Another Way Enterprises
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Keeping Independent Community Radio
Alive in Cottage Grove
Real Rural Radio KSOW 106.7 low power FM is Cottage Grove’s hometown, non-commercial, educational, environmental information resource that provides news reports on current national and international events, health and wellness programing, solutions for sustainable living and a wide selection of musical genres for our community’s continued cultural enrichment. The KSOW-lp FM news service strives to provide the community with a broader analysis of world events then those that are typically found on commercialized media sources.
Mission Statement: Real Rural Radio KSOW 106.7 low power FM is an all volunteer rural radio station which provides a non-commercial platform for unique, locally produced programing that is reflective of the diverse talents and interests of our broadcasters and listeners.
Our Goal is to provide entertaining, educational and informative programming representative of our community’s needs and interests.
Our educational mission is to develop community resource and sustainability awareness, where people of all ages can participate and develop through team effort, events and other activities that lead to community and personal growth.
KSOW Real Rural Radio History: In 2005, a small group of community
members in Cottage Grove became aware of a low power radio station
opportunity during a Federal Communications Commission filing
window. With the support of a local educational non-profit, an
application was filed, and the license and construction permit were
issued and completed. The original group grew to include a dozen
hometown programmers and KSOW-LPFM went on the air for under
$1,000 on Oct. 29, 2005. This was a simple down-home effort
accomplished with minimal equipment on a shoestring budget.
Due to the economic downturn during the Great Recession of 2008,
KSOW Inc. lost its local underwriters and the radio station went off
the air for a year. In 2009, a group of programmers and former board
members organized to incorporate as Real Rural Radio, and once again
on a shoestring budget, we succeeded in bringing KSOW-LPFM back
on the air. Because RRR and AWE have similar community building and sustainability goals, RRR became a project of AWE in 2017 inorder to further the financial stability and long-term security of KSOW-LPFM in Cottage Grove.
As stewards of this unique and independent community resource, we have made an inventory of what improvements are needed to expand our role as a community broadcaster. To this end, we are raising funds to purchase and install modern, robust, reliable and efficient broadcasting equipment.
Due to the January 2017 ice storm in Lane County, Real Rural Radio suffered a catastrophic equipment failure. Our antenna became ice bound, and it reflected the radio frequency energy back toward the Henry 250D radio frequency amplifier. This overheated its output transistors, which failed shortly thereafter, resulting in a drastic reduction of service.
A high gain, vertically polarized Dominator NWE34 antenna was purchased through a donation, and it was connected to our existing OMBEM2030 Exciter, which brought the station back up to 60 watts ERP (effective radiated power). This was a 40% reduction in coverage area. The Henry 250D radio frequency amplifier was rebuilt and reinstalled. This brought the station back up to 100 watts. By installing the NWE34 antenna we also actualized an economy in the operating costs of the station. This is our current situation.
Our Essential Broadcasting Equipment Fundraising Campaign.
Our plan is to: purchase a JAMPRO JLCP-2 elliptically polarized three antenna array (this will give us better coverage at the same economy of current operating costs), gain altitude for the antenna tower (this will improve coverage), construct a weatherized shelter for the transmitter, purchase a NAUTEL VS300LP Transmitter, hire a radio engineer consultant for installation, purchase new computer equipment and software updates.
This is a time of new growth and community interest in KSOW-LPFM. We invite you to join us!
For more information: Call us @ 541-942-1067
Contact us via email info@ksow.org
Visit us on the web at www.ksow.org