This guide aims to make your life as an AM trainee a little less stressful by documenting what you need to do as an AM DJ, how to work the board, the general layout of the station, how to structure your show, skills to make you sound professional, and rules of the station/FCC.

Index

• [AM Program Overview][]
• [Format][]
• [The Board][]
• [CD Players][]
• [Turntables][]
• [Vinyl][]
• [Microphones][]
• [Misc Skills][]
• [PSAs][]
• [Logs][]
• [Rules][]
• [Stacks][]
• [Questions or Concerns][]

AM Program Overview

Before we get into how to work the equipment, there's a number of things that are part of the AM program that you should be aware of:

AM Shows

Your first priority is the show you run in the AM studio. These are 1.5 hours long, once a week, and you'll follow this format. You'll need to make up any shows you miss because it's important to get as much time in the AM studio as possible. If you know you're going to have to miss a show, let the AMPD know as soon as possible. To see when your shows are this semester, follow this link.

Staff Participation

Aside from your shows, AM DJs are required to participate in an active staff at WUVT. Below is a list of staffs that accept AM applicants. Contact info for the staffheads that run these staffs can be found at our contact page. Feel free to join more than one staff!

• News - Participate in WUVT's 5:00 news break and read news, weather, and sports announcements!


• Promotions - Help promote WUVT events by hanging posters, making videos, and managing social media accounts!


• Events - Book bands for WUVT and help set up for shows!


• Art - Design posters, t-shirts, and all Radiothon premiums!


• Woove - Create content for WUVT's literary magazine. Poetry, reivews, and general musics are encouraged!


• Engineering - Keep WUVT's hardware functioning and run sound for live events!


• IT - Learn about WUVT's computing environment and contribute to cool open source projects!

The current AMPD will check in with the staffheads at the end of the semester to see who's been active, so put yourself out there! Make some friends! Building connections with other people at the station is one of the core goals of AM training.

FM Shadowing

At some point in the semester, you'll need to shadow one of our FM DJs for an hour as they do their show. Reach out to a DJ whose show you enjoy, and ask them if you can come in and shadow them!

I recommend you do your shadowing early in the semester, especially if you're still a little unsure about what you need to do during your shows. When you get your shadowing done, send the AMPD an email confirming you've completed it.

Mission Control

During our fundraising week for the station, Radiothon, AMs serve as Mission Control staff. All this means is that you'll sit in the FM studio with an FM DJ as they do their show and answer the phones when people call in to make donations. More information about this will be available when Radiothon gets closer, so you don't need to worry about it during the start of your training.

Midway Checks and Final Checks

Twice during the training program, the AMPD will gauge your FM preparedness one-on-one, once partway through the program and once at the very end of the semester. In the past, this just means you'll sit down for 10 minutes or so in the AM studio and you'll demonstrate the basics of how to run a show (how to use the mics, how to use the CD players, how to use the turntables, how to cue tracks, what to say, etc.) This is super low stress, and if you've been working through the AM shows with your co-host and asking good questions, you'll be fine.

Format

The format of your show is a simple thing. At the top of the hour you say the legal ID: "You are listening to WUVT FM Blacksburg" or some variation as long as it includes the bold words, with "90.7" optionally inserted after "FM". Spell it out: "W-U-V-T FM". After 15 minutes, you read a [PSA][] or play a prerecorded one. After 15 more minutes you say the weather. In AM training this can really be anything, as long as it includes the weather. 15 minutes later you say a different PSA, and finally 15 minutes after that you say another legal ID. This is the basic format you need to adhere to while broadcasting your show. You are free to play music in between of course and talk at other times besides those stated.

Here's a summary:

• :00 - Station ID
• :15 - PSA
• :30 - Weather
• :45 - PSA

We do allow some breathing room when it comes to this format. You may say the PSAs/ID/Weather within six minutes on either side of the specified time. This means I could say a PSA that is supposed to be read 15 minutes into the hour at :09 if I choose to. Whenever you do read the Station ID or a PSA or the weather, make sure to write down when you did it in the logs.

If your show runs over midnight, you should read off the "Statement of Ownership" (SOO), which is this, at midnight:

W-U-V-T F-M is licensed to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and is operated by the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech. We operate on Ninety-point-seven Megahertz (90.7 MHz) with an effective radiated power of six-point-five (6.5) kilowatts from a transmitter located on top of Price Mountain. Our studios are located in the Squires Student Center, suite 350. W-U-V-T also operates microwave aural S-T-L station W-L-J-4-5-6. Questions and comments about the operation of the station should be directed to our business office at 540-231-9880 or by email at wuvtamfm@vt.edu.

The Board

The board is the central piece of equipment that you'll use to run your shows.

Faders and Buttons

To broadcast music from any source, you need to turn on the fader for that source and pot up it up. This is simple as hitting the red button at the bottom of the board and pushing the fader up to about the dot on the scale. (for CD3 it will be much lower, around 15) For more information about how loud your music should be, see levels. On CD3, our engineering staff has been able to hook up an auto play to the board. This means if you turn on the fader the corresponding CD player will begin to play the selected track. To turn off a source, hit the yellow button below the red on button.

