Powering Down:

Much as our engineer, Radio Bob, would like to have a single stratosphere-scraping broadcast tower that would bathe the entire bottom end of the fm dial in the North Country with a bone-marrow-curdling signal capable of reaching the lowest levels of the mines in Balmat, he has learned to live with disappointment. While his Clarkson classmates play with cyclotrons and x-ray lasers, he rides herd on a farflung network of transmitters and translators, the majority of which put out less power than a microwave oven.

Joining the NCPR communities this weekend are Carthage NY, with translator W272BL broadcasting at 102.3 fm, and Cape Vincent NY, with translator W230BG broadcasting at 93.9 fm. These new facilities, as well as ones scheduled to come on air later this summer in Clayton, Jay, Keene Valley and St. Huberts, were funded in part by US Department of Commerce funds that were not restored in the recent House vote that restored public broadcasting program funding. NCPR also depends on this funding source to replace our 40-year-old main broadcast tower and 25-year-old main transmitter, and to finance our transition to digital audio transmission. The US Senate will vote on whether or not to restore these funds in the coming week. Think of it as "Radio Bob's Law."