With The Public’s Radio’s expansion onto the WNPN 89.3FM signal in 2018, the need for the lease of WELH 88.1FM lessened considerably. And it was completely removed when TPR got W275DA 102.9FM on the air right before the original ten-year lease expired on October 1, 2025. While WELH was and is a fine signal, that lease was costing $75,000/yr – enough to pay for a full-time staff member! Worth it in 2011, but not so much in 2021.

Afterwards, I gave Wheeler School Broadcasting‘s Dave Schiano a hand re-organizing the WELH transmitter site to remove all of TPR’s hardware and better manage WELH’s. This is the end result:

From top to bottom:

• Comcast business cablemodem & router.
• Unmanaged ethernet switch.
• Harris CD Link digital 950 MHz STL receiver.
• Nielsen PPM encoders (primary and backup)
• TFT EAS930a FM & WX receivers for EAS monitoring.
• Sage 3644 EAS Endec.
• Inovonics 730 RDS encoder.
• BW Broadcast DSPXmini-FM SE audio processor / stereo generator.
• Elenos ETG3500 primary FM transmitter.
• Breakout panel for ETG3500 remote control & telemetry connections.
• BW Broadcast TX300v1 backup FM transmitter.
• Broadcast Tools WVRC4+ remote control.
• Denon DH300 FM radio receiver for monitoring.
• Tripp Lite PDUMH15AT auto-transfer switch PDU.
• Tripp Lite 1500VA dual-conversion UPS.

About a month later this was modified slightly to have a Rolls RS80 receiver instead of the Denon, and I added the Arbitron (Nielsen) PPM encoding monitor.

You can also see the 10,000 BTU window-unit style air conditioner, which isn’t really enough on its own to keep the shed cool. But that’s why there’s also an 8000 BTU dual-hose portable air conditioner in there as well. The latter also will function in colder weather that might otherwise cause the window unit to “ice up” and stop working.

There’s also a small table and stool, along with a keyboard, mouse and monitor for working. Some basic spare parts and tools, too.

A long time ago, we also added the pink foam insulation to the interior walls/ceiling. It’s only R4 but even so it didn’t ever really seem to help all that much in terms of reducing the heat from solar loading. (e.g. sunlight on a hot day) I suppose the laws of thermodynamics insist that it must have had some effect but realistically it reinforced the notion that garden sheds make poor transmitter shelters. Not unless you’re going to put a lot of effort into sealing up all the gaps, putting in real insulation, and covering it all with proper drywalling.

Anyways, as of October 1, 2021, WELH broadcasts a lot of great 80’s and 90’s alt-rock and pop under the branding “Cutting Edge Classics,” and it does pretty well in the ratings, too! Typically pulls in a 1.0 to 1.5 share, and 20k to 40k cume. Pretty good for a fairly small FM signal that has no live DJ’s, no local breaks, and a handful of student shows at night!