Disputes over frequency and wattage have left dead air on KUSR, Iowa State’s student-operated radio station.

KUSR suspended broadcast operations Nov. 1 due to complications with its license. The license is being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission.

Erich Grubert, ISU junior and assistant general manager of the station, said it may be awhile before KUSR makes a return. “It is difficult to say when we might go back on the air,” Grubert said. “Most likely we will stay off the air until January.”

Problems with KUSR’s license were stumbled onto by accident.

“Our general manager had called the FCC to check into our license and found out then about the complications,” he said. “The FCC just discovered it as well as KUSR. Six years ago, the frequency 91.5 ran at 200 watts and that license has expired. The license we have now is for 17 watts and is for a different frequency.”

Grubert said the station is not at fault, but “until we get the license straightened out, we’re off the air until that point.”

In 1989, KUSR applied for a renewal license, but the FCC has not ruled on the application. Grubert assured ISU students and staff, however, that KUSR will return to the airways.