FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
445 12th Street, S.W.
WASHINGTON DC 20554
MEDIA BUREAU
AUDIO SERVICES DIVISION
APPLICATION STATUS: (202)418-2730
HOME PAGE: WWW.FCC.GOV/MB/AUDIO

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PROCESSING ENGINEER: Robert Gates
TELEPHONE: (202) 418-0986
FACSIMILE: (202)418-1410
INTERNET ADDRESS: Robert.Gates@fcc.gov

Reston Translator, LLC
11140 Glade Drive
Reston,VA 20191
In Re:

W252DC, Reston, VA
Facility ID # 138737
BPFT-20181212AAK
Informal Objection

Dear Applicant:
The staff has under consideration: (1) the above captioned application; (2) the Informal Objection
filed by Somar Communications, Inc. on January 3, 2019; (3) all related pleadings. For the
reasons set forth herein, we dismiss the Informal Objections and grant the application BPFT
20181212AAK.
Petitioner filed an Informal Objection that the proposed application will cause interference to
WSMD(FM), Mechanicsville, Maryland in violation of Section 74.1204(f). In order to provide
convincing evidence under Section 74.1204(f) that grant of the translator construction permit
“will result in interference to the reception” of an existing full-service station, an opponent must
provide, at a minimum: (1) the name and specific address of each listener for which it claims
credit; (2) some demonstration that the address of each purported listener falls within the 60 dB!I
contour of the proposed translator station;1 (3) some evidence, such as a declaration from each of
the claimed listeners, that the person listens to the full-service station at the specified location;
and (4) evidence that grant of the authorization will result in interference to the reception of the
“desired” station at that location. The “undesired-to-desired” (“U/D”) signal strength ratio
methodology may be used to demonstrate the potential for interference under Section
74.1204(f).2 Section 74.1204(f) requires the objector to show that a specific U/D signal strength
ratio is exceeded at the location of a bonafide listener of the desired station to establish that
interference will result.
The best method is to plot the specific addresses on a map depicting the translator station’s 60
dB1i contour.
2 See The Association for Community Education, Inc., FCC 04-155, Para. 13, (rel. July 8, 2004).
1

The Petitioner failed to submit signed declarations from the listeners and the specific locations
where the listener listens for WSMD(FM) within the 60 dB1i contour of the proposed facility
therefore, the Informal Objection is dismissed.
Please note, Section 74.1203(a) states that should the translator commence operation and cause
interference to the reception of input signal of any FM translator, even to the input to another
translator, the translator will be required to eliminate the interference or cease operation.
Accordingly, the Informal Objection filed on January 3, 2019 by Sonar Communications, Inc. IS
HEREBY DISMISSED, the application BPFT-20181212AAK IS HEREBY GRANTED. These
actions is taken pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 0.283.

Deputy Chief
Audio Division
Media Bureau
CC: Todd Steiner (email)