NOAA weather station shut down

As you may recall, last winter a major Spokane television and radio transmission tower was severely damaged during a major storm. This particular tower was the transmission base for both KSPS (Public Television Ch. 32) and our Weather Channel (NOAA).

Needless to say, transmissions from Spokane to Black Mountain for both KSPS and NOAA have been sporadic to say the least. Your Translator District holds the license to retransmit KSPS's Channel 7 to our community on Channel 32. (This was Channel 56 until May of 2006 when a switch to Ch. 32 was mandated by FCC.) We ask you to keep in mind the simple fact your Translator District has no control over incoming transmissions or their parent organizations.

So, given the fact KSPS places a very low priority in helping NOAA come back on line, your Translator District Board has asked the technical support team of E.L. Automation to cease their efforts to correct KSPS and NOAA's incoming signals as the problem is no longer cost effective.

There is however some light at the end of this particular tunnel as The National Weather Service (NOAA) is currently negotiating with the Washington State Highway Patrol to install a new weather transmission site on Spokane Mountain.A board member has established a liaison link with National Weather Service's regional authorities to monitor the progress of NOAA and WSP's negotiations.

In addition, your board intends to formally notify both the National Weather Service and the Washington State Patrol of how important this weather and emergency signal is to our community, as well as to assure both parties of our willingness to provide space at the Black Mountain translator site for NOAA's translator hardware.

We will keep you posted on the efforts of all concerned.

Sincerely,

Boundary County Translator District