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	Vol.7, No 49, November 23, 1999
	Urgent signals may be blocked  By Elyse Medlin Daily Forty-Niner Campus-based jazz station KLON moved its radio antenna to a new location Monday morning, despite serious concerns from city officials that the new site will interfere with local police, fire and ambulance transmissions. "We need to be absolutely satisfied that there are no public safety implications," said Long Beach City Attorney Bob Shannon. "The FCC [Federal Communications Comission] will look closely at the operation, and if there are serious concerns, activity will cease." The antenna was moved to make way for a hill-top housing tract in Signal Hill. Although the new location is 100 feet away from the previous antenna site, the location might disrupt signals from emergency personnel, city officials said. "There wasn't a problem when we were 100 feet away," KLON General Manager Judy Jankowski said. "There's not going to be a problem when we're 100 feet closer." As of Monday afternoon, KLON was transmitting from the new location at a reduced power, but still has to test its full broadcasting power. "The proof will be in the next few days when they go up to 8 kw," said Ken Farfsing, city manager of Signal Hill. "If interference develops when they power up, then they'll have to power down or go off [air]." City officials brought in additional electronics engineers over the weekend and Monday morning to make sure the antenna is operating successfully and following FCC regulations, said Gary Jones, Signal Hill Director of Communications.  "Long Beach officials continue to be concerned and they're doing their best to prove there's a problem," Jones said. "They're concerned there will be a degradation of their public safety communication." Spanish Broadcasting consultants have teamed up with KLON to prove the antenna will not be problematic for the Long Beach community. Hundreds of operations similar to KLON's have been successful in the past, Jones said. KLON is required by FCC policy to remedy the problem, if such a problem exists, Jones said. The FCC can revoke the station's permit if it fails to resolve the problem.  One solution for KLON would be to transmit the radio frequency at a lower power. "We would find that comfort zone where there wasn't any interference," Jankowski said. "But we won't lose our signal."		Urgent signals may be blocked   Road construction near CSULB creates hassels   Legacy lecturer speaks of research   African, Cuban cultural history depicted in film   Engineering, business colleges get grant for labs Gaming debts erased   Apathy creates crime at CSULB Snoop stop Pepperdine ekes out hoops opener   LBSU dumps San Diego   Pepperdine nets 49ers   49ers upend Eastern foe Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.