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MSC Radio Station Plans Tenfold Signal Blast |
[Lancaster New Era - 02/11/1981] |
Millersville State College's radio station will be reaching listeners as far away as 20 miles when the station boosts its power later this year.
WIXQ, 91.7 FM, will be increasing its power from 10 to 100 watts, probably in late April or early May. When it does, its current 8 to 10 mile radius of coverage will be expanded to 20 miles.
That area would include towns such as Ephrata, Elizabethtown, New Holland and Quarryville, all now beyond WIXQ's signal.
"The college hopefully can use this as a way of making the community aware of what's going on at the college," said Ralph Anttonen, MSC director of educational research and faculty advisor to the station.
WIXQ, a student-run and all-volunteer station, asked the Federal Communications Commission in December `979 for permission to go to 100 watts. A construction permit was granted in late November 1980.
The permit gives WIXQ from Jan. 14, 1981, to Nov. 14, 1981, to install the appropriate equipment, costing $5,600. Funds are coming from an escrow account set up when WIXQ decided to go 100 watts.
The station still needs two components, a power amplifier and a modulation monitor.
Once installed, the educational, non-commercial station will have a much stronger signal within its current coverage area.
"Now we have pockets of the county three or four miles away that can't get us," said Anttonen.
Moving to 100 watts was encouraged both by the FCC and by MSC, which recently added a speech and communications major. The stronger signal means WIXQ "will have to become more professional, although we'll still be a training base for students."
Anttonen sees a 100-watt WIXQ as being "far more responsive to the community." He hopes the college's professors and administrators will take part in doing educational programs.
Also, Anttonen expects students to be able to get credit for their work, now that MSC has the new major.
WIXQ, located in the Student Memorial Center, started as a 10 watt FM station in December 1977. It broadcasts daily a minimum of from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., and involves about 60 MSC students.
The station has a heavy emphasis on contemporary music, including Anttonen's "Doc Roc Oldies Show" Saturday afternoons, plus such features as a Christian rock music show and a comedy theater show.