KIQZ/KRAL fined for EAS violations

[Milo_FM]

trib.com/articles/2009/01/09/news/casper/d4ef80f7c1996e2c8725753800048965.txt

The Federal Communications Commission intends to fine Mount Rushmore Broadcasting Inc. -- owner of radio stations in Casper and elsewhere in Wyoming and South Dakota -- $20,000 for not maintaining its Emergency Alert System and violating other rules, according to FCC records.

This is a bit outdated but further presents the problems the two stations are having. I'd imagine they are worried sick about their stations being taken away. Then again, I doubt anybody cares.

[andy]

That's interesting. A $20k fine might just push them closer to closing. I'm guessing most of the smaller WY stations outside Cheyenne/Casper are having financial problems due to lower advertising. All I ever hear on KAOX now, apart from the national commercials packaged with the SAM format is adverts for 1st Bank where a member of staff talks about how wonderful the bank is. I'm sick of them already!

I know SLC has a much bigger target audience but do you think there are too many stations and formats competing in the market? When I was there 2 weeks ago it seemed crowded on FM compared to over here!

[Milo_FM]

Yes, the Salt Lake FM market is very crowded. There are a lot of formats I don't like that take up a majority of the channels. I wish it was like SW Wyo though, that way I wouldn't have as much interference to my small little radio station on 99.9

[andy]

Of course, MiloFM. I actually only just learned about it last night for the first time when I discovered the UB site. Big kudos to you for setting it up and getting on air. Now if you can just sort out a shoutcast stream so I can listen online it'll be even better lol

[Milo_FM]

I used to stream it via windows media player butt it was a pain in the but to get figured out on the website. I'll look at my options. If anyone has any idea how I can run my station on shoutcast I'm all ears, I don't have a clue.

[andy]

I did a quick search and came up with this guide for shoutcast streaming using winamp. Don't know if it helps as I guess bandwidth might be a problem without a dedicated server host but here it is.

forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=35635

[Milo_FM]

Ya, I only have a certain amount of bandwidth to deal with so the audio might not sound as good as it could. It doesn't help when you live with five other roommates who don't chip in to help pay for the internet, then hog the bandwidth with who knows what.

[Milo_FM]

I was successfully able to get a streaming option for my radio station.
You can now listen live directly from the main page.
kudx.ubstudios.com
It should work with most media players. I haven't tested it with Itunes yet.

[andy]

Cool, good work on getting it set up. What streaming option did you choose in the end?

Also, I just tried to listen via Firefox with WMP as the embedded player and Winamp externally and it appears offline at the time of writing (12:05pm) I'll try to connect again tonight.

[Milo_FM]

I turned it off temporarily while I work out some kinks with my router. Darn thing hogs bandwidth like no other. Not to mention, my roommates siphon the rest like it didn't even exist. What I'm left with is barely enough speed to surf the net. Ugh. I will be out of town for a bit but keep checking the stream after that, you'll catch it on one of these days.

[andy]

Milo (Stu I think?) I forgot to check the online stream again until just now and it's not available. Don't worry about the streaming for now because it's hammering your limited bandwidth and that's not really fair on you maxing it out.

How is the FM coverage doing though? Next time I'm in SLC I'll try and pick it up and send a reception report.

[Milo_FM]

Reception basically varies from day to day. I can't nail down a good spot for my antenna and it is already as high as it can go. I need to get a mast and work on the ground system. Right now the range is less than half a mile under really good conditions. I've heard it as far away as a mile though, albeit not very good.