WGAG-FM was a

high school radio High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first li ...

station at Oak Ridge High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The station operated on 89.3 MHz between 1977 and 1981.

History

On September 29, 1975, Oak Ridge applied for a construction permit for a new 10-watt noncommercial radio station to serve Orlando. The application, backed by faculty adviser and station manager Jack Howard, was approved in October 1976. WGAG-FM "FM 89", also known as "Green and Gold Radio" for the school's colors, began regular programming on November 3, 1977. Its regular programming included rock, beautiful music and easy listening programs, along with military-sponsored programs and political commentaries by the school's student body president as well as local and school news. Initially broadcasting from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., its broadcast day was extended to 9 p.m. by 1979. WGAG-FM operated with an array of equipment donated by seven local radio and television stations, as well as donated records and lumber for construction. Its transmitter had been manufactured in 1947,
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and the age of the donated equipment presented issues at times for staff. The station, operated by the school's radio club, ran on a shoestring budget: $200 a year, brought in by selling doughnuts and clearing lawns. Oak Ridge's radio station, however, quickly found an insurmountable obstacle: a major change in

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 ...

regulations relating to Class D 10-watt radio stations. In 1978, the FCC announced it would cease licensing new Class D stations and encouraged as many as possible to upgrade to "full-service" Class A operation, with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

of at least 100 watts. The power increase was a financial impossibility for Oak Ridge High School, resulting in the closure of WGAG-FM in 1981 and the school instead pursuing the idea of creating a television production studio to be operated by students.

References

External links

* {{Orlando Radio

GAG A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attempting ...

Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1977 Radio stations disestablished in 1981 1977 establishments in Florida 1981 disestablishments in Florida High school radio stations in the United States GAG-FM