History
WHUS's debut as a non-commercial FM station occurred in 1957. However, organized radio broadcasting at the University of Connecticut began in the early 1920s.
WABL / WCAC
On June 1, 1923, the university, then called Connecticut Agricultural College, was issued a license for a new AM station in Storrs, with sequentially assigned call letters of WABL.[5] The station initially operated on 1060 kHz with 100-watts from an on-campus antenna supported by two 103 foot (31 m) steel towers. In 1925 power was increased to 500 watts and the call letters changed to WCAC.[6]
On April 30, 1936, WCAC's license was voluntarily surrendered for cancellation,[7] due to frustrations over restricted operating hours and constant frequency and power changes mandated by the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) and its 1934 successor the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that made it impossible for the college to achieve its goal of developing a state-wide educational service.[8]
AM carrier current station
Around the time that WCAC went off the air, students at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island were developing a campus-wide broadcast service called "The Brown Network". This employed "carrier current" transmissions, using multiple very low power AM band radio transmitters that fed their signals into building electrical wires, for reception by any standard radios that were close by.[11] Because of their extremely limited coverage, the FCC did not require carrier current stations to be licensed. Station installations soon spread to other college campuses, especially in the northeastern United States. Representatives from the University of Connecticut traveled to Brown to investigate the idea, and decided to establish a station at Storrs. In February 1940 the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) was formed to coordinate activities between twelve college carrier current stations and to solicit advertisers interested in sponsoring programs geared toward their student audiences, with the University of Connecticut as one of the charter members.[12]
The University of Connecticut station initially identified itself as both the "Husky Network" and "UCBS", which stood for the "University of Connecticut Broadcasting System".[13] It began broadcasting on April 8, 1940, using student-built equipment installed by a group headed by LaVerge Williams.[14] The station was initially funded by the Student Senate, but in the fall of 1941 became financially independent by selling airtime to advertisers.[13] A May 1943 review of the "Husky Network" stated that the station was operating from 7:00-8:30 a.m. and 5:00-11:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, for a total of 37½ hours per week.[15] However, equipment shortages due to the outbreak of World War II, as well as staff entering the military, caused the station to cease operations until after the war.
Operations were reactivated in May 1946, under the guidance of Dan Harris, operating on 560 kHz from 4-10 p.m. A 1948 review stated that transmitters were operating on both 560 and 640 kHz, with advertisers that included local grocery, drug, and stationary stores as well as restaurants. The station now identified itself as "WHUS", although because it did not need a license these call letters were not formally assigned by the FCC.[16] The studios were moved from the basement of Koons Hall to the new Student Union Building in 1952. Between 1954 and 1956, there was another hiatus in broadcasting owing to technical difficulties in complying with FCC restrictions on signal strength.[17] Eventually low power AM broadcasting was resumed at 670 kHz.
AM programming was predominant through the late 1960s, although during periods when the AM and FM stations were carrying the same program, provisions had to be made to avoid airing commercials on the FM side, which was only licensed for non-commercial operation. In 1963 twenty-four-hour-a-day broadcasting was started on WHUS (AM) with the use of 24-inch (61 cm) automatic reverse tape reels that provided 6 hours of programming. However, by the mid-1970s the closed-carrier AM broadcasting system had fallen into disrepair and was discontinued.
FM station
In 1957 the university received a license for a 10-watt non-commercial FM station operating on 90.5 MHz, which was now formally issued the WHUS call letters by the FCC.[17] This new authorization meant that station coverage was no longer limited to just the campus. WHUS moved to 91.7 MHz in 1966, increased power to 1,250 watts in 1968, then to 3,200 watts in 1974.
In the mid-1970s student managers decided to operate the station 24 hours a day year round, adding non-student volunteers to staff and produce programs. WHUS became a "community" station. Beginning about 1975, a major refurbishment of the studios upgraded the mostly mono vintage equipment so that in 1977 FM-stereo broadcasting could begin.
In 1997, WHUS built a new tower that allowed its signal to reach a 60-mile (97 km) radius. This expansion into the Hartford area helped grow its audience. During the summer of 1998, WHUS began webcasting its air signal over the Internet. The station moved to an old farmhouse on the North Campus in 2002 for the remodeling of the Student Union. In 2006 the station's website, WHUS.org, acquired a new design and a schedule database system, which allowed dynamic displays of currently playing and upcoming shows. In 2007, the station moved into new state-of-the-art studios in the remodeled Student Union.
