Washington - Jul 19, 2007 - A petition from Ed Schober of Radiotechniques Engineering to modify the pre-sunrise and post-sunset authority rules for AM broadcast stations has been opened for comment with the FCC. Listed under RM-11384, the petition seeks to loosen the rules for stations operating during these periods. In particular, the petition proposes several points.

• PSRA and PSSA power need not be limited to 500W if no interference would be caused.
• Secondary (skywave) service areas of class A stations expand and contract from east to west with the transit of the sun. There is no need to protect a service area that either does not exist yet on the western edge of the area, or has ceased to exist because the sun is rising on the eastern edge of the area.
• Stations should be able to use their day, night, auxiliary or one tower of the array - whatever works best for PSRA and PSSA.
• Class B and D stations should be able to operate with any power, up to the maximum of day or night station power during PSRA and PSSA so long as no interference is caused.

The petition can be read and comments can be filed through the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System. Reference RM-11384.