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Post by David on Oct 23, 2016 0:25:30 GMT -6
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Oct 24, 2016 1:14:23 GMT -6
I'd be very surprised if this meant a return to regular broadcasting. If they were going to do that they would have done so already. I'd be willing to bet the station will be back on for at most a day or two and then go silent again.
I still think Wasatch Public Media should buy it from them.
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Post by David on Oct 24, 2016 10:00:30 GMT -6
I'd be very surprised if this meant a return to regular broadcasting. If they were going to do that they would have done so already. I'd be willing to bet the station will be back on for at most a day or two and then go silent again. I still think Wasatch Public Media should buy it from them. That's exactly why I phrased the title of my post in the form of a question. From reading the application submitted to the FCC, it sounds like the university administration doesn't know what the heck to do with KWCR. I wouldn't be surprised if they do just what you suggested a la Citicasters reviving KWDZ for a weekend and then going silent again simply to preserve the license. Personally, I think they should resume regular broadcasting to provide students with actual on-air experience, but then again as a graduate of the Communications/Broadcasting program at WSU, I'm biased in favor of "real radio".
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Post by friendlee on Oct 25, 2016 7:05:19 GMT -6
But do they still call it "Quacker" (K-W-C-R)?
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Oct 26, 2016 6:13:59 GMT -6
David, I understand and share your opinion about "real radio." (Hmm, that sounds like a nice positioner.) I don't think it's going to happen though. Between the problems finding a new transmitter site, increasing FCC scrutiny, the unpredictability of on-air talent, and the ongoing objections filed against the station this seems like too much of a headache for a relatively small institution to want to deal with. There's also the perception (rightly or wrongly) that today's young people much prefer online listening to broadcast anyway. That won't work in the long run, but that's the perception.
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Post by David on Oct 26, 2016 11:02:15 GMT -6
I have to admit that I "pirated" the "real radio" tagline from WCCO 830 in my home state of Minnesota. They haven't used that slogan since the mid 1980's, so I don't think it constitutes a copyright violation. Nevertheless, if Weber State doesn't plan on doing anything with KWCR's license besides mothballing it, they might as well sell it as you suggested and put some money in the university's coffers. I understand that terrestrial broadcasting has lost a significant number of listeners in the past 20 years, but there's still plenty of stations with a need for live on-air talent. But since Weber State doesn't even offer a broadcasting emphases any longer <per the Communications Dept. site www.weber.edu/communication/>, I wouldn't be surprised to see KWCR put up for sale soon. Ironically, the WSU Communications site does mention the campus radio station being located in the Union Building, as well as showing a mock newscast with TV cameras and mention of the the new digital audio-video studio in the Stewart Library. So apparently it's no longer broadcasting that has the emphases, it's "digital media" if you're into radio & TV broadcasting. To quote Mr. Dylan, "the times they are a'changing." Note to Friend Lee: some students still referred to KWCR as "Quacker" when I was in the broadcasting program in the early 1990's, but with the station being online only for now and today's students having almost a total disregard for tradition, I'm betting that the "Qwacker" KWCR is a thing of the past. Addendum: Here's a link to an article from the WSU Signpost of April 16, 2015 about KWCR's 50th anniversary. Hard to believe the station was only 10 watts when it first went on the air in 1965! Also, the FCC granted KWCR's STA request as of yesterday (Oct. 25TH), so they'll probably be back on 88.1 any day now. www.wsusignpost.com/2015/04/16/weber-state-radio-station-kwcr-celebrated-turning-50-years-old/
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Oct 26, 2016 22:09:06 GMT -6
There are still class D non-comms that are only 10 watts including the (in)famous KSFH, which is the only full service station in the US on 87.9FM.
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Post by David on Oct 31, 2016 9:44:40 GMT -6
Just in time for Halloween, KWCR is back on the air @ 88.1 (no trick!). The station is broadcasting in mono, which should increase its range quite a bit.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Oct 31, 2016 23:03:22 GMT -6
The STA was approved on Oct 25. As of now I"m not getting anything from here. Did they cease broadcasting again already? Could anyone tell if it was a precanned broadcast or whether it was the same as what was going on over the web feed? On a related note, check my post about mono increasing a station's range: talkingutahradio.proboards.com/thread/1519/mono-increase-range
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Post by David on Nov 1, 2016 11:01:48 GMT -6
I checked 88.1 again this morning and heard nothing, so it appears that KWCR broadcast just long enough to keep the station licensed and then went dark again. While they were still on the air, I compared the KWCR web feed to the over the air broadcast and they weren't the same. From what I could tell, it sounded like the 88.1 broadcast was prerecorded and not live. Some of the songs I heard (like "Year of the Cat" and a couple others I can't recall) were from the late 1970's, which doesn't even come close to fitting into KWCR's current format. A couple of other things I noticed: the mono broadcast sounded like only one channel was going out over the air. On songs like "Year of the Cat" with extreme stereo mixes, I could only hear the instruments and not Al Stewart. It also sounded like the over the air broadcast had some pretty extreme technical difficulties. Every so often, there would be a burst of static/white noise right in the middle of a song, as if the transmitter was switching off for a few seconds and then switching back on again. Based on the fact that no one seemed to be paying attention to what was being broadcast on 88.1 yesterday, I'd say the license will probably be for sale in the near future.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 6, 2016 15:53:48 GMT -6
Curious, but I'm hearing a dead stereo carrier on 88.1 now.
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Post by David on Nov 7, 2016 10:08:42 GMT -6
What's even more curious is that the correspondence folder for KWCR @ the FCC's web site has a letter dated October 31st for resumption of operations, but no pending application for silent authority. Of course, they may have submitted an application which hasn't yet been processed by the FCC, but it only took four days to get the station's STA request approved. FWIW, I'm hearing nothing on 88.1 at my location about a mile NE of KOGN. I wonder if you're picking up a wireless FM mic from a nearby church or school. There's an LDS church about three blocks from my house, and I know for a fact that one of their wireless mics operates on 87.9 MHz, which is first adjacent to 88.1 FM.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 8, 2016 2:19:03 GMT -6
I would be surprised if they DIDN'T file a resumption of operations. That would be necessary to reset the one year clock. We should be seeing a new silent STA request shortly.
Given the characteristics of the signal I picked up, I'm pretty confident that it was KWCR back on the air with no programming. It was gone again Monday.
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Post by David on Nov 8, 2016 2:37:19 GMT -6
I would be surprised if they DIDN'T file a resumption of operations. That would be necessary to reset the one year clock. We should be seeing a new silent STA request shortly. Given the characteristics of the signal I picked up, I'm pretty confident that it was KWCR back on the air with no programming. It was gone again Monday. The new STA silent request is now posted on the FCC web site. It sounds like a real soap opera, with the stations's engineer passing away in 2015 as well as other assorted difficulties in keeping the student-run station on the air, yada yada yada. For full details of the KWCR "soap opera," this is worth a read: licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101743952&formid=910&fac_num=71394
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Nov 8, 2016 2:48:02 GMT -6
Unfortunately most filings I read to or from the FCC read like soap opera scripts.
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