Ice: (īs), n.

Ice is water (H2O) in its solid frozen state (<32° F or 0° C).  It makes sledding, luge, pass closings, Olympic triple axels, and certain cocktails possible.  Heavy rime ice is also the material responsible for taking down KPBX’s signal for a couple days recently, and killing Avista’s power to our KPBX transmitters a couple times in December. 

Attentive KPBX listeners were forced to listen online—or not at all.  The station is working to replace vulnerable large broadcast equipment over the next two years, but it will be a gradual process that requires warmer weather.  For the moment, not much can be done about the occasional icing problem on our transmission and link antennas.  SPR’s Chief Engineer Jerry Olson and GM Cary Boyce (who basically holds the ladder) have made several trips up to Mica Peak and other transmitters recently to address these and other problems.  We hope to keep these issues to a minimum while we upgrade the necessary equipment, as the trips to our transmitter sites range from difficult to impossible at certain times of year—like this one. 

SPR apologizes for the inconvenience, and thanks our listeners for their patience and forbearance while we work to keep your public radio service as reliable and robust as possible.  And we wish you a very happy, warm, and safe New Year! 

-Cary Boyce, SPR President and General Manager