SEQUIM — KSQM, Sequim’s non-commercial FM radio station, is on the air with a sweeping definition of “oldies” music, community-event announcements and volunteer disc jockeys.
The frequency is 91.5 FM, and the songs range from post-World War II all the way up to the era of President Bill Clinton, KSQM co-founder Rick Perry said Tuesday.
KSQM broadcasts throughout Sequim and the Dungeness Valley, Perry said, and reaches into eastern Port Angeles as well as some high spots in Port Townsend.
“We’re getting into Blyn fine, and you can even hear us up Palo Alto Road,” he added.
This week, KSQM is in “program test” mode, which means Perry and partner Keith Burfitt are working the bugs out of the equipment.
“We’re doing a shakedown cruise,” Perry said.
They also hope to hear from more volunteers and supporters. They plan to turn 91.5 into the go-to spot for local events, weather, traffic and school-closure updates.
On Tuesday morning, one of the station’s original volunteers, Robert Massey, signed on to provide a mix of Andrews Sisters, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Crooners, Nat King Cole and their peers.
“This is great to be able to do this again,” said Massey, 83, whose career took him from a radio station in West Palm Beach, Fla., to KHAR in Anchorage, Alaska, during the 1960s, and then to KIT in Yakima and KBRD in Tacoma throughout the ’70s.
Massey sprinkled his KSQM set with his favorites, like Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons” from 1955.
The lyrics sounded fairly contemporary: “You load 16 tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt . . . “
While Massey navigated the CD players, mixing board and computer screen in the main control room, Josh Lapp, 33, worked in the production studio where he plans to teach digital editing and recording classes.
Lapp moved to Sequim two months ago from Southern California, where he taught digital music technology at Cypress College.
He’s volunteering at KSQM while looking for work across the Puget Sound region.
“This is state of the art equipment,” Lapp said of the station’s Pro Tools software and broadcasting gear.
Perry said he’s invested about $150,000 in equipment and legal and engineering costs since he began this public radio journey in 2005.
The Federal Communications Commission finally granted him a construction permit last August; he expects to receive the station license after the program test period is complete next Tuesday.
Constantly on the air
Thanks to a blend of volunteers and automation, KSQM will be on the air 24-seven, Perry said.
During the day, he and other announcers will dish out music from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
Around 9 p.m., “we’ll kick it up,” and feature “oldies” from the ’50s through the ’90s.
“What ‘oldies’ are depends on who you talk to,” Perry added. He invested in a wide-ranging CD library largely through eBay shopping.
Perry said that after he assembles a full crew of volunteers, the KSQM format will include radio drama and community news.
He also wants to make his station the place to tune during and after emergencies, be they a blizzard, flood or some other calamity.
Reception isn’t great in downtown Sequim, Perry said, but along U.S. Highway 101 from Agnew to Diamond Point Road, he said car radios should have no trouble pulling in a bell-clear signal.
And in January, listeners will find KSQM streaming live at www.SCBradio.com.
Perry, 63, is a retired naval officer and school psychologist who worked in Yakima. Ever since his days as a college radio DJ, he’s dreamed of putting his own station on the air.
As a noncommercial station, KSQM can run very short announcements for program sponsors, but the bulk of the operating funds will be provided by Perry, Burfitt — and listeners.
Donations
But Perry didn’t estimate when KSQM will have a pledge drive.
“I hate to ask people for money,” he said.
Still, he hopes supporters will send donations to Sequim Community Broadcasting, P.O. Box 723, Sequim, WA 98382.
Those interested in volunteering as DJs or producers can phone Perry at 360-681-0000 or e-mail KSQM at scbradio@olypen.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
