RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat Creative writing junior Ash Friederic, left, and music sophomore Joe Theisen pick out a song to be played during their show "Jazz While you Study" yesterday at the KAMP radio station. KAMP hopes to find out this spring whether the FCC has approved its request to build an antenna so the student-run radio station can return to the airwaves.

Student radio station hopes antenna will garner listeners beyond the Internet

KAMP Student Radio hopes to find out by the end of spring whether its request to return to the airwaves will be approved by the FCC.

The radio station, which applied last June for a permit to build an antenna that would allow it to broadcast on the FM dial, has been off the air since 1999.

KAMP applied to be a 100-watt station, said Mike Camarillo, broadcast adviser.

The application was filed under a new FM radio service offered by the Federal Communications Commission that allows small radio stations to broadcast locally - within either a 1-2 mile radius or a 3.5-mile radius on the FM dial depending on whether or not they are 10-watt or 100-watt stations.

"Basically, it will allow us to build an antenna so we can broadcast on the FM - which will reach a lot more people - but it will only be restricted to on-campus people," said Caroline Diep, KAMP general manager.

KAMP, which was started in 1988, was forced to give up its 1570 AM frequency because it interfered with KUAT's 1550 spot on the dial.

The music that KAMP plays would offer a much needed alternative to current Tucson radio stations, said John Rosenberg, a political science junior, who goes by DJ Hardcore on the airwaves.

"An FM frequency would help because we have a lot to offer community and we bring a lot of music that a lot of people don't normally get to hear," he said.

Rosenberg said if KAMP were to get an FM frequency, it would expand his audience substantially because right now most of his listeners are in New York - where he is from - and Texas - the home of his co-host Brian VanBuren, a journalism senior who goes by DJ JohnJohn on the air.

"A lot of people have been intrigued and want to listen but they can't; they don't live in dorms," Rosenberg said

If KAMP does not get the frequency it will reevaluate its options, Diep said.

"It won't be the end of the world if KAMP doesn't get an FM frequency, of course," Diep said.

She said she thinks broadcasting KAMP on the airwaves would be easier for listeners than listening over the Internet.

Currently, KAMP can be heard on their web-site at http://kamp.arizona.edu or in residence halls on channels 3 and 20.