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KICY Hopes to Restore AM Signal by September

NOME, AK (August 23, 2005) - Last week was of the bad news-good news variety for radio station KICY.

Last Wednesday, an early morning fire at a tuning house knocked the station's AM signal off the air. General manager Dennis Weidler says a cause of the fire has not been determined, but arson and vandalism have been ruled out.

Weidler says insurance representatives think that the station will be covered for much of the damage, but the amount still is uncertain. Weidler also doesn't know whether labor and equipment costs – including the rental of helicopters – will be covered.

Weidler says he hopes the AM broadcast can be restored by September 1. The 25,000-watt, non-directional signal will enable the station to broadcast across western Alaska and into nearby Chukotka, Russia. The signal has carried the English-language programming from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The station still will not be able to broadcast a directional signal, which had enabled programming to be carried into Siberia, Kamchatka and deeper into Chukotka, Weidler says. That signal most likely will not be restored until next summer. The harsh winter conditions would make it impossible to rebuild the tuner house and carry out necessary testing, which will take several months. That testing includes checking radio signals at 500 different compass points established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Some of those places are accessible only by helicopter or all terrain vehicles, Weidler says.

The process lasted from August to November several years ago when the system was installed, Weidler says. The station expects to incur additional expenses for restoring AM service. Weidler suggests that anyone wanting to contribute to the repairs should designate giving to that project.

On Friday, the station received good news when it learned that it had received a grant of up to $30,000 to purchase a new FM tower, doubling the size of its current tower and paying for its final installation. The A.J. Murdock Charitable trust of Vancouver, Washington, awarded the Arctic Broadcasting Association the grant. The association operates the station and is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Installation of the new tower and four-element antenna should be completed by the summer of 2006, Weidler says. The new antenna will enable the station to broadcast up to 25 miles into communities surrounding Nome. Currently, the station reaches only into Nome, with some parts of the city unable to pick up the signal.

The station has raised $44,000 as part of the matching grant for the FM tower so no additional fundraising is needed, Weidler says.

To read more about the fire, please see KICY Fire.

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