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Boston University On WTBU College Station Of The Year

Is WTBU the only AM carrier current station left? 640 used to be home to several CCs in greater Boston.

As for 89.3, I hope they can block out some of the pirates who use that frequency. It's a good thing they also stream.
 
Early Byrd said:
Is WTBU the only AM carrier current station left? 640 used to be home to several CCs in greater Boston.

As for 89.3, I hope they can block out some of the pirates who use that frequency. It's a good thing they also stream.
Click to expand...

I think they should consider putting WTBU on WBUR's HD2. That would be a great idea. It wouldn't affect the main signal and it would be easy to add. Just a thought.
 
Actually, a collaboration with WTBU's newscasters on WBUR's HD2 is something I've suggested to multiple people in WBUR and COM over the years. Nobody's really interested.*** Oh well.

It's a shame. I stay in touch with the faculty advisor of WTBU now and then, but I don't really know too much about the details these days. But when I was there and at least for a few years afterwards (and I suspect it's still true today) there was a sizable newscaster crew at WTBU. Usually 20 to 50 students on a given year. When I asked last year I was told student involvement was at an all-time high so I wouldn't be surprised if it's even more. BU has a hefty journalism curriculum in the College of Communication, after all. In theory you could set up the kids on, well, call it an advanced mentorship program with WBUR and let them experiment with things on the HD2. It wouldn't be for an on-campus audience, and it wouldn't be what most people think of as "college radio" either; this would be an alternative news outlet, for lack of a better term.

This reminds me, though. I need to talk to said faculty advisor and see if they're planning on applying for an LPFM. In theory they could do it, although it'd take some waivers. Certainly as an alum I'd be interested in trying to help.

*** The last time I tried, Paul LaCamera was still GM. He hated HD Radio. Told me point blank he thought it had no future and he wasn't gonna waste any money on it. I thought it was a somewhat narrow-minded opinion, but especially given the times, it was a position I couldn't argue with. I've never met Charlie Kravetz so I don't know how he feels about HD Radio multicasting, nor how he feels about BU's journalism program.
 
FWIW, I'm not sure they're even on 640AM anymore. Back in the day (1994-98) we spent a fortune on "Program Audio Service" lines...essentially equalized 15kHz telco lines...leased from Verizon. Those were the "STL's" to all the Part 15 transmitter-served buildings: Warren Towers, West Campus (Claflin, Sleeper & Rich halls), Shelton Hall, Myles Standish Hall (but not the Annex), the COM building, and Danielsen Hall. There were CC-AM's in Audubon Court (South Campus) and The Towers but they were lost and/or stolen over time.

When BU finally put in a cable TV system in the dorms (2004, I think?) and WTBU's audio was on one of the channels, I think they cancelled all the PAS lines from Verizon. I don't know if they ever bothered to wire up the cable TV audio as an alternative, though. The Part 15 systems barely worked and not well at that; the cable TV and webcast were far more effective and efficient.

I cruise though that area every couple of months for various reasons, and I usually put my car radio on 89.3 and 640 as I pass certain buildings. If they're transmitter, I should be able to hear them briefly (less than a block) as I go past...but I haven't heard anything for years. When I was Tech Director, it was a real pain to get access to the closets where the most of the FM & AM Part 15 transmitters were, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're on but silent. Or even just shut down entirely. Even before webcasting existed, nobody was listening to WTBU on the Part 15 transmitters. :(
 
BU and even across the charles to the northwest (athletic fields, boathouses) are in the Pru destruction-zone. suspect if they were to use 89.3 which of course is already in use, theyd need 100-1000W just to keep up with the hash
 
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