Tiny Georgetown Radio Station Broadens Reach with New Antenna

Now it's the 2-watt station with the 100-watt reach.

A new antenna perched on a water tank on Hotchkiss Hill, elevation 3,192 feet, means the weak signal from the tiny community radio station can finally reach most of the small community in the hills north of Placerville.

It's reaching beyond, too.

Since the new antenna went up Friday, workers from the quirky, all-volunteer station have been burning up $4-plus gallons of gas driving up and down the hills just to see where they can tune in.

"Since Friday, I've been getting it all over the Divide," said Paul Firth, the general manager for KFOK, 95.1 LPFM. LP is for low power.

Technical Director Bruce Hayden drove down Highway 193 from the Divide, down into the canyon at Chili Bar and up into Placerville and got a signal most of the way.

Some KFOK broadcasters have joked in the past about having listenership in the high single digits. That will change. Hayden estimates the station went from a potential audience of 1,000 to seven times as many.

The upgrade is the most important event in ...

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