The voice of Keene State College radio just got louder

Jul. 19—What could be considered the heart of Keene State College radio is beating again after the station recently received a new transmitter to replace technology whose age was limiting the reach of the station's airwaves.

WKNH 91.3 FM installed its new transmitter about three weeks ago, said Jessica Gagne Cloutier, Keene State's director of student involvement who's currently serving as the interim adviser to the student-run radio station. She said it's been a multi-year, near-five-figure effort that should allow WKNH's signal to be picked up from everywhere in Keene and beyond.

"The old [transmitter] had hit a point where it was having some errors that were causing power dips, which essentially means from a listener perspective, the power was so low you really couldn't hear the station beyond the parking lots of campus," she said. "It typically has a 7-mile range."

The transmitter allows WKNH to broadcast music and programming, sending the signal through the station's antenna, said General Manager Anna Bertolino, an incoming junior in philosophy.

"It's how people hear us from the studio when they tune their radios into 91.3," Bertolino said.

The previous transmitter was believed to have been installed when WKNH moved its space from Elliot Hall, now the Elliot Center, to the Young Student Center around 2001, according to Diana Duffy, the station's past adviser.

Duffy is no longer with Keene State, having left at the end of the spring 2021 semester, but she was among those who helped lay the foundation for the upgrade in her last years at the college.

"It had worked every day nonstop since [2001], so we had prospective vendors take a look at what we needed," Duffy said. "One of them said, 'Oh, that's an old one,' so it had become something of a vintage piece in its time."

Duffy said radio staffers first started seeing issues crop up in 2019, which she said was difficult timing given the pandemic hit just months later.

"It was a brewing storm for us of aging equipment at the time of dwindling finances, and then stir COVID into that mix and the college was making a number of choices that created a capital-constrained climate on campus," she said.

The station was able to secure funding from Keene State after filing a request explaining why a replacement transmitter was necessary. At Keene State, funding grants for student organizations are generated from student activity fees supplied by full-time students as part of semester dues, according to Gagne Cloutier. Those fees are managed by the college's Student Assembly and Finance Committee.

WKNH filed its first request in the fall 2020 semester, but as staffers searched for a vendor to install and configure a new transmitter, Gagne Cloutier said supply-chain woes created an electronic-chip shortage meaning students couldn't secure the device by the end of the fiscal year. So, they gave it another go in the fall 2021 semester and reapplied.

"They were approved for that funding again ... and we thought we were going to get [the transmitter] in January, and then February and then March," Gagne Cloutier said. "We did get it in just before the end of the fiscal year; it got installed the third week of June."

Bertolino said the new transmitter was sourced from Technet Systems Group of Gilford, a broadcast-equipment supplier that custom builds and installs radio components per individual station orders. She said she estimates the new transmitter could send WKNH's signal up to at least 10 to 20 miles away from campus.

Gagne Cloutier added that the component comes with contemporary features like a more accessible user interface for students, who will now be able to diagnose technical issues more easily without calling on a technician.

"It will have the capacity ... for the students to be able to connect a computer and run reports, make sure that it's running appropriately and have a better understanding of what any failures are," she said.

She also said Technet has served other college campus radio stations in New Hampshire, like WUNH 91.3 FM at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Overall, the upgrade ran the college about $9,500, according to Gagne Cloutier, with the total cost including the price of the transmitter in addition to a software update to the station's emergency broadcast system and insurance on equipment delivery. She said the transmitter itself cost about $5,200.

"The reality is that the need for a transmitter is part of basic upkeep and management of a station," Gagne Cloutier said. "I think everybody who is part of the [student executive board] and those of us who support WKNH, whether it's me as an adviser [or] our financial folks who helped us move things through our system, I think everybody was a part of making it happen."

While Bertolino and other WKNH student staffers haven't seen it yet as they're on summer break and the station is programmed to run on autopilot, she said she's already envisioning welcoming new DJs from the community because of the new transmitter's range capabilities.

"I feel a lot of excitement, because it's been something that WKNH has been trying to get done before I was even a part of it," Bertolino said. "A lot more people are going to be able to join and listen to our shows from students and community members."

WKNH 91.3 FM broadcasts a variety of music genres, including alternative, jazz, hip-hop, metal and folk, as well as programs hosted by students, school faculty and community members. Keene State President Melinda Treadwell, for instance, aired a program known as "Campus Corner" before the pandemic in which she interviewed students, staff and faculty members about their interests and goals. Leatrice Oram, Treadwell's chief of staff, said the college hopes to reintroduce the program this fall. WKNH airs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.

Tim Nail can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or tnail@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @timmnail.