KBKF-LD,
virtual and
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
digital channel 6, is a
low-powered television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ear ...
(LPTV)
licensed to
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, United States. The station is owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC. Its
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to ...
site is located on
Loma Prieta Peak.
Although licensed as a TV station, KBKF-LD primarily functions as a
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...
station, broadcasting
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and ...
from the
Air1
Air1 is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), it primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network.
History
In 1986, KLRD began broadcasting Christian ...
network that can be heard by FM radios at 87.7 MHz. Its
ATSC 3.0 video feed broadcasts U Channel on digital channel 6.2.
History
Originally KBKF-LP, the station initially transmitted as an analog TV station, taking advantage of the fact that the analog TV standard for channel 6 specifies the audio portion of the transmission as an FM signal centered on
87.75 MHz. This can be picked up by most FM receivers at 87.7 FM.
Faced with an approaching July 13, 2021 FCC deadline requiring all LPTV stations to convert from analog to digital transmissions, Venture Technologies developed a version of the
ATSC 3.0 digital TV standard that allows an analog FM audio subcarrier to coexist with the digital TV signal.
["MeTV FM goes from low-power TV station to top-10 Chicago radio station"]
by Robert Channick, ''Chicago Tribune'', May 3, 2018.
Now operating as a digital LPTV station with the call sign KBKF-LD, this station was used as a test site, and began dual digital TV/analog FM transmissions in February 2021. On June 10, 2021, the FCC issued a six month long Special Temporary Authority (STA) grant allowing KBKF-LD to continue analog FM broadcasts on 87.75 MHz using this method.
"Re: Request for Special Temporary Authority: KBKF-LD, San Jose, CA"
(correspondence from Barbara A. Kreisman, Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau), June 10, 2021 (FCC.gov)
See also
* KSCZ-LD
KSCZ-LD, virtual channel 16 (UHF digital channel 23), is a low-powered television station licensed to San Jose and San Francisco, California, United States. It broadcasts mostly Vietnamese-language programming from atop Mount Allison in unincor ...
References
External links
Air1 Website
Venture Technologies Group website
Air1 radio stations
Television channels and stations established in 2004
BKF-LP
Television in San Jose, California
BFK-LP
Low-power television stations in the United States
ATSC 3.0 television stations
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