{"id":30039,"date":"2018-01-08T01:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T05:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=30039"},"modified":"2018-01-08T07:41:32","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T11:41:32","slug":"ny-times-on-the-rise-of-low-power-community-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/ny-times-on-the-rise-of-low-power-community-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Times on the rise of low power community radio"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

When listening to marginal FM signals, the AR1780 can be set to mono mode instead of default stereo mode.<\/p><\/div>\n

(Source: NY Times<\/a> via Mike Hansgen)<\/p>\n

\n

As Low-Power Local Radio Rises, Tiny Voices Become a Collective Shout<\/h2>\n

SEATTLE \u2014 A knowledge of geography is essential if you are running a tiny, 100-watt radio station. Hills are bad, for example, as are tall buildings. Salt water, though, which lies at this city\u2019s doorstep, can boost a radio signal for miles, like a skipped rock.<\/p>\n

For a low-power FM radio station, anything measurable in miles is good.<\/p>\n

But on a recent Thursday night, one station, KBFG, was struggling to even get on the air. The station\u2019s signal, audible since November in an area measurable in square blocks, had flatlined. The Ballard High School basketball team was about to take the court and the live play-by-play was in doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bootstrapping it,\u201d said Eric Muhs, a physics and astronomy teacher. Headphones were slung around his neck, and a mop of unruly gray hair came further undone as he leaned into his laptop trying to fix a software glitch. But Mr. Muhs, 60, one of KBFG\u2019s founders, admitted that the stakes for failure were relatively low. \u201cAlmost nobody knows that we exist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Low-power nonprofit FM stations are the still, small voices of media. They whisper out from basements and attics, and from miniscule studios and on-the-fly live broadcasts like KBFG\u2019s. They have traditionally been rural and often run by churches; many date to the early 2000s, when the first surge of federal licenses were issued.<\/p>\n

But in the last year, a diverse new wave of stations has arrived in urban America, cranking up in cities from Miami to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and especially here in the Northwest, where six community stations began to broadcast in Seattle.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Continue reading at the New York Times.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Source: NY Times via Mike Hansgen) As Low-Power Local Radio Rises, Tiny Voices Become a Collective Shout SEATTLE \u2014 A knowledge of geography is essential if you are running a tiny, 100-watt radio station. Hills are bad, for example, as are tall buildings. Salt water, though, which lies at this city\u2019s doorstep, can boost a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3781,3],"tags":[3854,1384,6741,3422,371],"class_list":["post-30039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fm","category-news","tag-community-radio","tag-fm-radio","tag-lpfm","tag-mike-k8rat","tag-ny-times"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-7Ov","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56542,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/chasing-low-power-fm-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":30039,"position":0},"title":"Chasing Low-Power FM Stations","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"May 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Male voice, singing: You\u2019re the reason I have bald tires on my car . . . Female voice, singing: You\u2019re the reason I threw your clothes out in the yard . . . Male and female voices singing in harmony: You\u2019re the reason our kids are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/tecsun-880-with-whip-extended-004-001-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/tecsun-880-with-whip-extended-004-001-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/tecsun-880-with-whip-extended-004-001-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48680,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/radio-waves-radio-survivor-covers-pirates-pt-2-radio-scatter-and-theoretical-wspr-rip-bob-fass-and-vatican-radio-celebrates-marconi-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":30039,"position":1},"title":"Radio Waves: Radio Survivor Covers Pirates Pt. 2, Radio Scatter and Theoretical WSPR, RIP Bob Fass, and Vatican Radio Celebrates Marconi Day","author":"Thomas","date":"April 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0readers.\u00a0 To that end:\u00a0Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31100,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/fcc-cracking-down-on-colorado-pirates\/","url_meta":{"origin":30039,"position":2},"title":"FCC cracking down on Colorado pirates","author":"Thomas","date":"March 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Westword via Mike Hansgen) Will the FCC Sink Pirate Radio in Colorado? Word spread quickly about the mysterious unmarked black SUV parked at a highway exit just outside the town of Ward on January 24. In the self-sufficient mountain community perched at 9,500 feet, strangers always attract attention. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/WayHighRadioStudio.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/WayHighRadioStudio.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/WayHighRadioStudio.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/WayHighRadioStudio.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7314,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/newsweek-can-radio-turn-the-tide-in-syria\/","url_meta":{"origin":30039,"position":3},"title":"Newsweek: Can radio turn the tide in Syria?","author":"Thomas","date":"September 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to The Professor for sharing this brilliant article by Mike Giglio in The Daily Beast: \"Twenty minutes\u2014this was the small window of time that Majid (not his real name) usually gave himself to broadcast his radio dispatches and then flee. 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Those readers living outside North America may be scratching their heads,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Sangean-HDR-16-Gloss-Finish.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Sangean-HDR-16-Gloss-Finish.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Sangean-HDR-16-Gloss-Finish.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36163,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/how-one-tiny-ontario-station-keeps-listeners-tuning-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":30039,"position":5},"title":"“How one tiny Ontario station keeps listeners tuning in”","author":"Thomas","date":"February 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: TVO.org) At Amherst Island\u2019s CJAI 92.1 FM, volunteers host shows, work the mixing board, and woo advertisers \u2014 it\u2019s just one of many small local radio stations across the province trying to do more with less AMHERST ISLAND \u2014 Radio host Brian Little takes a quick break from playing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thebarn-CJAI-1024x323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thebarn-CJAI-1024x323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thebarn-CJAI-1024x323.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}