Hobby Broadcaster Profile
Barry Sallade
I-Rock Radio - London, KYMany of us have developed the love of radio at an impressionable young age and Barry Sallade is no exception to the rule.
The founder of I-Rock Radio, Sallade had been intrigued about the inner workings of radio since the age of 8. With the support of his parents, a young Sallade had been given various kits to help him develop those interests. One of the projects with an acquired Heathkit was a low power AM transmitter. "I had fun and learned how radio works on a basic level", says Sallade. "I later learned in vocational school that the station built with the Heathkit was Part 15 legal." While much of his own electronics background is from self-study, he received assistance from some very patient friends who worked as engineers for radio and television stations. "I attended Scarlet Oaks Vocational School in Sharonville Ohio my last two years of High School Studying Broadcasting Arts. The students operated a 175 watt FM station and a mock television station." In addition, "during the summer months I volunteered at WOBO-FM in Batavia Ohio playing classic rock." This certainly helped inspire Sallade to start his station, I-Rock Radio.
The programming featured on I-Rock Radio is a mix of Independent Rock and Metal music as well as Talk programming. Having launched in August of 2007, the station utilizes two of the Talking House AM transmitters. The station moniker "I-Rock" was inspired by a combination of nearby Interstate 75 along with his station's music format.
The station operates on a Dell Optiplex GX280 computer with automation provided by Zararadio Software. Stereo Tool software is used for audio processing. A Behringer 5 channel mixing board with usb interface and 1/4" phone plugs, Behringer HPM1000 Headphones, Behringer Ultravoice XM8500 microphone and a $10 microphone from the local super center comprise the rest of the studio. Production duties are handled with Audacity audio editing software on another Dell computer used everyday for web design, email and web-surfing.
Sallade is truly experiencing the fun of Part 15 radio by experimenting with different transmitters, operating frequencies and antennas. Being in the fine-tuning stage, getting the word out about the station currently hasn't gone further than chatting with the management of the local mobile home park and postings on his blog. He has plenty of room to grow along with a good potential audience with the local mobile home community.
