CORTLAND -- SUNY Cortland's WSUC 90.5, which serves as a part-time simulcast for programming from Oswego's WRVO, has applied for permission to increase its broadcast power levels. This is the second time the FCC has accepted an application for the change, after the original construction permit filed in 2007 expired last week.
Right now, FCC records show WSUC authorized to broadcast at 210 watts with an antenna located 18 meters below average terrain (it's 28.7 meters above ground level at the transmitter site).
The application filed in 2007, which resulted in the approval of a CP, requested permission to boost the power to 1,400 watts. According to Bud Williamson of Digital Radio Broadcasting, Inc., who filed the application as a consultant on behalf of WSUC, the stronger signal would expand the station's coverage area, without creating undue interference for other stations on the same or neighboring frequencies.
The CP expired exactly three years later, on October 1, 2010. Since the power increase apparently hasn't happened yet, WSUC needs to apply for a new CP. The new application was "accepted for filing" by the FCC on October 4. Williamson is still listed as the technical consultant for the project, and the new application is practically word-for-word identical to the original, save for a few minor revisions, like dates and the name of the person who signed on behalf of the college. There's no indication (as far as we could find) as to why the power increase wasn't implemented before the original CP expired.
"Accepted for Filing," in the eyes of the FCC, means that the application has been received and so far, they haven't noticed any "red flags" that would prevent an approval. The acceptance also opens a 30-day window for public comment regarding the application. Assuming there are no objections which warrant further attention from the FCC, a new CP should be granted after the comment period ends.
WSUC, branded as "The Dragon" after the school's athletic teams, the Red Dragons, divides its broadcast day between live programming hosted by SUNY Cortland students and a simulcast of NPR affiliate WRVO, located on the SUNY Oswego campus.