Apologies to our listeners on 100.3 for September 26/27th weekend

We have tried, now, for over 5 years to keep this signal “on” and “reliable” to you…but, as we’ve said on the air, when you deal with two different internet service providers, it’s rough! Moreover, when the internet goes down at our 100.3/Lowell site, there is no way for us to know, as the very same internet that brings audio TO the site would be the internet that would email us for any issues with the transmitter, like lack of audio.

This is becoming a more and more unmanageable issue. We’ve had cable internet and the prices soared at 100.3 for “commercial” service…(one internet device used, 24/7, no heavy use, no employees or office using it…what a rip-off….just because its needed by a company for a simple task, we get charged more on EVERY service than if you used the same data at home.) After the Cable service, we tried DSL. It could not continually support the minimal speed we needed for smooth audio delivery, though AT&T promised it would work…it didn’t. So, we went to the only available fiber, that being “Point Broadband.” Their price is reasonable, their service, at times, questionable. Fiber should NEARLY NEVER go “down.”

I took a starlink satellite internet unit to the site, but, given the constraints on where we can install it, it had obstructions that would interrupt the audio a few times a day. Again, this would be unacceptable.

Due to the terrain between Lowell and Ionia, even from our nearly 200 foot tower, we cannot shoot a direct signal TO the Lowell broadcast site. If we could, we would. We’d have to shoot it to a secondary location THEN there to avoid the hilly terrain which forces us to use the internet, and that, itself, adds ANOTHER link in the audio chain which could fail. The adding of extra parts to a path is never a good idea. Simple is best.

So, in essence, this is an apology note to our Eastern Kent County listeners, with no particular “fix” available. Just know we are aware, we are sorry for interruptions, and we’re at the mercy of TWO rather “iffy” internet service providers. One on the send-end, and one on the receive-end.

-Jim Carlyle, Owner
WION-FM 100.3, Lowell/Kent County