Kohala Radio TRAINING MANUAL
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Kohala Radio TRAINING MANUAL Table Of Contents Page 1 I. What is Kohala Radio? Page 2 a. What is our history? b. Our Mission and Core Values c. What is LPFM? d. How are we governed? e. Where is our antenna? Where does our signal reach. II. Radio Broadcasting: An Overview Page 5 III. Why Are We Doing This? Page 5 IV. Broadcasting Law and the FCC Page 8 V. Kohala Radio Broadcasting Policies Page 11 VI. The Studio and Equipment Information Page 15 1st: Signal Path 2nd: Authorization 3rd: The Console 4th: The Sound Sources VII. Operating the Equipment Page 27 1st: Getting Started 2nd: Cue the Program Material 3rd: Announce the first song 4th: Segue to the second song 5th: Program 2 6th: Microphone technique 7th: On-Air Etiquette 8th: Making Your Program VIII. You're On the Air Page 37 IX On Air Operator Contract and Parental Agreement Page 43 1 I. What is Kohala Radio? a. Our History The idea of Kohala Radio has deep roots all the way back to the early 1990's in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, the home of Northern Exposure. This TV show and its radio station, KBHR 570 AM, captured a large Kohala audience and kindled an interesting question: could we every have a station here? At that time there was no interest at the Federal Communications Commission in community radio, so we dreamed of a rogue radio station operating illegally and housed in a roaming mobile trailer to escape FCC detection. It was just a dream, but it was real and had legs. The first opportunity to make Kohala Radio a reality occurred in 2007 when the FCC opened a window for new FM stations nationwide. A group of local residents formed, raised a little money, and filed our application in the October 2007 window for a 25 watt non-commercial educational FM station construction permit to broadcast in North Kohala. Unfortunately, there were a total of 88 applications in the State of Hawaii, eleven of which conflicted with our application. Since only one or two applications would be awarded a construction permit on the Big Island, and we were competing with larger higher wattage applicants, in early 2008 we lost out to Hawaii Public Radio for a repeater in Kona which was designed to cover most of the west side of the island. This disappointing foray taught us a hard lesson: in future windows we had better not apply unless we knew the game and had a good chance of winning. But we didn't give up. We decided to wait and see what the FCC might do next. Our Washington D.C. based attorney predicted that another window would open in the next several years for a different type of station: a low power (100 watts maximum) noncommercial educational station designed to cover smaller communities. We would be situated much better in this kind of competition. In the meantime, nature had given the idea of a Kohala radio station a big boost. At 7:07 am Sunday morning, October 15, 2006 a 6.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Kohala. It shook hundreds of local houses off their post and pier foundations, seriously damaged the local gym, and closed the Kohala Ditch for two years. All access into and out of Kohala was closed for almost 15 hours. No information about these conditions was broadcast by any radio station reaching Kohala. As a result, the North Kohala Community Development Plan (a document prepared by the community in the 2006-07 time frame and approved by the Hawaii County Council in 2008) called for a local radio station as a "huge enhancement to the community's emergency communications," and to offer benefits like "communicating community events and information, networking, and educational opportunities." This action gave Kohala Radio a strong foundation of community support and led to significant support from Hawaii Civil Defense organizations in the County and at the State level. Kohala Radio would provide emergency radio reports to Kohala for the first time in the history of the islands. In the mean time, after three years, our attorney proved to be right. President Obama, fresh from his Christmas get-away in Hawaii, signed the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 on January 4, 2011. And nothing happened until June 2013 when the FCC announced a window in October for applications for Low Power FM noncommercial educational stations nationwide. Only nonprofits could apply, and they had to have a clear record of operating in their community for at least three years. Since the North Kohala Community Resource Center qualified, as did the Kohala public schools, a small group of radio enthusiasts begin to come together to apply for the FCC construction permit as a sponsored 2 project of the Center, and began the daunting task of organizing a group of community volunteers to create Kohala Radio. We filed in October 2013 and this time we won the competition hands down. We received our construction permit in February 2014 with an on air deadline of August 21, 2015. The game was on. Our aim is to create a sustainable community supported, volunteer, low cost operation to provide programming of local interest and also a communications channel for the community to meet the needs for local news, information, dialogue, and, of course, to emergency communications. And as of this writing, in April 2015, we are a few short months away from going on air. Readers with an interest in the details of all of the steps we've taken to get this far, the road blocks we've cleared, the extraordinary learning curve we've been on, and the incredible amount of work and accomplishment by the scores of KNKR volunteers may read the detailed notes of our general meetings on line at www.knkr.org. b. Kohala Radio KNKR-LP 96.1 FM Mission Statement and Core Values Mission Kohala Radio is a listener supported, non-commercial, nonprofit, community radio station in partnership with the Kohala High and Middle schools. We broadcast exclusively to North Kohala on Hawaii Island. KNKR reflects the North Kohala community by offering programming by a wide variety of local volunteers. We encourage cultural diversity and provide a platform for creative expression. KNKR promotes and broadcasts local community activities and events and presents local emergency broadcasting for the community. Our mission is to provide programming that attracts sufficient listener support to keep KNKR on the air. Core Values We believe that to be successful Kohala Radio must be • Volunteer based • Listener supported • A platform for free, open and balanced communication with an emphasis on cultural diversity • Supportive of programming often ignored by commercial media • About creative, innovative, experimental, as well as traditional programming • Actively seeking community based programming, volunteers, and broadcasters c. What is LPFM ? Low Power FM (LPFM) radio service was created by the FCC in January 2000.These stations are authorized for noncommercial educational broadcasting only (no commercial operation) and operate with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 watts (0.1 kilowatts) or less, with maximum facilities of 100 watts ERP at 30 meters (100 feet) antenna height above average terrain (HAAT).The approximate service range of a 100 watt LPFM station is 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles radius). LPFM stations are available to noncommercial educational entities and public safety and transportation organizations, but are not available to individuals or for commercial operations. Current broadcast licensees with interests in other media (broadcast or newspapers) are not eligible to obtain LPFM stations. Low Power FM stations are required to identify themselves on the air with an LP after the call sign: You are listening to Kohala Radio, KNKR-LP, 96.1 FM Hawi. Kohala Radio will be broadcasting at 100 watts. 3 d. How are we governed? All radio stations including LPFMs are governed by the rules and regulations as brought into law by the Federal Communications Commission. We are a contracted sponsored project of the North Kohala Community Resource Center which holds our Construction Permit and will hold our FCC License for the first three years of operations, after which we plan to purchase the FCC license from the Resource Center. This contract allows us to received tax deductible contributions and grants as well as support with our funding research and relationships. In our agreement with the Center, the purchase price will be equal to the cost of obtaining the Construction Permit and the FCC license, currently about $6,500. Prior to the purchase of the FCC License we will organize as a Hawaii nonprofit Corporation, Kohala Radio Inc, and file for an IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit designation. We will create Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, and will have a Board of Directors which will serve as policies of the organization. As an all-volunteer organization, the day to day operations will be managed by a General Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. With sufficient funding of the station by year three or four, these two positions may become paid staff. Here is an the current organization chart. 4 e. Where is our antenna? Where does our signal reach. Our antenna is located at about 760 feet elevation on the eastern side of a gulch near the center of the distance from Pololu and Puakea. Broadcasting at 100 watts from that location should provide a coverage area from the valleys beyond Pololu to at least Kokoiki, and we hope, all the way to Mahukona. II. Radio Broadcasting : An Overview Radio waves were detected as early as the 1880s and within ten years Guglielmo Marconi was broadcasting telegraphy across the English channel.