Public radio in a pickle on peninsula

Tripped by a failing transmitter part, public radio station KDLL-91.9 FM is temporarily off the air.

"This is awful for us," said Susan Kernes, general manager for KDLL and Homer station KBBI AM 890.

"People think we didn't make our (fund raising) goal or that state funds got cut," she said.

The replacement part for the transmitter is expected to arrive by Monday. The station can be back on the air within hours of the engineer getting the part.

"I'm telling people we'll be back on the air Tuesday," said Kernes.

Loss of air time effects the underwriting done by the station and KDLL personnel are keeping track of announcements they normally run.

"We don't have to refund anyone's money," Kernes said, adding that the station will make up for it, by running extra announcements at other times.

With spring sunshine warming the peninsula Friday and forecast for the weekend, the outage could be perfectly timed for an Alaskan sunshine holiday. However, being off the air doesn't mean a day off for KDLL personnel.

"No one's getting the day off," Kernes said. "Even though what the audience hears is our signal, there's so much else that goes on.

"We're still planning events, working on schedule planning, fundraising. All those things. That stuff doesn't stop."

And what does a station manager do with her station down and the replacement part "way far away"? "I'm laughing," said Kernes. "Sometimes that's the only thing you can do."