Sharon Hanks
WYCE, an independent, community radio station serving the city of Grand Rapids and neighboring suburbs, has boosted its signal strength from 7,000 watts to 10,000 watts, expanding its broadcast area in West Michigan.
Under ideal conditions, WYCE station manager Kevin Murphy says its on-air FM programming at 88.1 Mhz can now broadcast as far away as nearly 40 miles from its antenna near U.S. 131 and 28th St. SE compared to a distance of nearly 25 miles before.
"For years our listeners have been asking, 'When will I be able to listen to you in Holland? In Grand Haven?'" says Murphy. "After nearly a decade of fundraising, bureaucratic red tape, and a whole lot of crossed fingers, we're so happy to be able to tell those listeners: 'Tune in now!'"
Last month, the non-commercial radio station was granted final approval from the Federal Communications Commission to operate at full strength. The new transmitter was installed in January followed by an antenna in June. The upgrade cost nearly $100,000.
"We're getting calls from people along the Lakeshore who tell us they were listening to the station and it never cut out," says Murphy. "The signal is the strongest to the north up to about Big Rapids. Sometimes when the weather conditions are right and it's overcast, you'll get a bigger signal area than on a clear day. It has to do with signals bouncing off clouds."
Located at the Grand Rapids Community Center studio at 711 Bridge St. NW, WYCE's increase in power caps the station's largest on-air fund drive in its 23 years of broadcasting. It is West Michigan's only community radio station solely supported by listeners and its 70-plus volunteer programmers.
Source: Kevin Murphy, WYCE station manager, Grand Rapids
Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.
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