KRLX

Infobox Radio Station
name = KRLX


area = Northfield, MN
branding = ???
airdate = 1947
frequency = 88.1 (MHz)
format = College
erp = 100 watts
class = A
owner = Carleton College
website = htt://www.krlx.org/
callsign_meaning = Ka RLten(X)

KRLX is a student-run, format-free, non-commercial FM radio station broadcasting from Northfield, Minnesota. Affiliated with Carleton College. The station's call sign was chosen to read "KaRL-ten," since X is the Roman numeral for ten. KRLX broadcasts with 100 watts of power at 88.1 MHz and produces live streaming media, expanding the station's reach to the world. The KRLX studios are located in the basement of the Sayles-Hill Campus Center, Carleton's student union; they feature basic production tools, a record library, and a live FM studio. The basement location is the motivation for the station's motto, "It's better on the bottom." KRLX is licensed for continuous broadcast, but because the station is student-run, the signal is up only when school is in session. Because Carleton does not offer a summer term, the station generally broadcasts September through June, though not during winter and spring breaks.

In the fall of 2005, KRLX introduced podcasting for all of its non-music shows, including all of the station's original news programming and Periscope.

History

Carleton College radio started in 1917 with the Music Department's initiative to bring radio to Northfield, MN. With an antenna mounted atop Willis hall, this AM station broadcast until 1929 at an unknown frequency. In 1947 several students on the G.I. Bill, most veterans from the Navy, sought to construct and operate a radio station for students on the Carleton College campus. Using money raised from local businesses and out-of-pocket, they paid the college to allow them to construct a small studio dug out next to the foundation of Scoville Memorial Library on the South side. All electronics were hand made out of spare parts and the transmitter was from a scrapped WWII destroyer. The carrier current transmission was carried via telephone wire through the Carleton College tunnel complex and radio station KARL 680 was born.

Programming

KRLX's format-free nature makes for very diverse programming, and recently the station has started to program vertically so that similar shows are scheduled consecutively. Radio programs on KRLX run the gamut from bluegrass to independent hip hop to classical, and DJs are restricted only by FCC guidelines. Despite the station's flexibility, there are several long-running programs that are consistent in format, if not in content. Bandemonium is a weekly show devoted to the works of a single band, tracing artists' history and influences. Periscope is the station's documentary program, and the station also programs evening news and hourly news briefs. Although almost all of KRLX's programming has its genesis at Carleton, the station also broadcasts the syndicated news program Democracy Now!. KRLX's content largely consists of music broadcasting, and the station contributes to the CMJ Radio 200 chart.

Technical data

*Service Designation: Full Service FM Site
*Channel & Class: 201A, 88.1 MHz
*FCC Facility Identification: 8867
*Location:
**44° 27' 39.00" N Latitude
**93° 09' 21.00" W Longitude
*Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 0.1 kW (100 Watt)
*Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 5 M HAAT
*Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 309 M AMSL
*Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 20 M AGL

External links

* [http://www.krlx.org www.krlx.org KRLX web site]
* [http://www.carlwiki.org/KRLX KRLX] article at [http://www.carlwiki.org/ CarlWiki] , an unofficial student-run wiki at Carleton College.