If you've tuned into WMLU 91.3-FM recently on your computer, you've probably noticed the web stream is down. That is because the web cast set up by former station member Gerry Martin in 2007 is being replaced. Heading this transfer is Chief Engineer Alexander Pierson, also known as the DJ for the "Metallic Turn Table," a radio show which airs Fridays from 10-12 p.m. Sitting in the station room, between intermissions and sets, Pierson explained the role of the webcast and its current upgrade.
Pierson said that the radio tower feed is duplicated over the Internet and can be listened to from "anywhere across the globe." The lag for a web stream is about thirty seconds after a word has been said whereas a radio transmission has a lag of about a second.
The new web stream format was proposed due to the need for a "platform independent" format that would not need Windows Media Player to function. Users of Linux and Mac could use the web stream but it required extra installation and some arcane knowledge. The station began searching April of last year and found what it needed to set up a new web stream with the company Abacast, Inc. based on the west coast.
WMLU waited until October 2011, the time of the old format's phase out, to begin work on the new setup. Before gains could be made in the transfer, the old 2004 machine that fostered the first webcast had to be replaced. This happened thanks to the Longwood University's Information and Instructional Technology Services (IITS) department who gave WMLU the new hardware as part of a larger computer purchase in December 2011.
When Pierson picked up the computer during the first week of school, he performed two days of preliminary configurations and notices, informing campus authorities of the machine's purpose and ownership. Though WMLU, due to its lack of technological advances and concerns for their DJs' freedom, cannot send automatons like some other stations, it has to inform Abacast, who does automatic installs of software what it needs and does not need. The list of confirmations from their carrier has not yet been completed and the webcast is an imminent work in progress.
As part of his position as Chief Engineer, Pierson also explained a liaison function that has him bridge the gap between the systems that need repair and the DJs who use them. He also has to contact Longwood tech professionals to deal with systems he is not authorized to directly repair.
Pierson, given his unique perspective at the heart of the matter and many others in the tech concerns of WMLU, said that the web stream is regarded as the "largest antenna imaginable able to tune in to people we never thought would be able to tune in."
Pierson said that his parents in particular are impressed by his involvement in one of Longwood's largest non-Greek organizations and that he hopes for a call from Abacast verifying everything. In this way, the pride and joy of a music loving Longwood will be able to reach past the thirty minute limits of conventional radio and into the wider world.
