Students Connected WIIT's Carrier Current Station with a High-Impact Transmission, Labeling it a "Mighty Explosion"
A Historical Incident at WIIT Student Radio, Illinois Institute of Technology
In the annals of WIIT student radio at Illinois Institute of Technology, an intriguing incident occurred that serves as a testament to the students' ingenuity and the risks associated with homebrew radio equipment.
During the 1961 academic year, a group of students had installed a homemade 640 kc transmitter in the utility room of a dormitory. The transmitter was connected to three-phase receptacles without fuses, directly to the main breaker. However, the fuse blocks used were instrument-rated, not line-voltage fuses, which somehow led to an arc over.
Another student, in an attempt to short out the terminals on the fuse holders, squeezed the box, causing a big bang. The incident resulted in the temporary shutdown of all circulation pumps in the room, creating a quiet atmosphere.
The incident, which occurred on a Saturday night, required Ken Lundgren (K9RYR), a graduate of the class of 1963, to notify the building electrician. Fortunately, the incident did not affect the rest of the building.
Despite this incident, the students continued their radio endeavours. They built the WIIT student-radio studio in the basement of the student union building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Each student desk in the newer dorm building had a 20-watt fluorescent desk lamp which contained a 1-microfarad capacitor wired across the line.
To make the radio equipment safer, the students used a homemade box containing an RF transformer, three capacitors, and three fuse blocks for glass fuses. This box was instrumental in coupling the RF into the building wiring, enabling the continued operation of WIIT.
Today, WIIT operates under FCC licensing as a university-affiliated non-commercial educational station, broadcasting at 88.9 FM with an ERP of three watts. It offers students hands-on opportunities to create and manage their own shows, reflecting a broad range of student interests and campus culture. WIIT has been recognised as one of the prominent college radio stations, earning a place in Princeton Review's list of best college radio stations.
From its early experimental roots to a fully licensed, student-operated FM station, WIIT has grown in scope and professionalism, becoming an integral part of Illinois Tech's campus life and student engagement through diverse programming.
- The students, learning from the incident in the dormitory, constructed a homemade RF transformer, three capacitors, and three fuse blocks for glass fuses to safely couple the radio signal into the building wiring, thus enabling the continued operation of WIIT.
- In the newer dorm building, each student desk was equipped with a 20-watt fluorescent desk lamp, which the ingenious students rewired to contain a 1-microfarad capacitor, aiming to introduce a degree of safety into their radio technology.
- As WIIT evolved from experimental roots to a fully licensed FM station, it implemented modern technology, adhering to FCC regulations to ensure both the safety and the success of student endeavors in radio broadcasting.
