The President of WQKE Natalie Gramegna presented her appeal before the Senate for the allocation of $9846.27 for the purposes of purchasing updated equipment. The Senate voted in favor of Gramegna’s proposal allowing for the acquisition of various technical equipment necessary for the functioning the WQKE’s radio broadcast. The funds requested will be provided on behalf of the SA’s stabilization fund.
Specifically and Audioarts D-76 network console, as well as an SP-76 duel phone input module with each costing $8,956.44 and $739.05 respectively. These prices had been negotiated down from the original list price of $10,076.00, and $776 enabling a savings of $1,088.72.
The Chief Engineer for WQKE, Gordy Burdo, explains within a memo, which was provided to the Senate the necessity for such a purpose;
“I recommend replacing the Impulse audio mixer in the master control room. That board was purchased during the 2003/2004 school year and is 13 years old. The normal life span of a broadcast board such as this is 10 to 12 years, and it was very reliable for the first 12 years, but has been failing at a much higher rate this year.”
The memo continued by detailing the consequences concerning the expiration of insurance formerly provided,
“Since Pacific Resources and Harris no longer provide support for it, we can no longer get parts to fix it when it breaks. As you know some of the functions in that board no longer works and it is only a matter of time before it is completely unusable.”
Production manager Dan Walker summarized the audio mixer’s purpose, “Basically the audio mixer is what we use to send out our radio shows, and music to the Plattsburgh area. We also stream online. If our mixer goes down, we can’t transmit,” Walker said. “The mixer is honestly really old and the company that made it is no longer in business. So we really can’t fix it.”
WQKE, The Quake, is PSUC’s student run radio station, their website describes themselves as: “The Quake is the college’s student-run and operated, Class D FCC designated on-air broadcast radio facility. The Quake’s alternative college-radio format broadcasts 10,000 milliwatts of power to both a campus-wide and a local community audience on 93.9 FM. WQKE also reaches out through the Internet with its music, talk shows and sports programming”
Gramegna included within her presentation several elements that are enabled through this equipment such as the broadcast of our hockey games as well as the ability to take calls on the air.
Gramegna concluded her presentation adamantly reinforcing the necessity for this equipment describing it as, “. . . investment for the next 10 to 12 years that will be regularly used.” as well as, “[the equipment] will be a great investment that will really help.”
Email Kyle Welling at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
