Malibu’s KBUU-FM began transmitting with a new transmitter and antennas on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 16, a major step in extending a better signal to more of the Malibu coast.
Data problems were causing some initial sputtering, but the engineers were working on the problem, a station official said.
KBUU plans to build boosters near the Civic Center and at Trancas, to extend the signal east and west. The hills of Malibu and the low broadcasting power granted to KBUU by the FCC make it very difficult to cover the area.
The new transmitter will be able to synchronize the new boosters for seamless coverage up and down the coast, engineers said. The new booster will also allow KBUU to offer three additional audio channels, both on FM 99.1 and on the Internet.
Volunteers at KBUU will mark six years serving the Malibu community on Feb. 23.