VPR Classical Coming to Central Vermont

Vermont Public Radio has entered a purchase agreement to buy WCVR 102.1 FM, based in Randolph.

The new frequency will bring VPR Classical to a large swath of central Vermont centered around Randolph, from Northfield south to Woodstock, from Route 100 in the west almost to I-91 in the east.

Pending approval of the purchase by the FCC, we expect VPR Classical to begin broadcasting on 102.1 FM this summer. WOXM 90.1, a new station based in Middlebury, will also go on the air this summer, bringing VPR Classical to Addison County (coverage map is below).

With these two new stations, more than 150,000 listeners will have now have access to VPR Classical, moving VPR closer to its strategic goal of making this important resource available statewide. VPR continues to assess other areas of the state including Rutland, southern Vermont, and the Northeast Kingdom.

Stay tuned for more details as these new stations get closer to going on the air!

Inside Egypt With Chris Wren

VPR Commentator Chris Wren will be leading our Tour of Egypt in September. Chris spent three years there as the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times from 1977 to 1980. He calls Egypt "one of the most colorful and complex countries" and says that Egyptians "must be the friendliest people in the world."

We asked Chris to pick the top three places he's looking forward to showing VPR listeners on this trip. Here's what he had to say.

"Certainly, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza, for all their popularity, overwhelm the senses, especially if you glimpse them in early morning or late afternoon. Giza's pyramids never fail to take my breath away.

The less well known pyramids of Saqqara, to which we'll enjoy a rare access, can be more exciting because they're so unexpected. And the City of the Dead on the other side of Cairo, where Cairenes are living in the old Islamic tombs, is remarkable. I loved to watch the Sufi dancing there on Saturday nights.

I also want to revisit some favorite Islamic and Coptic Christian sites in Cairo, which other tours may overlook, and the Ben Ezra synagogue, once central to Egypt's vanished Jewish community."

Watch for future blogs from Chris Wren in which he'll share some delicious Egyptian dishes, reveal some other favorite sites and let us know who will enjoy the VPR Tour of Egypt.

You can learn more about the trip and download a brochure by clicking here

Conversation with Robin

I’ll be taking calls tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, and I welcome your thoughts and ideas. It’s easy to sit back and enjoy the programming that comes to you every day on VPR and VPR Classical, but it’s important for your voice to be heard. Let me know what programs you can’t do without, as well as those programs that have you reaching for the off button on your radio. Are you curious about how VPR is doing financially, how VPR is run, or how to volunteer your time? You can write to me in advance, or call in Wednesday afternoon from 2:00 – 3:00.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Robin Turnau
VPR President & CEO

Shooting Pike In A....Lake?

The VPR staff is a motley crew of musicophiles and journalists, engineers and development experts, Vermonters and transplants, lifelong radio folks and those for whom learning broadcast writing was like learning a second language (yours truly included!). That diversity is what makes VPR such an interesting place to work, and it often helps a piece of programming come together.

Case in point: Patti Daniels, Vermont Edition's senior producer, emails the staff yesterday: So here's a odd story we'd like to cover: apparently Vermont is the only state that allows pike shooting. As we understand it, this entails shooting your rifle (shotgun?) into the water to stun pike into submission, and then pulling them up in a basket. Or maybe a sack. If you know someone who shoots pike, please let the Vermont Edition team know.

A few hours later, Patti writes: VPR's staff has a (surprising) wealth of information on pike shooting, or "pickerel shooting" in the local vernacular. I've learned there are no baskets or sacks needed, you just grab the stunned fish with your hands. Pike have nasty teeth, and this seems as potentially dangerous as shooting into the water in which you stand. Thanks again for your help.

But it didn't end there. Production Associate Ric Cengeri shared a bit of history: From a 2004 NY Times article: "Permitted from March 25 to May 25, only on Lake Champlain, fish shooting has probably existed for a century. It also used to be legal in New York, which borders the huge apostrophe-shaped lake.

Then, News Editor Ross Sneyd chimes in: We're all very much looking forward to the pickerel pie that Vermont Edition will be preparing after Jane heads out to the lake for a little target practice.

(I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but Jane does like to experience her stories first-hand!)

Next, a question from Audio Engineer Sam Sanders: Pike and pickerel are not the same fish -- are they?

Reporter Susan Keese: I seem to recall that pike were incredibly bony, scaly (sharp), hard to eviscerate and turn into a meal. I can't imagine adding buckshot to the disagreeable equation. I think the only excuse for fishing for them is to get away from home.

Production Associate Brian Jones, himself an avid fisherman: They are not the same, but they are very similar members of the same family. Pike (Esox lucius) grow to be much larger than Pickerel (Esox niger). Otherwise, a slight difference in coloration is the main difference... Attached is a pic of the largest Northern Pike I've caught, and of course released. 32 inches. (At left).

