Copyright ©1997, RF Specialties Group.
KNOM, the radio station
of the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese located in Nome, Alaska, took to the air August
15, 1997 with a new signal. That was the date that the station first threw the
switch to put its new Nautel ND25 25,000 watt AM transmitter on the air.
The non-commercial station, at 780 kHz on the dial, is an important communications link for people throughout Western Alaska, a wilderness where just a few thousand people are scattered in isolated villages across several hundred thousand square miles. The station has won innumerable awards for its community service activities, among them an NAB Crystal Award and numerous Gabriel Awards, including "Radio Station of the Year" for 1996 and 1997.
KNOM's new transmitter is temporarily operating at the station's old power of 10,000 watts until F.C.C. authority to increase to the new power is received, hopefully in September. The power increase, in the works for several years, makes KNOM the most powerful signal in Western Alaska, and extends its reach to include many new villages in the Alaska tundra.
The new equipment was purchased through the generous contributions of hundreds of individual donors around the U.S. Among them was Mrs. Antoinette Lauer, whose contribution of $50,000 was the single largest donation to the project. Mrs. Lauer was the guest of KNOM for the ribbon cutting ceremony, where she personally threw the switch to put the new transmitter on the air.
John Schneider, of
RF Specialties' Seattle office, began working with KNOM General Manager Tom
Busch a year and a half ago to plan the equipment needs of the station. In addition
to the Nautel transmitter, Tom chose a custom Kintronic Laboratories antenna
tuning unit and notch filter, and worked closely with John and Tom King of Kintronics
on both the electrical and mechanical layout. Nautel engineers also went out
of their way to help with suggestions for the electrical and mechanical layout
of the new transmitter building.
The Nautel transmitter was an easy choice for Tom Busch. KNOM was the first station in Alaska to purchase a Nautel Ampfet 10 in 1985, and his vocal praise of the transmitter to fellow broadcasters is partly responsible for the large number of Nautel transmitters now on the air across the state. That original transmitter has given flawless service to KNOM for twelve continuous years. "It's a magnificent transmitter", said Busch of his new ND-25. " It's thoughtfully designed, and built carefully and conservatively, which is important to us. We look forward to many years of carefree operation by our second Nautel."
For more information about KNOM, visit their web site at http://www.knom.org
Photos:
1. Jeff Welton, Nautel engineer, Tom Busch, KNOM Manager, and Les Brown, Chief
Engineer, stand in front of the newly commissioned Nautel ND-25 transmitter.
2. Jeff Welton checks the operation of the Kintronics 25 KW antenna tuning unit.