high school radio

[gary adams]

It sounds like wbxl, b,villes high school station is back on the air. for 175 watts their signal is pushing a good distance. the annoying part of it is nobody is manning it..their ar no legal id's at the top of the hour or any hour for that matter, the computer auto constantly playing the same songs sometimes three or four times in a row. the school doesn't seem to care and when you call them they seem annoyed by the phone call now if this was a commercial station or a pirate the fcc would be all over it.Why are they allowed to stay on the air. I think its a waste of a great signal and frequency. if your gonna have a liecence for that kind of power it should be used to its greatest advantage...here is a thought B.O.C.E.S should take it over and run a broadcastng class. A high school should not have a signal that powerful and that good if they are not going to follow fcc rules and operate it properly......any takes on this

 

[Play Freebird]

The present "automation system" at WBXL is simply a 360 Systems Instant Replay running in random shuffle mode. I understand the high school is in the process of installing a PC-based system which will allow music logs to be imported, and of course this will also play the legal IDs at top of hour. Somehow, a bunch of out-of-phase music got dubbed into the present system, so these songs will be replaced as well.

If any radio pros in the Syracuse/Baldwinsville area have an interest in working with the students on a volunteer basis (perhaps a Saturday workshop for a few hours each semester), that might be helpful as well.

 

[gary adams]

That sounds do able and interesting to me "play freebird" I have a couple of issues Im disabled with spinal problems...Im not in a wheel chair.. and no transportation to b'ville. Although in the 80's i attended C.C.C and took broadcast engineering classes, until reagan deregulated everything...no more first class engineer's....But i do know what im doing, The 360 system is a great system, a couple of pirates in the boston mass, area were using it this past summer. programed right, it can compete with any top rated 50 kw signal. Radio-locater has their ERP at 175 watts with an HAAT at 63 meter.....About 200 ft. up. Last night somebody finally answard the phone and the kid told me they were pushing 214 watts. (are they legal, or do they have a C.P for a power increase) And no legal I.D's. when the F.C.C. slaps a big fine on them, it will be our tax dollars paying it..When i called the sckool, and talked to the recepionist they act like the station is a big annoyance to them..So I would be very interested in volenteering my time, or anything else that would help. I would just need a ride....Play freebird if you could direct me to somwher i could leave you my phone number... my real name is gerry

 

[Play Freebird]

Thanks for your offer to help. By the way, the forward power meter reading the kid gave you is TPO. WBXL's antenna (which has unity gain) is fed through about 150 feet of 1/2 inch line; with nearly 1 dB of loss in the system, 214 TPO = 175 ERP.

I'll forward your contact info to someone who cares about the station's future.

 

[gary adams]

thanks, play freebird. my math for xmtter readings are rusty. i havnt done a reading in about 25 years. I left you a personal message with my name phone number and e-mail give me a call and introduce each other, maybe we can work it out over their. and teach these kids about real broadcasting

 

[theradiokid]

I know the advisor who used to work for that station. When he left for another job, he told me the school couldn't (or wouldn't) find anyone else radio savy to run the place. It is now run by a history teacher, and radio is mainly forgotten there. This saddens me, since I used to love to tune in that station going up to Syracuse from Oswego. In fact, I used to love BXL so much, I took a tour of that station about 10 years ago. The best high school station in the country is now reduced to... Automation.

--The Radio Kid
(Oswego, NY.)
My email: [email protected].

 

[BadWolf]

Sad to hear that WBXL may be having some issues...when I was at WCSQ (Central Square) we always considered them our 'competition' and did some joint promotions with them (basketball games/appearances)...

I, too, would be glad to offer up some time to help the students there...I wouldn't have had a 20+year broadcast career without the tools that I learned at WCSQ...

 

[Element9]

If only these high school know-it-alls would listen to somebody with 20 years of experience. "Radio sucks, mannnn... I got an iPod." iPod this!

 

[Towerclimber31]

It was always that way. At all high school stations. There were 3 who cared, did a great job. Then there were 10 losers. You are there for the 3 who care.