UKC Radio

UKC Radio was the student radio station for the University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC). it began life in 1967 as an audio distribution system through the central heating radiators before obtaining a broadcast licence in 1968, at which point it was operated as a student service by the University of Kent Students' Union.

It was replaced by CSR 97.4FM on 15 January 2007, an FM radio station broadcasting to the city which is a joint venture between the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

The broadcasting station that became UKC Radio had its origins in the autumn term of 1967 as an audio feed through the radiator system. This was inspired by an article in the magazine Practical Wireless entitled ‘Communications through the Ground’. The article explained how an audio signal injected into two separate earthing points could be detected by connecting an amplifier to two more earthing points nearby. Budding electronics students decided to test this out in Eliot College by connecting the loudspeaker output of a HiFi amplifier between the mains earth and the central heating radiator system. The signal could be heard loud and clear in study bedrooms throughout the college by connecting a modified transistor radio, used as an audio amplifier, between the radiator and the metal table lamp, which provided a connection to the mains earth.

An impromptu broadcasting station was soon formed and Rutherford College swiftly followed suit. A surprising number of students were willing to have their radios modified. This involved soldering two wires across the volume control – the other ends being connected to the radiator and table lamp with small crocodile clips. The broadcasts were legal because they were an audio feed, not a radio broadcast. The stations became known as Audio Eliot and Audio Rutherford and soon achieved fame in the national press. The stations combined forces under the name Audio Rutherford and overcame safety issues raised by the University Surveyor which had threatened closure.

The station provided a full broadcasting schedule of music, university news and chat. This spurred on attempts to obtain a broadcasting licence to operate an inductive loop medium wave transmission system. Initial applications to the GPO were rejected but a licence was eventually granted several months later and UKC Radio was born. There were some short-lived attempts by other students to set up pirate radio stations, but these were never affiliated to the official UKC Radio predecessors, who were always legal. There is a long-standing controversy between UKC and University Radio York as to who ran the first university radio station. York was making radio broadcasts in 1967, having been granted a test licence, at about the same time as UKC started audio broadcasts.

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