WRUC (89.7 MHz) is an independent educational college radio station, owned and operated by Union College in Schenectady, New York. The station transmits with an effective radiated power of 100 watts, covering an approximate 12-mile radius, though reception in fringe areas depends on the terrain. WRUC also streams its programming on Internet radio. The station's offices and studios are located in the Reamer Campus Center on the Union College campus.
WRUC's slogan is "The First Station In The Nation". The station traces its history back to October 14, 1920, the date an amateur station located at Union College first began making regular broadcasts. However, WRUC's priority claim is not widely accepted. There are continuity issues, because, after the demise of Union's broadcasting station, WRL, in 1924, the college did not resume any broadcasting activities until 1941. In addition, there are several stations that claim even longer histories, including KCBS (1909),"World's First Broadcasting Station" marker, The Historical Marker Database (hmdb.org) KJR (1919),"Seattle Radio History: KJR and KOMO" by John Schneider (theradiohistorian.org) and WWJ (August 1920)."WWJ 950 AM" Encyclopedia of Detroit, Detroit Historical Society (detroithistorical.org)
Programming
WRUC is entirely run by the students of Union College, and only operates regularly when the college is in session. The station offers listeners an eclectic mix of alternative programming, Union sports and news.
Union College radio alumni Dick Ferguson (Class of 1967) - the 2002 National Association of Broadcasters National Radio Award winner. Ferguson retired as the Executive Vice President of Cox Radio in 2006. Richard Roth (Class of 1970) - a former correspondent for CBS News and NBC News Scott Wykoff (Class of 1985) - now a reporter for Baltimore radio station WBAL (AM)
Earlier Union College radio activities
Although WRUC as an FM station only dates back to 1975, Union College has a long history of experimental radio work and pioneer broadcasting, much of which was conducted by students.
In the fall of 1915, a "Technical and Training School" station license was issued to "Walter L. Upson (Union College)", with the call sign "2YU","New Stations: Special Land Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, November 1915, page 2. The leading "2" in 2YU's call sign indicated that the station was located in the second Radio Inspection District, while the "Y" designated the station as having a "Technical and Training School" license. which was operated in conjunction with a newly formed Radio Club. In the summer of 1916, Dr. E. J. Berg and Dr. Alex Stevenson installed a spark-gap transmitter at the College, which could only transmit the dots-and-dashes of Morse code. By late 1916 experiments were also being conducted using the newly developed vacuum-tube transmitters, which were capable of making audio transmissions. Included as part of this work was a series of test radio concerts. However, upon the entrance of the United States into World War One, effective April 7, 1917 the government ordered all civilian radio stations, including 2YU, shut down for the duration of the conflict."Union College", Education's Own Stations by S. E. Frost, Jr., Ph.D., 1937, pages 437-441.
Amateur station 2ADD (1920)
After the war, in the fall of 1919 civilian radio licenses began to be issued again, including a standard amateur station authorization with the call sign 2ADD granted to Wendell King"Wendell Wilford King (1897–1965)" (lansingburghhistoricalsociety.org) at the Union College Electrical Laboratory.Second District: Alphabetically by Owners of Stations, Amateur Radio Stations of the United States: June 30, 1920 edition, page 35. The fact that the first letter in 2ADD's call sign fell in the range from A to W indicated the station had a standard Amateur license, which was normally limited to operating on a wavelength of 200 meters (1500 kHz). The Radio Club was reformed and resumed activities, which included a more organized series of entertainment broadcasts intended to be heard by the local community. The first of these broadcasts was made on October 14, 1920,"Union Again Pioneer of American College World; Music by Wireless Telephone Latest Radio Feat", The Concordiensis, October 16, 1920, pages 1, 4. and a letter dated October 22, 1920 that appeared in the December 1920 issue of the amateur radio magazine QST announced that the College would be broadcasting weekly radio concerts "every Thursday evening from 8:00 to 8:30 and from 9:00 to 9:30 Eastern Standard Time, on 350 meters [857 kHz], signing 2ADD".
Experimental station 2XQ (1921)
An Experimental license, 2XQ, had been issued to Union College in late 1919," New Stations: Special Land Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 2, 1920, page 4. The "X" in 2XQ's call sign indicated that the station held an Experimental license. and the broadcasts were soon switched to using this authorization. In the summer of 1921, an article featuring the station noted that not only were the Thursday night concerts continuing, but the station had added Sunday night sermons prepared by Union College President C. A. Richmond. The same article also reported that the station, "equipped with the most modern of apparatus", had been heard as far away as 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers)."Eight-Hour Radiophone Transmission by Union College", Wireless Age, July 1921, page 31. The Radio Club designed a portable radio for receiving 2XQ transmissions, and as a publicity stunt, mounted it on a baby carriage that was wheeled around town to show off its capabilities. The invention was promoted as "a great pacifier for a younger generation", and received extensive national publicity.A Wireless Baby Carriage, Wireless Age, July 1921, page 33.
