July ’71: A last-minute hardware swap
July 13, 1971 One day before scheduled sign-on, a copper strap burns apart in the Antenna Tuning Unit, removing the antenna from the transmitter. Six small resistors burn in the transmitter’s final section. In isolated Nome, they are impossible to replace. However, support nurse Kitty Orris has just escorted a patient to Anchorage, where she […]
April 1998: Fighting a spring blizzard
April 24, 1998 The last week of the month brings multiple days of a rip-roaring blizzard to Nome, and KNOMers run outside every hour to clear the station’s satellite dish of snow, which blocks signals. In the dead of winter, snow does not cause this problem, as it is too dry to stick to the antennas.
KNOM heard in Sweden!
The light is returning, and on clear days, the sky radiates a sparkling, deep blue light. Sunrise and sunset glow with fiery yellow and red hues. At night, the stars and planets twinkle with occasional interruptions from majestic auroras. [googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=forsa,+sweden&aq=&sll=64.511934,-165.419399&sspn=0.254408,0.613861&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Forsa,+G%C3%A4vleborg+County,+Sweden&t=m&ll=61.375673,20.522461&spn=5.267514,26.411133&z=5&output=embed&w=600&h=250] Last week, we received notification that a long-distance radio listener in a small village called Forsa […]
November 1970: Waiting for the weather for tower construction
November 22, 1970 After three weeks of blizzards and winds, the weather has briefly cleared. Volunteers John Pfeifer and Tom Busch are belted to the AM tower at the 95-foot level, and eight others on the ground hoist the microwave receive antenna, which the pair install. Weather closes in again, and work can’t resume for […]
July 1971: Thanks to a nurse, a last-minute fix
July 13, 1971 One day before scheduled sign-on, a copper strap burns apart in the antenna tuning unit, removing the antenna from the transmitter. Six small resistors burn in the transmitter’s final section. In isolated Nome, they are impossible to replace. However, support nurse Kitty Orris (pictured, in the middle of the photo) has just escorted a […]