The UW-Platteville student radio station 91 FM, WSUP, received a much needed upgrade over winter break in the form of a new digital sound board.

Photograph by Anthony Bauer


WSUP’s Liz Burant operates the station’s new sound board during an air break in the station’s control room located in the basement of Pioneer Tower. The $12,000 sound board was installed over winter break.

Jon Coleman, an engineer for Media Technology Services and adviser for the station installed the new sound board over winter break. The sound board was installed during the break because the radio station was not scheduled to broadcast during that time since students left for vacation. Coleman said installing the sound board was a very in-depth and detailed process.

“The sound board is like the heart of a radio station,” he said. “Taking out the old system and installing the new system is like performing heart surgery.”

New counter tops also had to be installed to accommodate the new size of the sound board.

A sound board brings the sound from computers, microphones, CD players and all audio together in one solid unit, Dave Meinhardt, an instructor in the department of communication technologies and adviser of WSUP, said. The soundboard allows a person to control the volume of all the equipment hooked up to the unit.

Scott Marshaus, a senior communication technologies major and WSUP station manager, said the old soundboard was between 15 and 20 years old and was out of date.

“The old equipment was archaic and almost unusable,” Marshaus said.

“I would say we got more than our money’s worth out of the old system,” Coleman said. “If [the purchase] had waited any longer, it would be overdue.”

Coleman said the soundboard was one of the oldest pieces of equipment at WSUP, and purchasing a new one was a step in the right direction.

Meinhardt said funding for the board was a bi-product of a three-year process of working with the Segregated University Fee Allocation Commission.

“We would like to thank SUFAC for taking an interest in the radio station and allowing us to have the funds to make this possible,” Meinhardt said.

The soundboard cost over $12,000.

Shane Rudolph, a junior communication technology major and staff member at WSUP said the digital soundboard was a welcome change from the older analog system. He said the benefits of the soundboard are that it is modern, has more features, and makes it easier to broadcast from remote locations and the sound has more clarity,