In Simsbury, Conn., public safety and community radio came together with the creation of a low-power FM radio station. WSIM(LP), which is owned by Simsbury’s volunteer fire department, has created a lifeline for residents since its inception in 2015. Now, a decade later, this LPFM is getting a well-deserved hardware upgrade thanks to the work of one hometown broadcast engineer.
In the shadow of Hartford, the town of Simsbury is home to 25,000 people. Clocking in at 36 square miles, the town boasts scenic parks, vibrant fall foliage and, of course, WSIM — a well-loved, community-driven radio station.
The LPFM is owned and operated by the Simsbury Fire District, which was granted its broadcast license from the FCC in 2015. WSIM broadcasts full-time from its “in-fire-house” studio with help from volunteer DJs and the support of the fire department.
Operating on 103.5 MHz, WSIM keeps Simsbury’s residents informed and entertained with emergency information, commercial-free music and live coverage of local events. The station was born out of necessity after a major storm dumped 20 inches of snow across Connecticut in October of 2011, causing mass power outages.
A Need for Backup Comms
In the wake of the snowstorm, Simsbury was left without power for 14 days. Residents said the town was hit particularly hard. Streets were impassable and communications were very difficult as cellular telephone networks collapsed due to, in large part, a lack of resilient power.
As Radio World readers know well, when disaster strikes and all else fails, radio is there.
The town of Simsbury and its local fire department recognized the same, and began looking to obtain a broadcast license to create their own station.
This process was spearheaded by Kevin Kowalski, the deputy fire chief and marshal for the Simsbury Fire District. His department consists of 80 volunteer firefighters spread out among six firehouses in town.
“After we recovered from the storm, after 14 days, we wanted to come up with a better way to notify our people in the community of disaster messages, emergency connections, shelter locations, whether roads were open and all the emergency traffic that we needed to do,” said Chief Kowalski. “We determined that the best way to do that would be through either an AM or FM radio station.”
At the time, Kowalski said the department didn’t actually know there was such a thing as an LPFM. That would soon change with the help of a local broadcast engineer.
While the desire for a community radio station was there, the Simsbury Fire District needed a little help navigating FCC requirements and filling out the paperwork … not to mention outfitting the fire station with a working studio.
Thankfully, Simsbury is home to one longtime engineer who was eager to lend a helping hand.
Jeff Hugabonne is a former chief engineer for CBS Radio in Hartford and a senior engineer for CACI International, an IT company focused on national security. He also works under Manny Centeno, director of the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), providing contract support for FEMA, IPAWS and the National Public Warning System (NPWS).
Kowalski said Hugabonne played a major role in getting WSIM off the ground — first by applying for the station’s LPFM license during the 2013 filing window.
The fire district received its construction permit in 2014 and, after being granted its broadcast license in 2015, WSIM was up and running within six months.
Giving Back
Hugabonne, who is also chair of Connecticut’s State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC), said his initial involvement in the project was an “amazing coincidence.”
“After this storm I approached the town with the idea of an LPFM as I knew the window was going to open,” Hugabonne said. “They ended up connecting me with the fire chief, Kevin Kowalski, who was also on his own path investigating radio as an option to reach the public when communications are disrupted.
“So we were introduced at the perfect moment with the shared vision of enhancing access to the public through broadcast,” he continued.
Hugabonne said he provided the consulting expertise and a path forward, while Kowalski, along with Simsbury Fire District’s executive leadership, made WSIM come to life.
As for why he chose to get involved with launching the community station, Hugabonne said: “I believe in the concept of ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ Quite simply, I was in a position to make a contribution to my community that might make a difference, and itself was very gratifying to me.”
He said volunteering his time and radio-centric skills to help provide a lifeline to the community during times of disruption “felt like a calling.”
After the construction phase — which included securing and installing secondhand equipment courtesy of a CBS Radio colleague — WSIM was introduced to the community with limited broadcasting in 2016.
Local Programming Galore
Over the next several months, work was done to create a library of music consisting of more than 5,000 songs on vinyl, which would allow WSIM to broadcast 24/7. The creation of this library was the work of Simsbury Volunteer Firefighter Joe Barrett, who is described as a music aficionado.
