FCC 73.1560 Revised as of December 4, 2012
Goto Year:2011 |
§ 73.1560 Operating power and mode tolerances.
(a) AM stations. (1) Except as provided for in paragraph (d) of this
section, the antenna input power of an AM station as determined by the
procedures specified in § 73.51 must be maintained as near as is
practicable to the authorized antenna input power and may not be less
than 90% nor more than 105% of the authorized power.
(2) Whenever the transmitter of an AM station cannot be placed into the
specified operating mode at the time required, transmissions of the
station must be immediately terminated. However, if the radiated field
at any bearing or elevation does not exceed that permitted for that
time of day, operation in the mode with the lesser radiated field may
continue under the notification procedures of paragraph (d) of this
(b) FM stations. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section,
the transmitter output power of an FM station, with power output as
determined by the procedures specified in § 73.267, which is authorized
for output power more than 10 watts must be maintained as near as
practicable to the authorized transmitter output power and may not be
less than 90% nor more than 105% of the authorized power. FM stations
operating with authorized transmitter output power of 10 watts or less,
may operate at less than the authorized power, but not more than 105%
of the authorized power.
(c) TV stations. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this
section, the visual output power of a TV or Class A TV transmitter, as
determined by the procedures specified in Sec. 73.664, must be
maintained as near as is practicable to the authorized transmitter
output power and may not be less than 80% nor more than 110% of the
(2) The output power of the aural transmitter shall be maintained to
provide an aural carrier ERP not to exceed 22% of the peak authorized
(3) The FCC may specify deviation from the power of tolerance
requirements for subscription television operations to the extent it
deems necessary to permit proper operation.
(d) Reduced power operation. In the event it becomes technically
impossible to operate at authorized power, a broadcast station may
operate at reduced power for a period of not more than 30 days without
specific authority from the FCC. If operation at reduced power will
exceed 10 consecutive days, notification must be made to the FCC in
Washington, DC, Attention: Audio Division (radio) or Video Division
(television), Media Bureau, not later than the 10th day of the lower
power operation. In the event that normal power is restored within the
30 day period, the licensee must notify the FCC of the date that normal
operation was restored. If causes beyond the control of the licensee
prevent restoration of the authorized power within 30 days, a request
for Special Temporary Authority (see § 73.1635) must be made to the FCC
in Washington, DC for additional time as may be necessary.
[ 44 FR 58734 , Oct. 11, 1979, as amended at 49 FR 22093 , May 25, 1984;
49 FR 29069 , July 18, 1984; 49 FR 47610 , Dec. 6, 1984; 50 FR 26568 ,
June 27, 1985; 50 FR 40015 , Oct. 1, 1985; 63 FR 33877 , June 22, 1998;
65 FR 30004 , May 10, 2000; 67 FR 13232 , Mar. 21, 2002]
return arrow Back to Top
CiteFind - See documents on FCC website that
cite this rule
Want to support this service?
Report errors in
this rule. Since these rules are converted to HTML by machine, it's possible errors have been made. Please
help us improve these rules by clicking the Report FCC Rule Errors link to report an error.