KRFY powers up once again
KRFY officials work to hook up the community radio station’s transmitter and antenna at their new permanent home on an unused Lake Pend Oreille School District transmitter tower.
(Courtesy photo)
KRFY officials get ready to hook up the community radio station’s transmitter and antenna at their new permanent home.
KRFY has to good news to send over the radio waves.
The community radio station announced this week that the station’s transmitter and antenna have been hooked up to their new permanent home and the station is now back on full power.
“Fortunately, Lake Pend Oreille School District gave KRFY a long-term lease agreement on their unused transmitter tower,” station manager Suzy Prez said.
The move to the new tower was necessitated when the station was informed in August that their vertical rental space on the transmission tower they had occupied for the past 10 years, was being terminated. Prez said that meant that the antenna and transmitter had to come down, and a new broadcast site would have to be found.
KRFY’s production manager, Jack Peterson, along with Conrad Agte from Vector Broadcasting, got to work, took the KRFY equipment down from the old tower and started to search for a new home.
“In the meantime, with the help of loaned equipment from KPBX in Spokane, a temporary, low-power tower situation was installed on the roof of the building the KRFY studio occupies in downtown Sandpoint,” Prez said.
While KRFY continued to stream online over the past four months, the the low, local broadcast range meant that folks who used to listen as far away as Clark Fork and Priest River, Bonners Ferry and Athol could no longer get the signal on their radio, Prez said.
However, that changed Monday when, about 5 p.m., KRFY switched back to full power with a loud-and-clear broadcast signal. After a notice was put on Facebook, many folks began posting that they are thrilled to be back listening to their favorite radio station at 88.5 KRFY, Prez said.
The unexpected tower relocation has put the station’s budget in a bind, and is prompting KRFY to reach out to listeners and supporters this month to recuperate some of the unbudgeted expense, Prez said
KRFY’s annual end-of-the-year, on-air outreach event is slated for next week, Dec. 12-16, and will feature live broadcasting each day at 8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. Guests have been scheduled from underwriters, local community organizations and local musicians.
“So tune in and enjoy your community radio station back on full power 24/7 at 88.5 KRFY,” Prez said.
Information available at www.krfy.org or by calling 208-265-2992.
