Cries of jubilation swept through KHEN‘s broadcast studio at 3:30 Friday afternoon as the radio station went back on the air after about six hours of downtime.
A series of events conspired to take KHEN off the air today, according to station co-coordinator Kali Lynn. About three weeks ago, KHEN’s transmitter failed and was replaced with equipment on loan from Colorado College station KRCC.
Early Thursday, KRCC’s transmitter on Mount Princeton failed, forcing them to ask KHEN to return their spare. KHEN volunteers removed the loaner transmitter from Tenderfoot Mountain on Friday at about 9:30 a.m., taking KHEN off the air. The KRCC technician was able to repair their equipment on Mount Princeton, however, rather than replacing it, and gave the transmitter back to KHEN. Local resident Doug Rausch then re-installed the transmitter on Tenderfoot Mountain this afternoon.
Lynn said that KHEN staff had expected the station to be off the air until Wednesday. As a result, live programming was largely canceled for Friday, but would return Saturday. Live programs Friday evening will be dependent on the station being able to get in touch with individual DJs.
Listeners tuning into KHEN’s online stream today heard automated programming mixed by the station’s computer, “Big Bird”.
Station co-founder Jane Carpenter said that today’s outage was the first since the low-power transmitter was installed some seven years ago. “We need to invest in a new transmitter to avoid future disruptions in service,” Carpenter said. The broken transmitter is no longer supported by the manufacturer because of its age. The $5,000 needed for a new transmitter would probably have to be raised through a capital campaign, according to Carpenter, as membership fees are used to pay for operating expenses. A capital campaign paid for the broadcasting tower on Tenderfoot Mountain.
The low-power community radio station provides education, cultural enrichment and entertainment for Salida and Chaffee County.
People interested in donating money for a new transmitter are encouraged to call KHEN at 539-1069, or send a check to Tenderfoot Transmitting, Inc. at PO Box 596, Salida CO 81201. Tenderfoot is a 501 c 3 organization; donations are tax-deductible.
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