Our broadcast studio at KGGV had been a tool closet for as long as anyone could remember; a builder’s afterthought – 5 by 10 feet on the other side of the bathrooms. The tools needed a home: garden, plumbing and electrical for the GCC. The Guerneville Community Church (GCC) sprawled across 2-1/2 acres, north of Guerneville. The Church had taken up, along with a few thousand other churches and schools, the offer of Bill Clinton to open up the radio airwaves to community broadcasting. Just like “twenty acres and a mule” in the nineteenth century, the FCC issued low power licenses (1-100 watts) for community-based, free radio. The licenses are non-transferable and to be owned by a nonprofit institution with established physical property in the community.
The paperwork took three years to come through, but finally we received call letters and a frequency. We also had twelve months to begin broadcasting to keep the license in force. The Church raised $500 to buy a do-it-yourself shed for the tools. This turned out to be one of those activities that straddle a grey line – Is it a Church thing? or something for the radio? It wasn’t clear. I only achieved clarity when I joined the Church and it became a non-issue, as it was at the time for Beth Hearn, who was leading us.
The “team” crossed the grey lines – Wayne Rieke, Bill Hearn and Micah Andretich pitched in from the Church side. Ferd Sabino, myself and Giselle were clearly radio. Beth Hearn and Damien Olsen were straddling the fence between both organizations. Most of these people became friends during the ensuing year. It turned into one of those bonding experiences that characterized 2006 for me. Everyone pitched in to the best of their abilities. We were novices at “shed-building,” but we finally finished. It took an unplanned second day with a sustaining effort by Wayne Rieke to keep moving forward.
It amazes me now that the structure still stands and keeps the tools, etc. dry and safe as planned. When I retired to Monte Rio in 2001, I became involved in mostly solitary activities; the library and my memoir groups were mainly reading and writing. But with the Church/Radio group, I became involved in group doings, and of doing positive things for the community.
After re-housing the tools, we cleaned down the walls, floors, and ceiling. It looked big when it was empty – a cement slab on the floor. Wiring was important and that came first, followed by egg carton Styrofoam along all the walls for echo-proofing. A large kitchen-counter type “desk” was the major hub for radio equipment. We chopped out a window over the desk area so the DJ could look out on the gardens. The wiring was like a modern automobile or airplane: big lines out to the transmitter and back in from the remote antenna; telephone lines in and out for voice and another set for streaming; a dozen source devices, each needing power along with battery backup power and the sound streams wending through a rat’s maze of processing boxes to control the ultimate signals. Speakers, headsets, and chairs for three people were the final steps and we were ready.
It was now an electronic closet.
The paperwork took three years to come through, but finally we received call letters and a frequency. We also had twelve months to begin broadcasting to keep the license in force. The Church raised $500 to buy a do-it-yourself shed for the tools. This turned out to be one of those activities that straddle a grey line – Is it a Church thing? or something for the radio? It wasn’t clear. I only achieved clarity when I joined the Church and it became a non-issue, as it was at the time for Beth Hearn, who was leading us.
The “team” crossed the grey lines – Wayne Rieke, Bill Hearn and Micah Andretich pitched in from the Church side. Ferd Sabino, myself and Giselle were clearly radio. Beth Hearn and Damien Olsen were straddling the fence between both organizations. Most of these people became friends during the ensuing year. It turned into one of those bonding experiences that characterized 2006 for me. Everyone pitched in to the best of their abilities. We were novices at “shed-building,” but we finally finished. It took an unplanned second day with a sustaining effort by Wayne Rieke to keep moving forward.
It amazes me now that the structure still stands and keeps the tools, etc. dry and safe as planned. When I retired to Monte Rio in 2001, I became involved in mostly solitary activities; the library and my memoir groups were mainly reading and writing. But with the Church/Radio group, I became involved in group doings, and of doing positive things for the community.
After re-housing the tools, we cleaned down the walls, floors, and ceiling. It looked big when it was empty – a cement slab on the floor. Wiring was important and that came first, followed by egg carton Styrofoam along all the walls for echo-proofing. A large kitchen-counter type “desk” was the major hub for radio equipment. We chopped out a window over the desk area so the DJ could look out on the gardens. The wiring was like a modern automobile or airplane: big lines out to the transmitter and back in from the remote antenna; telephone lines in and out for voice and another set for streaming; a dozen source devices, each needing power along with battery backup power and the sound streams wending through a rat’s maze of processing boxes to control the ultimate signals. Speakers, headsets, and chairs for three people were the final steps and we were ready.
It was now an electronic closet.
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