Boise Community Radio won’t reach Boise
Don Day | April 24, 2008The Boise Community Radio Project has the FCC’s go ahead to light up a transmitter in Oregon – with Caldwell as a city of license.
The big question in many minds: This is the Boise Community Radio station… right?
Here’s the service area plot for the proposed station – which will share the tower used by KQTA/Ke Buena 106.3:
You’ll notice Boise is not on this map.
BCRP executive director Jeff Abrams seemed to dance around the subject with the Boise Weekly.
“We fully intend to have our studios remain downtown,” he said.
Not only will the station not have the City of Trees in its service area — the station is hemmed in by KAWZ in Twin Falls, KBSK in McCall and a pending FM application in Baker City. All of those stations are operating on 89.9 FM – which would make an expansion of the proposed BCRP station’s signal area difficult. Plus – they have to protect next door neighbor KBSU at 90.3 FM.
So how is this dog going to hunt without coverage in the Valley’s major population center?
Our resident FCC expert thinks that getting the 89.9 FM station on the air is just a first step — and that the Boise/Meridian/Nampa et al area could actually be served by translators. There are five translators licensed in the Boise area – with two more pending. Since BCRP is a non-comm, it would have the opportunity to buy or lease a translator to rebroadcast the Malheur Co. signal.
Tax dollars to fund BCRP?
The project’s news release says it is seeking $400,000 in construction funds from the Department of Commerce for the Oregon-based station. The organization is also planning to launch a capital campaign to raise an additional $250,000. By contrast, that $250k figure is exactly the same as the Log Cabin Literary Center’s annual budget. The Boise Weekly says the project has applied for a federal grant as well.
Past coverage
- BCRP’s FCC application
- Why BCRP is going after an already well-served niche
- BCRP launches webcast
Way to go guys as you have been trying so hard for so long….if you build it, good things will come.
I do however find it kind of ironic in a way… on one hand we have our former local station KSRV 96.1 FM sprinting for the Boise market -
while Boise folks cannot get a signal into their own backyard…its a pretty sad state of affairs with the FCC…. I am sure the BCRP station will blanket the western treasure valley in very strong signal footprint letting Ontario and surrounding rural residents know even more about BOISE goings ons.
How about finding a way to make a trade…give us “locals” back our formerly LOCAL SERVICE station and you too can have a station that serves your LOCAL needs as well…. Nothing but a winning deal except for the boys that think of radio only on the bottom line anymore.
Thanks for pointing this out. How will donors feel when they realize the station they’re funding can’t even be heard here? It will only damage future opportunities to do it RIGHT in the valley.
Also, I totally agree with RadioActive: we should rally together and take back our station from Boise State Radio!
Keep in mind— the coverage map you see here is a 60 db contour map. Just because Boise doesn’t fall into the 60 db contour, doesn’t mean it will be impossible to hear the signal at all. It will just be weak. Some areas will be worse than others, and some radio receivers will perform better than others. You may have seen my post in Responses to “BCRP given construction permit” from yesterday:
“My prediction is that the BCRP signal will reach Boise, but it will be weak. It will have very poor building penetration, and will be shadowed in areas near large buildings and at the base of the Boise Bench.
Cheap analog-dial radios will likely have trouble receiving the BCRP signal, because it’s fequency will be so tightly sandwiched between two stronger stations. Radios with AFC (automatic frequency control) tuners will often reject weaker signals in favor of stronger ones. 89.9 will be second adjacent to 89.5 KTSY, which has a strong Deer Point signal.
It will also be second adjacent to 90.3 KBSU FM, which is broadcasting in HD. The HD signal tends to generate more interference in a wider portion of the band than an analog station. That could create additional reception problems for BCRP.
I’m sure that Boiseans with good radios and antennas will be able to get the signal in if they try.”
If Boise-area translator is in the works, it may solve reception problems down the road.
Adding to what Peabody has said — once they get on the air you will find there is a lot of coverage in Boise. Not city grade, perhaps, but good coverage none-the-less. The other station from the same tower – KQTA – does show coverage of Boise under its 60 dbu signal area. OK, KQTA is 100 kw, and BCRP is only 7.9 kw. More important than power with FM signals is height and line of site. BCRP will do better than you think. In looking at the data, BCRP could increase power to about 12 kw (limited by the class of station), but seriously, that in itself won’t make a lot of difference. I give them KUDOs just for getting this far. Let’s get them on the air, and then do what can be done to improve it later. It is a great start.
