Photos courtesy of WTIP Top: As of Friday, October 9, 2009, the entire Grand Portage community can now tune in to WTIP community radio, thanks to a transmitter on this tower. Left: WTIP Engineer Jeff Nemitz coordinated the efforts to get WGPO up and running.
On Friday, October 9 at 8:19 a.m., WTIP North Shore Community Radio launched a new signal, WGPO 90.1 FM, in Grand Portage. Approval for building the transmitter was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last fall.
Station Manager Deb Benedict said, “WTIP has been trying since the midnineties to get our signal to Grand Portage. One of the reasons we went to the FCC for approval for a transmitter is because the village of Grand Portage itself could not receive our signal.”
Cook County’s rugged landscape, with rocky hills and low valleys, made it impossible for WTIP’s signal to be received within the village. According to WTIP Engineer Jeff Nemitz, FCC approval wasn’t easy to get.
“We had been waiting for years to get approval for a transmitter or translator in Grand Portage and we kept getting shot down by the FCC for one reason or another,” said Nemitz. “We finally got approval last fall for a transmitter, which is considerably better than a translator.”
Nemitz coordinated the effort to get the approved transmitter installed. “WTIP’s goal is to serve all of Cook County, so we’ve been working very hard over the years trying to get a permit in place to do this. It’s been a long time coming and I’m very happy that we’ve finally been able to put this together to serve the Grand Portage village,” Nemitz stated.
Benedict says she’s very happy to have the new signal on the air. “We’re very excited that Grand Portage will be part of our community of listeners. We’re hoping in the future to do more collaboration with Grand Portage be it history, culture, or music,” Benedict said.
With the addition of WGPO in Grand Portage, WTIP’s signal now covers all of Cook County. Translator equipment was installed at the Gunflint Lake tower in 2001 enabling WTIP to broadcast at 91.7 FM Gunflint Trail as well as at its original 90.7 FM.
More information about WTIP is available at www.wtip.org or (218) 387-1070.
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