After being off since October 2023, we flipped the switch on a new 106.9 translator on March 20.

Our Johnson County transmitter lost its location when Kirkwood sold its Iowa City campus building and the tower where we resided was torn down. This transition came at an interesting time. The location of the translator had always been a bit of a mixed bag. On the up side, the site was rent-free. However, the location was not optimal for maximum reach. There is a reason they call the street Lower Muscatine, after all!

Coincidentally,  the 106.9 transmitter had died several months before and we had been operating with temporary lash-up while trying to figure out if the transmitter could be repaired.  When the building sale was announced, we decided to scrap the old transmitter and antenna completely and start with new equipment.

First on the agenda was getting some expert help. When remote learning transitioned from microwave links to the various Kirkwood regional campuses to the Internet, the college got out of the antenna and transmitter business. The technicians who had helped us in the past were mostly retired. Fortunately, we have two of the best broadcast engineers in the business right in our back yard.

Jim Davies is the chief Radio Engineer for IPR and George Nicholas heads Engineering for Cedar Rapids-based NRG Media. They’re among the most respected engineers in the country. They’ve built or re-furbed dozens of stations over the years, and are experts at navigating FCC filings, forms, and procedures. Even though their day jobs and other contract work keep them very busy, they agreed to take us on. Without in-house experts, knowing that our project would be done right by experienced hands was a huge comfort.

Technicians install the new antenna in early 2024

The next step was figuring out a location. With the explosion in cell-phone use, tower space is at a bit of a premium. And big companies have bought up many facilities with the intent of charging all the market would bear in rental. George and Jim proved their worth immediately by coming up with a unique solution. It would be possible that instead of having to rent our own antenna space, we could team up with an existing facility. 

Using a procedure called “diplexing,” two broadcast transmitters on separate frequencies could send their signal to one antenna. Not only did this mean we wouldn’t have find free antenna space, but since each signal originates at the same place, potential interference would be reduced. Think of running with a friend. If you each start at opposite ends of a track and run toward each other, you’ll have zig and zag to avoid interfering with each other. If you start out side by side, you can run all day long without colliding.  We might even be able to increase power a little bit and get better coverage.

Luckily, KZIA-FM also has a couple of translators in the Iowa City area. One of them was on a frequency that complemented ours, meaning we’d only need a minimum of filtering to reduce interference. Even though our two stations don’t have much in common business-wise, commercial Top 40 vs. non-commercial jazz, we’ve always had a cordial relationship. KZIA’s translator would get some new equipment out of the deal, and a partner for future maintenance or upgrade needs.

KZIA was located on a tower just off North Dodge Street on Iowa City’s east side, on much higher ground than Lower Muscatine. And it was locally owned by Coralville-based Business Radio Sales. So we wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with an absentee landlord.

We got all the participants around the table and negotiated an agreement that seemed to benefit all parties. Then it was just a matter getting the equipment ordered, hiring a tower crew to install the antenna, and filing a whole bunch of reports and applications to the FCC.

As we had hoped, the new location has allowed us to increase power. Granted it was only from 100 watts to about 240, but combined with being on higher ground, our coverage is vastly improved. And on March 20, we turned on the new and improved 106.9, with much improved sound and coverage.