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The station broadcasts information on roadwork and road closures, along with regular public service messages and reminders regarding emergency preparedness and safety. The station is most active (of course) during significant weather events that impact our area -- severe thunderstorms, flooding, hurricanes, and even blizzards.
The funds raised during the initial fund drive provided AGREM with the operational budget to get the system on the air, and has allowed it to keep operating 24x7, 365 days a year, since its dedication in November 2015.
AGREM continues working to get funding to support our ongoing operations, and for future expansion projects. If you want to support our fund-raising efforts, click the Support 1670
button.
One of our key goals for expansion of the 1670 system is to install lighted alert signs that are remotely and automatically triggered. These would be installed in key locations within the different municipalities we support. The signs would be activated as necessary to signal residents and travelers to tune into AM 1670 for more information.
If you would like to support the ongoing operation of the AGREM-1670 station, please contact one of the AGREM officers or your local emergency coordinator. AGREM is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and all donations are tax-deductible. You can send your donation to:
AGREM, IncOur blue and white, business card-size refrigerator magnets are available at your local municipal office, from your local municipal emergency coordinator, or from one of the AGREM Board members. They provide a visible reminder for your and your family regarding listening to AGREM 1670 as a source for Community and Emergency Information.
The AGREM-1670 station was formally dedicated on November 14, 2015. Lorrie Predmore, and others in the Predmore family were present to activate the first broadcast for the station, putting it officially "on-the-air".
The AGREM Board and members appreciate the efforts of all those involved in making this project not only possible, but bringing it on-line and keeping it active.
This includes: our member municipalities, Chester County DES, our vendor (Information System Specialists), the AGREM directors and members, and others too numerous to mention here. We are truly thankful to all of you for helping turn a vision from 1999 into a fully working model.
Click to see the slideshow of the event.
It was a long-time vision of several early members of AGREM to establish a locally-managed, AM radio-based, community information station. The vision was proposed in 1999 when the world was buzzing with fears of power, water, and communication outages that would be triggered when computers and their software switched into the year 2000.
For the AGREM team, the idea was have a reliable local source of information before, during, and after any type of emergency, natural disaster, or man-made event. It would provide travelers and residents in the AGREM Community with a known radio frequency to tune to and listen to while in their cars or when using a portable radio during a power outage.
A low-power broadcast station based on AM radio was the ideal choice because almost every vehicle had an AM radio and portable, battery-powered or hand-cranked, AM/FM emergency radios are available and relatively inexpensive. Its low-power would keep the broadcast signal coverage within a relatively small geographical area.
The original vision and the work required to identify a vendor and equipment was championed by AGREM President Mike Predmore. He had the ongoing support of other AGREM and community members for more than a decade to bring such a system to life.
In late 2013, Mike and other AGREM members were actively working to finalize the equipment and get it purchased. The intent was to put the station on the air during calendar 2014 or early 2015. Unfortunately, before Mike and the team were able to get things completed, our dear friend and President, Mike Predmore, passed away quite unexpectedly.
In Mike's memory, the AGREM team, together with their newly appointed President, David Flad, pushed ahead to acquire needed funding, get the equipment ordered and installed, FCC licenses granted, and to make the system operational.
AGREM raised nearly 40k$ to cover the costs for licensing and related waivers, equipment purchase and installation, and testing and final activation. The fund-raising effort was highly successful with generous support from donations made by the AGREM member municipalities, the Chester County Department of Emergency Services, and from businesses and individuals across our community.
As mentioned above, the AGREM 1670 AM Traveler's Information Station was formally dedicated and placed into service on November 14, 2015. The initial announcement contained a brief message regarding Mike Predmore's support and dedication in helping to realize the original vision.
A weather radio module was installed to allow any active AGREM-1670 broadcast to be immediately interrupted whenever a weather alert is issued by the National Weather Service for our area.
Here is a list of articles published regarding AGREM and the AGREM 1670 AM TIS Station over the years.
We have worked closely with our equipment vendor, Information Station Specialists, throughout this process to acquire the correct system and features for the AGREM municipalities the Information Station will serve.
If you would like more details on the system itself, you can click here for that information. You can also see how many communities across the United States are using these types of systems by clicking here.
If you are a shore or beach-goer - take note of the number of stations currently serving multiple communities throughout New Jersey. You can also listen to the broadcast from North Wildwood, NJ to get an idea what they broadcast and the value of a similar system in our area.
Last updated on 01-August-2024