Community radio in the Twin Cities will get a big boost this summer as both Radio K and KFAI have received FCC approval for increased signals.

Volunteer-based KFAI will convert its two frequencies (90.3, 106.7 FM) into one digital signal at 90.3 FM and replace its current 30-watt transmitter with a 900-watt directional antenna on top of the IDS Tower. The new signal could potentially reach all the way to Hastings, Minn., though KFAI will maintain its 106.7 signal in St. Paul to ensure coverage in the east and southeast. KFAI has been broadcasting since 1978 and previously expanded its signal in 1982 and 1994.

KFAI’s West Bank neighbor Radio K traces its roots back to the 1920s, but the University of Minnesota outlet has always lacked a formidable presence on the FM spectrum. In 2004, the “gem of the AM dial” began broadcasting on an eight-watt station shared with St. Louis Park High School at 106.5 FM. The next year Radio K picked up a 10-watt signal in Falcon Heights at 101.7 FM. That same year Radio K applied for a signal increase from the FCC. That request was approved last month.

General manager Andy Marlow confirmed that University of Minnesota station received approval for a 99-watt transmitter at 104.5 FM. The new antenna will be located on top of the university’s Rarig Center, where the station has its studio. Marlow expects the current signal to cover a much larger swath of the Twin Cities with the new signal. Radio K will still share the signal with St. Louis Park High School, which will use the transmitter for KDXL while classes are in session. Radio K will continue broadcasting during daytime “clear channel” hours from its 5,000-watt AM transmitter at 770 kHz.