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Can you hear KSFC now?

The new KSFC tower and transmitter shed on Lookout Mountain

In March 2004, KSFC made the move from a small tower on top of the SPR offices on Monroe Street to a new transmitter in the northwest part of the county.

The site at Lookout Mountain (near Nine Mile) has been able to reach much of the Spokane Valley, the northern reaches of Spokane County, and far west of the county line.

Please let us know if you can hear it in your area, or if it interferes with your reception of the KPBX signal on a 91.9 translator. Either call 328-5729, or send an email. Please include your location, what type of radio you're listening to (car, home stereo, clock radio, etc) and signal quality.

The move did more than boost power from 100 to 450 watts. The new location is also approximately 1300 feet higher than the former site. The higher the transmitter, the further the signal travels, says SPR Engineer Jerry Olson. "It's like having a 6,000 watt station at the old altitude," he says.

Until the power switch, only city residents with strong radios and drivers in the metro area could pick up the news and public affairs programming on KSFC.

So far, listeners in Davenport, Cheney, Chewelah, the Spokane Valley, Fairchild, and South Hill have said they hear it loud and clear.

Ironically, the area closest to the Spokane Public Radio studios – downtown and the ‘near-north side’ – has a reduced signal. The reason is the line-of-sight nature of radio. “The transmitter is now 10 miles north of the old, in-town site. Now that we’re no longer transmitting from the roof on Monroe Street, we’re in the shadow of Five Mile Prairie and the Garland Hill,” says engineer Jerry Olson.

For at least the time being, Coeur d’Alene will not receive KSFC. KPBX serves downtown Cd’A with a separate translator which also operates at 91.9 FM. That had to be turned off for two days during interference tests, which meant KPBX reception was staticy or gone. We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank those who called to say they missed their public radio.


KSFC's Roots from Spokane Falls

Spokane Public Radio received the license for KSFC in 1997 from Spokane Falls Community College. The station had been a small training facility for a discontinued degree program.

"When it was offered to us, we engaged a consulting engineer to study what other signals operated on KSFC's frequency," says General Manager Dick Kunkel. "We discovered a power increase and change in tranmitter location was possible. Once the license transfer was official, we filed a request at the Federal Communications Commission to allow us to do both."

For more than a year, KSFC simply rebroadcast the KPBX signal, making it difficult to distinguish from 91.1 FM. KSFC did broadcast its own signal during times of extended NPR news coverage, such as the Clinton impeachment hearings. The turning point came in July 1999, when KSFC went solo with its own 24-hour programming stream.

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After several delays caused by a slight change in location, the project got a boost in September 2002 with the raising of the tower. However, nothing could be turned on until the FCC issued a revised construction permit.

During construction, engineer Olson has gotten tremendous technical support from other organizations and individuals. In particular, KCBX in San Luis Obispo donated a transmitter to Spokane Public Radio, which was then modified for the 91.9 channel.

Radio engineer Bill Gott was hired to put up the tower, but he went well beyond the terms of the contract. “Bill’s been an invaluable resource. He laid foundation work for the shed, loaned us equipment to use during testing, and hung antennas. He’s taken us on as a personal project,” Olson says.

Now that the long-awaited power increase is becoming reality, Spokane Public Radio hopes KSFC will attract new listeners, and new members. While listener interest is high, listener contributions have been slow.

If you like what you hear, please seriously consider sending a check designated for KSFC; mail to Spokane Public Radio, 2319 N. Monroe St., Spokane, WA 99205.