WQAQ 98.1 FM

WQAQ was founded at Quinnipiac in 1970. Students originally established the radio station as WQSV, an acronym for Quinnipiac Student Voice. Studios were built in the mid-1970s on the first floor of the Carl Hansen Student Center. The call sign was quickly changed to WQAQ, under the frequency 88.3 FM. The original antenna transmitter was based on 1960s technology and broadcasted 10 watts, it was located on top of the Student Center. In 1991, Quinnipiac renovated the Student Center and moved WQAQ to the second floor, creating separate rooms within the station. In 1996, the FCC changed WQAQ’s frequency from 88.3 FM to 98.1 FM, which remains the frequency to this day. WQAQ tried to upgrade to a 100 watt transmitter in order to become a Class A FM station, but it was not allowed. To this day, WQAQ is still a Class D FM station. Around 1996, a new antenna was put on top of the Student Center in order to broadcast WQAQ to the transmitter. In 2006, Quinnipiac University’s former President, John Lahey, had the antenna on top of the Student Center dismantled and WQAQ became an internet-only streaming radio station. After numerous meetings, a temporary transmitter was set up nearby in Westwoods. Eventually, a permanent transmitter was installed and it resides there to this day. For more information or to get involved, email WQAQ's current General Manager, Becca Steeves, at rebecca.steeves@quinnipiac.edu.