Huntley Community Radio receives FCC license

After years of planning and work to become a low-powered FM radio station, Huntley Community Radio may hit the airwaves as soon as this year. (Sun Day File Photo)

Huntley Community Radio granted license on March 14

HUNTLEY – “You’re listening to 101.5 FM, the home of Huntley Community Radio.”

That station identification may soon grace the airwaves — as quickly as the end of the year — as HCR received per¬mission from the Federal Communications Commission on March 14 to be-come a low-power FM station.

“We are very, very, very excited about this. It’s a dream come true for us,” said Dorothy Litwin, HCR’s director of programming development.

The station now has a period of 18 months to demonstrate it can build out its Internet presence and construct the necessary components in order to broadcast over the air.

Allen Pollack, HCR’s executive director, said the necessary components of the construction permit granted by the FCC will cost at least $40,000, but could be another $20,000 if “we want everything that we hope for.”

Those costs are associated with a two-part study, which will show the village of Huntley that the radio station’s equipment is structurally sound and can avoid interfering with any transmission on the tower, as well as the construction and installation of the transmitter and antenna.

Pollack and Litwin said they are currently submitting grants to help offset some of those costs, but were planning fundraising efforts within the community to start building toward that $40,000 goal.

If everything falls into place, Pollack said, the station could be on the air as soon as the end of the year: “That’s what we’re aiming for, but if it’s earlier, that’s great.”

HCR has been granted the frequency of 101.5 FM. The station is still trying to figure out call letters — their initial hope of WHCR-LP is not panning out so far.

Pollack said the call letters are currently owned by a station in New York and an FCC regulation requires any station that wishes to use those call letters, in any form, must first receive per-mission from the primary holder.

He is still trying to work with the general manager of that radio station to influence her in accepting their reasoning, but if the likelihood of being denied pans out, HCR is already planning some alternative call letter lineups.

Once HCR makes it to air, Pollack believed they could gain a new base of listeners that, in the past, were resistant to or somewhat adverse to accessing their computer in order to listen to the station. The station will also continue to add to its programming, Litwin said, and both United Way and the McHenry Health Department have recently approached HCR to potentially create new shows.

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