Station Update: We need a new transmitter for WGDR.

Friends of WGDR/WGDH -

Warm greetings from very cold central and northern Vermont. The temperature today is a balmy 11 degrees outside the studio, but sunny!

Late last week, our transmitter at WGDR in Plainfield broke. It was over 15 years old! This took our 91.1 FM signal from 960 watts down to just 30 watts for listeners in this area.

The good news is that we will be back up to full power shortly with a new transmitter. This new gear will also save us money in the long run, by replacing other very old broadcast gear at WGDR.

The last few days are a great example of fantastic teamwork at the station. Thanks to our new engineer, our volunteer tech team at the station, and our board and staff, we went from a broken transmitter on Friday to a brand new one ready to go within a week!

In short, we were ready for this emergency because of the months of planning so many have put into making this station successful. This is a proud moment for the station. I doubt many stations could do what our 8-month old community organization did--we weathered this smoothly and without having to go off the air.

That said, a new transmitter will cost us about $7,500.

This is a large expense we were not expecting for 2022, especially this early in the year. It represents 10% of our total operating budget for the year.

If you are able, we are welcoming donations to help us fund the new transmitter at WGDR.org/donate or by check, made out to "CVCR" and mailed to the station at WGDR, 123 Pitkin Rd., Plainfield, VT, 05667. We are also seeking emergency grant support and other leads for funding, but nothing is a guarantee yet.

As always, we so appreciate all our listeners and supporters, locally and from afar. You are a critical part of our success, every single day. Thank you!

If you have questions or ideas for other resources that can help us with this extra large expense, please reach out to me.

In great gratitude,

Llu Mulvaney-Stanak

Station Manager, WGDR/WGDH

Llu@WGDR.org

802-276-0365

WGDR/WGDH broadcasts at 91.1 FM in the greater Plainfield area, 91.7 FM in the hollows and hills of Hardwick and beyond, and at WGDR.org to the whole world. Our studio is located at the Eliot Pratt Center on Goddard College campus at 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.

Follow us on social media at on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at @WGDRWGDHVT