|
It was a nice boost for Roland Wells, the station's founder. He wants to eventually convert a storage room into a recording studio, and the mixer will help do that.
If there's one thing you should know about Wells, it's that you shouldn't bet against him.
KRUU shouldn't have happened. Wells heard about the federal licensing window for low-powered FM stations, but he forgot about applying. He thought he had missed the opportunity by the time he remembered.
But this was one of those times that you wonder if history has a sense of humor. The government had a glitch of its own and delayed the application date. Wells remembered just in time to catch the new window and get a license.
"They did a one-time filing window for applications," said Wells. "There was definitely some luck there."
His station reaches a small slice of southeast Iowa. It needs near-perfect conditions just to get to Ottumwa. That's fine. Wells doesn't want a multi-state behemoth. He wants a funky little station that serves Fairfield well. It's about finding something you can't discover anywhere else.
"For a community radio station, it has to be about the community. Almost everything else we hear or watch is syndicated," he said.
The station is about 200 feet from the railroad tracks on Second Street. Some people may like hearing the trains, but it's not ideal broadcast material. Keeping a train off the air takes some work.
The broadcast studio is where the station goes from partially ordered chaos to carefully planned layouts. The station's hosts go through double doors and a wall that's a foot thick.
Foam insulation peeks through into the main office. The insulation blocks sound extremely well, as do the carefully-selected windows.
Wells is clearly a driving force behind the station. He's not the only one. He relies heavily on volunteers. He had help designing the station's computer systems. Those show off one of the station's guiding concepts. Virtually everything runs off of open-source programs.
Other volunteers helped get the studio ready to go. A couple recently donated solar panels, an inverter and batteries. The station should generate 50-66 percent of its power once it installs the panels.
"The whole experience has been an exercise in what a dedicated group of people can accomplish," Wells said.
There's still work to do. The caucuses were a boon that brought candidates and attention to the station. That exposure could help boost underwriting donations.
Still, Wells knows the heart of the station is the people who help out; the people who provided 25,000 volunteer hours over the past several years.
Sometimes a chaotic appearance isn't a bad thing, after all.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
|
