Translator Portable
Gibert Chisholm
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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.
What Is an FM Translator or Booster?
FM Translator Stations
Fill-In Translators
Non-Fill-In Translators
FM Booster Stations
Matters Common to FM Translator & Booster Stations
Fundraising by Translators
Emergency Warnings Broadcast by Translators
No Local Program Origination Authority
Cross-Service Broadcasts Are Prohibited (FM and AM only)
Major Change Applications
No Multiple Ownership Limits
Directional Antennas
Interference Caused
Noncommercial Educational Translators or Boosters on FM Channels 201 Through 220 Must Protect TV Channel 6
Unattended Station Operation
Discontinuance of Operation
Identification of Translator & Booster Stations
Grandfathered FM Translators (authorized before June 1, 1991)
Translator and Booster Rules in Part 74 (separate document)
Translator and Booster Rules in Part 74 (separate document)
Additional Information
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.
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.
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).
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:
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