Broadcasting station WRL (1922–1924)
Initially there were no specific standards restricting which radio stations could conduct a broadcasting service, so it was permissible for stations holding an Amateur or Experimental license to make entertainment broadcasts. However, effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, formally established regulations defining a broadcasting station, setting aside two wavelengths — 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for official weather and other government reports — and requiring that broadcasting stations had to hold a Limited Commercial license."Miscellaneous: Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
After the government started actively enforcing this ban, the college temporarily suspended broadcasting. However, after receiving "a request to broadcast the daily reports of the bureau of farms and markets", the Union College Radio Club decided to apply for one of the new broadcasting station licenses."Radio Club Will Conduct Classes", Schenectady Gazette, February 15, 1922, page 20. On March 2, 1922 Union College was issued its first broadcasting license, with the randomly assigned call letters of WRL, authorizing use of the 360 meter entertainment wavelength."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1922, page 4. Limited Commercial license, serial #313, with the call letters WRL, issued March 2, 1922 to Union College in Schenectady, New York for a three month period. An expanded series of broadcasts followed, including vesper services in April, and a series of special transmissions during the College's 126th Commencement exercises in June."Commencement Week Exercises Sent Out", The (Canton, Ohio) Sunday Repository, June 11, 1922, page 31.
However, the initial enthusiasm for broadcasting soon waned, and the Radio Club's focus returned to experimental work, including two-way shortwave communication across the Atlantic using its Experimental station 2XQ. On November 11, 1922, WRL was used to broadcast a play-by-play recounting of the Union-Hamilton football game. But a report at the time noted that "Union has not been active in popular broadcasting this season, the students devoting their efforts to transoceanic tests.""Union College Radios Football Game", Denver Rocky Mountain News, November 15, 1922, page 13. WRL's last license was allowed to expire on January 25, 1923, and the station was formally deleted from the government list of active stations on December 18, 1924.
"Carrier current" station UBS / UCRS / WRUC (beginning 1941)
After the closing of WRL, Union College did not operate a broadcasting station for the next 17 years. The resumption of broadcast activities was the result of the development of a new form of transmission system. In 1936, students at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island developed the first campus-based carrier current radio station, initially called "The Brown Network". Carrier current stations employed very low powered AM transmitters, with their signals carried over wires, often running through steam tunnels, that linked together various buildings and dormitories. These transmission lines then fed the radio signals into a building's electrical wires, allowing radio receivers located close to the wires to pick up the transmissions.The Gas Pipe Networks: A History of College Radio 1936-1946 by Louis M. Bloch, Jr., 1980, pages 11-13. Because they were such low power, with their signals most commonly limited to a college campus plus the immediately adjoining neighborhoods, carrier current stations did not require a license from the Federal Communications Commission or qualify for officially assigned call letters.
The "carrier current" innovation soon spread to other college campuses, especially in the northeastern United States. In the fall of 1941, the Union College Radio Club founded its own carrier current station, transmitting on the AM band at 640 kHz,This frequency was chosen because it was free from interference from standard broadcasting stations. During the daytime the closest broadcasting station was a small one located in Columbus, Ohio, while at night the nearest was in Los Angeles, California. which went into operation on September 22, 1941 with College President Fox as the debut's featured speaker. The new station informally adopted the identifier "UBS" (for "Union Broadcasting System"), and initially provided service to just the North Campus and the fraternity Kappa Alpha Society, although this was later expanded to campus-wide. The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) had been formed in February 1940, to coordinate activities between individual colleges and to solicit advertisers interested in sponsoring programs geared toward college students, and the Union College Radio Club became a member of IBS on December 28, 1941.Bloch, pages 102-103.
In 1939, the Union College Radio Workshop was formed to provide students with "practical radio experience". Initially the group worked in conjunction with General Electric, gaining experience in radio programming production at that company's experimental FM station, W2XOY, and its shortwave stations, WGEO and WGEA. In mid-1942 the Radio Workshop group merged with the Radio Club, forming the Union College Radio Society. Reflecting this change, the carrier current station now became known as the "U.C.R.S. Network", boasting a staff of twenty-five students, with studios located in the college's Electrical Engineering building."Union College Workshop Merges with Radio Club", Radio-Craft, June 1942, page 584.