WQRZ-LP

{{short description|Community radio station in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi}}

{{Infobox radio station

| name = WQRZ-LP

| logo = WQRZ_103.5.png

| city = Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi

| area = Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

| branding =

| frequency = 103.5 MHz

| repeater = WQRG 96.3 Diamondhead

| airdate =

| format = Variety / Public Radio

| power =

| erp = 100 watts

| haat = {{convert|27.8|m|ft|sp=us}}

| class = L1

| facility_id = 126435

| coordinates = {{coord|30|18|40|N|89|24|14|W|region:US-MS_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| callsign_meaning = Amateur radio Q Code: "Who is calling me?"

| former_callsigns =

| owner = Hancock County Amateur Radio Association, Inc.

| licensee =

| sister_stations =

| webcast =

| website = [http://www.katrinaradio.com/joomla/ WQRZ Community Radio]

| affiliations =

| licensing_authority= FCC

}}

WQRZ-LP (103.5 FM) is non-commercial low-power FM community radio station licensed to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, United States. The station is currently owned by the Hancock County Amateur Radio Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WQRZ-LP |title=WQRZ-LP Facility Record |work=United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division }}{{cite web|url=http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?surveyID=SU08&band=fm&callLetter=WQRZ-LP|title=WQRZ-LP Station Information Profile|publisher=Arbitron}}

History

On August 14, 2001 Brice Phillips (KB5MPW), President of the Hancock County Amateur Radio Association, was granted a construction permit to build the first solar powered LPFM Broadcast Station, which combined Broadcasting with Amateur radio. WQRZ-LP signed on the air January 29, 2003.

=Hurricane Katrina=

File:WQRZ-LP Brice Phillips Hurricane Katrina FEMA Photo.jpgOn August 27, 2005 Brice Phillips moved WQRZ-LP to the Hancock County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in advance of Hurricane Katrina. WQRZ-LP was one of the 4 out of 41 Broadcast Stations that survived Katrina, the only station at Ground Zero.{{cite book|editor-last=Howley|editor-first=Kevin|title=Understanding Community Media|publisher=SAGE Publications|date=2010|location=Thousand Oaks, California|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9d8gAQAAQBAJ&q=wqrz|isbn=978-1-4129-5904-9}} After Katrina the Federal Communications Commission allowed WQRZ to increase their power from 100 watts to 4000 watts under special temporary authority, another first in history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) distributed 3,500 FM radios so survivors could tune into WQRZ-LP to listen to information directly from the EOC.

WQRZ-LP was the first Broadcast Radio First Responder which earned American Radio Relay League Member Brice Philips the Small Business Administration's Phoenix Award, for "Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery by a Volunteer".{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BX&s_site=sunherald&p_multi=BX&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11B804A2737DF220&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=This little radio station saved lives|last=Jackson|first=Bill Minor|date=September 6, 2007|publisher=Sun Herald|pages=C2}}

In 2007, WQRZ-LP became the host to the first progressive radio show to air regularly on a terrestrial station in Mississippi, which was “Unreported News Radio Show”, hosted by Herbert "Sarge" Phelps.

The future

WQRZ-LP operated out of the Hancock County EOC from August 27, 2005 until November 30, 2007. The future is unclear for WQRZ as they have not received any public assistance from FEMA. WQRZ-LP remains the only local 24-hour Emergency Alert System station in Hancock County.{{citation needed|date=September 2008}}

References

External links

[http://www.katrinaradio.com/joomla/ WQRZ Community Radio]

QRZ

Category:Community radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 2001

Category:2001 establishments in Mississippi

Category:Bay St. Louis, Mississippi