I spent this morning at my local community radio station. It’s spring membership drive time, and since one of my non-photographic hats is as an on-air volunteer for the station, I always do a few extra shifts helping listeners understand the logic of voluntarily supporting a radio station that provides diverse programming without commercials. And of course, I brought my camera along for a few shots. Here’s one of the station’s control boards (no, it’s not cutting edge technology):
Connected to the board is a complicated tangle of wires, electronics, and other things that make the magic of radio possible:
Add to all the technology some content in the form of music from the African section of the station’s extensive and diverse CD library:
And all you need for a radio show is a host. In this case, DJ Anch of the show Sundrenched, featuring the music of tropical lands. How good that sounds in a late-arriving Washington spring!
So I joined Anch for some fun on-air banter and general howling for the cause of KAOS-fm.
And I’ll be the first to admit that, although I’ve been at this station since 1998, I still don’t know what all the buttons, knobs, and patch-bay parts lead to. Some mysteries are best left as some sort of visual metaphors for the possibilities of media. Or at least nice photographic patterns.
If you’re interested, you can listen to KAOS-fm locally (in Olympia, Washington) at 89.3 FM, and elsewhere you can catch the live webstream at www.KAOSradio.org. If you have an urge to donate to the station, head over to the join page.