FTFP Grant

WUKY in Lexington KY, a public broadcasting station licensed to the University of Kentucky, requests emergency funding for the replacement of its directional antenna, analog transmitter, and STL. In December 2004 we were informed by Sinclair Broadcasting (the owner of the tower we occupy) that we must move our antenna to a new site, because the tower is scheduled to be dismantled in November 2005. WUKY's signal is directional. Thus a new antenna must be designed and custom-built for the new site. Our transmitter is 16 years old and has shown signs of serious deterioration owing to corrosion and age. A recent failure took the station off the air in the middle of our fall pledge drive, causing disruption'ofservice and loss of membership revenue. Our analog STL is obsolete and will not be compatible with the digital HD system that we will install at the new tower site later this year. Last fall, WUKY Radio applied for--and has since received--a CPB Digital Radio Conversion Fund grant. Those funds will enable WUKY to purchase a digital transmitter, HD exciter, combiner, reject load, and digital audio processor. Because WUKY's transmission plant must migrate to a new site this fall, the digital equipment purchased under the CPB grant will not be installed until we move to the new site and have acquired our new analog transmitter and antenna. The equipment proposed in this application has been selected because of its compatibility with the digital transmission system funded by CPE.