NOME, AK (August 16, 2006) – KICY radio was able to complete a two-year project to raise a new FM tower this summer, but will have to wait another year to strengthen its AM signal into Russia.
The FM tower will enable the station to broadcast throughout Nome and into the villages of Dexter and Banner Creek, says station manager Dennis Weidler. Previously only parts of Nome could receive the signal.
The new FM tower will broadcast at 1000 watts from a height of 90 feet, Weidler says. The previous tower broadcast 84 watts from 30 feet.
Work began June 2 and none too soon. The barge carrying the support pole for the tower had to cut through sea ice that already had begun to form in the harbor entrance, Weidler says.
Members from the group Towers for Jesus, a ministry that helps Christian broadcasters, arrived June 13 to assemble the tower on the ground, Weidler says. A crane that was “just barely” tall enough lifted the tower on June 15.
It will take KICY several months to get a license for the tower, but the station still can broadcast on “test authority,” Weidler says.
Another year will be needed for the station to broadcast deeper into Russia, however. A fire that destroyed the tuning house at the base of the center tower a year ago Thursday has kept the station from broadcasting a directional signal into the country during the evening, Weidler says.
Weidler had hoped the station would be able to erect a new AM tower this summer, but instead, the east tower had to be taken down because its base had begun to tilt badly over the winter.
Weidler says the station still can broadcast into Russia with the non-directional signal from the remaining tower, just not as far. The other towers help boost the signal, he explained.
New pilings will be installed over the winter, Weidler says, and construction on the tuner house and towers will begin next spring. The station manager says KICY still needs to raise $125,000 to pay for the repairs.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
