Warrior Radio Is Filling The Airwaves
For nearly three full months, Warrior Radio has been broadcasting on FM radio for a roughly 15-mile radius. Warrior Radio WRWT 93.7 FM, broadcasting from a studio at Wawasee High School, officially launched Dec. 1.
Prior to the station launching on FM, one had been broadcasting online (and still is) at www.warriorradio.caster.fm. But now anyone living within the radius can tune in to Warrior Radio in their cars or wherever they may have a radio.
Jeremy Van Lue, instructor, who is assisted by Phil Huffman, said the station was limited to 100 watts of transmission by the Federal Communications Commission and is on the air 24 hours each day, everyday of the year. Broadcasting on the student run station is a mix of music, weather forecasts, school delays and cancellations, public service announcements, community events, Wawasee and Fairfield high school sports schedules and reports and also middle school sports for Wawasee. “We want this to be a community radio station,” emphasized Van Lue.
Students are getting hands-on learning in the radio industry and are working with equipment and software utilized in the industry. They record weather reports and sports reports and schedules in a studio. Eventually they will probably be allowed to record their own shows, though that is still likely a few more months before becoming a reality.
Van Lue added another goal by the next school year is to broadcast Warrior sports on the radio station in addition to video streaming. And it will be more than the traditional basketball and football normally filling the airwaves, he noted.
The goal was to open the station by Dec. 1, but it almost didn’t happen. The weekend prior to Dec. 1, an electrical engineer came in to do wiring work. A problem was discovered with the station transmitter. Fortunately, the Crown company in Elkhart was able to install a new circuit board and repair the transmitter Dec. 1 and the station was broadcasting before the day was finished.
There are 17 students in radio classes in the current trimester, more than doubling the total from the previous trimester.
Though online radio broadcasting is growing, Van Lue believes FM, as well as AM, radio is not going away anytime soon because it’s still free to listen to. Even if someone has a smartphone, listening to online radio requires a lot of data usage and many data plans have a limit on monthly usage.
Wawasee Middle School also broadcasts online at www.warriorradiowms.caster.fm and Milford School is at www.warriorradioms.caster.fm.
For non-profit organizations wishing to have something broadcast on 93.7, send an email to [email protected].