Seeking Campus-limited AM and/or FM Stations

CampusBroadcaster.net recently profiled WSLU Radio, the campus-limited AM station on the grounds of Saint Leo University. I am looking for other colleges and universities that operate either Part 15 compliant campus stations operating either as a carrier-current, radiating coax or legal free radiating antenna operation. Stations with a companion webstream are fine as I am not interested in stations that are operating solely as a webstream.

These station profiles are to show that Part 15 radio can be used not only to entertain students but to give them practical experience and training to enter the media arts and the broadcasting industry in general.

Interested stations can contact me via PM here or via the contact form over at CampusBroadcaster.net.

Look at WTBU at Boston University, WBTY at Bentley College, WNBY at Newbury College, WECB at Emerson College, and WVBC at Boston College. Well, technically WVBC used to have a Part 15 AM system but it dies years ago...now they "transmit" as audio on a cable TV channel and over the web.

All of these are "faux" call letters of course, although in WECB's and WTBU's case, the use of those call letters goes back nearly 50 years.

Thanks for the leads - at least it gives me a start.

Check out Kutztown University Radio (http://kur.kutztown.edu). I have a friend of a friend who knows a little about how the station is run. I think they're on cable FM and also have a free radiate AM signal. I drove through campus once and got it clear on campus, and then it faded to nothing super fast as soon as I got off campus. Sounds like free radiate AM to me. The station is popular too. It's been written up in the local Reading, PA paper more than once about things they're doing (adding the ability to listen on your phone through some company called Audio Now) and they have the benefit of having a local cable company putting their audio as the backdrop on one of those local cable access TV bulletin boards, giving people all over their area the ability to listen on their cable TV. And they're very professional sounding too with a daytime smooth jazz format with professional liners and all.

Wikipedia has a small list of current and former carrier current stations. There are likely to be many others, but these stations are often being replaced with streaming audio and FM, both licensed and unlicensed. Like any other volunteer operation, they can operate sporadically and with varying degrees of professionalism.

aaronread is right that some of these stations have operated for decades. I know that WPPJ-670 has been existence since the 1960's at least, on the same frequency. Many licensed student-run stations originated as CC stations as well. They're a fascinating, if slowly dying, breed of radio that deserves more coverage than it gets.

Thanks for all the great information. So far, I have profiled the on-campus stations at Saint Leo University as well as Kutztown University. While there seems to be a decline in schools using carrier-current broadcast techniques, some larger campuses are opting for free-radiating systems such as the Rangemaster to provide campus-limited radio.

I'm always looking to profile schools doing this so if you hear of any more feel free to drop me a PM here or via my site. I'm working on the leads I have already received but I'm always looking for great examples of how students are being exposed to the world of broadcasting thanks to on-campus Part 15 radio.

While there seems to be a decline in schools using carrier-current broadcast techniques, some larger campuses are opting for free-radiating systems such as the Rangemaster to provide campus-limited radio.

Click to expand...

Some stations still technically use their carrier-current AM and/or radiating-cable FM Part 15 systems, but realistically they have migrated the bulk of their listenership to the web. From the listener's perspective, it's a superior experience in every way.

FWIW, the synchronized-Rangemaster Part 15 AM "free radiating" approach is in use by a handful of stations, "WLOY" at Loyola University at Baltimore comes to mind. (of course, that's 'cos John Devecka, the living God of Part 15 broadcasting, is their Ops Mgr). If you start synchronizing a half-dozen of the things together from good transmitter locations (solid ground, decent height but not too high...billboard frames work well) you can cover a surprisingly large area for in-car listening. Still can't penetrate buildings worth squat, though.

While there seems to be a decline in schools using carrier-current broadcast techniques, some larger campuses are Some stations still technically use their carrier-current AM and/or radiating-cable FM Part 15 systems, but realistically they have migrated the bulk of their listenership to the web. From the listener's perspective, it's a superior experience in every way.

Click to expand...

While you're right on target about many of these stations transitioning to the web, the fees associated with webcasting, not to mention the sheer bandwidth used, sometimes makes this less than the ideal situation. I've seen many IT groups cringe at the thought of having half a campus streaming - be it their local station or from outside of their network. Personally, I think campus-limited broadcasting on either AM or FM has a unique allure that you can't really experience with webradio.

I remember John Devecka back in the days when LPB was a thriving business. It's sad to see what became of it. I had one of their low power transmitters at an AM I engineered as our nighttime power transmitter.

The fees are obnoxious, no question. The recordkeeping requirements can be murderous, too...although both those things are moving targets as of late.

The bandwidth issues can be problematic but in my experience it's unusual for a prototypical college radio station to need more than 25 simultaneous listeners. Maybe 50. That's not much bandwidth - you can get that for less than $150/mo from Live365.com. Sports games can, and often do, change that equation a lot, of course.

On my site I recently profiled Arizona State University's campus-limited AM station, "The Blaze" 1330 AM and I'm still on the hunt to profile move college, university and even high school campus limited stations that use low power AM and/or FM - either carrier current AM, radiating cable AM or FM or free radiating AM or FM that conforms to FCC Part 15 regulations.

If your school station is currently operating in this manner please drop me a line.

aaronread said:

The fees are obnoxious, no question. The recordkeeping requirements can be murderous, too...although both those things are moving targets as of late.

The bandwidth issues can be problematic but in my experience it's unusual for a prototypical college radio station to need more than 25 simultaneous listeners. Maybe 50. That's not much bandwidth - you can get that for less than $150/mo from Live365.com. Sports games can, and often do, change that equation a lot, of course.

Click to expand...

As you probably realize, and for those who don't know - Live 365 pays the music licensing fees for its stations as part of its costs. If a college wants to have an active broadcasting program that someone can actually listen to, even $200 or so a month for streaming is far less costly than operating a actual broadcast transmitter (AM or FM - normal power). Seems to me a benefactor or grant money could be found to come up with that.

Live 365 pays the music licensing fees for its stations as part of its costs.

Click to expand...

Note: it depends on which package you buy. And that only covers the Performing Rights Organizations (PRO's): ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. It doesn't automatically cover SoundExchange fees AFAIK (depends heavily on which SoundExchange agreement you sign up for, there are several for different organizations/stations) and it definitely doesn't "cover" any costs associated with recordkeeping requirements.

http://www.live365.com/pro/pricing.live Look for the "royalty included" packages.

Bill-

Sent you a PM regarding SCSU's CC station. Has most of the history of it that I've been able to gather. Hope it helps.

Ivan.