Hillsdale College’s radio station WRFH 101.7 FM went off the air for two hours Friday, as a result of the computer’s motherboard crashing.
The cause of the failing motherboard is unknown, WRFH General Manager Scot Bertram said, adding he hopes a new motherboard will arrive by the end of the week, so it can resume regular programming. For now, WRFH is playing music off an iPod. Bertram said he does not expect the fix to be expensive.
“My understanding is the crash is rare, especially considering that motherboard’s only about a year old,” WRFH General Manager Scot Bertram said. “We are playing music, merely because it’s the easiest thing for us to get on the air at this point.”
At the top of the hour, the station plays recorded legal identifications to keep the station in compliance with Federal Communications Commission guidelines.
Although the station prepared for mishaps like a failing hard drive, it was not ready for something of such magnitude, Bertram said.
“We’re slowly trying to plan for bad events like this,” Bertram said. “Short of having another computer unit ready to go, there wasn’t much we could do.”
Until the new motherboard comes, students are doing background work.
“We have a number of students who are very excited about getting things going at the station,” Bertram said. “We’re still working with them here behind the scenes, but unfortunately, nothing they’re doing at this moment is making it to air. Hopefully that’s only a couple of days away from changing.”