“[Barrett] actually went and programmed all those [vinyls] into a system manually, and we set up the radio station so that it would work 24 hours a day, with PSAs having to do with fire prevention, health safety, police and community notes,” said Kowalski.
Much like the fire department, the station is 100% volunteer-based. WSIM’s general manager, Chris Wahl, used to be one of Simsbury’s volunteer firefighters before stepping down for health reasons and taking the station’s reins.
Wahl said WSIM has six DJs hosting weekly shows. He said that while the station is, of course, emergency services-based, they have ample opportunity to serve the community in other ways — such as providing live play-by-play for local football games.
“It’s an emergency management asset, is the way we term it,” Kowalski added, “but it is giving enjoyment to the community, as well as outside the community through streaming.”
Kowalski said he was thankful that the fire district didn’t have to build any towers to support WSIM’s broadcasts. “We just had to put antennas on the existing towers and run the infrastructure at one of our fire stations,” he said.
Hugabonne agreed, saying the community is fortunate to have a station that was pre-built into hardened, municipal infrastructure within the fire department. He said the studios and transmitter site are all backed up by generator power, with redundant IT systems and STL links in place.
Looking ahead, WSIM is eager to undergo a technological revamp in the coming days. With funding from the Simsbury Fire District, the station will soon be upgraded with a new audio console and transmitter.
New Digs
In January, Hugabonne will help WSIM replace its aging audio console with a brand-new, Bluetooth-equipped Rave model by Angry Audio. A StudioHub adaptor kit was also purchased to help with the installation. While the overall number of channels is reduced a bit, Hugabonne said this upgrade is a “quantum leap upwards” in reliability and usability.
“The console being retired is an old [Radio Systems] Millenium donated generously at the time by CBS Radio by a wonderful man by the name of Paul Donovan, who directed the gift,” said Hugabonne. “I was working under Paul at CBS Radio at the time and that equipment was no longer in use or needed by the company.”
Fun fact from Hugabonne: The Radio Systems Millenium console was part of the Don Imus studios in the old CBS Radio Astoria building (originally installed by Mike Erickson back in the day. Mike is now with Orban).
Hugabonne said he is impressed by Angry Audio’s line of products, which is why their console was ultimately chosen as the centerpiece of this upgrade project.
Installation of the new console will be completed in the new year. WSIM also purchased a new FM transmitter from AquaBroadcast, which will back up a 10-year-old GatesAir transmitter.
Alongside these installs, WSIM is using this opportunity to modernize, expand capability and refresh the studio space and appearance.
“It’s so different than in my early career days when even small studio installs could be quite time-consuming with a lot of busy work by hand, whether it was soldering XLR’s or punching down punch wires onto cross-connect blocks,” said Hugabonne.
Serving the Community
Since WSIM has been operating, its emergency management operations have been put to good use. General Manager Chris Wahl said, just last August, Simsbury had some straight-line storms come through with tornado activity decimating parts of the town.
“We had lots of damage, so we, along with emergency services, got on the phone with the town,” said Wahl. “We came up with a game plan to get the messaging out about road and facility closures; if people are without power where they could go to charge their phones and devices; and kind of bring the community together in a way that without internet, without power, they wouldn’t have that opportunity to do.
“It’s just good old-fashioned FM airwaves that allowed us to do that.”
Looking to further engage with its community, on Nov. 29, WSIM once again took place in Simsbury’s annual “Torchlight Parade.” This year, however, along with the 20 or so firetrucks that participated in the parade, WSIM also worked to synchronize its music to accompany the parade’s display of fireworks.
While Wahl said there were some growing pains and lessons to be learned in regards to timing, streaming vs. over-the-air broadcasting and carrier speeds, it was still a fun way to kick off the holiday season.
At the end of the day, at the heart of the station, WSIM provides a great community service by keeping emergency information free, easily accessible and reliable in times of crisis. Hugabonne said LPFMs, in particular, are especially valuable as they give residents a voice and “bring a community together in a way that linear, analog media has a distinct advantage as a real-time, shared experience.”
He said: “I believe, done right, this can exemplify the best of the very enduring qualities and importance of radio has to offer in resiliency and strengthening community bonds for generations to come.”
