About

THE BOOK ABOUT THE ARROWHEAD RADIO ALLIANCE OF THE INLAND EMPIRE...

The Arrowhead Radio Alliance of the Inland Empire is a non profit mutual benefit charity charity corporation that operates soley for the support and procurement of KQLH LPFM and its entities. It's main transmitter is located just East of Yucaipa. It's booster is located in Cherry Valley, Ca.

KQLH 92.5 LPFM plays a nostalgic music format, specifically Jazz, Big Band, Swing, and Oldies from the 50’s 60’s and 70’s, and is often categorized as an Adult Standards format. KQLH 92.5 plays the “Music of America’s Mainstreet;” including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald etc, and oldies from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s,60’s and 70’s and beyond. We are dedicated to the preservation of this music on our airwaves, much of which is no longer played on radio stations. Music like Ella, Sinatra, the Beatles, Beach Boys, the Stones and artists like Billy Joel etc. This has made KQLH a very popular radio station with people as far away as Hemet crawling up on their roofs with wire and Tin Foil trying to bring the low power signal in. We've received many listener testimonials on our website portal supporting our great music and programming. Through out the year KQLH is called upon, supports and participates in various local community events, even those outside our listening range.

"The Arrowhead Alliance stands proudly for the preservation of Jazz and music of the Mid 20th Century era." We are a non profit organization formed for community service and the listening enjoyment and exposure of the music being played as America grew along its many mainstreets. It is our goal to deliver a locally based, full service radio station featuring the sounds heard on the airwaves in the 40's, 50s, 60s and 70s, and those who performed them, and those who perform their own versions and styles today.

In addition we also feature radio shows with different styles of music that have lent to our rich cultural history. It is our goal to bring these varied music styles, and independent content to new generations so they more fully understand, and remember the music and lives of the generations were listened to my the people who built America's Mainstreet.

We believe through FM radio, and a combination of multiple new mediums we can restore the availability of one the United States most unique and original art froms and music styles, and preserve its rich native history. And all along our cardinal rule is that radio must be fun. We further believe that there is an important need for its exposure, availability, understanding as an independent and unique radio station in a market where there is a lack of independent radio ownership. It is our objective to bring diverse, locally produced, progressive programming, as well as memorable Jazz and Adult Standard music, and its rich content

It will always be an important priority to be a community resource as active members who support our Community through education and live, active participation..

KQLH's First Logo on Retro66Radio.com in 2011

KQLH's Gold Standard History.
Before there was s KQLH on the air, there was an online version at Retro66Radio.webs.com. It's still there if you want to take a peak at it, although it's not maintained any longer.

It was the dream of long time off and on radio broadcaster Mark Westwood to have an on air FM radio station, He filed with the FCC for an LPFM in the first filing window way back in 1995, and it went nowhere. He filed it all by himself, and missed a few requirements. In October of 2012 the FCC opened it's second filing window for LPFM, and Westwood would not make that mistake again. He scrounged up $3,500.00 to pay engineer Jim Stanley of Arizona the required fees to help him file. They did not pick one of the suggested frequencies from the FCC website to file, and instead chose a little know dial position at 92.5 FM. There were a bunch of people filing for those and lots of competition, so they knew they had to pick another frequency. It was a gamble that paid off. They know there had been a radio station in Riverside at 92.7 FM that was moved to Adelanto, and Westwood knew there was room right next to 92.7 FM. Its parent EMF has kept a pilot light on with only a 3 watt translator to one of it's mega religious formats. But there would be room right next door at 92.5 FM. It took a bit to scrape the needed cost of the work done by Stanley. Westwood almost didn't make it save for one thing; Congress shut down the government and froze everything in a partisan budget funding battle. Everything including the clock at the FCC stopped, and that gave Westwood enough time to get the rest of the money together. Westwood and Stanely filed. There was no competition for the frquency, and after the government came back to life, a month later, Westwood had his non comptete construction permit.

Before KFROG, there was KQLH 95.1 FM.
One of Westwood's first broadcasting jobs was at KQLH 95.1 FM in the bottom level of the Inland Center Mall, It's now KFROG. So with a nod to his old station and a cheek flip to EMF and to another KQLH 92.7, that was originally KWDJ, and then KODJ, Westwood brought the KQLH call letters back to the airwaves.

