Translator Network & Status
As an outreach service of the University of Nevada, Reno, KUNR provides translators in a variety of locations to bring high-caliber, varied public radio programming to more than 106,000 square miles of northern Nevada and northeastern California.
Many of these translators are a long way from our main studio in Reno, Nevada, and we may not know a translator is off the air until a listener contacts us. If you know that one of our translators is off the air, please check the list below for the current status. If the problem is not listed, please call our office at (775) 327-5867 and let us know. Or, you can fill out a report at the bottom of this page and send it to us now.
KUNR’s translators are:
Nevada Status
100.5 Battle Mountain - On air
95.1 Denio - Off air
91.5 KNCC: Elko - On air
90.9 Eureka - On air
91.5 Hawthorne - On air
89.9 Incline Village - On air
89.9 Lovelock - On air
88.7 Reno/Sparks/Carson City/Minden-Gardnerville - On air
91.7 Verdi - On air
91.3 Winnemucca - On air
91.9 Yerington - On air
California Status
90.9 Bishop - On air
97.5 Crestview (Mammoth Lakes) - On air
91.9 Susanville - On air
95.3 Tom's Place - On air
88.1 Truckee - On air
Key
On the Air - full power:
This station has no reported difficulties.
If you would like to report technical difficulties with this transmitter site, please call (775) 327-5867
(please indicate which transmitter is off-line).
*On the Air* - low power:
This station is experiencing technical difficulties.
Engineers are currently working to return the signal to full power as quickly as possible.
Off the Air - no power
This station is experiencing technical difficulties.
Engineers are currently working to return the signal to full power as quickly as possible.
Transmitter repair challenging, costly
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UNR's Classroom and Communications Digital Engineer Designer Herb Primosch goes to great lengths to ensure rural listeners can enjoy KUNR. |
Classroom and Communications Digital Engineer Designer Herb Primosch’s description of his routine maintenance of KUNR’s transmitters sounds more like an extreme sport than a job. Transmitters are usually positioned on top of a mountain for the clearest signal, but Primosch said those environments are hostile to transmitters and transmitter repair. Winds have been measured at 140 mph at the top of the translator on Slide Mountain – a category four hurricane wind speed.
Fixing the tower is only half the challenge. Primosch has to drive through areas with 30-foot snow drifts, 3-foot-tall icebergs, and other natural obstacles. There are times when the conditions are too stormy to get in and repair the problem and he has to wait until weather conditions improve.
“We’re probably a lot more responsive than a commercial station because we count on our rural listeners for donations,” Primosch said. “Commercial stations don’t count on those translators to bring in revenue.”
But every maintenance visit to the translators costs KUNR $500, and Primosch visits each transmitter at least two times a year to ensure a quality signal. In rural communities with small populations, translator maintenance often costs more than we receive to maintain them, but KUNR is an out-reach service that provides music, news and cultural programming to areas that otherwise wouldn’t receive it. In Denio, Nevada KUNR is one of two stations and one of three in Hawthorne, Nevada. If one of our translators should need repairing during these upcoming winter months, we thank you for your patience.
