Eric Rhoads' Blog
TX Station Draws $7K NAL For Tower Change
October 12, 2009: A $7,000 notice of apparent liability has gone out to John White, licensee of KOLJ-AM/Quanah, TX, for unauthorized operation of a station at variance with his license.
In June 2008, KOLJ was forced off the air by storms that damaged station equipment and brought down its tower. A former licensee filed for a special temporary authority to remain silent, and that was granted, with a warning that the station had to be back on the air within a year or its license would expire.
A few days before the expiration in June of this year, current licensee White let the FCC know that the station had gone back on the air in March 2009 from a tower at a different electrical height than the licensed tower. He filed a concurrent request for an STA for the replacement tower, and asked for permission to operate at a lower nighttime power than the previous license permitted.
The Media Bureau granted the STA request, but said White had apparently built a new tower, at the same location but with a different electrical height, without getting a construction permit from the commission. In a letter to White in July, the Bureau directed him to apply for a construction permit for the tower and then, if it is granted, apply for a license for that permit.
Since the station didn't get back on the air on an authorized tower within a year, White's license could technically be forfeit, but the Media Bureau said it will exercise its discretion and issue a fine for the unauthorized operation rather than pulling the license.
White has 30 days to pay the fine or respond with a statement seeking reduction or cancellation.
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