City Chesterton, Indiana First air date August 1976 ERP 400 watts | Frequency 88.3 MHz Format High School | |
Slogan "The Rock of Chesterton" | ||
WDSO (88.3 FM, "The Rock") is a radio station located at Chesterton High School, in Chesterton, Indiana. The transmitter is located at Chesterton Middle School. WDSO is a non-profit high school station. All of the disc jockeys are high school students, ranging from freshmen to seniors. To be a part of the radio station, students must take the semester long Introduction to Radio/Video class. To become a DJ, the student must complete a series of Learn/Test tasks.
Contents
Format
WDSO's music format is variety. Ranging from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to the Foo Fighters. WDSO also broadcast most Chesterton High School Basketball, Football, and Baseball games.
History
During the summer of 2000, WDSO moved to new facilities at the new Chesterton High School. The new high school radio station includes the main broadcast studio, three production studios as well as an Engineering room and Music Library which also contains WDSO’s Archives. Included in the area is a TV production studio and control room. The WDSO transmitter remains at the old high school building (now Chesterton Middle School). WDSO became one of the first radio stations to utilize fiber optic cable to transport the radio signal over a mile-and-a-half (2.4 km) from the studio to the transmitter.
WDSO celebrated its 25th year of broadcasting with a Reunion/Celebration on November 17, 2001. Over 100 former and current students attended. The evening included a short program in the CHS Auditorium, refreshments and tours of the new WDSO facilities.
On February 19, 2002, WDSO was honored at the Indiana General Assembly in Indianapolis. House Resolution 38 recognized WDSO for its 25 years of broadcasting. Author of the Resolution was State Representative Ralph Ayres from Chesterton also a Social Studies teacher at Chesterton High School. State Representatives Duane Cheney from Portage and Charlie Brown from Gary were also sponsors of the bill. All three legislators represent the Duneland School area. In the Senate, sponsors of the bill were Senators Rose Ann Antich from Merrillville and Bill Alexa from Valparaiso.
March 2004 marked the start of WDSO broadcasting on the internet. In 2005 WDSO obtained their new Station Manager/Instructor; former WDSO student Matthew Waters helps current students run the station along with Operations Manager Michele Stipanovich. In the fall of 2006 WDSO celebrated 30 years on the air.
In the fall semester of 2014, WDSO began to broadcast over the weekends making it possible to tune in 24/7 through the school year. They allow broadcasting through most of the summer as well. WDSO Manager Matthew Waters runs the station and helps students to explore all options within his limits of the station. WDSO will celebrate its 40th year on air.