Local Radio? Really?
Yes, really. Here’s why — Even in 2026 — we think local radio has the right kind of power to help us take care of us.
Radio’s old, but she’s Still golden.
Radio is absolutely an old technology, yet it remains the gold standard for public safety communications.
Listeners can receive a radio signal to a battery-powered transistor radio without electricity, without a cell signal, and without shelling out for another subscription.
Radio remains the most reliable, most local, and most egalitarian communication method out there. Radio is available to everyone.
National, State, and County-wide Alerts + Local Details
Per FCC mandate, we’ll have the same emergency transmitter as every other station in the country. That transmitter is called an Emergency Alert System (EAS) device, and it monitors for emergency alerts 24/7/365.
EAS devices are tied-into both the White House and FEMA over the Internet, and also to a network of other radio stations. This network is known as the National Public Warning System of Primary Entry Point stations, and it can be activated if the Internet is disrupted.
We’ll also join the county emergency operation center’s distribution list for Sonoma County-specific information.
And in addition to those watches and warnings, we’ll have what KSRO and KRCB won’t: the street- and creek-level details we know we need.
your nOAA Weather Radio Isn’t the Be-All and End-All for public safety.
Just because you have a NOAA weather radio doesn’t mean it’ll provide you the information you need when you need it (or that you’ll get their signal).
NOAA weather radios need to be programmed to your county using Specific Alert Message Encoding (SAME) in order to receive necessary alerts. A transistor radio with a digital tuner just needs to be flipped to our frequency. To hear us? No programming necessary.
Plus, NOAA information is applicable to a whole county or region. We’ll provide an additional layer of information specific to our neighborhoods, but of course we’ll also be tuned into NOAA to re-broadcast what they share.
We’re Not owned by Investors. And we can’t sell Advertisements.
The FCC only grants Low Power FM permits to non-profits, and the agency prohibits LPFM stations from selling ads.
Bottom line: We don’t answer to anyone but our listeners.
Our Neighborhood Power Goes Out. A lot.
Whether these outages are caused by major disasters, a windy day, an old redwood shedding a limb, or PG&E’s decision makers — it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the frequency of our outages, and they happen often.
You’ll be able to pick-up our station with a hand-crank, solar-powered or traditional battery-powered transistor radio.
And the station will have back-up power via generator.
Cell Signal Stinks Out here.
Sure, the Monte Rio Locals Facebook Group is great, but what happens when you can’t get online?
It’s Free. For. Everyone.
No subscription necessary. No Internet, no cable, no PG&E bill. Just batteries or solar power or a little elbow grease on your hand-crank radio.