Station manager Alice Weiss is asking listeners of WWFM in Steamboat Springs for a little more patience as the classical music station works through a series of technical issues that have interrupted service.

“We haven’t had a problem like this in Steamboat Springs for so long,” Weiss said. “I can’t remember the last time something like this happened.”

The issues began in late June when the satellite receiver that serves the Steamboat Springs area failed. The station ordered a new receiver that is expected to arrive soon at the station’s headquarters, which is on the campus of Mercer County Community College in New Jersey.

The station had hoped to bridge the gap in service with a temporary fix in early July that would have restored music to the airwaves using the station’s internet stream, but the station ran into an additional internet connection issue that has kept the classical tunes off the airwaves.

Listeners are still able to access the station online at WWFM.org.

“ZIRKEL is an important link to our ability to get that audio back on the air, and they have been working with us to resolve the issues,” Weiss said. “We’ve tried to come up with some alternate situations and even with a new receiver, even with a computer designed especially for putting the audio on the air. It still wouldn’t work without that internet connection.”

Weiss said engineers with ZIRKEL had found some components and connections that were not working correctly, and those engineers were headed to the top of Mount Werner on Tuesday to see if they could resolve the issues that might be causing problems.

Her hope is that those issues would be fixed and the station could return to the air — but she couldn’t say exactly when that would happen.

“This is encouraging news because it gives us a glimmer of hope that the engineers at the internet company can finally see what the impasse is and what is preventing the audio from coming through,” Weiss said. “If ZIRKEL Wireless finds this problem may exist on their end and they can correct it, then that bodes very well for us.”

WWFM broadcasts The Classical Network, which serves New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and portions of Delaware and Maryland, and is simulcast via satellite to a satellite receiver in Steamboat Springs. The station provides a blend of exclusive specialty programs alongside those from national and international classical performance sources.

“We’re so delighted that we have this loyal audience out (in Steamboat Springs),” Weiss said. “In the broadcast industry, occasionally, stations do have equipment failures that need to be repaired. This one happens to be a little more complicated because we have (problems) with the internet connection that we need in order to make the connections for broadcasting.

“We are working as hard as we can to get Steamboat back on the air — especially for people who enjoy listening in their cars. We regret that this has happened, but it’s something we are dealing with, working as fast as we can to get it fixed and get us broadcasting out there again.”