MHz in Rochester, New York, "is another station that is often heard in Australia.") This most commonly occurred during the summer months, and during peaks in the 11-year sunspot cycle. This determination led to the FCC moving the developing broadcasting service stations, which by now began to include experimental FM radio and TV stations, to higher frequencies that were less affected by solar influences. Apex band establishment (1937) In October 1937, the FCC announced a sweeping allocation of frequency assignments for the various competing services, including television, relay, and public service, which covered 10 kHz to 300 MHz. Included was a band of Apex stations, consisting of 75 channels with 40 kHz separations, and spanning from 41.02 to 43.98 MHz. The 40 kHz spacing between adjacent frequencies was four times as much as the 10 kHz spacing on the standard AM broadcast band, which reduced adjacent-frequency interference, and provided more bandwidth for high-fidelity programming. At the time it was estimated that there were about 50 Apex-style stations currently in operation, although transmitting on a variety of frequencies. In January 1938 the band's first 25 channels, from 41.02 to 41.98 MHz, were reserved for non-commercial educational stations, with the Cleveland City Board of Education's WBOE in Cleveland, Ohio, the first station to begin operation within this group. Apex band assignments (1937-1941) Conversion to FM (1941) At the time the Apex band was established, the FCC noted that "The Commission at an early date will consider carefully the needs and requirements for high-frequency broadcast stations using both conventional [AM] modulation and frequency modulation". As of January 15, 1940, only 2 non-commercial and 14 experimental stations held Apex band licenses, all of which were assigned operating frequencies in the bottom half of the band. (A similar number of experimental stations held grants for frequencies in the 25-26 MHz region.) In addition, at this same time 20 experimental FM stations had been assigned slots within the top half of the Apex band frequencies. The commission's studies soon found significant advantages to FM transmissions over the Apex AM signals. Sound quality, and especially resistance to interference from static, including from lightning, was found to be far superior for FM. Although FM assignments required five times the bandwidth of Apex stations (200 kHz vs. 40 kHz), the "capture effect" allowed FM stations operating on the same frequency to be spaced closer together than Apex stations. By