Folk Radio Sweetens Signal for Lower Cape

Folk Radio Sweetens Signal for Lower Cape On WFPB 1170AM

Orleans, MA – Audiophiles fondly remember the vacuum tube. Up-to-date broadcasters are not so sentimental. Since November of 1998, WUMB has extended its reach to the Lower Cape via WFPB Orleans (1170AM) using the existing equipment acquired from WKPE-AM. That transmitter was more than 50 years old and used those quaint old vacuum tubes, some of which are no longer available new. In fact, Chief Engineer Grady Moates had been getting used replacement tubes that were removed from US Navy submarines.

The WFPB-AM equipment has just been replaced with a new, state-of-the-art transistorized transmitter using half the electrical energy to produce a better radio signal. That should mean an appreciably cleaner sound for Lower Cape fans of Folk Radio. Moates says “Listeners will get a more solid, full, crisp, clear sound, along with a reduction of background noise” with the new, improved equipment. The station’s programming originates from the campus of UMass Boston.

“We’re committed to bringing the sound of Folk Radio WUMB to our broadcast listeners in better and better ways,” says Patricia Monteith, WUMB’s General Manager. “In addition to the vastly improved AM signal on Lower Cape, we’ve also added a digital signal to our WFPB-FM transmitter in Falmouth, so, HD radio listeners on Upper Cape Cod get state of the art sound, too.”

Among the sounds on Folk Radio, is the familiar voice of Joan Orr. Every Friday evening at 7 on “Acoustic Images,” Joan brings WUMB listeners four hour of all acoustic music chosen with her own distinctive point of view. Orr is a Cape resident with a long history of involvement in the Lower Cape arts community through the Art House gallery and presentation of acoustic music on the radio.

WUMB is the nation’s only full-time all-folk radio station. On Folk Radio, the definition of “folk” is wide-ranging and includes contemporary artists like the Lucinda Williams, Neil Young, David Gray and Mary-Chapin Carpenter as well as newcomers and traditionalists like The Mammals, Altan and – needless to say – Pete Seeger. Local artists get ample airtime on Folk Radio: Patty Larkin, Greg Greenway and David Roth are Cape residents whose work gets daily exposure. WUMB also airs the popular “Celtic Twilight” music program every Saturday from 3pm to 8pm.

WUMB broadcasts from studios located at UMass Boston, which serves as the central hub for a network of five public radio stations in Boston, Worcester, Falmouth, Orleans and Newburyport, Massachusetts. WUMB’s 24-hour-a-day broadcast can also be heard via the internet at www.wumb.org.