Check out this excellent article about our SWLing Post community member and avid DXer, Paul Walker:

KSKO’s One Man, Full-Time Operation Connects Interior Alaska (Alliance of Rural Public Media)

Paul Walker, the self-professed “Alaska Radio Nerd” is the sole full-time employee of a station that provides news, music, and emergency services across a wide swath of central Alaska.

When Paul Walker flips his phone camera around to give a virtual tour of KSKO and its compact studio in McGrath, Alaska, the screen fills with a maze of wires, weathered equipment, and the unmistakable charm of a place well-loved. “This is our rack of equipment,” Walker says with a mix of pride and humor. “It’s a result of managers like me knowing enough to get something done — we add on rather than take away.” As the station’s program director and only full-time employee, Walker navigates this labyrinth daily, ensuring that the voices and needs of interior Alaska’s remote communities are broadcast across the airwaves.

KSKO isn’t just any radio station. Alongside the McGrath studio, a collection of seven repeater stations and two partner stations broadcast widely — across stretches up to 150 miles in some directions, reaching villages across the center of Alaska where the population sometimes doesn’t even hit triple digits. Walker estimates that they serve around 1,200 people, so in a land where the internet is spotty and cell service is a luxury, radio remains a vital lifeline. “The cornerstone of KSKO’s local programming is weather forecasting and what we call ‘messages,’” Walker explains. These messages act as a community bulletin board, sharing everything from emergency alerts to mother moose sightings in town. [Continue reading…]