RIVERTON, MD (APRIL 20, 2015) --- A project that was over two years in the making, REC Networks has filed a Petition for Rulemaking intended to help LPFM stations enhance their signal within their current three mile service area as well as reach out to more rural areas.

In today's filing, REC is asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow 50 to 75 percent of currently authorized LPFM stations to increase their effective radiated power from 100 watts (based on 30 meters height above average terrain) to 250 watts increasing the average protected service contour from 3½ miles to about a 4½ mile radius.  Unlike the previous proposals filed by The Amherst Alliance and the Catholic Radio Association which focused on rural expansion and was tabled by the FCC due to disagreement in the community, the REC petition focuses first on enhancing the listener experience within the "three mile zone", the prime area that current LP-100 stations serve.  Many LPFM stations are experiencing issues with building penetration and other issues within the three mile zone.

In response to the blog written by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler about AM revitalization, REC does agree that there needs to be an improvement in the AM service. This can be done in several ways:

• First and most importantly, re-purpose AM as a regional broadcasting service giving priority to the Class A and B stations and restoring the pre-1980 sanctity of the clear channel.  Class C stations should be given an opportunity, perhaps on an auction basis to upgrade to the extended band to allow them to operate 10 kW daytime and 1 kW at night.  
• Class D stations should be removed from AM altogether and placed in new spectrum between 76 and 88 MHz.
• FM translators for AM stations should only be an interim solution and in no case should a Class A or B AM station be permitted to operate a translator. 
• FM translators should be made available for LPFM stations and they should be able to be moved as a minor change without regard for contour overlap between the old and new locations.
• The FCC needs to create and enforce stronger Part 15 regulations that no only protect AM spectrum but also the high frequency (3-30 MHz) bands from unnecessary interference.  REC is deeply concerned that our existing Part 15 rules will not be enforced with the closing of field offices.

As a part of the ongoing REC Radio History Project, we are happy to announce that we have reached a milestone in our project to transfer FCC History Card data to an electronic format.  We have completed development of 30 AM facilities spanning from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz as well as the AM stations heard in the Bay Area.  

This data can now be retrieved through REC's fccdata.org by simply bringing up the current station record.

Enhanced information in the History Card project includes all application activity other than renewals that have taken place since the Federal Radio Commission started in 1927.  Prior to the FRC, radio was managed by the Department of Commerce.  There will be a separate project later that will integrate the limited amount of information we have available (mainly through Radio Service Bulletins). 

REC Networks has launched two new tip jar-based websites designed for the broadcast engineering and legal communities as well as the hobbyist community.  

fcc.today is a refresh and rebrand of the former "Today at the FCC" functionality on the REC website.  fcc.today is a near real-time, self-refreshing website that shows all of the FCC actions on radio and television broadcast applications within 10 minutes of the Commission making a decision.  Recently decided applications are highlighted on the page.  

fcc.today also includes the FCC Media Bureau news feeds.  We will work on more features for this site in the future. 

fcc.today takes advantage of the recently expanded ICANN top level domains.  Therefore, the full URL for the site is http://fcc.today ..  No dot-com or dot-net..  just http://fcc.today

REC has made its first major update of the Broadcast Query Tool (available at recnet.net) this year. 

Some of the major updates and changes in this release include: