College radio closures due to Coronavirus

[justgladtobehere]

WMBR does not have automation (yet). It's not that the volunteer MIT students and alums who maintain the station themselves (without any assistance from MIT itself) wouldn't know how to develop a system, it's that they haven't had time to do it yet. MIT is a high-demand school for the students, as are the careers of the alums! There is a digital music playback system partially installed, a project not yet done. It's a student/alum project that been at about that status for at least a few years.

One thing about MIT students/alums, if possible, they usually want to build and/or at least configure equipment as much as possible themselves rather than just buy stuff or purchase it even partially pre-configured, regardless of whether it takes longer. The station was originally completely built by MIT students, including with completely home-made studio boards, as a student hobby around 60 years ago (it went on the air in April, 1961). The station wasn't originally MIT's idea, students just acquired the building space for an electronics project, and when done, MIT had a radio station. Despite the community outreach and listenership it has developed, it has always since been maintained with that philosophy. That was why it was the last college station in the Boston area to finally go stereo in 1987.

I had this memory that the original MIT radio station ran a signal through the electrical system, but looking it on Wikipedia the signal ran through 'dorm wires.' Do you know what this system was?

 

[TheBigA]

I had this memory that the original MIT radio station ran a signal through the electrical system, but looking it on Wikipedia the signal ran through 'dorm wires.' Do you know what this system was?

Some people call this a "closed carrier" or "carrier current" system. Quite a few college stations operated this way before NCE FM.

 

[CTListener]

Some people call this a "closed carrier" or "carrier current" system. Quite a few college stations operated this way before NCE FM.

One of Syracuse University's two stations, WJPZ 89.1, started as a carrier current system in the mid-'70s. JPZ, which could be heard at 1200 khz, was a tightly formatted Top 40, an alternative for radio/TV majors who wanted a more realistic radio experience than was offered at free-form WAER 88.3, at which students would choose their own music, ramble on about it, and generally "play radio."

 

[raccoonradio]

Before it went FM in 1976 Salem State's WMWM was carrier current.We had records stamped with
WSSC The Viking Voice 640 kc

Could be heard in dorms etc

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_current

WTBU at BU may still operate. The page above lists things like the Bromley-Heath housing project in Jamaica Plain having one in 1973.

 

[TheBigA]

WTBU at BU may still operate. The page above lists things like the Bromley-Heath housing project in Jamaica Plain having one in 1973.

Most of them are now internet stations. Drew University moved their CC station to the internet a while ago. Most of the CC stations I know were receivable on AM. That's impractical for college students today.

 

[CTListener]

Before it went FM in 1976 Salem State's WMWM was carrier current.We had records stamped with
WSSC The Viking Voice 640 kc

Could be heard in dorms etc

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_current

WTBU at BU may still operate. The page above lists things like the Bromley-Heath housing project in Jamaica Plain having one in 1973.

WJPZ's Wikipedia page has carrier current ending by 1991. Interestingly, SU now has a THIRD station, an online-only operation with the made-up call sign of WERW, with a focus on diverse, minority programming. WJPZ is a tight, rhythmic CHR, while WAER is an NPR affiliate that plays jazz during the day, with no students on air. So the university now has no on-campus outlet for what people long though of as college music, what we now know as "alternative."

My lasting WJPZ memory was meeting its first program director, who was a resident of my dorm. He was using the name "Ted Williams" on air. I told him that was a rather famous baseball name, and he was surprised, as he had zero interest in sports! Before long, he had renamed himself "John W. Sinclair." Interesting guy, who used to listen to Top 40s from far and wide at night, with his favorite being Chicago's Super CFL. Not sure where he ended up after graduation.

 

[crainbebo]

KCWU Ellensburg has been on remote operations for weeks. I think it's all automation right now.

 

[TheBigA]

So the university now has no on-campus outlet for what people long though of as college music, what we now know as "alternative."

There really is no need with 95X, founded by a former student Craig Fox.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WTBU at BU may still operate.

WTBU was still operating online recently with a full slate of student produced programming, though I don't know its immediately current status of student staffing, or playback of externally produced, pre-recorded, or automated programming, during the pandemic.

I also don't know about the status of either of its on-campus radio signals that were on 640 AM and later also on 89.3 FM. I had heard both of those at different times on radios on streets very near campus buildings (on Comm. Ave, Beacon St. near Park Drive, Bay State Road near Kenmore Square) in the past, but haven't noticed them recently.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WMBR came back on the air yesterday, after the volunteer in-house MIT student/alum tech. crew completed building a remote transmitter control and monitoring setup.

They are currently broadcasting a stream of archived programming from last fall that also began running on their web stream last week, while they are building an outside server that will be connected to the station to upload and automate new shows recorded by DJ's who have home studios, or at least a viable home computer setup with a music tracking program with reasonable mic and audio quality. These shows may not be live in real time, but should be recorded within a few days before airing.

This is only until the pandemic eventually passes and they return to live programming when MIT opens up to personnel again, but this should finally give WMBR a means to stay on the air with automated recorded programming 24/7 at times when no students or other volunteers are available to do live shows.

Updating my post above from almost a month ago, WMBR completed and activated the server allowing new programming externally recorded by their DJ's with home studios a few weeks ago. The new shows are recorded within the few days previous of airing. Much of WMBR's pre-pandemic program schedule is back on the air by this method while MIT remains closed.

Rebroadcasts of these newly recorded programs, or in some cases archived programs from the past several months when there is no freshly recorded program appropriate for the format of a scheduled show, are still being broadcast in slots in which new externally produced programs are not available, including late overnight hours during which the station wasn't even on the air before the automation computer was developed and installed before the pandemic. It can be a bit strange hearing programs originally produced to air in daytime slots in the middle of the night, but frequent announcements that the programming was pre-recorded are being aired.