Tower Collapse May Lead to Upgrade for Minneapolis AM Station

A Minneapolis AM radio station may get a power boost following a tower collapse this summer.

Asian American Broadcasting’s KFXN/690 is licensed to transmit from a three-tower array in New Hope, using 500 Watts during the day and just 4 Watts at night. However, the center tower collapsed in August and the station has been transmitting from the east tower with 120 Watts non-directional since then.

The towers, near Winnetka Avenue and North 36th Avenue, are owned by American Towers LLC and sit in a wetland owned by the City of New Hope. In an application for a facility change filed with the FCC, KFXN says it has been informed by its landlord that the fallen tower will not be rebuilt.

KFXN is proposing transmitting non-directionally from the east tower using 1.7kW daytime and 5 Watts nighttime. The daytime upgrade is apparently possible because KFXN no longer needs to protect KUSD/690 (Vermillion, SD), which returned its license in 1994.

690, originally KTCR, has transmitted from the site since 1962. The previous directional facility had pointed east-southeast towards Minneapolis, so switching to non-directional will improve 690’s signal to the northern and southwestern suburbs.

Northern Lights Broadcasting’s KQGO/96.3 (Edina-Minneapolis) also transmits from the east tower at the site.