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August 5, 2020 1:13 am  #1


High school radio

Interesting article on high school radio. Did your high school have a radio station? We didn't (Burnhamthorpe Collegiate in Etobicoke), but in retrospect I wish I'd started one:

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2015/04/22/where-is-the-oldest-high-school-radio-station-in-the-united-states/


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

August 5, 2020 10:19 am  #2


Re: High school radio

Here is one from the Rochester NY area that has broadcast on different frequencies since 1960. Currently at 90.9 broadcasting at a booming 19 watts and I think I have caught it when DX'ing.

WIRQ


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August 5, 2020 10:30 am  #3


Re: High school radio

I grew up in Oakville and my high school [Thomas A. Blakelock] never had one in my era [1967-72]                           Also, in the article about KBPS, the station currently operates at 1000 watts on the 1450 graveyarder. According to the Radio Locator maps, the station has a range of 30-35 miles. Not bad for a half lung high school station.

 

August 5, 2020 10:41 am  #4


Re: High school radio

According to wiki there are 7 high school radio stations in Canada, mostly Ontario.
Closest to us would be CHOP FM 102.7 Newmarket Pickering College
RAV FM 90.7 Thornhill Vaughan Secondary
PHS Panther Radio  Internet Only Preston High school Cambridge
CKVI FM 91.9 Kingston Collegiate

I thought that Neil McNeil High School had a radio station but they weren't listed.  I think they offered a television program at one point.  Lots of TV and radio people in the Toronto area graduated from Neil McNeil including one John Candy.

 

August 5, 2020 11:00 am  #5


Re: High school radio

I’m not sure if RavFM is still on the air. It was officially called CFU758, and actually originated from Vaughan Secondary School on Clark Ave. in Thornhill (near Dufferin & Steeles) at 90.7 on the FM dial. (The made up call letters stood for "Radio At Vaughan.")
 
IIRC, they had a board donated by CHUM-FM and had a range of about, what 20 miles - if that. It was student run but I think was mostly automated during nights, weekends and summers and played rock. I don’t know what happened to it exactly, but I used to be able to get it OK here in northern North York a few years ago. Now, zilch.
 
A Wikipedia entry on it suggests it was student run for a while but then was taken over to teach a course in radio, which may be why it’s no longer operating and its former website address comes up with an error message. There are a few old sites that attest to its existence, including this story from the Thornhill Liberal newspaper back in 2013. Interesting to see how "Punch" Andrews played a big role in the place before his very untimely passing.  
 
 

 

August 5, 2020 11:54 am  #6


Re: High school radio

Pickering College claims CHOP FM is "the only JK-Grade 12 school in Canada with a CRTC-licensed radio station,"

Its website has a 4 1/2 minute video about the station - narrated by Ted Yates, of all people. It claims the first Ted Rogers got his start at the college and credits Allan Waters and his family for equipping the place for the radio outlet. Not a bad pedigree!

You can see the video here if you're curious. 

 

August 5, 2020 3:58 pm  #7


Re: High school radio

My high school radio station was C-HOW Radio in Welland. News Director Jack Haney would pick me up early in the morning, we'd drive to the station between Welland and Port Colborne, where I'd do the AM sportscast run, then hitchhike back to classes at Welland High. After classes, I'd hitch back to the station and do the afternoon sports.
Some of the people at C-HOW at the time: Dave Wright (PD), Bob Hooper, Bud Riley, Ron Grimster, George Franks, Bill Moyer, Rennie Heard, Bob Eged, Mo Stasyk, Fred Augerman -- what a wonderful way to learn.

 

August 5, 2020 11:17 pm  #8


Re: High school radio

It only used the school intercom system, but I was part of a radio station that a teacher had set up at my high school ... there's a brief description of it at http://www.woburnalumni.ca/cwciradio.html. (I'm not in the picture, which was probably taken the year before I became involved.)