KSPC Heads for the Hills

The KSPC (88.7 FM) antenna is heading for the hills in an effort to improve the station’s broadcast signal. Earlier this year, the FCC approved the move of the antenna from its current location near Seaver Theatre to a tower in North Claremont near Padua Hills.

Plans for this upgrade date back to the 1980s, says Erica Tyron, director of college radio and television. Her predecessor, Julie Frick, had researched and tested the idea of moving the antenna, but “apparently it wasn’t feasible at the time for a number of reasons,” says Tyron. Last summer, Tyron discovered the FCC was opening up the opportunity for new FM station applications in California. “If we didn’t apply to change KSPC’s existing transmission location prior to October,” says Tyron, “we might have lost the opportunity to ever move—new stations would have boxed KSPC’s signal in to limited locations.”

The move, which involves the $40,000 replacement of the antenna, transformer and transmission system, will clear up reception for listeners in the current 35-mile radius, but won’t extend the radius. “It will improve KSPC’s overall broadcast penetration, rather than expanding it very much,” says Tyron, adding that a specific date for the move hasn’t been set. “Also, just the replacement of the transmitting equipment and antenna will improve reception, as the new equipment will work far more efficiently and effectively.”