KRUU-LP is a 100-watt non-commercial

Non-commercial

Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...

 low-power

Low-power broadcasting

Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...

 community radio

Community radio

Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...

 station operating in Fairfield, Iowa

Fairfield, Iowa

Fairfield is a city and the county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,464 in the 2010 census, a decline from 9,509 in the 2000 census. - History :...

. The station is partially solar powered. KRUU is an open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

, independent radio

Independent Radio

Independent radio indicates a radio station that is run in a manner different from usual for the country it broadcasts in. In countries where there exist government-run radio stations that served as the primary or only the variety of licensed broadcaster, the term independent radio generally means...

, listener-supported station and serves a broadcast radius of approximately ten (10) miles.

History

Originally granted a construction permit to build a low power radio station with the call letters KRUU by the FCC in 2001, the Fairfield Youth Advocacy a.k.a.the Beatbox, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, was granted a six month extension in April 2006. At that time a town hall meeting was held and the board of directors was formed. With community-wide volunteer help the station debuted on air on September 30, 2006. Ninety-nine percent(99%) of KRUU's programs are locally produced by volunteer hosts who create 80 shows a week. All original content programs produced at KRUU are archived in a free reference library, available to anyone.

Broadcasting from the Sun

On September 9, 2009 at 9am, KRUU became the first (and only) partially solar-powered radio station in the midwest United States. According to KRUU station manager James Moore, solar panels reduce the stations reliance on the conventional electrical grid by fifteen (15%) to twenty (20%) percent by powering the master control room and transmitter. Twenty-four Photocomm solar panels each rated sixty-five watts provide a total of one-point-six kilowatts (1.6 kW). Battery backup is supplied by ten Interstate GR2-140 12-volt batteries in case of inclement weather.