WQAQ

WQAQ - Quinnipiac University

Hamden CT - 10 watts - 98.1 MHz

Robert Meister recollects...

I was chief engineer there for four years in the mid 1970s. Tom Osenkowsky took

over after I left (he did the same thing at WNHU, but that won't happen again).

I remember wiring their first studio (in the student center) for stereo, then they

obtained an old Gates tube stereo generator to go with their 10w Gates tube

transmitter (I forget the models; this was 1960s technology at its best). Each unit

was approximately 19x19 inches and chock full of tubes. They expanded into newer

rooms and I remember doing some wiring there on a solid-state Gates console

(probably eight channels) that had multiple plug-in modules. As I was leaving, they

got a new Versa-Count self-contained 10w solid-state stereo exciter. I had a

logbook of the work I performed (not a station log, merely a personal log) but I

tossed it sometime during this century.

I remember just one student who was there when I was: Brett Rushon. He later worked at the FM station in Norwalk (once known as WNLK, now WFOX) when they were still down on Wall Street. Clif Mills was the CE there at the time and Brett knew both of us but didn't realize I also knew Clif, as I had worked for him in the late 60s, early 70s. Brett died in 2010 in the Boston area.

Tom Osenkowsky continues...

The Student Center at Quinnipiac College was undergoing a major renovation and

addition in early 1991. WQAQ studios and transmitter were located in the Student

Center and were to be rebuilt near its former footprint. The architect designed a

new facility that housed Studio "A", the Control Room, Studio "B", the Production

Room and the Record Library in one room, which allowed either the on-air DJ or

person doing production to access the records. It was conveyed to the architect

that vinyl theft was a growing concern. While this design allowed monitoring of

movement of the records it was not acceptable for broadcast studios. The design

was altered and construction began as Operation Desert Storm raged on. WQAQ

purchased a new LPB Signature III console for Studio "A". I used the Autogram

AC-8 in Studio "B" and retired the Autogram AC-6 previously used there. The

Record Library was part of Studio "A", which also contained the rack in which

WQAQ's transmitter was housed.

In June, 1996 WQAQ was granted a license by the FCC to change its frequency from 88.3 MHz to 98.1 MHz. An allocation study was commissioned to determine if WQAQ could increase power to 100 Watts ERP to meet Class A minimum power. No FM band frequency would permit an increase so WQAQ remains a Class D FM station. A new Shively 6812 FM antenna was installed, a Broadcast Electronics FX-50 exciter was purchased as a transmitter and an Orban 8200 replaced the Orban 8000A processor/stereo generator.

The studios were again reconstructed years later. Two Audioarts R-90 consoles

were purchased for each studio along with Telos 1x6 telephone interfaces, Denon

DN-C635 CD players and a ProTools digital editor for production. Studio "A" was

configured with a guest tabletop and guest microphones to allow interviews as

well as multiple DJ shows. A Mac computer serves as music and program storage

and playback.

In the summer of 2006 the flagpole cellular tower atop the Student Center upon

which WQAQ's antenna was mounted was dismantled by order of the President of

Quinnipiac University. WQAQ became an Internet-only station. After many meetings, a temporary transmitter site was erected at the Westwoods site. The transmitter was housed in a trailer and a temporary utility pole supported a Shively antenna. Eventually a permanent transmitter site was established at the Westwoods site behind the Polling Institute building. A four bay Shively 6812B antenna mounted

on a wood pole is employed by WQAQ as a Class D FM station.