YOUR AD HERE »

KDNK’s big switch planned for tonight

Naomi Havlen

The big switch at KDNK is scheduled tonight at 11.No, Carbondale’s popular community station won’t start playing nonstop ukulele hits of the late 1950s and early 1960s. We promise.But it will be changing its main frequency for good.The change to a bigger, better frequency is due to a new $500,000 tower built this summer atop Sunlight Peak as part of a partnership between KDNK, KAJX Aspen Public Radio and Colorado Public Radio. Because of the tower, KDNK will be heard on 88.1, 88.3 or 88.5 FM along Highway 82 and I-70, KAJX has a new, stronger frequency downvalley at 88.9, and KVOD, Denver-based Colorado Public Radio’s all-classical music station, will begin broadcasting on 90.5 FM from Carbondale to Rifle.The construction of the new tower may have been a costly, half-million-dollar project, but the partnership obtained a $244,000 federal grant and then raised funds for the tower individually. Because Colorado Public Radio had intended to build a new tower, the statewide organization funded the purchase and construction of the tower, while KDNK and KAJX agreed to pay the incremental cost of transmitting from the new site.The agreement for the frequency swap between KDNK and KVOD was approved on Oct. 13, when the Federal Communications Commission agreed to let KDNK transfer its license for 90.5 FM to KVOD, while KVOD gave its license for 88.1 FM to KDNK.”The bottom line is that KDNK listeners will be able to go to the left of the dial to find us at 88.1, 88.3 or 88.5 in the communities along Highway 82 and I-70, from Rifle to Aspen,” said KDNK station manager Shawna Claiborne in a press release. “Wherever you are, KDNK is only one tick away on the dial, and that’s going to make it simpler for commuters.”The popular community radio station is planning a public awareness campaign for its new locale on the dial that includes bumper stickers and T-shirts.Because each translator must be manually adjusted to accept the new frequency, listeners who hear KDNK via translators in the Redstone area and upvalley from Carbondale will probably hear KVOD between 11 p.m. and part of Friday. A helicopter will visit each translator site on Friday to change over the new frequency. After that, listeners will hear KDNK on 88.3 FM in Aspen and Snowmass Village with an increase in power from 7 to 47 watts. In Old Snowmass and Thomasville, listeners will hear KDNK on 94.9 FM.Listeners are asked to provide input on the new signal by e-mailing kdnk@kdnk.org.Naomi Havlen’s e-mail address is nhavlen@aspentimes.com