KCHU AM 770 has gone dark—but the good news is that FM 91.3 is now broadcasting in Valdez! Thanks to the skill and determination of James Devans, who mounted a new FM antenna on the shorter tower behind the station and connected it to a transmitter inside the building, we now have a surprisingly strong and clear FM signal.
Reception is solid from Keystone Canyon all the way out Valdez Arm to Point Freemantle. If you live, drive, or cruise in that area, you should be able to hear KCHU clearly on 91.3 FM.
The loss of our AM tower came after years of erosion from Valdez Glacier Stream outbursts. The erosion finally washed away enough land around the Old Town Valdez tower site that one of the guy wire anchors was submerged and shifting. The bank under the transmitter shack was also collapsing, threatening the building itself.
We’d like to thank the following people and organizations for their generous support:
- Bill Harris of Harris Sand & Gravel stepped in, donating equipment and labor to build a diversion dike and reinforce the streambank in front of the transmitter shack.
- The City of Valdez also provided rock for the project. Thanks to their combined efforts, tower specialists were able to reach the submerged anchor—but unfortunately confirmed that the guy wire could no longer be tensioned. The tower itself had bent beyond repair. The good news: the transmitter shack is now secure until it can be removed.
- Jacques de Whipper, who wowed Valdez audiences with his whip-cracking stage show at June’s End of the Road Renaissance Fair, rallied his 3 million+ social media followers with a call to save KCHU’s tower. Jacques’ appeal resulted 140 donations totaling over $10,000 to the KCHU Tower Emergency Fund. More than half of those donations came from out of state, from people who simply wanted to support a small, struggling Alaskan station.
In addition to James Devans, Bill Harris and Harris Sand & Gravel, the City of Valdez, and Jacques de Whipper, we are deeply grateful to every listener who contributed. Thanks to you, KCHU is still on the air, now broadcasting stronger than ever in Valdez on 91.3 FM.
