page_title: KTXT-FM
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: KTXT-FM / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the KTXT studio.
context_page_description: KTXT-FM is a non-commercial educational college radio station licensed to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, United States. KTXT-FM is licensed to broadcast 35,000 watts of power to Lubbock and the surrounding South Plains of West Texas.
context_section_description: Early support for a college radio station at Texas Tech was expressed in 1949 in the editorial pages of the campus newspaper.  Such a station was considered a "necessity" for the education of students in the growing field of broadcasting, and as a means of staying competitive against other colleges.  The Tech Radio Club, for students interested in experimental and amateur radio, was organized in late 1948 while the Tech Broadcasting Club was organized in late 1949 for students interested in "…announcing, acting, writing or working with sound effects."  In the Fall of 1949, the Speech Department adds sports writing and a radio course to its curriculum and installs radio equipment of "broadcast quality" in its studios in the Speech Building.  Also that Fall, the student body president announces that plans are underway for a campus radio station to be operational by late 1950, and "…will be strictly confined to the campus buildings and dormitories in its sending powers."   Despite the lack of a campus radio station, students from the Broadcasting Club and radio classes produce programs that are broadcast on various commercial radio stations in Lubbock including KCBD, KFYO and KSEL.
  Texas Tech's first radio station wasn’t a true broadcast radio station, but a carrier current station, where a low-power AM signal is sent to receivers through a building's electrical wiring.  Signal reception was limited to receivers either plugged directly into the building's electrical system or placed close enough to the power lines which would act as a leaky feeder.  The signal was limited to the building in which it was broadcast, because the electrical transformers and switch gear that supplied electricity to the building, would prevent the signal being passed elsewhere.  Additional wiring had to be run directly to other buildings for the signal to be heard in them.  Carrier current stations are not licensed by the FCC, but operate under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Part 15 (Title 47 CFR Part 15).  Such stations are not issued official call signs nor are they subject to federal regulation as commercial radio stations are.  Despite their limited range, carrier current stations offer several benefits: their transmitters are rather cheap and easy to construct, they can operate on any AM frequency, and if the signal originates on the campus of an educational institution, there is theoretically no power limit.  By increasing the transmitter power and using inline filters, the signal quality is improved and a greater number of buildings can be served.  It was these qualities that made carrier current stations quite popular among many educational institutions throughout the 1950s, including Texas Tech.
  In October 1950, two groups of students, one from Sneed Hall and the other from what was then called Men's Dorm III (Gordon Hall) started building carrier-current radio transmitters. The first system was installed and operated from Men's Dorm III (Gordon Hall) and preliminary tests conducted for a multi-dormitory system.   A second system was built and installed in the basement of Sneed Hall.   Combining their efforts, they organize Tech Broadcasting System, and with sponsorship by Texas Tech vice president E. N. Jones, they seek formal recognition as a campus student group.  Texas Tech's first campus radio station, MD2 (Men's Dorm II), operates from the social director's office in the basement of Sneed Hall.  The station broadcasts on 750 kHz at a power of 25watts, with reception limited to Sneed and West Halls.  Initial programming consists of broadcasting music from records donated by students from Sneed Hall, and from local commercial station KSEL.  By March 1951, additional cabling is installed which expands the signal to seven of Texas Tech's then eight dormitories, Drane Hall being the exception as its student census was very low at the time.  The station cannot be heard off-campus.
  Although unlicensed, the station was operated as if it were a licensed commercial radio station, so a new name is created for it.  Tech Broadcastin
caption: KTXT studio
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