What Is Going On With KWSU 1250 AM?
Read
UPDATE 6/3/22: Backup parts engineers installed on June 1st are working and the signal is operating at full power. A new transmitter has been ordered.
The signal that started it all, KWSU 1250 AM, has had it rough lately. And so have the listeners who rely on this service.
The 100 year old signal began having power issues in early May that have persisted for weeks.
Parts for the current transmitter are no longer being made and equivalent parts were very hard to find. Add in shipping delays and that pushed the repairs to the transmitter to June 1st.
June 1st, at 8:00PM, KWSU 1250 AM will be going off the air for several hours as engineers work to repair it.
Capacitors in the KWSU AM transmitter.
Granted, the transmitter is not 100 years old, and it has aged well lasting far beyond it’s expected life span. While parts were in transit, engineers Jim Boothby and Jason Royals kept it on at lower power, installing spare capacitors, triaging other problems and nursing it along until the new replacement parts arrived.
Jim Boothby checking the KWSU 1250 AM transmitter.
The repairs will hopefully put KWSU 1250 AM to full power. If the replacement parts do not work, NWPB will rent an auxiliary transmitter to boost power until the new transmitter arrives. We expect the new transmitter to be delivered 16-20 weeks from now due to distribution issues that every industry is facing.
Thank you for your patience and thanks for listening.
Hannah L. W. Snyder
Radio Operations
Related Stories:
Why affordable housing providers say they’re facing an ‘existential’ crisis
Affordable housing providers across the Northwest have been contending with rising insurance premiums — and, in some cases, getting kicked off their plans altogether.
Pacific Northwest author’s new novel captures atmosphere of the region
On a gray, early spring morning, I drove to Steilacoom, Washington, to catch the ferry to Anderson Island. I boarded alongside the line of other cars and after parking, stepped out onto the deck of the boat. The ferry pushed off from the dock and rocked a little in the Puget Sound before steadying.
I took this journey to the real Anderson Island to see from the water what inspired Northwest author Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum’s new novel, “Elita,” which was published earlier this year. Sundberg Lunstrum was inspired while sailing around the Puget Sound to write a mystery novel on an island.
Sundberg Lunstrum read excerpts of the book at a gathering at Tacoma’s Grit City Books.
Repentina suspensión de Head Start afecta a cientos de niños en el centro de Washington
Suspensión de los programas Early Head Start y Head Start afecta a siete Inspire Development Centers en el centro de Washington, dejando a más de 400 niños sin apoyo educativo después de que la financiación federal nunca llegara. También provocó el despido de más de 70 personas.
