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By Miriam Raftery
January 14, 2016 (Descanso) -- KNSJ Radio (89.1 FM Descanso) is off the air affter the station's transmitter on Mount Laguna froze and broke during last week's winter storm. The repair estimate is $1,500, said Martin Eder, founder of KNSJ, a public nonprofit radio station that serves East County and San Diego.
Donations are urgently needed to cover this unexpected major repair cost and may be made via PayPal, credit card or check at http://knsj.org/donate/.
The East County Magazine Show airs on KNSJ on Mondays and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. During the outage, which began last week, our radio show and others on the station can still be heard online by downloading the TuneIn App for your cell phone or by listening to the streaming audio online at http://knsj.org/knsjpopup.html.
"The antenna is almost 10 feet long and portions of the antenna were covered with an oval of six feet of near solid ice," said Eder, who estimated the ice may have weighed a couple of hundred pounds. "One of the struts broke under the stress of the load."
KNSJ, the Network for Social Justice, launched in July 2013 and carries a mix of local and nationally syndicated shows including Democracy Now. Shows aired on KNSJ cover news, politics, music, comedy, environment and social justice issues, Native American news, and more.
Comments
I believe they have ordered an ice shield --
They used a slightly different term but it is something to protect the antennae from ice. The repair is a temporary fix while waiting for it to arrive, and that's what the money is for.
A sturdier antennae was beyond the station's financial means. Putting it up higher on the tower could also help, but is also prohibitively expensive.
Thanks for weighing in and I'll share that info with the station in case the manager you spoke with isn't around now.
Monument Peak antenna