Southeast’s Public Radio Station Makes Upgrades to Better Serve the Region
KRCU Public Radio at Southeast Missouri State
University has successfully completed the change-out of the antenna of
88.9 FM, KSEF in Farmington, Mo., and is now broadcasting at 20,000
watts.
“KRCU is now able to provide a better signal to the Farmington/Park
Hills area and more signal in South County and perhaps Metropolitan St.
Louis,” said Dan Woods, general manager of KRCU. “In addition,
communities south and east of Farmington will receive a much improved
signal. Those include Fredericktown, Ironton and Ste. Genevieve.”
KRCU filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) on Sept. 30 to change the city of license of its repeater station
from Farmington to Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Changing the city of license did
not involve moving any equipment and is simply an FCC filing matter,
Woods said. In addition, the application KRCU filed allows the station
to increase its power output from 9,500 watts to 20,000 watts, which
required the installation of a new, more robust antenna system.
The increase in signal will improve KRCU’s coverage along I-55.
Initial coverage estimates show KRCU’s signal at 88.9 FM should reach
from Perryville, Mo., along I-55, and into south St. Louis County.
While preliminary estimates indicate that the signal will be
strongest in Farmington/Park Hills and extend into South County, it may
well be accessible to listeners in other areas of the city and county.
“Several factors impact reception for listeners,” Woods said. “The
type of antenna being used to receive the signal, the surrounding
terrain and the elevation of the listener’s receiver all play a role in
reception of any signal.”
KRCU is a non-commercial public radio station which operates 24 hours
per day, 365 days per year. KRCU provides public radio programming to
more than 1.5 million people in the Southeast Missouri region including
the communities of Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Perryville, Marble Hill,
Farmington, Park Hills, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and south St. Louis County.
KRCU is an NPR (National Public Radio) member station and also
broadcasts American Public Media and Public Radio International
programs, as well as classical, jazz and indie rock formats. The station
features classical music programming every weekday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Among its offerings is Performance Today, which features live concerts
by famous artists in concert halls around the globe and from the
American Public Media studios as well as interviews, news and features.
In addition, the station offers symphony broadcasts including the
Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic weekday evenings between
8-10 p.m.
KRCU relies on listener financial support to cover the cost of
programming. Member support and underwriting make up approximately 30
percent of the budget. Southeast Missouri State University and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting are the other two largest supporters
of the station.
Woods said that the station would like to receive signal reports from
listeners to better gauge how 88.9 FM sounds and how far it extends. He
said that listeners can e-mail the station at comments@krcu.org or call toll-free
at 888-651-5070.