Thanks to the astounding generosity of donors from across the San Joaquin Valley, KVPR’s broadcast technology has taken a huge step forward. Less than one year after launching a capital fundraising drive for new FM transmitters and other critical infrastructure, KVPR reached its $202,000 goal ahead of schedule.
The new FM + HD Radio transmitters replace 17-year-old transmitters serving both 89.3 in Fresno and 89.1 in Bakersfield. The new Bakersfield transmitter went online in October, and the Fresno-area transmitter began broadcasting in November.
The new transmitters will improve overall reliability of station broadcast, as well as expanding services and coverage. With this new equipment, KVPR Classical is now available over-the-air for the first time in Kern County, via HD Radio on 89.1 HD-2. And HD-1 and HD-2 listeners in the Fresno/Clovis area will notice a signal that is roughly three times as strong as before the upgrade.
“This is incredibly exciting, and is a huge step forward in terms of technology and reliability for the main equipment that powers our broadcasts, every day," said KVPR President and General Manager Joe Moore.
The last 12 months only underscored the urgency of this project. Shortly after launching the fundraising campaign, some major equipment failures left KVPR's engineering team scrambling. "We had to scour eBay and obsolete equipment dealers across the country looking for antique computer components to repair our old transmitters, as new parts and support were no longer available,” said Moore.
“Think about trying to keep a 17-year-old computer online and operating smoothly 24 hours a day. That’s essentially what we've been doing. This is a huge improvement with new, state-of-the-art technology. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this possible.”
Donors to the project included individuals across the San Joaquin Valley, as well as organizations like North Fresno Rotary.
In addition to greater reliability, and expanded service, the new equipment also allows for vastly improved operational capabilities for station staff and improved energy efficiency.
Beyond supporting the costs of new transmitters, the project also is funding new studio improvements at KVPR’s broadcast center, and allows the station the repurpose other equipment to deploy in the event of an emergency to keep the station on the air.
While work on the transmitter upgrades is wrapping up, work on the studio portion of the project will pick up in early 2024. “We moved into our broadcast center in 2016, and at the time, we outfitted one of our studio control rooms with old equipment from our former facility. That control board is now 22 years old, and replacing it with a state-of-the-art system that is compatible with the IP-based equipment in all of our other studios will be a big functional upgrade for KVPR’s news and production teams.”
KVPR reached its fundraising goal for the project in August, well ahead of the one-year anniversary of the kickoff of fundraising in Bakersfield in November 2022. “Our supporters are just extraordinary. They saw how important this investment in public radio’s infrastructure was, and they answered the call," said Moore.
Special thanks to KVPR’s talented broadcast engineers Paul Kleinkramer and Kevin Davis of Broadcast Technical Solutions, and to the Bakersfield-based team at AC Electric in Bakersfield, who donated labor to help make the installation of this heavy equipment possible.