General information about FM translator and FM booster stations is contained below. You can click on any of the topic headings in the Table of Contents to jump directly to a particular section or scroll through the topics that start sequentially after the Table of Contents.
FM translators and FM boosters comprise a low power service on the FM broadcast band (88 to 108 MHz) that complements the primary FM service. This service was first created in 1970 to allow FM stations to provide supplementary service to areas in which direct reception of radio service is unsatisfactory due to distance or intervening terrain barriers (for example, a mountain). Most translators or boosters may not originate programming, except for the limited fundraising efforts in the case of translators as explained below. (Exception -- some FM translators relaying AM daytime-only stations may continue to transmit programming when the AM station is off the air at night.) Translator stations rebroadcasting a commercial AM or FM station (the primary station) may be authorized on Channel 221 through 300 (92.1 MHz to 107.9 MHz), while a translator rebroadcasting a noncommercial educational station (the primary station) may be authorized on any FM channel (Channels 201 to 300, or 88.1 MHz to 107.9 MHz). The maximum effective radiated power permitted for any translator station is 250 watts, while the maximum effective radiated power for a booster station is 20% of the main station's maximum class power.
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Translator stations simultaneously rebroadcast the signal of a primary AM or FM station on a different frequency. Those translator stations that provide service within the primary station's protected service area are classified as "fill-in" stations. Fill-in translators can be owned by the main station or by an independent entity. Commercial non-fill-in translators are generally owned by independent entities, with certain exceptions, while noncommercial educational non-fill-in translator stations are generally owned by the primary station being rebroadcast.
Booster stations are essentially "fill-in" translator stations on the same frequency as the main station. Booster stations must be owned by the licensee of the primary FM station. Booster stations are also restricted in that the service contour of the booster may not exceed the protected service contour of the primary station at any azimuth.
FM translator call signs consist of W (if the transmitter location is east of the Mississippi River) or K (if the transmitter location is west of the Mississippi River), the FM channel number, and a two letter suffix (e.g., W285AD or K220AA).
FCC Schedule 349 is used to file for a construction permit for an FM translator or booster station, and FCC Schedule 350 is used to license that translator facility once construction has been completed in accordance with the construction permit. The rules governing FM translator and booster stations are listed in Part 74 of the FCC's rules (47 CFR Sections 74.1 through 74.34 and 47 CFR Sections 74.1201 through 74.1290), with many references to the FM rules contained in Part 73. More information about the application filing process is available at How To Apply For A Broadcast Radio Station and through the LMS Help Center.
Contour protection. FM translator stations must meet the contour protection criteria specified in 47 CFR Section 74.1204 with respect to all FM stations (including Class D noncommercial educational secondary stations) and all FM translator or booster stations.
Effective radiated power. The maximum effective radiated power (ERP) for any translator station is 250 watts. The maximum ERP permitted for a particular translator station is dependent on the antenna height above average terrain (HAAT) and the 12 radials (evenly spaced at 30 intervals) used to determine the antenna height above average terrain (HAAT), and whether the location of the translator station's transmitter site is east or west of the Mississippi River. If the translator is a fill-in translator, the ERP may be further limited by the need to maintain the translator's service contour within the primary station's service contour. See 47 CFR Section 74.1235.
Changing the station rebroadcast by an FM translator station. If the licensee of an FM translator station wants to change the primary station being rebroadcast, it may do so without prior authority from the Commission. If the translator is owned by an entity other than the owner of the new primary FM station, the owner must secure the permission of the primary station to rebroadcast its programming before commencing operation. This is a statutory requirement. See 47 U.S.C. Section 325(a); see also Footnote 52 of the Report and Order in MM Docket 88-140, 5 FCC Rcd 7212, 7245 (1990). The translator licensee must notify the Commission by electronic filing in the LMS database system of ANY change in the primary AM or FM station rebroadcast, using the "Change of Primary Station Notification" form. Please see the LMS Help Center for the filing process. This change will be examined to verify that the change in primary station complies with the Commission's translator rules, such as signal delivery requirements (see below).
