| City of license | Ruston, Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 89.1 MHz |
| Format | Alternative rock |
| ERP | 4,000 watts |
| HAAT | 87 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 38615 |
| Former callsigns | WLPI-AM |
| Owner | Louisiana Tech University |
| Website | klpi.latech.edu |
KLPI is a non-commercial educational college radio station owned by Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast at 89.1 MHz with an effective power of 4 kW.[1] KLPI is student-operated and allows any Louisiana Tech student to become a member of the radio station. The music selection is primarily a mix of alternative rock, college rock, indie, and mainstream rock; however, requests from almost any genre are also accepted.
KLPI was founded to maintain interest in radio as a communication medium. The radio station began as WLPI-AM in 1966 by a group of students in a graduate-level Electrical Engineering class. The students launched the experimental radio station to study carrier currents, the subject of their thesis paper. The Electrical Engineering students from the graduate-level class used their own money to rent an office on Railroad Avenue in downtown Ruston, LA and founded the start-up and operation of WLPI-AM. The letters LPI in the station’s call sign was selected to represent Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, the name of the university before it was renamed Louisiana Tech University.
After three years of operation, Louisiana Tech University and the university’s Student Government Association brought the radio station onto the Tech campus and housed them in a room in the Dramatic Arts building (now known as Howard Auditorium).
In 1972, the radio station began the transition from WLPI-AM to KLPI-FM. Over the next two years, KLPI-FM started broadcasting at 10 watts of power. WLPI-AM ceased operations in 1974 after maintenance problems developed with the carrier current equipment.
KLPI-FM moved out of Howard Auditorium in 1982 due to renovations at the auditorium. The radio station moved around several times on Tech campus that year until it moved to their new broadcasting home at 900 Gilman Street on Louisiana Tech's South Campus in Ruston.[2]
KLPI is located at the southeast corner of the Student Center in the middle of the Main Campus at Louisiana Tech. The radio station currently broadcasts at 4000 watts of power.
Elephant 6 founders Will Cullen Hart and Jeff Mangum were associated with the radio station during their early period in Ruston[3].
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