Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WBAA was licensed on April 4, 1922 as an AM station. Please take some time to browse through our long history. If you have additional details about our history, please email WBAA AM & FM.Special thanks to Dave Samuelson and Aaron Fiddler who have assisted with the content of these pages.New audio content was posted on November 30, 2012.

Broadcasting in the 1926-1927 School Year

WBAA transmitter panel in 1926
Purdue Engineer
WBAA transmitter panel in 1926

The Purdue Engineering Review, Vol. 22, No. 1, p. 11, November 1926

New Electrical Engineering Building - Local Institution Possesses Largest Building Devoted Exclusively to Instruction in Electrical Engineering, by M. M. Boyd, E. E. '28

The opening of school at Purdue University this fall marked the complete occupancy of the largest building in the country devoted exclusively to instruction in electrical engineering. This building, a picture of which is shown on the cover, was designed in four units at an estimated cost of $450,000. All but two of the smaller units are completed and now in use. The general laboratory and lecture room have been in use the past two years and the high-voltage laboratory was completed last January. The four-story front portion of the structure contains the general office, recitation and design rooms and the communication and research laboratories.

[---]

Communications on Third Floor

Floors one and two of the front structure are devoted to offices and recitation rooms; the latter differ in size and accommodate from 24 to 60 students each.

The third floor accommodates the design and communication departments, the latter being divided into radio and telephone laboratories. One room is devoted to reference work in which the current copies of publications of telephone companies, government reports pertaining to radio, and various other reference material on radio are kept. A telephone museum located on this floor enables one to study the stages of development in telephone during the past fifty-one years. Captured German signal corps equipment has been added to the interesting collection within the past few years.

Radio station WBAA is operated from this floor by students. Three rooms -- studio, monitory and apparatus rooms -- are set aside for this purpose. Indianapolis stock reports and the weather reports for Indiana are broadcast at 5:50 a.m., central standard time, six days a week. On Monday and Friday nights at 7:15 p.m. engineering and agricultural talks are given. Special broadcasts are made from the field or gymnasium of all important athletic contests. The masts from which the antenna of the flat-top T type is suspended are eighty-seven foot steel towers, located on the roof. The total height of the antenna from the ground is 147 feet. A counterpoise is located at the base of the towers, and a fan-shaped lead-in is used. The station operates on a power of 500 watts and a wave-length of 273 meters, corresponding to 1,100 kc. Inadequate funds prevent the addition of increased facilities in the broadcasting field.

Future Possibilities Enhanced

This building and equipment manned by a capable staff will enable the School of Electrical Engineering of Purdue University to instruct more adequately the group of about 800 electrical engineering students and about 1,300 other engineering students whose courses involve electrical engineering subjects at some period during their four years at the university. Thesis work, research and graduate instruction may now be greatly expanded and the Engineering Experiment Station researches, particularly in extra-high-voltage phenomena, may be carried on with adequate facilities for work.

 

 

The Purdue Exponent - Saturday, November 6, 1926

WBAA To Broadcast Two Speeches

Next week's radio program from WBAA radio station, includes two talks of general interest on Monday and Friday evenings and the Purdue-Franklin football game at 2 o'clock next Saturday afternoon. These will be in addition to the daily market announcements made at 9:50 o'clock. Monday evening's program includes a talk by Dr. L. A. Test of the chemistry department on "Drinking Water and Health", and Friday evening G. A. Williams of the dairy extension staff will discuss "Fall Management of the Dairy Herd". The evening programs start at 7:15 o'clock.

 

The Purdue Exponent - Sunday, November 7, 1926

WBAA to Broadcast Franklin Game

Interesting parts of next week's program from WBAA radio station in the new E. E. building, will include two talks of general interest Monday and Tuesday evenings and the Purdue-Franklin football game on Saturday at 2 p.m. Also there will be the daily market reports at 9:50 a.m. Monday evening's program includes a talk by Dr. L. A. Test of the chemistry department, on "Drinking Water, and Health". and Friday evening G. A. Williams of the dairy extension staff will discuss "Fall Management of the Dairy Herd". The evening programs will start at 7:15 o'clock.

 

The Purdue Engineering Review, Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 24, January 1927

Radio Broadcasting

Through the co-operation of the School of Electrical Engineering, lectures by members of the Engineering and Science Schools are broadcast weekly on Monday evenings, 7:15; agricultural programs are broadcast on Friday evenings, 7:15. (Purdue Radio Station, WBAA, wave length 273, 500 watts.) Steps are now being taken to increase the length of the programs to 30 minutes in order to add music and other features.