This can be confusing and maybe intimidating at first; but with some experimenting you should be able to figure it out in no time. If you want to learn more about how to use the faders check this out: fading.

Level Needles

The levels of the music you're playing is indicated by the needles at the top of the board. Hopefully this is obvious to you all, but these needles should not go into the red zone. They should max out a little before then, at "0". It is your job as DJs to ensure that they never go into the red zone. Why does this matter? First off, if you keep all of your tracks peaking at 0 on the gauge, then all your music will be at the same level to our listeners. Secondly, having music in the red zone for too long will make the music "clip" when it goes through the audio processing equipment and it will sound distorted when it gets broadcast.

Control Knobs

The control knobs adjust the volumes of different output devices. These are to the far right of the board. The large silver knob labeled CR controls the volume in the studio (CR = control room). Hdpn controls the headphones volume. Studio does nothing. Lastly, cue controls the cue volume.

CD Players

There are two different models in the AM studio currently, but they both operate in mostly the same way.

1. Load a CD: insert a CD into the slot.
2. Cue a track: using the number keys, type in the track number that you want to play. Hit the pause button to cue the track. (the duration of the song should be displayed on the screen)
3. Play the track: Press the red button on the board for the CD3 slider. Pot up the slider until the music is playing at the right level.

• On/Off - This is simply a knob that will turn the turntable on and off, a red light will indicate it being on. (please be sure to turn off the turntable after your show)
• Start/Stop - This is a button you need to press (like the play button on CD players) to start your selected track.
• 33 and 45 - These two buttons are used to chose the rpm the turntable will spin at. These are crucial and you should always be paying attention to what rpm your vinyl should be played at is. Else it will sound weird (which can be cool).
• Pitch - This setting (on the right of the turntable) is very cool if you want to mess around with how your vinyl sounds. I'd suggest messing around with it.

• DO NOT DROP THEM - These things are fragile and expensive. If you do break it, let a staff head (like me) know.
• DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE FRONT OR BACK OF THEM - Make sure to always pick up vinyl records by the edges, just like you would with a CD.
• Pay attention to RPM - This is crucial if you want to play the song/album/vinyl the way it was "meant" to be played. This can usually be found on the vinyl itself or on it's cover. If you cannot find it you will need to [cue][] it up and listen to what it sounds like.
• "Gaps" - These indicate where a song ends and the next song begins. In the picture above there are seven tracks on that one side. (usually in the center of the vinyl the names of the tracks will be listed, check the cover otherwise)

• Fading - It is in good taste to: turn on the mic, then fade up slowly, then begin to speak when you reach the optimal volume for your voice (these vary by person, I speak quietly so I may pot up a tad more then you).
• Speakers - "CRAP! My music just turned off". No, it didn't. The music in studio is turned off so the listeners don't hear the music "echo" or hear feedback, you are still broadcasting.
• Headphones - This is a personal choice, but I and many other DJs find find it helpful/natural to have your headphones on while speaking on the mic. I can see two good reasons for this: 1) you can hear how loud you are relative to the [bed music][] 2) You can transition through songs and speak at the same time (if you do this I suggest quietly pressing on the board as the listeners can hear everything [even the board clicks] in the studio).
• UMMM.... AHH... Yeah. - Avoid these bland and boring words! You know how terrible they sound in a presentation, but with no graphics and only audio they sound a **100** times worse. Get out of this habit (if you are in it). Most of the time it is better to let [bedmusic][] play than to use filler words.

• Smooth Fade - At the end of one song you slowly pot down the fader you are currently playing. At the same time, turn on the next song you wish to play and slowly pot that up.
• Harsh Fade - Pot up the next song you want to play (without turning it on). Right when the current song ends quickly turn off the current song and turn on the next song, the next song should start loud. Hence the "harsh".
• Vinyl Fades - There are multiple ways to fade vinyl, and everyone will tell you their way is the best. My method is simple, put the needle a little before the beginning of the track you wish to play. At the end of the current song; start the turntable and slowly pot the current song down, while slowly potting the turntable up.

• Independent Bedmusic - One CD (tends to be electronic or instrumental for me) used for an entire show for the sole purpose of bedmusic.
• Transitional Bedmusic - By this I mean using the end and beginning of songs (where the vocals have died down)

• NO drinking alcohol or coming in to a show intoxicated.
• NO smoking (of any kind) in the station or coming into a show high.
• NO drugs or taking drugs in the station (unless medicated): don't come in high.
• NO sex in the station.
• NO food or drinks past the lounge area in the station.
• An FM DJ must be present for you to do a show
• NO Calls to action

• R = Rock
• H = Hip-Hop
• M = Metal
• E = Electronic
• B = Blues
• S = Soul
• C=Classical
• Re = Reggae
• J = Jazz
• BG = Blue-Grass
• A = Americana
• Comp = Compilation
• Ro = Rotation

This guide was written by JC and revised by SM, JL, and AL.