CHIRP Receives Construction Permit To Launch New Terrestrial Radio Station
Published on Thursday, 20 November 2014 21:15
In 2015, the online, non-commercial, indie/eclectic rock station CHIRP
(The Chicago Independent Radio Project) will become a true radio
station. Yesterday, the FCC granted the local station its construction
permit to build a radio transmitter. The low-powered CHIRP station will
be heard next year in Chicago at 107.1 FM.
CHIRP's application to become a new low-powered FM radio station (LPFM)
was tentatively approved in September. At the time, the station was
going to have to be shared with the Des Plaines Police Department, who
wished to have their own station on 107.1 FM, or would potentially be
blocked by the competing application. However, the Des Plaines Police
Department recently asked the FCC to withdraw their application for an
LPFM station at this time. That freed up CHIRP to to receive a
construction permit from the FCC on Wednesday, as well as sole
permission to use the 107.1 FM frequency in Chicago.
The call letters for CHIRPs new radio station have yet to be determined.
The station is requesting to construct a transmitter atop the building
that current houses their studios, located at 4045 N. Rockwell Street,
found just off of Bell Plaine Avenue and across from Horner Park on
Chicago's north side. The proposed transmitter would have effective
radiated power of 100 watts and would be broadcasting from a height of
only 179 meters (approximately 587 feet). The signal should be heard
strong for approximately a three mile radius around the transmitter. It
would be heard throughout much of the northern part of Chicago.
With its low height, there is no chance that the CHIRP broadcast on
107.1 FM would interfere with far suburban stations WSPY-FM 107.1 and
WZVN-FM 107.1. However, there is a chance that there could be a few
sections (blocks) within Chicago that could have slight interference for
WPPN-FM 106.7 and WGCI-FM 107.5. This problem may have to be addressed.
Wednesday's decision by the FCC to grant CHIRP a construction permit has
been a long time coming -- a little over seven years, to be exact.
CHIRP was created in the summer of 2007 by disenfranchised staff members
from Loyola University's WLUW-FM. In 2007, the university retook control
of WLUW-FM and ended its five-year agreement Chicago Public Radio to
allow staffers to operate a community-focused independent music and arts
station. WLUW-FM former Program Director Shawn Campbell then began to
create a local, independent music station with the hope of making it an
LPFM for the north side of Chicago.
Filled with a dedicated staff of volunteers working under General
Manager Campbell and Development Director Jennifer Hufnagel, CHIRP
became a full-blown Internet radio station in January 2010, building a
large and loyal following who enjoyed its free-form, indie music format.
Since its start in 2007, the CHIRP staff and volunteers have been
working hard to convince Congress and the FCC to allow new LPFM stations
in major markets. After a few years of dealing with legislators and red
tape, the bill CHIRP had worked to support, the Local Community Radio
Act, was signed into law by President Obama in December 2010. The FCC
then slowly began to implement the law, taking applications for new
LPFMs a nearly three years later for the first time in 13 years.
CHIRP submitted its broadcast license application in November 2013 and
had it tentatively approved less than two months ago, and gaining its
construction permit this week. If all goes well, CHIRP could be heard on
terrestrial radio for the first time ever in just a matter of months.
The station will continue to be heard online and via apps for those
outside of its limited broadcast range.
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Duane Whittingham - N9SSN
(ARES/RACES, EmComm, Skywarn)
(Melrose Park Public Safety & Homeland Security)
http://www.mpdes.org
http://www.radiodude.info
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