KTEQ

Radio station


name = KTEQ-FM
airdate = August 7, 1971
frequency = 91.3 MHz (temporarily off air)
area = Rapid City South Dakota
format = varied / alternative
owner = Tech Educational Radio Council

KTEQ or "K-Tech" is the campus radio station of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) in Rapid City, South Dakota. The station's daily schedule consists of shows that are three hours in length. The music formats of the radio shows vary according to the tastes of the volunteer DJ's doing the shows. The only restriction that KTEQ places on the formats of the shows is that the music cannot be Top 40 music.

In August of 2000, KTEQ temporarily discontinued broadcasting by radio. Since then the station's programming has been transmitted over channel 34 of the closed-circuit television on the SDSM&T campus and by Internet streaming. The management of KTEQ intends to resume radio broadcasts as soon as the FCC starts accepting applications for non-commercial radio licenses.

History

WCAT

The first campus radio station at SDSM&T was WCAT, which broadcast from September 1922 to 1952. The AM station was founded by students from the Electrical Engineering department. The station was licensed to broadcast at a wavelength of 485 meters at a power of 750 watts. Later, the station operated on 1200 kilohertz at a power of 100 watts. The station's call-letters, WCAT, were an abbreviation for "Wildcat Radio." Originally, the studios were located in the basement of the Administration building. In 1928, the studios were moved to the third floor of the Prep Building During the time that WCAT was on the air, the AM station's programming ranged from news to sports and music. In 1952, WCAT was forced to leave the airwaves as a result of pressure from a commercial radio station.

KTEQ

Efforts to launch a new SDSM&T campus radio station started in 1969. With the assistance of announcer Greg Carey, student body president Jim McGibbney formed the Tech Educational Radio Council (TERC), the governing body of KTEQ. The first studio of KTEQ was located at Surbeck Center; and, tower space for the transmitter was originally donated by KBHE-FM.

The first broadcast by KTEQ-FM occurred on August 7, 1971, opening with "Also Sprach Zarathustra." The first voice to be heard on KTEQ was that of Gary Brown.

George McGovern gave KTEQ an on-air interview during the 1972 election.

The studios of KTEQ were eventually relocated at the Old Gym building on the SDSM & T campus.

KTEQ radio broadcasts fell silent for a number of months during the mid 1980s. The station finally resumed broadcasts during the spring of 1987 at a frequency of 91.3 MHz. At that time, the station broadcast twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. Later, the station removed all of the 3AM-to-6AM time slots from its schedule. For many years, the station's tower space was donated by KOTA-TV.Fact|date=February 2008

In August 2000, KOTA increased its effective radiated power. As a result, KTEQ had to remove its transmitting hardware from the KOTA tower space, ending KTEQ's radio broadcasts. When KTEQ failed to resume its broadcasts within a year, the station lost its broadcast license in September 2001. New broadcasting hardware was purchased, but the FCC stopped accepting applications for non-commercial broadcast licenses in 2001. While KTEQ waited for the FCC to resume accepting non-commercial license applications, the station continued to transmit its programming over the Internet and over the closed-circuit television on the SDSM&T campus. By 2005, a new studio was located at Surbeck Center.

External links

* [http://www.hpcnet.org/kteq KTEQ Campus Radio from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology] - the official KTEQ website.
* [http://www.hpcnet.org/kteq_history History of KTEQ and an Early History According to Gary Brown] - new website.
* [http://www.geocities.com/brianmhass/kteq/ "D.J.'s from Hell" Show website] - an early 1990s radio show on KTEQ-FM.
* [http://webpages.sdsmt.edu/~1516147/nmmm.htm "The Toast of Tuesdays"] - A current show on KTEQ, airing Tuesdays from 3pm-6pm MST