About Radio Triquency

Radio Triquency

Radio Triquency is the campus radio of the Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe (TH OWL) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station went on air on 22 April 2005 on three frequencies in the university's three towns: 96.1 MHz in Lemgo, 95.9 MHz in Detmold and 99.4 MHz in Höxter, plus the internet stream. Run by the association Triquency e.V., founded on 25 September 2002 after a student radio project at the university's 30th-anniversary open day proved a hit, the station follows the motto "Studierende für Studierende", students for students: the university's own voice, made by the students for the students and the university's staff, with the university's life also presented to the outside world — and the concerts at the Kesselhaus making the campus radio a public stage.

Overview

Radio Triquency covers the three TH OWL locations: Lemgo, the old Hanseatic town that hosts the university's main campus; Detmold, the former princely residence with the music academy; and Höxter on the Weser. The three FM frequencies — 96.1 MHz in Lemgo, 95.9 MHz in Detmold, 99.4 MHz in Höxter — are the station's identity, and few German campus radios broadcast on three separate FM frequencies in three towns: Triquency does, because the TH OWL is a three-town university and the campus radio follows it. The internet stream carries the programme worldwide. The programme's focus is the university: campus news, student life, the study programmes, the university's events, service information for the students. The shows carry the classic campus-radio names: the Campuscharts, the Radiowecker, the Afternoon, the Ansichtssache. Since October 2008, the editor-in-chief has been Frank Lechtenberg of the university's media-production department, also a board member of the association. The LfM praised the programme's predominantly university-related topics, information and services, prepared with diverse journalistic forms — reports, interviews, magazines, service segments — for the primary target group of students and university members, while the campus radio also presents university life to the outside world: the town hears what the university does.

History

The station was born at a party: on the university's open day in Lemgo for the 30th anniversary, the student group around Bernhard Hensel, supervised by Jochem Berlemann and supported by the university's leadership, produced an all-day radio programme. The response was so enthusiastic that the association Triquency e.V. was founded on 25 September 2002, with Bernhard Hensel as its first chairman, long before the actual broadcast operation. Then came the planning phase: the nature of the radio, the target group, the distribution — the fundamental questions every new station must answer. During the long wait for the three broadcast frequencies, the volunteers produced citizen-radio programmes aired via another station in the Lippe region: the campus radio already on the air, if not yet on its own frequencies, the volunteers learning the craft in the citizen-radio slots. The patience paid off: when the permits arrived, the launch came on 22 April 2005 — three frequencies, three towns, one campus radio, the students' station finally on its own airwaves.

When the permits arrived, the launch came on 22 April 2005: three frequencies, three towns, one campus radio. The second birthday in 2007 was celebrated with the student council of the production-and-economics department, the Berlin band Team Blender invited, the celebration moderated live with the band transmitted live on the radio. In January 2008, the first public radio concert took place at the Kesselhaus in Lemgo with the band Anajo, known from the Bundesvision Song Contest; on 15 May 2008, the third birthday brought another radio concert with three bands, the best-known Karpatenhund from Cologne alongside the newcomers Geradeso! from Detmold and Sternbuschweg from Berlin. In 2010, the station renewed its broadcast technology: new computers, professional studio-grade sound cards, a new mixing desk, the end of the rough sound and the occasional dropouts. In March 2017, the state media authority LfM extended the broadcast licence to April 2021, praising the programme's predominantly university-related topics, information and services, prepared with diverse journalistic forms for the primary target group of students and university members.

Programming

The programme follows the "students for students" principle: the campus charts, the morning alarm, the afternoon show, the opinion magazine, all focused on the students of the three locations. The content emphasis is on university-related topics, information and services: the study programmes, the campus events, the student initiatives, the university's news. The morning alarm wakes the students, the afternoon show accompanies the commute, the campus charts count the music down, the opinion magazine discusses the campus issues. The radio concerts at the Kesselhaus became a tradition: the campus radio as a concert organizer, the bands live on the airwaves — Anajo in 2008, Karpatenhund alongside the newcomers Geradeso! and Sternbuschweg at the third birthday, Team Blender live at the second birthday in 2007. The concerts are the station's public face: the campus radio not only on the air but on the stage, the student town meeting the student radio in person. The music is the campus mix: the charts, the newcomers, the indie and the pop, the bands the students love. The journalism is the students' training ground: reports from the campus, interviews with the professors, service for the first-semester students, the university's news in the students' words. The three frequencies mean the programme reaches the students wherever they study: Lemgo, Detmold, Höxter — one programme, three towns, the campus-radio day from the morning alarm to the evening magazine.

Organization and Ownership

The carrier is the association Triquency e.V., founded on 25 September 2002 by the student initiative around Bernhard Hensel, its first chairman, supervised by Jochem Berlemann and supported by the university's leadership. Since October 2008, Frank Lechtenberg of the TH OWL media-production department has been editor-in-chief and a board member of the association: the university's professional anchoring the students' radio, the media-production expertise guiding the volunteers' creativity. The licence extensions by the LfM, with the financial support of the university, secure the station's terrestrial future: the university stands behind its campus radio, the state media authority confirms its programme's university focus.

Digital Presence

The internet stream carries the campus radio worldwide, and the station's website triquency.de is the programme's online home: the schedule, the shows, the stream, the contact for new volunteers. The TH OWL also runs Dreist.tv, the student television station, alongside the campus radio: the university's student media in two media, the radio for the airwaves and the stream, the television for the screens. The 2010 technical renewal brought professional studio-grade sound cards and a new mixing desk, ending the rough sound and the dropouts: the campus radio sounding like a real station, the students' work presented professionally.

The student origins remain the station's character: the volunteers learn the craft at the microphones, the university's media-production department anchors the professionalism. The licence history is steady: the initial permits, the 2010 technical renewal, the 2017 extension to April 2021 with the LfM's explicit praise for the university focus and the financial support of the university securing the terrestrial future. The station's name itself, Triquency, is the programme's promise: three frequencies, one campus radio, the university's voice in three towns — the students' station, born at an anniversary party, still on the air, still growing, still broadcasting today and tomorrow.