WRCT

WRCT is a non-commercial freeform radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is hosted in the basement of Carnegie Mellon's University Center, is run by students, staff, faculty, and community members. WRCT broadcasts on 88.3 MHz with an ERP of 1.75 kW, from atop Warner Hall (also on the Carnegie Mellon campus, but heard throughout the city). The license is held by WRCT Radio Incorporated.

History

WRCT was born as an experimental radio station at then-Carnegie Institute of Technology. It began as the project of a group of engineering students in 1949, who first used the electrical wiring in a few academic buildings to broadcast a weak AM signal to campus buildings for several hours a day. In 1950, WRCT, which stands for Radio Carnegie Tech, covered half the buildings on campus, and became an official student organization.

WRCT went on the air in 1949 as a carrier current AM radio station on 900 kHz (mostly heard on campus), but it moved to 88.3 FM on March 1, 1974, with a power of 10 watts, which extended its signal beyond the campus to other areas nearby. In the late 1980s, the power increased to 100 watts, and in 1994, WRCT received permission to increase power to 1750 watts in the north, south, and west and 680 watts in the east, which enabled it to be heard up to fifteen miles away, allowing it to become a more significant community service. Now the station has made it possible to listen anywhere in the world by streaming the audio on the station's website.