Service contour requirements. A fill-in translator is required to maintain its service contour within the service contour of the primary station. For a Class A, C3, C2, C1, C0 (C-zero), C, or noncommercial educational Class B, B1, or D FM primary station, the fill-in translator station must maintain its 60 dBu (1 mV/m) F(50,50) service contour within the 60 dBu contour of the primary station. The fill-in translator of a commercial Class B primary station must maintain its 54 dBu (0.5 mV/m) F(50,50) service contour within the 54 dBu F(50,50) contour of the primary station. And the fill-in translator of a commercial Class B1 FM primary station must maintain its 57 dBu (0.7 mV/m) F(50,50) contour within the 57 dBu F(50,50) service contour of the primary station. The distances to the primary station and translator station contours are to be predicted using the standard contour prediction method in 47 CFR Section 73.313, using as many radials as necessary to accurately locate the contours.
An FM translator may rebroadcast an AM station only if the translator's 60 dBu service contour is within the GREATER of (1) a 25 mile (40 km) radius circle from the AM station's transmitter site AND (2) the AM station's 2.0 mV/m contour. See 47 CFR Section 74.1201(g). This limitation applies to all applications being filed by AM licensees for FM translator stations in 2016 and 2017 as part of the AM Revitalization effort.
Ownership and financial support. A fill-in translator station may be owned by the licensee of the FM primary station or by an independent entity. If a fill-in translator is independently owned, the owner must secure the permission of the primary station to rebroadcast its programming before commencing operation. This is a statutory requirement. See 47 U.S.C. Section 325(a); see also Footnote 52 of the Report and Order in MM Docket 88-140, 5 FCC Rcd 7212, 7245 (1990). The primary station may provide financial and technical support for an independently owned fill-in translator both before and after the translator commences operation.
Signal delivery to the translator. Generally, a primary FM station's signal is simply received off the air at the fill-in translator's site, boosted in strength, and reradiated on the assigned translator channel and frequency.
A commercial fill-in translator may receive a primary station's signal via any terrestrial transmission method, including (but not limited to) microwave, phone, internet, and dedicated fiber optic cable. Satellite delivery is prohibited. These requirements also apply to noncommercial educational translators in the reserved band (88 to 92 MHz) that are not commonly owned with the primary station.
Aural intercity relay frequencies may also be used on a secondary basis (i.e., the use of the frequency would neither cause interference to or preclude use of the frequency by full service radio broadcast stations) after coordination with local frequency coordinating committees, or local broadcast users in the absence of a coordinating committee. A relay through another translator station is only acceptable if the intermediate translator provides a signal to a populated area. See 47 CFR Sections 74.1231(b) and (c).
Service contour requirements. The service contour for a non-fill-in translator station may extend outside the primary station's service contour or, in some cases, lie wholly outside it.
Ownership and financial support. In general, commercial primary stations and anyone associated with a commercial primary station may neither own nor provide direct or indirect support to non-fill-in translator stations, both before and after the translator commences operation. See 47 CFR Section 74.1232(d). However, in order to facilitate service to white (or unserved) areas, the Commission is favorably disposed toward waiver of this rule to permit a commercial primary station to support its own translator, or an independently owned translator, which provides service to these unserved areas. The primary commercial FM station may provide "technical support" to the independent translator station, which is defined as:
For the purposes of translator station applications, "white area" is defined as any area outside the coverage area of any full service aural service (AM as well as FM). Paragraph 23, Report and Order in Docket 88-140, 5 FCC Rcd at 7216 (1990). Where a translator provides both fill-in service and white area service, the procedures applicable to "white area" service should be followed. A showing of the "white area" must be presented in the application with a request for waiver of the ownership requirement. When locating the "white area" boundaries, the service contours for FM stations shall be predicted using the standard method in 47 CFR Section 73.313.
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