Sound Systems

Obviously, at the new location we were no longer able to transmit over car speakers, such as we had been doing at the Woodland Drive-In Theater location. After careful research, that problem was solved by securing a short-range AM radio transmitter, operating on one watt of power. With such a low power output, we did not need a federal license to transmit. From December 1988 to April 1997, worshipers were able to get the services on their car radios at 1610 AM frequency.

In the spring of 1997, however, the Kent County International Airport decided to begin transmitting visitor information over 1610 AM, covering about a five-mile radius. Since we were within that circle, their messages interfered with our worship service. Thus, the task force had to do some quick planning to change to a new sound system.  

Ed Marville, who had just become our sound manager, spent hours investigating various options and equipment. The best solution seemed to be to go with a fully tunable, one-watt FM transmitter. In late April 1997, this new system was installed, and on May 4, 1997, we began transmitting our services over 105.1 FM. Various other improvements were made to the sound system at the same time. Though the range of transmission extends only several hundred feet, it is sufficient for those who attend our worship services.