Harris Corp.’s Broadcast Communications Division (BCD) played a key role in rebuilding WQRZ-FM, a low-power FM station serving Hancock County, Mississippi that was nearly destroyed by the devastating effects of hurricane Katrina. WQRZ-LP was the country’s first Amateur Radio-based organization granted a community broadcast FM station, hitting the airwaves in January 2003. Since then, the 24/7 station has been the premier source of information to Hancock County residents, providing music as regular programming but also offering communication resources and automatic Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcasts to local listeners in times of emergency.

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“We are passing on in-depth information to listeners about where to go for FEMA assistance, the Small Business Administration, medical center and shelter locations, and where to get a hot meal, ice, clothing and bare necessities,” said Sara Allen, an independent contractor assisting with WQRZ operations. “The hardest part of the update is reading the list of those still missing since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. But the feedback I’ve had from the public is that WQRZ has been a very important resource to the people of Hancock County. They are listening and trusting the source as we are attached directly to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) by way of the Public Information Office, and that co-location decreases the risk of faulty and inaccurate information.”

As Hurricane Katrina approached, WQRZ-FM Chief Engineer Brice Phillips, who operated the station from his home two miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, relocated the station’s existing 100-W FM transmitter, the EAS, a portion of its four-bay antenna, and some studio components to the Hancock County EOC to continue broadcasts. When the storm hit on Aug. 29, Phillips’ home was destroyed, but the station’s tower and a 10-foot by 10-foot shed survived. In the ensuing days, Harris engineers pre-built and shipped a turnkey studio system to the Hancock EOC featuring Harris resale products, including a Mackie VLZPRO mixer, a Denon 951FA CD player, microphones, headphones, wiring and cable. A Harris Quest 1-kW FM transmitter from the Harris factory in Quincy, Illinois, was tuned and tested, crated and shipped to Phillips. Mark Goins, a Harris BCD national accounts manager, pulled all of the studio gear together and made sure it reached its destination in time.

Harris also worked closely with Dielectric, which designed and built a one-bay antenna with transmission line for use with the Harris Quest transmitter and existing tower. Once delivered, Gary Minker, president of Radio Works RF Consulting and a Harris contractor, headed the task of cleaning and converting Phillips’ shed into a transmission facility.

“The working conditions were far from ideal with the heat, bugs and unbelievable amounts of mud,” said Minker. “We removed a foot of mud from the shed, rinsed it with water and drilled holes in the floor for drainage. We used repeater boxes, which had been used for local police and amateur radio communications before being destroyed in the storm surge, as stairs for access to the shed to create a new transmission facility. The Harris Quest transmitter frequency was changed from 98.1 to WQRZ’s 103.5 MHz frequency, and we set the transmitter to mono so listeners using state-distributed transistor radios could pick up a stronger signal. Tower climbing, line sweeping, connector installation, antenna settings, and modulation testing were just some of the other tasks performed at the transmitter site. We then built the studio at the new Hancock EOC’s site at the Hancock Vocational Technical School seven miles from the transmitter. The entire project was completed in just four days.”

The Harris Quest transmitter has boosted WQRZ’s signal output to 1300 W – 13 times its previous output – thanks to special temporary authority from the FCC that was secured by Allen. This has allowed Phillips and Allen to cover greater distances with these important broadcasts. Minker reports that he received clear car audio from the station at the Mississippi-Louisiana state line 15 miles from the site.

The state of Florida also donated a generator to keep the transmitter on-air due to the lack of electricity in the region. The generator was almost lost when Hurricane Rita blew through the area, but Phillips moved it to higher ground to ride out the second storm. Phillips reports that the new transmission system has been running perfectly since going on-air. There is no fixed date for changing the studio location, and it could be at its current home for up to several months.