In mid-January the student-run radio station at the University of Hawaii at Manoa will see its long-awaited plans to boost signal strength come to fruition.

Windward Oahu residents recently lost the ability to listen to KTUH-FM 89.9 over the air, but its signals at 90.3 FM in Honolulu and 91.1 FM for the North Shore still are beaming the station’s programming to most of Oahu.

The problem is the “most of Oahu” part.

The frequencies lack the strength to allow listeners to hear the station islandwide, said Nick Ciuffetelli, general manager.

“There are pockets throughout Oahu where our signal struggles to stay clear or is absent entirely,” he said.

A main reason for that is the low altitude of its current broadcast tower, which is located on the “Saunders (Hall) rooftop,” he said, at a height of about 140 feet.

A couple of weeks into the new year, weather permitting, the new KTUH signal at 90.1 FM will nearly double in power and will beam from a tower on Tantalus “about 2,000 feet up,” he said.

The North Shore signal at 91.1 FM will remain active.

The tower site is leased by the state to Hawaii Public Radio, “and they’re the only one on the site right now,” Ciuffetelli said.

HPR “has been really accommodating,” said Dale Machado, chief engineer for KTUH, who also was one of the station’s first radio personalities when the station signed on in 1973. Machado’s primary job is as chief engineer for the seven-station cluster of iHeartMedia in Honolulu.

The lease terms allow only a noncommercial operation to share the tower site with nonprofit HPR, and KTUH is classified by the FCC as a noncommercial, educational station.

“And we’re not competitors,” Machado said.

HPR is perhaps best known for its classical music and news programming, but with two program streams broadcast almost statewide, other genres of music and programming also are offered by Hawaii Public Radio.

While some might consider HPR’s programming eclectic, KTUH is a genre-busting broadcast buffet.

For example, on Wednesdays from 9 p.m. to midnight, you will hear princesstofu play everything from disco and electro-swing to J-pop (Japanese pop), jazz and soul.

James Charisma plays pop rock and upbeat jazz from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

Yezmin hosts “Mi Ritmo Latino” from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, playing a rainbow of Latino music from bossa nova to electro-cumbia, and from indigenous Mexican to Latin hip-hop and more.

“Wanderlust Sessions,” hosted by Miss Poai, features newly released jazz and electro-swing to classic jazz greats, including Ella Fitzgerald and Dave Brubeck, from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursdays.

“The Manifesto,” hosted by DJ Thee Curator, plays music described as experimental, garage, “Kiss’n and Hugg’n music,” psych, punk and rock. A Funkadelic album cover is used as the artwork for the noon-to- 3 p.m. Tuesday shows on the station’s online program grid.

On The Net: ktuh.org

Vit’s says ‘hasta la vista’

Vit’s Hawaiian Steak House at the Maile Sky Court will be closing for good at that location Dec. 31.

The hotel was purchased by a California investment firm and a partner earlier this year for $76 million, with an eye toward turning the budget hotel into a Holiday Inn Express.

“They don’t need a restaurant here,” said Vit’s owner Jarin Udom, whose middle name is Vit.

The steakhouse had been operating at the hotel for about nine years, he said, though he has been in the restaurant business in Waikiki for some 45 years.

He owned the O Company restaurant and, for a time, Buzz’s Steak and Lobster, among other operations.

“We are searching in Waikiki” for another possible location, he said.

A spokeswoman for the hotel, managed by Aqua-Aston Hospitality, declined to comment.

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.