The School of Environmental Design & Rural Development's (SEDRD) Capacity Development and Extension (CDE) program recently donated its entire radio production studio to CFRU 93.3 FM, the University of Guelph campus radio station.

The donation was arranged by Prof. Helen Hambly Odame and included all audio production hardware and software previously installed in the school's Media Lab. A preliminary estimate places the value of the equipment donated at approximately $62,000. The equipment includes broadcast microphones, a mixing console, processing hardware and software, computers and monitors, patch bays, cables and connectors, monitor speakers, and more.

This fall, CFRU held a funding drive toward maintaining a mobile production studio. Though the drive fell just short of the $10,000 goal, CFRU will be going forward with its plans to keep the mobile studio operational. The donation arranged by Hambly Odame helps to offset costs related to the station’s overall technical budget and allows for the mobile studio project to continue.

“This will save CFRU a great deal in operations costs—equipment maintenance and replacement—in the coming years, allowing us to direct those savings towards more campus/community-focused work, including project coordination, transportation, installation, and maintenance of CFRU’s Mobile Studio,” shares CFRU’s interim Operations and Technical Coordinator, Bryan Webb.

"It's really great that we can see this equipment re-purposed and used for such relevant work within the University of Guelph campus and community," explains Hambly Odame. "The nice story is that it was Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) faculty who started one of the earliest radio broadcasting courses in Canada. Over the years many of my predecessors in agricultural extension in OAC have collaborated with CFRU 93.3 FM."