My girlfriend is a journalism student in Antwerpen, where we live, and she wants to start a career in Radio some day.
Last year, the city of Antwerpen started a contest where students and youngsters could present a project for a better city for young people and students in Antwerpen, called Troef!
She and a couple of friends decided it was about time Antwerpen got their own student radio, just like all other major flemish cities with colleges and universities. They presented their idea, and were one of the 4 projects selected that would be funded and supported by the city of Antwerpen.
In september, they used facebook, netlog, posters, personal contact and other channels to spread the word, and try to get everyone to know a radio station for and by students was coming. About 50 volunteers presented theirselves to participate in the project, help us out and make the project work. I myself started the technical side of the radio station, planning and building the studio, searching for software, machines, everything needed to make it work alltogether.
As a broadcast license for an FM frequency is nearly impossible at this moment, as no frequencies are available and won’t be until 2016 when the frequency planning will be reviewed, we will keep broadcasting through the internet for now. Our partner Destiny provided us with a vdsl2 connection in the studio, which will transport our stream to MoveMedia who will distribute the stream.
We have the support of the REC Radiocentrum that is our supporting partner. They provide the financial guidance, project management, educational parts and materials for our radio station.
We had a couple of site visits to find an ideal place to set up the studio. We talked to Trix, an organisation about music and art that allows people to express themselves in a musical way by providing room for rehearsals, courses, concerts, … They wanted to help us out anyhow. We talked to a couple of concert and theater halls in the center of the city, but we ended up in Kavka, a youth center right in the center of Antwerpen. They had a basement that could be rearranged as a studio/working spot, while inside that basement there already was a ‘recording booth’, a room with drywall dividers, carpet wall finishing, ceiling covered with sound absorbing materials, a plexi window, … We just needed to install our equipment and we were on a roll…
We put in a new laminated flooring on top of the concrete floor, repainted the entire basement, partly put new electrical wiring in, put network wiring in, redid lighting on the ceilings, and started designing the ideal studio and room setup. Google Sketchup helped me create an idea, and try it before we ordered all the materials, got me a perfect look about how I wanted the studio too look like in the end and helped me keep focus on the implementation and placement of all the parts needed.
We got a Dateq BCS 70 broadcast mixer, a couple of Rode NT1a microphones on booms, Sennheiser headphones, Dell PC’s with Radiohost Radio Automation software, a Presonus Firewire audio card and lots of wiring from REC and started building our studio.
A couple of weeks later now, we’re in the middle of trials, education, and planning the radio shows, as we are going ‘On Air’ on the 5th of March 2011.
That day, a technical challenge already presents itself: we’re going live from the studio from 10am broadcasting music, interviews and live sets, and at 4pm we’re broadcasting live from the Antwerp Central Station, where the kickoff of the Antwerp European Youth Capital 2011 will be held. Local bands will play on 2 stages in the station , and our radio station Stereo03 will be broadcasting interviews, parts of the live sets, live from the station.
Let’s hope everything goes well… still lots of work to be done and lots of tests to be performed before we can start…
