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WPTS

J

JohnnyMorganWXJX

Guest
I just happened to be on Radio-Locator and took the opportunity to glance at WPTS's info.

Apparently we were wrong about their antenna location. Radio-Locator says antenna height is at 463 feet above average terrain (hmmm...matches approximate height of Cathedral of Learning) and runs at a whopping 2 WATTS! Probably still an ERP of 10 watts or so--can't be more and still get Class D commercial band allocations.

So, everyone can put away their "gutter guards" and coat hangers (unless you wish to sue them for unsavory purposes over at the medical school...); WPTS is moving up in the world.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Johnny Morgan on 07/25/05 03:07 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> I just happened to be on Radio-Locator and took the
> opportunity to glance at WPTS's info.
>
> Apparently we were wrong about their antenna location.
> Radio-Locator says antenna height is at 463 feet above
> average terrain (hmmm...matches approximate height of
> Cathedral of Learning) and runs at a whopping 2 WATTS!
> Probably still an ERP of 10 watts or so--can't be more and
> still get Class D commercial band allocations.
>
> So, everyone can put away their "gutter guards" and coat
> hangers (unless you wish to sue them for unsavory purposes
> over at the medical school...); WPTS is moving up in the
> world.
>

Yes, it's been on top of the COL since day one, back in the 1980's.

Originally took the air at 98.5, then moved at the request of WESA (now Froggy). And it's on the commercial band because, as was correctly stated in another thread, the non-comm band is full.

Actually we had a deal where CMU was going to slide over and make room for us at 88.1, but Channel 6 filed an objection.

An it was my CE, "Tex", who hung the wire out the window. We had a carrier-current system on AM640 that had fallen into such disrepair that literally no one could hear us. We were virtually playing fantasy radio at that point, with people doing shows just for the sake of learning how to do it. And we turned out a few pros, including a former KDKA PD. By the same token, some people such as Eliis Cannon were at Pitt at the same time and did just fine without our little program.

We encountered a lot of resistance from the University in our initial efforts to go forward with an FM app. There was an indecency case at Penn (in Philly, not Penn State) in the late 70's that brought liability on the school and a lot of Pitt's administrators were afraid of that. We finally got Dr. Posvar on our side, although his vision was another WDUQ.

The process took a couple of years, and I was very honored to be invited back to do the second airshift on the station with my former PD.

Hope that clears up some of the myths regarding the station...<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
> We encountered a lot of resistance from the University in
> our initial efforts to go forward with an FM app. There was
> an indecency case at Penn (in Philly, not Penn State) in the
> late 70's that brought liability on the school and a lot of
> Pitt's administrators were afraid of that. We finally got
> Dr. Posvar on our side, although his vision was another
> WDUQ.

Now, had the University ponied up the money, you might have a public operation similar to WDUQ, with the programming of say a WYEP or a WRCT--both well-regarded in non-comm radio circles.

Instead, WPTS suffers from the fanciful myths that you debunked--including one about the gutters (which I believed because...well, I saw similar at W&J).
 
> Now, had the University ponied up the money, you might have
> a public operation similar to WDUQ, with the programming of
> say a WYEP or a WRCT--both well-regarded in non-comm radio
> circles.
>
> Instead, WPTS suffers from the fanciful myths that you
> debunked--including one about the gutters (which I believed
> because...well, I saw similar at W&J).
>

Really, what the program needs is an endowment. As we all get a little older, and hopefully a little more successful, the alumni need to put it on the map.

But relative to what WE had, it's a great improvement.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
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