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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the normal flow of our broadcast year, WOAS-FM 88.5 would be easing into the new school year by broadcasting music by artists with some connection to the Porcupine Mountain Music Festival.\u00a0 After our July maintenance hiatus, it is always fun to test the station\u2019s equipment by featuring PMMF artists ahead of the festival.\u00a0 With the cancellation of Porkiesfest due to the you-know-what pandemic, the plan was to get the bugs out of the system by broadcasting a limited schedule in the two weeks prior to the first day of school.\u00a0 The plan was working fine until Monday August 17th when the WOAS-FM 88.5 signal went dark.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As any radio station engineer will tell you, predicting a radio station equipment malfunction is kind of like predicting an earthquake (though some would argue it is probably easier to predict an earthquake).\u00a0 When the inevitable occurs, one must methodically examine what is working in order to find the thing that isn\u2019t working.\u00a0 When our channel went dead, the normal checklist didn\u2019t reveal any smoking gun (or circuit, in this case).\u00a0 To add to the mystery, the WOAS-FM programming was still available via our web-stream at <\/span>www.woas-fm.org<\/span><\/a> and on the studio\u2019s monitors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our long time engineer, Jim Bradley, deduced that WOAS was still broadcasting, but the audio was being dropped somewhere inside our transmitter.\u00a0 As of August 24, we are still investigating whether or not we will be able to fix the unit ourselves or send it in to the manufacturer for an overhaul.\u00a0 The worst case scenario would be a total replacement of this unit.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The bad news?\u00a0 WOAS will not be available at 88.5 FM until we figure this out but there is also good news.\u00a0 WOAS-FM can still be seen and heard on our website at <\/span>www.woas-fm.org<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 simply by scrolling down on the opening web page and clicking the \u2018live stream \u2018 tab.\u00a0 We are still here and still broadcasting, just not \u2018over the air\u2019 at this point.\u00a0 What form our broadcast schedule will take this year is the other great unknown.\u00a0 Be assured that we will be following the school safety guidelines and working out a way to be YOUR SOUND CHOICE during this unprecedented time of national crisis.\u00a0 Stay well, keep in touch with WOAS-FM as we work toward a fix with our little problem.\u00a0 We are also pleased to announce the following in regards to our license renewal.\u00a0 Following is a copy of the post-renewal filing notice that we have been airing during our broadcast year shakedown:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On October 1, 2012, WOAS was granted a license by the Federal Communications Commission to serve the public interest as a public trustee until October 1, 2020.\u00a0 Our license will expire on October 1, 2020.\u00a0 We filed an application for license renewal with the FCC.\u00a0 A copy of this application is available for inspection at <\/span>www.fcc.gov<\/span><\/a> (<\/span>http:\/\/www.fcc.gov<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0 It contains information concerning the station\u2019s performance over the last 8 years. Individuals who wish to advise the FCC of facts relating to our renewal application, and to whether this station has operated in the public interest, should file comments and petitions with the FCC by September 1, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n