Question about XMTR sites

[recto101]

How about the transmitters near the Toll Plaza at the Bay Bridge I remember 1010 am had one and 1310 am had one.
also what about the antenna near the Vallejo courthouse is it a radio transmitter or is it for Vallejo Police and Solano County Sheriff scanners?

 

[recto101]

KUIC is actually on Mt. Vaca, what's on the old 1190 tower is an on channel booster to improve 95.3's Vallejo coverage.

I say "old" tower because 1190 is now diplexed with 3.5 Kw from a 4 tower array shared with 1640. It's south of Highway 37 near Sears Point Raceway. Look closely because it's a mile or two south of the highway and the towers are unpainted.

BTW ... when the expanded band stations were allocated, they were given to existing licensees, not new applicants. Then the stations they replaced (1190 in this case) were supposed to go away 5 years later to lessen band congestion. Obviously this didn't happen, since 1190 is not only still on the air but using more power now than it had then. What happened?

Well I remember back in 1995 KUIC had a branch studio in Vallejo and it was co-owned by 1190am and 1640 am and their studios were near Arby's on Sonoma Bolevard at the time this was before the owners sold 1640 and 1190am in 1997 for 101.7 KKIQ and moved it to Vacaville to form the hometown station brand. I know that 1190 and 1640 were sold to a religious group and changed the call letters from KNBA, KXBT to KDIA and KDYA. I think 1310 was sold to ABC for 1640 and 1190. when KDIA moved from 1910 to 1640 I need somebody to verify my info here.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

The other transmitter site north of the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza is 960 AM, which is the original station located there. When it became KABL, Bill Moen did all his shows from that site. It is still known as "Krow Island," dating back to when the station was known as KROW:

http://www.bayarearadio.org/krow/index.shtml

 

[DavidEduardo]

that's the last I heard about it, except that many of them are still on the air.

In fact, your example in Portland is the only one I've heard of that's NOT on the air. Although there must be others.

540 AM Costa Mesa was "turned in" for the X Band station on 1650.

WTAW in College Station, TX moved from 1150 to 1620 and later turned in the 1150 license.

IIRC, the AM underlying the X Bander that CC moved from Central Illinois to Chicago was also shut down.

 

[jd]

540 AM Costa Mesa was "turned in" for the X Band station on 1650.

WTAW in College Station, TX moved from 1150 to 1620 and later turned in the 1150 license.

IIRC, the AM underlying the X Bander that CC moved from Central Illinois to Chicago was also shut down.

You're right on the first point but 1150 in College Station is still on the air. Its call letters are KZNE. Also, Clear Channel still owns the down-state companion to WVON, WDDD 810 Johnston City, although they have tried to sell it. That transfer application was denied and one of the licenses (pretty obviously WDDD) must be surrendered by August 2nd of this year.

 

[recto101]

I remember back in 1974, we were in Palm Springs. I wa 11 years old. We were in the car. At that time, I didn't know much about how radio signals worked. I do recall being amazed that I was able to pick up KFRC from down there.

The former KFRC at 610 had a phenomenal signal using 5kw. They're diplexed onto the KVTO tower at 601 Ashby in Berkeley. That's the single tower you see from the I-80 freeway at the Ashby Avenue exit. The tower is on the bay itself. That was the reason CBS had to get rid of 610 -- they had to lessen their radio penetration into Sacramento. Sac is within the city grade contour of 610, even though it's 80 miles away!

You mean the KBLX 102.9 am transmitter tower on I-80 at Ashby used to have am 610 there. I saw the KRE and the KBLX letters in the 90's from the Ashby off ramp where that Transmitter is there. Where does 94.1 and KALX transmitters at?

 

[recto101]

Where does the Napa and Santa Rosa stations transmit from like 99.3fm, 1400am, 89.9FM, and 93.7

How about all the San Jose stations like 98.5 , 94.5 and 92.3fm. and 1590 am?

 

[DaveBayArea]

Where does 94.1 and KALX transmitters at?

94.1, KPFA is on a place called Grizzly Peak. Their tower basically sits on top of the Caldecott Tunnel. I'm pretty sure 90.7 KALX is still on the campus of UC Berkeley.

Dave B.

 

[DaveBayArea]

How about all the San Jose stations like 98.5 , 94.5 and 92.3fm. and 1590 am?

Don't know much about the North Bay, but for San Jose:

92.3, 94.5, 106.5 - From Coyote Peak, just west of 101 by the jct. with 85 in South San Jose
91.5 and 100.3 (with 13,000 watts grandfathered power) - Loma Prieta
98.5 and 95.3 - Blackberry Hill above Los Gatos
104.9 and 105.7 - in the hills East of San Jose
103.3 - On a tall dormitory building at Santa Clara University
The AM's are all within a couple of miles of 101, IIRC. 1590 is near 101 and 280/680

Dave B.

 

[DavidKaye]

You mean the KBLX 102.9 am transmitter tower on I-80 at Ashby used to have am 610 there. I saw the KRE and the KBLX letters in the 90's from the Ashby off ramp where that Transmitter is there. Where does 94.1 and KALX transmitters at?

102.9 was on the tower at 601 Ashby back when it was KRE-FM and KPAT-FM back in the 1960s before it became KBLX. It then moved to a much higher location, Mount San Bruno. The side of the building said KBLX because it was/is co-owned with 1400 and once had studios there.

