WPFL-FM 88.9 Winter Park

WPFL History
Thanks to Dennis Snyder for this info on WPFL.
WPFL was located on Summerfield Rd. The studio and transmitter was upstairs on the west end of the 200 building. The transmitter was 10 watts with 16 watts ERP. WPFL was on the air around the mid 1970s. The station used a small McMartin board. They played rock music at least part of the time and the signal could be heard as far away as Lee Rd and Edgewater Drive.

The Orlando Sentinel, March 23, 1974
Winter Park After nearly two years of fund raising and red tape cutting, Winter Park High School students expect to go on the air next week with their own radio station. WPFL-FM at 88.9 megacycles will be the first high school-operated station in Central Florida. When it converts to stereo in a few weeks it will be the only such noncommercial student station in the Southeast. ALDIE BEARD, general manager of the Winter Park High School Radio Service, a student Organization of 25 members, said it will broadcast from Monday through Friday from 4 until 10 p.m. Initial programming calls for classical music from 4 to 6 p.m. and rock programs until sign-off. Later, said Beard, the station will air educational programs on subjects like space exploration and give previews of courses so students can decide it they want to enroll. High Radio STUDENTS HAVE raised $6,100 to get the station on the air and two Orlando Naval Training Center radiomen with first class Federal Communications Commission operator's licenses are volunteer helpers. They are Eugene Daost and Luther Peterson. Beard said 12 members of the student sponsoring group now have third class operator's licenses and soon all 25 will be licensed. Two of the licensed students will pull three-hour operating shifts each broadcast day. Donations of $500 each from the, Sentinel Star and the Junior Service League helped get the project in motion. The Orange County School Board matched the total of $2,500 raised through students efforts to bring the fund to $5,000, Beard said. Recently the , Winter Park High School Student Council threw another $1,100 into the kitty to purchase equipment for tha shift to sterao. Ready To Air Programs ORIGINAL PRIME movers in the project were students Brock Lesper-ance and Rick Reeves, who were shooting to get the station on the air last spring. But red tape posed "technical difficulties" and the pair graduated, are now in college but are "keeping in touch." Beard said the station has gone through applying for a Federal Communications Commission construction permit, equipment test, permits, interference tests, summary letters, procedural letters, final application to Washington and now is awaiting program testing authority expected Monday or Tuesday. After three months of test operations, Beard expects "permanent" authority, good for three years, to continue operations. He said it is undecided if the station will operate during summer vacation months. ORIGINALLY, Beard said, the station was to hava had call letters WPHW, representing "Winter Park High Wildcats," but it was found International Telephone and Telegraph Co. already claimed the letters.WPFL stands for "Winter Park, Florida," the best they could do since a half dozen other suggested combinations were already in use. WPFL with about 13'2 watts pow-er will have a range of roughly six miles, although to the east it can be received beyond Florida Technological University. AS PART of the preparations required by the FCC, letters have been sent to all area radio and TV dealers and repair organizations on how to correct interference, if any, on other channels. Beard said the station's frequency is close to that of WDBO-TV's audio channel, but that in tests at 40 locations only four showed any interference. This, said Beard, is a "good" rating. Sets ordinarily can be adjusted to eliminate interference, he said..

Thanks to Herb Kraft for these memories of WPFL.
"I worked on WPFL during 10th and 11th grade; that was 1976-1977. The frequency was 88.9 which made Channel 6 nervous. Back then a real license (3rd endorsed) was required and there was always a shortage of bodies. The board was a McMartin 5 pot; and the transmitter a CCA 10 watt exciter. We tried to run from 4pm-10pm but that got harder and harder. We played progressive rock (guffaws) except during lunch when the station might be fired up for Top 10 countdowns. The equipment was just a bit sparse. We played PSAs on 10 reel to reel decks (!) and had 1 cart. Bill Marx, later of the Orlando Sentinel, and now the Sporting News did basketball play by play --- very well, I might add. WPFL folks with licenses provided lots of the board techs for local stations on weekends (again 3rd endorsed required at the time). This included WTLN, WWFL, WHHL out in Clermont and WLOQ. It was a blast. I left to go to college after 11th grade. I worked briefly at WKIS and WLOF and then worked in Tampa Bay and during law school Tallahassee. I also worked for Y-106 (for Mr. Dooley/Chris Kampmeier one summer when I didn't feel like summering in college.) Y-106 was still on the "Magik format" and I consider that one of the best sounding stations I was ever involved with to this day. I am certainly one of only a few people who ever kept working in radio, although I later practiced law. Broadcasting law, indeed. Later I owned WTKN in the Dothan Alabama market and hosted two syndicated shows. I also LMAed some talk properties in North Florida. I have been working primarily as a consultant licensing computer software, but, I have gone in and done financial and even some programming consulting on a sporadic basis. I am now doing a computer show in the San Francisco/San Jose market on KSCO. It's fun to still be involved in radio (wow--- 31 years later!)

Live sports coverage 1st for school's station
The Orlando Sentinel Fri, Mar 25, 1977
By JULIE REARDON
Winter Park High School operates one of only four stereo high school radio stations in the country. Under the direction of general manager Bill Marx, WPFL is on the air from 3PM to 10PM weekdays at 88.9 on an FM dial. The radio station has been operating for several years, but according to Marx, WPFL has its biggest listening audience this year. This fact can be attributed to the enthusiastic members of the Radio Club as well as many additions to the programming. For the first time the station has been able to broadcast live basketball games. Ted Stefanik is largely responsible for this as he installed the necessary equipment. In addition to the basketball game broadcasts, it is hoped that the airing of swim meets will soon become a reality. WPFL is capable of broadcasting any athletic event provided there is a telephone in the immediate area. Another program improvement is the addition of a fourth feature the album program. Thanks to donations of albums from area music stores, WPFL is able to present a feature album at 9 p.m. every Monday through Thursday. Soon to begin is a Burger King promotion. WPFL will be giving away such treats as Whoppers, milkshakes, French fries and soft drinks over the air. There are several other additions to the week's line-up of programming. Bruce Rosenberg, album reviewer for the WPHS newspaper, will present weekly record reviews on the air. Educational documentaries, are now being broadcast on such topics as great speeches and presidential campaigns. Gerry Picard, a graduate of WPHS and former general manager for WPFL, is sending four 45-minute jazz tapes from Georgia Tech's radio station, entitled "Waves." WPFL is operated by the members of the Radio Club, under sponsorship of Virgil Miller. Officers, in addition to Marx, are: Wendell French, operations; Jamie Hart, business manager and Mark Rhoads, public relations.

History Of Call Letters and Formats:	WPFL-1972-Variety
	WPFL-1982-License Returned