition to deny is filed against your application, the FCC will issue your Construction Permit (CP). The CP will be sent in the mail, so make sure your address is updated at the FCC.

The CP will specify the location and Effective Radiated Power (ERP) that you will be allowed, along with any special conditions that have to be met. If the ERP you're granted seems odd, have an engineer check it. The FCC sometimes makes errors on HAAT calculations, especially near coastlines.

CPs expire in 18 months. If you don't file an application for a license (see below), your CP will be revoked and the station will be forced to permanently shut down. CPs cannot be extended, except under unusual circumstances totally beyond your control, and with lots of documentation submitted to the FCC. If you lose your CP, all the effort you put into applying will be wasted!! Please make an effort to get your station up, or find others who will help you.

Your studio is where the programmers and on-air personalities will work. Studios and transmitters do not have to be in the same location. Studios can be built at any time. Transmitter sites are not supposed to be built until a Construction Permit is issued. However, if an FAA tower issue is not involved, applicants can start preliminary construction, but may not put transmitter power into the antenna, even for a moment, without a CP. Since a CP is never a 100% sure thing until it is issued, don't spend too much money that cannot be recovered, before you receive your CP in the mail.

This begins a time when you will need technical help (to construct your station), as well as infrastructure, programming, volunteer organizing and many other resources. Media Access Project cannot help you with these issues. For help, two organizations are great resources -

Pete Tridish at
Prometheus Radio Project

http://www.prometheusradio.org 215-727-9620

Kai Aiyetoro at
Nat'l Federation of Community Broadcasters
http://www.nfcb.org
415-771-1160

Call Letters

Once the CP is issued, you should search and request call letters from the FCC. No call letters can be reserved before you receive a CP.

FAA and Zoning Issues

If you are erecting a new tower, make sure there are no FAA issues. Towers within 5 miles of airports (even very short towers on top of buildings), often need separate FAA approval before construction. 200 foot towers always need FAA approval. Most jurisdictions have local tower ordinances, that must be adhered to. Getting approval can be very time consuming. Start now.

Build What the CP Says!

The conditions of a CP are set in concrete. The only leeway you have is the antenna height above ground: +1 meter (3 ft higher) and -2 meters (6.5 ft lower). Because coordinates are rounded to the nearest second, you may have about 20 feet horizontal leeway, also. All other changes, including tower height, require a modifying application and a new CP. Building a transmitter site in variance from the CP can be grounds for serious fines, and being taken off the air. The FCC also takes FAA, tower lighting, RF radiation, and EAS issues very seriously.

After Construction — Notify the FCC When You Go on the Air

During construction, you may engage in brief Equipment Test Operations, but only for purposes of testing the transmitter and transmission line.

Once you are finished with construction and testing, you can get on the air right away, unless your CP says otherwise. You can do this because you have "Automatic Program Test Authority." You MUST immediately (the same day) send a letter notifying the FCC that you have started broadcasting of the commencement of operations with Program Test Authority. Send your letter to: Technical Processing Group, Mail Stop 1800B3, FCC, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554 (fax 202-418-1411 or 202-418-1410). This can be a simple letter.

Within 10 Days of Getting on the Air, Apply for a License

After you get on the air using Automatic Program Test Authority, you have 10 days to electronically file an Application for Station License, Form 319. Form 319 is very short and easy to file, and is similar to the first page of Form 318, which you filed to apply for a license.

Form 319
Use CDBS to file Form 319. Link to CDBS.

MAP thanks Michael Brown, consulting engineer, for providing much of the material in this summary. Michael runs his own engineering consulting firm that provides services to LPFM stations and other radio stations. Contact him at http://www.brownbroadcast.com.

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