CKCU's MUST REPLACE OUR DYING OLD BROADCAST BOARDS 

You may wonder how it is that a campus-community radio station would need to raise $130,000 on top of our student levy and meagre advertsing revenue.  The answer is simple. Things wear out. Sometimes really big things. This year it is our broadcast. consoles are failing..  To say they are venerable is perhaps an understatement.   They have waaaaay outlived their "stale dates".  No longer is it la question of "will they fail?" but an inevitable "when will they fail?"  

We can't bring you great music without the equipment to do it.   Without boards there is no CKCU-FM. And because they have explained it far better than we ever could, please read the message we received from our manager, Matthew Crosier and funding drive coordinator, Janice Lockwood, about this dire - but fixable - situation. 

HELP US KEEP BRINGING YOU KICKASS MUSIC

New Consoles at CKCU-FM

CKCU-FM is making a big investment in its future.  It has purchased three Wheatstone digital broadcast consoles.  They will soon be installed in the on-air, production and Closed Circuit studios. 

The new boards will replace the 29 year-old McCurdy consoles in the on-air and production studios, and the 13 year-old Ward-Beck console in the Closed Circuit studio. 

Purchasing new boards is a step CKCU has been forced to take.  It is not a question of whether CKCU’s old consoles will fail.  It is merely a question of when. 

The McCurdy boards have lasted much longer than their expected lifetime.  They have been repaired many times.  Replacement parts are no longer available because McCurdy stopped making consoles in the mid-1990s. For many years CKCU’s engineers sourced spare parts from other radio stations who were retiring their McCurdy consoles.  That source has now dried up. 

The Ward-Beck board in Closed Circuit was installed in 2001. It has reached the end of its expected lifetime.  Ward-Beck stopped making consoles in 2012 and next year they will stop making spare parts.

CKCU’s engineering team recommended that CKCU replace all three broadcast consoles at the same time.  That way, show hosts can easily be trained on the new equipment, and they won’t confront unfamiliar equipment when working in any of CKCU’s studios.

After looking at the options, CKCU’s engineer recommended that the station purchase and install three Wheatstone digital boards.  It will cost approximately $60,000.  It is a lot of money.  But it is a necessary and worthwhile investment in CKCU-FM’s future.