Technical Profile: WVUA-FM

FM Technical Profile: WVUA

Station Name:: The Capstone
Frequency:: 90.7
Format:: College
Transmitter Location:: [map] [street view] On a campus communications tower near the intersection of East Campus Drive and Helen Keller Boulevard.
Power (ERP):: 31 watts, vertical only
Antenna:: Omnidirectional
Antenna HAAT:: 345 feet
Other Information:: 60 dBu protected contour map, from the FCC.
More Information:: [FCC]; [FCCdata]; [Radio-Locator]; [Wikipedia]
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Owner:: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees
History:: The University put on its first student-run training station back in the early 70's when they re-started their defunct WUOA as a 10 watt campus station on 91.7 MHz. From the beginning it played music geared towards the student and has always had some type of Progressive Rock or general College format.

In 1980, the University won an upgrade for WUAL to move up to 100 kW from a tall tower off-campus; around the same time they were able to snag a permit for a new FM, for 118 watts at 142 feet from the tower behind Bryce Hall (the former Old Union Building), on 90.7 MHz. The station's permit was extended a few times and even expired once before it got on the air, so it wasn't until 1989 that the students got their station back. From the beginning, this station has been WVUA.

In 1984, the original call sign for the first student-run station became available, but the students rejected using those calls because WUOA was associated as being a "softer" station.

In late August 2010, the station received a construction permit to increase power from 120 to 220 watts from the existing site. The permit was listed as on air in December 2010.

In August 2023, the station applied to move the transmitter site away from Reese Phifer Hall to a communications tower on East Campus Drive just west of the intersection with Helen Keller Boulevard. The change will include a drop in power from 220 watts vertical to 65 watts vertical, but an increase in antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain) from 161 feet to 345 feet. It will also employ a directional antenna to limit signal to the north and south to protect other existing stations outside the area. The permit was granted in late September 2023.

In June 2024, the University filed an application to modify the permit to reduce power to just 31 watts while dropping the directional antenna requirement at the permitted site off Helen Keller Boulevard. That change was granted in mid-June 2024. A license to cover was filed just days after the grant was issued.