Dan Thorn brought to my attention this article by Tim Shook regarding KNHC which details the equipment that was in use at the time and some of the interesting problems we had with it. There is also a black and white photograph of Larry Adams and Gene Arnold.

Tim neglects to mention in his on-air position at the station. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit envious of his golden voice that resonates speakers with deep smooth bass.

Time mentions a range of about 20 miles when KNHC was running 1500 watts. Prior to running 1500 watts, KNHC operated with 320 watts, and at that power on one drive to Spokane, I listed to it all the way across the past, lost it when I went down into the Canyon at Vantage, but once up on the other side received it again and continued to receive it about half-way to Spokane and that was with a portable Sony Earth Orbiter radio sitting in the front seat of the car.

Over the years KNHC has received numerous power increased, at one point to 30,000 watts. Around 2001 they moved the transmitter operations to Cougar Mountain and are now broadcasting with an effective radiated power of 8500 watts from that location. Even though the power is lower, the increased elevation makes up for it resulting in fewer dead spots.

Another data point worth mentioning is that Seattle Public Schools is considering selling the station believing it will bring up to eight million dollars. It would be a tragic loss if it were sold because it has launched the careers of many students. The F.C.C. 1st class license I received while attending Nathan Hale was the ticket to the first job I held for 17 years. The value of KNHC to the students is incalculable.

In all probability, if they did sell, they will not be able to get anything near the projected their estimated 8.5 million dollar price because the operating frequency of 89.5 m Hz is within the educational band of 88-92 MHz and I do not believe there are available frequencies in the commercial portion of the band.