KSFH

KSFH
City Mountain View, California
Broadcast area San Francisco Bay Area
Branding Music Revolution
Frequency 87.9 MHz
Format Active rock
ERP 10 watts
HAAT −75.0 meters (−246.1 ft)
Class D
Facility ID 62118
Transmitter coordinates 37°22′8″N 122°5′2″W / 37.36889°N 122.08389°W / 37.36889; -122.08389Coordinates: 37°22′8″N 122°5′2″W / 37.36889°N 122.08389°W / 37.36889; -122.08389
Callsign meaning St. Francis High
Former frequencies 90.5 (1970s-1982)
88.1 (1982-1999)
Owner Mountain View Public Broadcasting

KSFH FM 87.9 is a student radio station broadcasting an active rock radio format. Licensed to serve Mountain View, California, USA, the station is owned by Mountain View Public Broadcasting,[1] and is completely run by the students of private school Saint Francis High School, broadcasting a wide range of music. The radio station is available in all of Mountain View, most of Los Altos, and the northern part of San Jose. The station also broadcasts home football, basketball, and baseball games.

KSFH has been granted an FCC construction permit to move to a new transmitter site and change frequency to 100.7 MHz.[2]

History

In the 1970s, KSFH broadcast from two rooms adjacent to the boys' gymnasium. The signal was so weak, it was joked that once the listener left the parking lot, they lost the signal. Patients in nearby El Camino Hospital (diagonally bordering the campus, separated by the football field) would call in and make requests. The format in that decade was album-oriented rock, emphasizing Jethro Tull, Yes, Led Zeppelin, and other major rock groups of the era. Despite its weak signal, music director Jeff McCallion successfully negotiated with several record labels (A&M Records among them) to provide free promotional records for the station to play. This was a rare benefit for a high school radio station.

KSFH was built in the technological spirit of the 1970s and similar to the famed "Home Brew" Computer Clubs that were frequented by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The station's transmitters, mixing boards and primary "on air" components were almost all entirely built from scratch, few items were "off the shelf" ready bought. KSFH was hand crafted, built and engineered by students and former students (Primarily engineered thru the diligence of James O'Malley), the station's equipment was built from spares and electronic components purchased from Quement, Haltec and Radio Shack electronics stores. Long cold nights building the station (the rooms had no heat) were fueled by resourcefulness, junk food, Taco Bell and Jack in the Box runs - like all great startups. The original transmitter (10 Watt SPARTA exciter) was built from a repair manual, purchased from SPARTA Electronics, and later christened "Everclear", not only for its clarity but also after a popular 110 proof liquor, only sold in Nevada. Finally, after the erection of the tower and antenna upon the St. Francis Gym roof, all broadcast components worked perfectly - KSFH was on the air. Serving St Francis High School, its students and community for decades.

After high school, many of the stations' student disc jockeys went on to work at KFJC/89.7, the Foothill College radio station.

KSFH originally used 90.5 MHz before moving to 88.1 in 1982. KSFH moved to 87.9 MHz in 1999. The application to move to 87.9 was applied for on August 17, 1998 and granted in 1999. A license to cover was issued on October 9, 2001.

KSFH is one of only two radio stations (K200AA being the other) that broadcast on 87.9; that frequency is not normally issued by the FCC due to it being close to television Channel 6. KSFH is the only one operating under the rules as written, which only permits the use of 87.9 for displaced full-service class-D FM stations.

St. Francis High School consummated the sale of KSFH to Mountain View Public Broadcasting on October 7, 2015, at a price of $20,000.

History of call letters

The call letters KSFH-FM previously were assigned to a station in San Francisco, California. It began broadcasting October 22, 1947, and was licensed to the Pacific Broadcasting Company.[3]

References

  1. "KSFH Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. "FCC Construction Permit". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. "KSFH (FM) Started" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 3, 1947. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.