Welcome to Hemlock Falls

[Atrus]

"Rourke." He simply said as a way of introduction after Craft had introduced himself. "I'm sure its not that boring. You still using some of the old equipment? Or have you been upgrading over the years?"

Denis motioned for the two men, and anyone else who wanted to, to follow him inside.
“A bit of old and new. We change what we can afford, but this is just a community thing, so there isn’t much money on it. For the most part, if it ain’t broke, we don’t fix it. Or change it.”
They entered a small and sparse room, with two desks covered in various papers and a single laptop. A door to the right had a bathroom sign on it, while in front of them was an open archway which led into the second half of the building, where they could spot some sound equipment.

“So, first, the less glamorous parts. This is where we write the daily bulletins. We have some satellite internet, enough to browse the news and read mails, see if there’s any reports or requests for the music programme. The real magic happens in the back.”

 

[Craft]

Craft looks around and nods, before being directed to the back.

"I'm guessing you come up here daily, doesn't seem like something you can really run remotely... And I'm pretty sure we're interested in seeing where the 'real magic' happens."

 

[The Dullahan]

Rourke nodded as both men spoke, following Denis while keeping an eye on their surroundings for anythingt that might be interesting, "You ever get any interference when Broadcasting? Pick up other signals?"

 

[Atrus]

"Someone is here every day, but it's not always us. We take shifts. It's not exactly a paying gig, so we share the work among us." Denis turned to Rourke, chuckling at the question. "And well, to pick up other signals we'd have to be receiving, not broadcasting. But sometimes it happens. We can get interruptions when there's a lightning storm, or channel interference if a signal from a nearby tower bounces here in just the right way, but it's rare."
He shrugged. "I'd say we have no more and no less problems than any other mountain station."

Denis then led them to the other room, which looked like a small recording studio. There were a clearly identifiable sound desk, as well as several other machines with dial and buttons that they figured had something to do with sound as well. A cabinet housed some network and switching equipment, blinking rapidly.

The wall in front of the mixer was largely occupied by a large window pane, which showed a soundproofed room on the other side, and the small door to that room. There were microphones and headphones on the desks on both sides of the wall.
"Here’s the recording studio proper. We usually have an operator on this side and the speaker on the other side. Technically it could all be done by one person, but this way we have an excuse not to have anyone here all by themselves, in case anything happens."

 

[Craft]

"Quite the operation you have going on." Craft says with a nod, surveying the recording room, "And it makes sense not to have someone out here alone. Other than the fact it might get a little boring."

"You mentioned you shared the work among a few volunteers? That's impressive... just folks from all walks of life, or is there some sort of formal education needed?"

He offers a quick apologetic smile, "Sorry for so many questions, this is just more of a look into this sort of thing that I think we'd get at any other radio station. It's very interesting!"

 

[Atrus]

"Nothing formal. The first few operators were old radio experts trying to fill their time after retirement, then we started adding computers and got some younger people into the mix, so information is just traded between each other. Of course we don't just leave the equipment in the hands of a newbie, but you also don't need, I dunno, a diploma to work here. Just enthusiasm and the ability to work a crossfade and a playlist, or to talk into a mike."
Denis gestured to the equipment. "I'd show you how the live feed works, but my colleague has gone to take a walk in the woods. We only do a bulletin in the morning and at dusk, unless there's an emergency. We're a pretty boring town."

The man smiled suddenly, as if he just had a thought. "Oh, I know. How would you like to say hello to Hemlock Falls? Tourists on air!"

 

[The Dullahan]

Rourke nodded as the man talked, taking in all the equipment. At the excitment of putting them on air, he paused a moment, thinking about it back on to the transmission they heard from the CoV. Letting others know they were here or not, might be a good or bad thing. Well, it doesn't seem like they were finding much out anyway, might be time to shake things up.

"Sure, why not."

 

[Craft]

Craft nods in agreement, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can probably handle the whole talk into a mike part. But not much more."

He grins, this woul likely at least get the attention of whomever was sending out the SOS call -- assuming this was where it originated. With what Denis had said so far, he assumed that someone was coming to the station to make that call, but it could be something pre-recorded on a playlist. Getting eyes on the station overnight might clear some of that up.

 

[Atrus]

"All right, just give me a minute to set it up. Want to call any of your friends out there, if they want to say hi too?"

((a couple minutes pass here, where Rourke and Craft can call the others if they want - let's assume it happens behind the scenes))

Denis showed those who would speak into the recording room, helping them with the headphones and giving them basic tips - face the mike but don't lean too close, speak at a normal volume, and so on - then returned to his place at the console.
"OK, so, next song ends in a minute. I'm gonna introduce you, then it's your turn."

As the song faded out, a light turned on in the room and Denis started speaking. "Hello hello hello, Hemlock Falls. I know you weren't expecting to hear from me until this evening, but today we have a few unexpected guests keeping us company here at the tower. It turns out that Hemlock Falls is something of a tourist spot after all! So let's all be on our best behaviour and bring out the good silverware - especially you, Joe, none of that plastic stuff!"
The man grinned, obviously enjoying his role as a speaker. "But let's hear it directly from our new friends. How do you like Hemlock Falls so far?"
Denis clicked a button and gave them the thumbs up for speaking.

 

[Craft]

Craft peers out of the room to offer anyone else the chance to come and speak on the radio as Denis gets set up. He waits patiently through his comments on Hemlock Falls becoming a bit of a tourist spot, and speaks as he's given the thumbs up.

"Uh. Hello Hemlock Falls, my name is Craft and me and a few other hikers really do appreciate the hospitality you've shown us thus far! I'm glad you've given us the ability to signal our thanks to you. Hopefully we'll be sticking around the area for a few more days. I think there's probably a ton of sights for us to still see and things to learn..."

He pauses for a moment trying to recall something from the briefing in Venice.

"Before I pass off to some of the other tourists, I'd like to thank you again for showing us to the dance. You've got a lovely place."

It might be a bit of an awkward statement, but hopefully whomever sent out the original transmissions would at least take the hint.

 

[The Dullahan]

Rourke nodded once at Craft, as if to say nice work. Rourke moved over once Craft was done speaking and gave his own shout out, "Thanks again to Deputy Taliaferro and Rosie for taking care of us, Sara, our tour guide and for whatever providence landed us in this beautiful town. If you see us, feel free to give us a wave. Thanks, Hemlock falls!" The last part even sound a bit rockstar-ish.

His voice was friendly and completely sounding like a tourist, which was surprising considering Rourke's voice was a bit gruff and he didn't talk all that much to begin with. He didn't bother to put anymore messages in his shout out. He didn't want to get too obvious about it and Craft did an excellent job. He stepped away from the radio and gave Denis a nod and smile, saying thank you, acting like he enjoyed it.

 

[Atrus]

Denis gave them another thumbs up, then continued with an encore of the morning's updates - something about a newborn calf, and a reminder of the potluck supper next week at the Church - and finished the bulletin by fading to a new song.

"Well, that was fun. I hope I satisfied your curiosity about public radio!", he told the two men afterwards, "Come here again whenever, by the way. If you're planning on sticking around, that is."

 

[The Dullahan]

Rourke nodded, "Thanks, Denis, we appreciate it." He would offer his hand to the man, before taking a last look around the Radio Station. "I better go see what the plan is for the rest of the day." And if there was nothing else to talk about, Rourke would hand back outside to the rest of the team.