MOREHEAD, KY. — Travel on Interstate 64 east of Lexington, Ky., and you’ll see the exit for tiny Morehead, a college town that’s home to Morehead State University, a Division I school within the Ohio Valley Conference founded in 1887.
Like many schools of higher learning, it has an FM that’s been using equipment considered by many to be outdated. A major upgrade of the station is now complete, thanks to Nautel.
Class C1 WMKY-FM 90.3 has installed a new dehydrator, switches, sensors, cables, line tubes, a new Omnia 9 audio processor, and two new Nautel transmitters along with multiple hardware/software components.
This was the culmination of a multi-year planning project and required four grants to achieve its goal, replacing equipment that in some cases had been used for 30 years.
“Basically, everything except the WMKY antenna on the KET tower has been
replaced and updated,” the station’s GM, Paul Hitchcock, said.
The Nautel NV20LT main transmitter and VX6 backup, purchased through Broadcast Supply Worldwide, replaced two transmitters with a combined age of more than 50 years.
“We took our time to research, plan, and implement this project,” Hitchcock (pictured, top left) noted. “This was not just to be sure we had the funds, but more importantly to ensure we had the right people and the most complete and dependable transmitter equipment available.”
Inrush Broadcast Services in Chicago provided consultation and installation on the project.
Important funding from the now-dissolved Corporation for Public Broadcasting was a key source of dollars, with three separate grants tied to the CPB.
“This transmitter project has secured our future and satisfied our broadcast needs for at least the next twenty years,” Hitchcock said. “We’re confident we’ll benefit from the strategies and equipment we’ve implemented. We’re excited for the future of broadcasting and the next great opportunity this medium has to offer, adapting to meet the needs of the communities we serve.”
