low-power FM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Carrboro, North Carolina Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census.Mary Scroggs Elementary School soccer field in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

. Its studios are located in Carrboro at 300-G E. Main Street, near the

Cat's Cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fi ...

. It is the first low-power FM station in the area, and began broadcasting in June 2004. In November 2004, the station began broadcasting a full lineup of local radio programming, including some Spanish language programming. It airs a

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

format. WCOM-LP is the first low-power FM community radio station in the area to be set up under a program established by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

in 2000. The station was assigned the WCOM-LP call letters by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

on February 5,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. As a low-powered station, WCOM-LP only produces a 100-watt signal; as such, it cannot be heard far from the tower. Its limits are just before the Chapel Hill Public Library and just past

Weaver Street Market Weaver Street Market is a worker- and consumer-owned cooperative selling natural and organic food with a focus on local and fair trade products. The original market is situated in the heart of Carrboro, North Carolina in Carr Mill Mall and pl ...

in Carrboro. During the afternoons, Fayetteville station

WRCQ WRCQ (103.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock music format. Licensed to Dunn, North Carolina, United States, it serves the Fayetteville area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are located in wes ...

often bleeds over into WCOM-LP's radio space, due to WRCQ's high-power transmitter being fairly close by (about 60 miles). The station is an affiliate of the syndicated

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

program "

Floydian Slip ''Floydian Slip'' is a weekly, one-hour syndicated radio program produced by Random Precision Media LLC (RPM), exclusively devoted to the music and history of the British rock band Pink Floyd. The show has an affiliate base of around one hundred ...

."

History

WCOM originally planned to set up a broadcasting tower on the roof of the

Southern Village Southern Village is a New Urbanism neighborhood located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Established in 1994, Southern Village includes 550 single-family homes, 375 townhomes and condominiums, 250 apartments, and of retail, office, and civ ...

branch of

Weaver Street Market Weaver Street Market is a worker- and consumer-owned cooperative selling natural and organic food with a focus on local and fair trade products. The original market is situated in the heart of Carrboro, North Carolina in Carr Mill Mall and pl ...

, then at Culbreth Middle School, but the first location was blocked by the city government and the second location was blocked by the FCC. Ultimately, the antenna was added to the top of a light pole at Scroggs Elementary School. In June 2004, WCOM-LP "began

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

a test signal—a 30-minute loop in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

explaining the goals of the station. Since the

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

was not yet in place to link the studio to the

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

, that test

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

came from a CD cabinet at the base of the transmitter at Scroggs."

References

External links

WCOM-LP official websiteWCOM MySpace page
* COM-LP COM-LP Community radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2004 Mass media in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-radio-station-stub

History

See also

References

External links