You hear it all the time. "Argh...I HATE Winter!" Well, it turns out, electricity and physics hates Winter, too. More specifically, transmitter towers and antennas HATE Winter. Without turning this into a "science nerd" post, all of the ice (and fog that freezes) has caused us to have to lower our power and use a backup transmitter. Normally, we're putting out 100,000 watts of power through our antennas about a thousand feet up in the air. Unfortunately, when ice forms on those antennas, it reflects the power back down the line and back into the transmitter...which can do SERIOUS DAMAGE to that equipment.
And I know what you're saying, "But Mark, it was sunny yesterday...and a lot of that ice melted on my sidewalk." True! But, every hundred feet up results in a degree or two cooler temperature. So, if it's 30 degrees on the ground, it can be 20 degrees up where the antennas are. Bottom line, if we can FINALLY get this ice to melt...and stop having fog at night (which freezes as ice up on the antennas), we can go back to being the 100,000 watt blowtorch of classic rock...and you'll finally be able to hear us again up in the Sterling-Rock Falls area.
Don't forget, you can always listen to us on our iHeartRadio app, as well...