We have most of the radio-station parts put together, enough to start running some transmission tests. Since there is a lot of traffic in the area for the MSU/Alabama game, we thought today would be a good day to start.
If you do hear us, please feel free to send us an email at contact@wmfh-lp.org You can find us on Twitter @WMFHLP or on Facebook too.
If the signal sounds distorted we particularly want to know. But if the signal is clear, that would be welcome, happy news.
Hello!
We have some progress to report. We ordered and took delivery of (we hope) our last piece of required equipment. Now we have some substantial configuration work to do.
Our goal is to be on the air before the end of the year and we are making steady progress.
And, a hearty Thank You to the Columbus Rotary Club who allowed us to make a presentation at their September meeting.
Thanks, BIG THANKS to WTVA and Steve Rogers for putting us on WTVA television.
Wow!
One thing I should have said: we have had many individuals donate to our effort and two businesses
Children’s Health Center of Columbus
JTS & Co. Mortgage Brokers
And I’m glad that you are here looking at our website!
I hope you will be able to hear our station soon.
We still have some t-shirts to sell too. Somewhere handy on this website is an order form.
I am up a little early this morning and going through the mental checklist about our radio station building project.
I am so happy that we have a working antenna, transmission line and transmitter. We have a computer with a library of audio books. And everything is connected together so that we can play the audio books through the transmitter and out over the air. It works!
Now that the end-to-end operation works there are some other equipment spots to fill.
We need a second computer for downloading more audio books and adding them to the library. An older laptop should work. Then I will need to install our system software and configure it to be able to access the playback library.
We must have the EAS/CAP emergency broadcast box. Since the FCC recently changed the rules it is not practical to buy a used one, so it may be our single piece of shiny new equipment. After it is acquired we will need to configure it and place it in the “audio chain”, that series of boxes between the computer and the transmitter.
We need more configuration on our playback/library computer so that we can remotely turn the station off if required. That’s part of the FCC rules.
Somewhere down the line we want to add RDS to our system. The idea is to configure it to show the current work being played. (RDS is that thing in your car radio which shows text while the radio plays.)
Streaming! can’t forget streaming.
And website integration of the schedule, the streaming and links to text.
Keep an eye out for a backup power system, a hefty UPS and maybe a generator.
And, be still my heart, maybe a shed or trailer which we could use as a transmitter room.
Ok, ok, don’t wander too far from the goal: getting a station on the air. EAS/CAP is required, a second computer is required, remote on/off is required.