Home Articles posted by pete tridish

Building A Renewable Energy Powered Translator for KCAW

KCAW is a community radio station in Sitka, Alaska, a city with a population of roughly 8500.  KCAW produces its own local newscast, has volunteer programmers, and carries NPR and public radio-syndicated programming.  It has a network of seven translators which carry KCAW to seven nearby towns and hamlets:  Yakutat, Elfin Cove, Kake, Pelican, Tenakee Springs, Angoon, and Port Alexander. These towns range in population from a few dozen in Elfin Cove to about 900 in Yakutat. The population grows quite a bit every summer, when thousands converge on the region to work in the commercial fishing industry.   Becky Meiers is …

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IMA Assists Sol-Rincon With Resilient Solar Energy in Vieques, Puerto Rico

IMA joined with Sol-Rincon in February, 2022 to aid residents of the Island of Vieques with the construction of solar powered electrical systems. This all volunteer project is working house by house with people on the island who want to go solar. We focus on building local technical expertise, so the community is capable of sustaining its own renewable technologies. To learn more about the project, or make a direct (NON-tax deductible) donation, you can go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/solrinquen-vieques IMA also serves as the fiscal sponsor for this work, so fully tax-deductible donations for this same work can be made …

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Conversion of Raven Radio Translators to Renewable Energy

IMA spent the summer in Port Alexander, AK, rebuilding the translator for KCAW. We converted to a three bay antenna, added internet connectivity, added twenty feet to the tower, 2KW of solar, 19 KWh of energy storage, and a wind turbine. Here’s a quick video of extending the tower: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMofclJeJGxViZVfJSUK1tf6c8LhmelApu-psLykHQU8aKTa_ae9GUlAGZhB30Sfw/photo/AF1QipPSwwN0iR1UWORRbVpM_cTrx7jzDXO0LlxJrgxQ?key=QTFxN2p3NjhQRHNqSEhob1JkM2FjcU5XanJRajJn

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Announcing SCRAP: Swarming Community Radio Around Philly!

The Prometheus Radio Project (PRP) and the Center For International Media Action (CIMA) have just received approval for a grant  to help ten community radio stations in Philadelphia make improvements in their operations. These improvements are targeted to improve the community service that the stations can do in their neighborhoods during the Covid-19 outbreak and the recovery in its aftermath. There will be a cohort of roughly ten stations which we will assist with technical support, equipment, training, mentorship, and some monetary assistance for certain needed expenses. There are roughly 40 stations in the region, so participation is not …

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International Media Action begins construction on Zumix Radio Station in East Boston

Zumix is a music school for kids, founded in 1993 with a summer neighborhood concert series as a community response to youth violence. They started offering music lessons after school, and since then they have moved into a beautiful old firehouse building, with a great stage, recording studios, a small business that creates youth employment by training and connecting youth to work as live sound engineers for events.  And of course, they have an internet station which will soon be on FM. They include shows from “Wicked Fresh Locals” to  “The Mosh Pit”  to “Budder Gods Gaming” to “National …

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Next stop, Troy New York!

On May 3rd, I did a workshop with the people who are starting a new station in Troy, New York. The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a renovated church that has lectures, bands, art shows, audio and video production and all sorts of activities for the community.  A radio station will be a fantastic addition to the space. Spearheaded by longtime community media activists Steve Pierce and Branda Miller, the station aims to innovate and focus a lot of resources on a drivetime magazine show for the Capitol region.  I’ll be helping to put up an antenna in Troy …

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Dine College soon to launch new Radio Station, 92.1FM KXWR

by Tamar Maya Sharabi About 220 miles northwest from Albuquerque New Mexico, lies an area known as Tsaile, Arizona. It is more well known as Navajo Nation, which stretches across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is the largest land area “retained by a U.S. tribe.” On June 19th 2015 they will launch a new community radio station, housed at Dine College, the first tribal college in the U.S. established in 1968. You can read more about its history here. “Rooted in Diné language and culture, our mission is to advance quality post-secondary student learning and development to ensure …

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IMA Visits Indian Community Radio Movement

From pete tridish In February, I visited India for a month to work with community radio stations. After many years of advocacy, community radio was first permitted in India in 2007. Among the stations that I visited was the very first community radio station in India, Sangham Radio, owned and operated by an organization of 6000 Dalit women laborers. I also visited stations in Madya Pradesh, Gurgagon, and other places. I spent several days with the UNESCO Chair for Community Media in Hyderabad, speaking with classes and graduate students. I also worked with NOMAD, a transmitter and antenna manufacturer …

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Danish Innovation In Antenna Placement Kickstarts Community Radio

Hundreds of new low power operators to benefit from cost savings from new Danish technology April 1, 2015 Copenhagen:  Ownership of a radio station has traditionally been limited to those who could afford to construct immense steel towers, but Loof Lirpa, an engineer from Radio Gnisten in Copenhagen, has devised a new low-cost method of sending the music channel to the city.  His new company, SpejlVikle, markets a device that can transform radio waves so they can travel through the earth in the same manner that they once traveled above ground.

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