KQLH 92.5 FM began transmissions in January of 2015. We are in the LPFM class of radio stations. Radio stations that broadcast an effective radiated power of 100 watts at 90 feet above average terrain. There are just about 2,000 + LPFM's in the United States. KQLH is also an on line radio station; both broadcasting on air, and streaming on line at KQLHRadio.com. It is operated by the Arrowhead Radio Alliance of the Inland Empire. The Arrowhead Alliance of the Inland Empire was formed in 1998 by Mark Westwood, In 1998 the Arrowhead Alliance of the Inland Empire operated as a community non profit organization with the primary mission of supporting the Mulvane Community Center in San Bernardino at the old San Bernardino County Hospital site on Gilbert Street. It was a supporting group to the Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance. The County of San Bernardino took over the Mulvane Center in 2014 for an extended youth services program that still exists today. RPYA still exists today still delivering youth services as its own organization, and operates independtly of the Arrowhead Alliance.

Mark Westwood and the Arrowhead Alliance.

Mark Westwood has alway been the chair of the Arrowhead Alliance since its formation. Mark also has a background in Radio and TV, and after the Mulvane Center was closed, the organization was repurposed from the organization to build KQLH after receiving a contruction permit from the FCC in 2013 to build KQLH. Westwood built KQLH from the ground up with the help of Clayton Creekmore, Joe Lyons, and serveral other radio engineers, professionals, and community organizers. The construction and equipment funding for KQLH came mostly from personal funds of Mark Westwood, a small loan from Joe Lyons, and money raised during the years prior ro going on air.

The station went on the air in January of 2015. Steve Naranjo was the first DJ other than Mark Westwood. Steve is still on the station every Sunday afternoon at 4 pm with the SNJ Radio Show.

A Rocky Start....

However its start was a little rocky. There were constant problems with the antenna and the recption area was problematic, and did not cover nearly half the area it was authorized to cover. After one FCC filing to move the antenna failed due to an objection from EMF, (there's that name again) a mega media corporation, Westwood filed for another location, and was succesful. Three years later in 2018 a new construction permit was granted to move.. The move was on. The move was made on a slim, slim budget with the help of engineer John Artal, and his friend Jose Aquirre of Yucaipa who agreed to climb the 60 foot antenna. The antenna was moved to a new site shared by KWRS, 107.3, another LPFM. A new tranmission facility was constructed to cover a bigger reception area, and both KQLH LPFM and KWRS moved in, and share that facility today. A new license to cover was received in early February of 2018. Shortly after on the heels of the move, Much of this made possible with the engineering and support of Michelle Bradley of RECNet who because a treasured friend of the station. Bradley lives on the East Coast, but is a reknown authority on LPFMs. Pardon me for saying it like it is...., but Michelle is one bad ass broadcaster!

More Good Fortune....

Also, the station has the food fortune of people like Rick Ruhl who showed up at the base of the antenna during the final push to build the new contruction site. Not to mention the help from a radio broadcaster known nationally for his radio program vignettes called the Man from Yesterday. Gary West solved a major problem at the site by indentifying that we had been sold some wrong connectors and helped us get the right ones. Rick Ruhl was a retired DJ from the Atlanta radio market's WFOM and discovered KQLH. Rick loved the station and quickly volunteered his talent and services to the station. Under the teamwork of Ruhl, Westwood and Joe Lyons, KQLH progressed futher to its current format. Around that time Rick Dees also heard the station while playing golf in Yucaipa. It's unique format was making radio waves across the nation. Dees loved the station and volunteered to bring his talents to KQLH. What an honor. We immediately took him up on the offer and began playing disco duck! The station also added several other national shows and talents to its line up.

The Little Big Radio Station that could...

Like the fabled children's tale of the little train that could, KQLH has become the little station that could. It's audience continues to grow. It's taken a village to field KQLH, and now its considered a nationwide gold standard of LPFM's for its engineering and programming. Professionals locally and from across the nation love KQLH and its non big corporate approach to producing radio the way it was meant to be. We only hope to be an inspiration to other up and coming broadcasters. We hear there just might be another filing window coming soon. We're here for you. Give us call.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO KQLH 92.5 LPFM, YUCAIPA &
KQ;H 92.5 LP, CHERRY VALLEY.....MORE TO COME..