Membership and Underwriting Director Dan Palow said, O boy, here come the fish tails!

Knowing that we are persnickety about grammar, he follows up, yes, I meant tails not tales.

You'd think it would have stopped there, but as I write this, I'm listening to a conversation in the kitchen about this very topic. I love this place.

The 89.5 WVPR Story

Here's the short version: Something was broken at VPR's transmitter site on Mount Ascutney. The station was off air or at low power for a long period. It was a complex problem that took a while to diagnose and fix. VPR listeners were patient and understanding while VPR engineers worked long days and weekends. Now the problem is fixed!

If you would like to know more, read on.

We thank our listeners for their patience while we worked to get 89.5 WVPR back to full power. The problem was related to a faulty combiner element (see photo below). WVPR shares a common antenna on the tower atop Mt. Ascutney with another broadcaster, and the combiner is a key piece of equipment that keeps both stations on the air.

Normally this combiner system works quite well, but recently, a series of events led to some major damage to one of the components, so huge amounts of output power from the transmitter were being reflected back into the output. Fortunately, there is a device that protects the transmitter from severe damage by automatically reducing this reflected power. That’s what made 89.5 go to low power, making it difficult for most of you to hear. We knew what was happening, but we didn’t know why.

Thus began a long period of investigation of the many complex elements which form a modern transmission system - a search that would even have made Sherlock Holmes scratch his head.

What we eventually learned was that the filter was damaged inside - and that was what created the problems.

Once it was determined for certain what the problem appeared to be, we called the factory in Maine. The factory engineer came to Vermont and brought the new parts with him. He was able to work with VPR's engineers to get the part replaced, reassemble the combiner, and retune it properly; so the WVPR transmitter could go back on the air again at full power.

With these extremely complex, and high powered systems, it takes a lot of careful diagnosis to really know what is going on, and that involves taking things apart, turning them on and off, and otherwise disrupting operations. Add to that the fact that it is still 'mostly winter' on top of the mountain, so travel on snowmobile or tracked vehicle can be slow and difficult.

We fully appreciate how disruptive this was for our listeners, and we worked extremely hard to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Thanks again for your patience during this time. We also appreciate the kind words sent via email and posted on Facebook.

-Rich Parker, GSEC
VPR's Director of Engineering

VPR prEview: New Radiolab, Spring Bird Show, Applesauce Raisin Bread

Potholes, migrating birds, and muddy dogs have nothing on what I think is a true sign of spring - a conversation that goes something like this:

“Isn’t it amazing outside?”
“Oh, it’s gorgeous. I love spring!”
“This can’t be the end of winter. It just can’t.”
“No, we’re definitely going to get another dumping of snow.”
“Absolutely.”

It’s a bit colder and grayer this week, so listen to VPR to stay energized and inspired. In this edition of prEview, you’ll learn about the new season of Radio Lab. You can also send your pressing avian questions for Vermont Edition’s upcoming Bird Show, and read about this weekend’s Saturday Special – a documentary exploring the funding of hope through philanthropy. Plus, in VPR Cooks, we give an unassuming cereal box recipe its 15 minutes of fame.

Read the rest of this week's prEview...

The ___________ Orkestra

<---Orkestra violinist/vocalist/harmonicist (is that a word?) and leader, Jorge Kachmari

The Underscore Orkestra arrived around 10 o'clock yesterday morning, even as a thick late-season snowshower fleeced the newly springtime landscape surrounding VPR's Colchester studios.

They were a little surprised to see the snow (so was I). There isn't much of that kind of thing in Portland, OR, the place they call home. The ensemble is on tour in our area this week and we were happy to host them in a few live sets before they headed over to Burlington's Radio Bean for another engagement in the evening.

For the two or so hours after their arrival Robert Resnik talked with the Orkestra, shared some favorite tunes, and got ready for the afternoon's live broadcast during All The Traditions. We learned about the long tradition of Roma music, why a dumbek's name is onomotopoaeic, and just what it takes to make a guitar sound like a cymbalom (the Hungarian national instrument). We also witnessed the surprising transformation of one of the studio plastic waste buckets into a creditable bass drum. Flip over, add pedal, add stabilizer, and - Voilà!

(Need a bass drum? Nah, you just need a good trash can and a pedal)--->

Behind the scenes our audio engineer Chris Albertine was doing real-time training with Kyle, one of his students at Champlain College. They prepared all of the mics and the recording setup and carefully monitored the mix as the Underscore Orkestra played.

For my part? I had it rough. I listened, and enjoyed!

As for the name: they were without one for so long when they first got started together, they became so used to the __________ that usually preceded 'Orkestra' that they decided that was their name.

Keep an eye out here. I'll be posting many more pictures and the audio from the concert soon.

(The Underscore Orkestra plays tonight at 8 at Langdon Streete Cafe in Montpelier, and then they're on to Montreal this Thursday.)