New radio station to go on air soon

Grand River Valley Radio President Joe Hynek, who has been spearheading a project to bring a local radio station back to Osceola and Clarke County, has set a goal of having KSOI 91.9 FM at a full broadcast capacity in July.

A $214,000 grant was issued for the project from the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP). Federal guidelines require the station to be on the air by August 18.

“But we want to be on the air as soon as we can,” said Hynek.

The station is licensed as a non-commercial, educational, full-power FM radio station. It is expected to reach Clarke, Decatur, Union and Ringgold Counties, as well as the areas along Interstate 35 between Des Moines and Osceola.

A commercial station that served southern Iowa, including Osceola, for many years was sold to Iowa Public Radio in 2004 and turned into a translator station.

Hynek said when the station was sold the community was left with several voids, including, not having a way to quickly broadcast emergency or weather information to residents.

“We’d be a local station, so we’d hope to be the first responder in disseminating emergency information to Clarke County,” said Hynek.

Volunteers needed

A board of directors has been meeting and working on plans for the station, including finding people to help run operations.

“We are actively seeking volunteers,” said Hynek. “We need volunteers for a lot of different things.”

A brochure with a list of volunteer opportunities will soon be available in the community. Opportunities will include, working at the front desk as the “welcoming voice and face of KSOI,” helping with pledge drives, managing music libraries, developing prerecorded interviews, radio theater and mini documentries and writing promotions for upcoming events and pledge drives, among other

volunteer opportunities.

“It takes a lot of different types of people to run a station,” said Hynek.

The station will also be seeking underwriting opportunities from businesses, individuals and organizations. Underwriting is similar to advertising at a commercial station. Programs on the station will be sponsored by local underwriting.

Once a good base of underwriting has been established, the hope is to hire a station manager, said Hynek.

The station manager would be in charge of coordinating the volunteers and helping with underwriting.

Contact Hynek at 515-231-5424 for volunteer information.

Construction

Construction work of the station and tower is nearing completion. A 496-foot tower was erected on nine acres of pasture land in rural Afton. Ken Cheers owns the land and is leasing it to KSOI.

A foundation was poured for the tower during the first week of May. After hanging the antenna, an equipment shed was built around the tower. Hynek and his father Bill are finishing up the work this week hooking up a 19 kilowatt transmitter, installing a door on the equipment shed and finishing wiring and grounding work. A fence will also need to be put up around the building.

Several contractors from Clarke and Union counties were utilized during the tower installation process.

“We tried hard to use local people to do this work,” said Hynek.

The next step will include running some equipment tests. After the tests are successful, the studio will be able to begin broadcasting.

The studio is located at 1002 Maple St. in Murray. Hynek assembled equipment for testing.

“It’s pretty much ready to go, too,” said Hynek.

The federal grant requires all studio and tower equipment be installed by June 30, so Hynek has been focusing primarily on completing installation.

Board

Currently the radio station is being represented by a board of directors. Board members include Bill and Angie Hynek of Ellston, Pennie and Ken Gonseth of Afton, Marge Perry of Ellston and Joe Hynek.

Soon the board will be seeking community members to join an advisory board to make decisions on programming.

Long journey

Hynek has been working on bringing a station to Clarke County for several years. In October 2007, he learned of an FCC non-commercial, educational, FM radio filing window. A frequency has to be available in the area in order to start a station. A construction permit was obtained in August 2009.

It’s been a lengthy process for Hynek and his family, who have helped in the endeavors.

“Joe has worked on this project for five years,” said Hynek’s mother Angie, who is secretary of the board. “We’re glad it’s finally happening.”

Angie said when the project is completed she is hoping the station will “take off.”

“I hope people enjoy it because it will truly be their’s,” she said. “It’ll be what’s happening here – their sports games, their church services, their people talking on the radio.”

Radio board members ask community members to be patient as the station gets up and running.

“Bear with us in the beginning with programming,” said Angie. “We’re going to do well just to get it on the air but it’s going to grow and evolve with time.”

Watch for more information about the station’s website. The station will provide opportunities to list local events and announcements.