Mike Starling, founder and president of WHCP-FM in Cambridge, MD, recently described to members of SBE Chapter 37 how he increased the station’s power to become a full-fledged FM station. It involved lots of paperwork for the FCC, new antennas and a city-owned tower.
He credits engineering consultants Gray Haertig, Michelle Bradley and Doug Vernier, among others, for figuring out how to jump through the agency’s technical hoops – which included submitting some 200 pages of engineering exhibits.
The station went on the air in 2015, as Cambridge Community Radio WHCP-LP Cambridge, MD, transmitting on 101.5 MHz. The FCC issued WHCP its construction permit to increase its power on June 2, 2022. By the end of the year, it had money for a transmitter and antenna, but the final antenna design had to be worked out on the Shively test range in Maine.
The station is using a former police communications tower in downtown Cambridge. The 160-ft Rohn structure was erected in “about 1978,” according to Starling. The former NPR Chief Technology Officer said the city was happy to let the station use the structure for a low rental rate. Ospreys used to sit on the tower with their fish kills, making a mess below, he said.
Shively Labs developed a directional two-bay, three around, slant polarized 6025 Log Periodic Array. It matched the required 85 percent of theoretical pattern for the License to Cover, according to Starling. Delaware-based Stellar Tower removed the old antenna and installed the two-bay antenna over a five-day period.
The FCC awarded the station a new license. WHCP moved to 91.7 MHz as a full-power FM on July 15, 2023. Now, the Class B1 station transmits 14kW, according to BIA. The power increase and new tower and antennas give the station an extra 30 feet of elevation, notes Starling, with an AGL of 144 feet.
The new signal covers a portion of Maryland’s Eastern Shore from St. Michaels to Salisbury. The station changed its name to Mid-Shore Community Radio. In addition to Starling, Doug Schuetz, operations and production director, and Judy Diaz, WHCP-FM general manager led the transition team.
Inside Towers asked what he learned along the way from running an LPFM to becoming a full power station. Starling said he has a larger budget and more paid people now. Running an LPFM initially was “a heck of a head start,” he said, giving him the ability “to build up a cadre of people you could count on each week.”
“If you can make it as an LPFM you should be able to make it as a full-service station,” said Starling. “For us, it was ideal. It was a good path.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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