KMRY owner launching FM station Friday

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Sellers Broadcasting, owner of KMRY-AM in Cedar Rapids, will begin broadcasting Friday on a new station, KMRY-FM.

Rick Sellers, president and owner of Sellers Broadcasting, said the FM station is a translator that was purchased from Extreme Grace Media for $25,000. The translator, K226BO, was originally located in Anamosa and had to be moved through a two-step process to Cedar Rapids.

"First, we had to move it within its own coverage area to Marion," Sellers said. "We initially located it on a friend's 40-foot ham radio tower and notified the Federal Communications Commission that it would be our permanent location. After a period of time, we petitioned the FCC to move it to the Radio Communications tower a short distance from our studios in northeast Cedar Rapids.

"We received our construction permit in May and we purchased the antenna, transmitter and transmission line, which we laid out on the floor of or conference room. We had to wait until Radio Communications had time to install our antenna and transmission line on its 340-foot tower.

"The engineers were able to install it last Friday and we've been testing it since that time, including a rebroadcast of the Orchestra Iowa Patriotic Pops concert on Sunday evening. We will begin full time broadcasting on Friday."

The translator had been operating on 93.3 megahertz, which would have  interferred with another radio station in Cedar Rapids. After considering several alternate frequencies, Sellers Broadcasting asked the FCC to move it to 93.1 on the FM dial.   

Sellers said KMRY-FM, which will operate with 250 watts of power, will enhance the reception of local basketball and football game broadcasts during the evening hours.

"There are about 300 radio stations around the United States operating on 1450 kilohertz, the same frequency as KMRY-AM," Sellers said. "The same ionosperic 'skip' that allows stations in New Orleans and Dallas to be received in Cedar Rapids at night also causes our station to be swallowed up and difficult to receive beyond Cedar Rapids.

"That's not the case with FM radio stations. KMRY-FM will be able to provide a crystal clear signal that will not be affected by ionosperic skip."

Sellers said tests have shown that KMRY-FM can be received as far north as LaPorte City and as far south as North Liberty using a typical car radio. He said the station's 250-watt transmitter will limit the range from an indoor radio to roughly the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area.

Sellers said KMRY-FM will simulcast the same "memory music" programming offered on KMRY-AM and no additional staff will be needed. He said operating an FM station has been a long time dream.

"I've wanted to have an FM station for many years, but it just wasn't possible," he said. "The FCC did not allow an AM simulcast on an FM translator until 2008. I wrote a brief in favor of allowing it when the FCCwas accepting public comment before it issued a final ruling."

Although the translator will typically be identified as KMRY-FM, Sellers said the station must be identified by its actual call sign, K226BO, at three specified times each day.

The launch of an FM station is the latest chapter in the history of the Cedar Rapids broadcaster.

In 2004, KMRY-AM became the first  AM radio station in Iowa to implement HD Radio broadcasting. Sellers said the public has been slow to purchase HD Radio receivers because the cost is still fairly high.