I agree. Get on the air. Then you can improve the details later. How do you eat an elephant…One bite at a time….How does a tiger kill an elephant…One bite at day….with much patience at his disposal….The journey of a thousand miles starts…with one step….and so on and so on….yada…yada….yada…
Now its just details for BCRP
Oh, and by the way, RadioLover, it’s not like BCRP is trying not to do things “right.”
Take a look at the FM dial in this area. Specifically the non-com portion between 88 and 92 megaherz. You can see it very easily on radio-locator.com. It’s completely jam-packed full of signals. There are no frequencies open that aren’t first or second adjacent to other stations in this area. Now look at nearby markets like the Magic Valley and Baker-LaGrande areas. Those second adjacent frequencies that could potentially be open, for example 89.9, may have stations operating on those frequencies in those other markets. Therefore, new applicants will have locate their signals in areas which will protect those stations. That is why BCRP will be broadcasting from Eastern Oregon.
It’s pretty apparent that options are few at this point, and BCRP is trying hard to do things as “right” as possible. There is just nothing else available.
The only thing they’ve done wrong is to wait too long. It’s too bad all of this wasn’t being done 5-10 years ago, before all of the religious broadcasters (especially The Educational Media Foundation) started hoarding non-com fequencies in this area. If BCRP could have scored a signal like KARO, KIDH or KARJ (all of which are EMF owned stations playing Air1), they could cover most all of the valley quite well.
Even as it is, you can bet BCRP will gain a following in Boise, as long as their programming material is of high quality.
Remember the following KQXR had in the early days of “Pirate Radio?” Their signal was lousy, some of their programming was of questionable quality (ok, most of it), and they still had many loyal listeners in Boise.
Is a booster on 89.9 out of the question if it’s located on table rock or is that possible without KBSU and KSTY being affected?
On-channel boosters can create their own set of unique problems — They can actually interfere with the station they are “boosting” if things are not perfect. Really, we are looking for solutions to a problem we don’t even know exists. Put it on the air, see how it performs. Then – if there are issues, address them. Everyone is really over-thinking this thing.
Peabody–
Do you have anything constructive to say, or will you just continue with your “predictions?” It’s obvious you are on the outside looking in on this matter, because you seem to be getting your info either second hand (from whom, I wonder?)or you are just dreaming it up of your own accord becasue you fancy yourself knowledgeable about such matters. It’s funny, because after all this time, even in the face of overwhelmingly great news and an even greater positive direction for BCRP, there are still people who will talk smack, make negative little comments and say anything to make BCRP look less legit. Sad. Next time, please speak with less authority about things you are not authorized to speak about. It makes you seem like a misanthropic little person who would rather chuck bricks from afar as opposed to getting involved. Instead, perhaps focus on the great things BCRP will do for this community, not the mindless minutiae you’ve included in your post. It’s this sort of whiney nay-sayer behavior that almost submarined the project in the first place. The signal will be fine in Boise and the other areas in which studies suggest it will be fine (a nice chunk of $$$$ was laid out to assure this, and the FCC obviously concurs.) Have a nice day, and save the vitriolic post you are likely to send after you read this. I can see it coming from a mile away and frankly I am just not interested. GO Boise Community Radio!!! Keep up the great work and I’ll be hearing you soon!
Thank for the insights, Peabody. Good point about starting small and moving up.
I also would like details from BCR, though, before I donate again. That FCC map doesn’t look promosing, but it there’s a translator in the works, sounds like it won’t be a problem. I’d like to hear what the timeline is going to be for this and/or other solutions to the coverage problem.
Ooh, Jay, we’re getting a little personal here, aren’t we? Well here is my vitriolic post that you could see coming from a mile away, but are SO deserving of…
It would seem as though an internet blog, such as this, would be an appropriate place to voice opinions and the occasional prediction, would it not? I am not just mindlessly slamming BCRP. Those who pay attention to the things said here would likely realize that. Or so I would hope. Perhaps you missed something. I would advise you to reread what I have posted in my multiple posts and re-evaluate your position.
EMF doesn’t need three frequencies and a translator airing the same satellite-fed programming. (I am guessing that they are doing the broadcast equivalent of flipping real estate with those frequencies.) Probably since their philosophical drive is completely opposite, they wouldn’t do it but then again money DOES talk…
Ah, that being EMF selling 90.9 or 88.3 to BCRP.