Today, 610 (KEAR, the former KFRC) and KVTO (1400) use the tower. You can pull in the heterodyne mix of both signals on 790 (1400 - 610) as you drive past the tower.

KALX's transmitter is near the Lawrence Hall of Science in the hills above the main campus. KPFA is further up the hill along Grizzly Peak Blvd near Fish Ranch Road. Can't miss it.

 

[recto101]

Didn't KQW in the 1930's used to have a transmitter in San Jose before they became KCBS in the 1940's

 

[DaveBayArea]

Didn't KQW in the 1930's used to have a transmitter in San Jose before they became KCBS in the 1940's

Sure did:

http://www.bayarearadio.org/schneider/kqw25.shtml

My guess is that the church-goers of that time were unaware of any RF exposure risk.

Dave B.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Didn't KQW in the 1930's used to have a transmitter in San Jose before they became KCBS in the 1940's

The KQW calls were on 740 for quite a while before the station moved from Alviso (where it was licensed to San Jose and ran 7500W-U from a long-wire) to Novato (where it runs 50 kW-U DA-2 from four towers). The move took place in August 1951, I believe.

The story behind the move is long and complicated and I know I'd mangle it if I tried to tell it, but KSFO was involved. The original plan was for KSFO to move from 560 to 740 and KCBS to move from 740 in San Jose to 560 in San Francisco. In those days, 560 ran 1 kW at night. If the original plan had been executed, I don't know whether 560 would have increased its night power to 5 kW at the time of the KCBS move. As it was, quite a few years passed after KCBS moved until KSFO increased its night power.

 

[DanStrassberg]

The KQW calls were on 740 for quite a while before the station moved from Alviso

What I meant to say was that the KCBS calls were on 740 for quite a while before the station moved from Alviso. I was living in New York at the time of the move but happened to visit the west coast during the summer of 1951 and was in San Francisco on the very day in August when the move took place. Before the move, the legal IDs were, "These are Columbia's Bay Area stations: KCBS, San Jose and KCBS-FM San Francisico." After the move, I believe they IDed as KCBS AM and FM San Francisco.

A couple of days afterward, we had reached LA and I had a chance to hear KCBS's (then brand new) 50 kW skywave signal at night. It was every bit as loud and clear as KNX. No fades.

 

[semoochie]

I thought KSFO was still 1KW at night until the 1980s or so.

 

[DavidKaye]

What I meant to say was that the KCBS calls were on 740 for quite a while before the station moved from Alviso. I was living in New York at the time of the move but happened to visit the west coast during the summer of 1951 and was in San Francisco on the very day in August when the move took place. Before the move, the legal IDs were, "These are Columbia's Bay Area stations: KCBS, San Jose and KCBS-FM San Francisico." After the move, I believe they IDed as KCBS AM and FM San Francisco.

I had to think for a bit exactly which FM CBS owned at the time, so I did some research and cut and pasted. Here is a list of the Bay Area FMs as of 1950. CBS owned KQW-FM, then at 103.7:

KRPO 92.3 1kw SJ
KSFH 94.9 15.8kw 1947 SF
KSJO 95.3 1kw 1947 SJ
KRON 96.5 12kw 1947 SF
KWBR 97.3 10kw 1947 Oak
KLOK 98.5 10kw 1947 SJ
KJBS 98.9 35kw 1947 SF
KNBC 99.7 45kw 1948 SF
KPFA 100.1 1kw 1949 Berkeley
KSBR 100.5 125kw 1947 San Bruno
KLX 101.3 20kw 1948 SF
KDFC 101.2 33kw 1948 Sausalito
KRE 102.9 6.8kw 1949 Berkeley
KQW 103.7 4.4kw 1948 SF
KRCC 104.5 9.8kw 1948 Richmond
KONG 104.9 0.75kw 1947 Alameda
KGO 106.1 50kw 1947 SF

We see that KSBR, a superpower was relocated to the Sacramento area. Otherwise the channels are the same today was they were 61 years ago.

 

[recto101]

What I meant to say was that the KCBS calls were on 740 for quite a while before the station moved from Alviso. I was living in New York at the time of the move but happened to visit the west coast during the summer of 1951 and was in San Francisco on the very day in August when the move took place. Before the move, the legal IDs were, "These are Columbia's Bay Area stations: KCBS, San Jose and KCBS-FM San Francisico." After the move, I believe they IDed as KCBS AM and FM San Francisco.

I had to think for a bit exactly which FM CBS owned at the time, so I did some research and cut and pasted. Here is a list of the Bay Area FMs as of 1950. CBS owned KQW-FM, then at 103.7:

KRPO 92.3 1kw SJ
KSFH 94.9 15.8kw 1947 SF
KSJO 95.3 1kw 1947 SJ
KRON 96.5 12kw 1947 SF
KWBR 97.3 10kw 1947 Oak
KLOK 98.5 10kw 1947 SJ
KJBS 98.9 35kw 1947 SF
KNBC 99.7 45kw 1948 SF
KPFA 100.1 1kw 1949 Berkeley
KSBR 100.5 125kw 1947 San Bruno
KLX 101.3 20kw 1948 SF
KDFC 101.2 33kw 1948 Sausalito
KRE 102.9 6.8kw 1949 Berkeley
KQW 103.7 4.4kw 1948 SF
KRCC 104.5 9.8kw 1948 Richmond
KONG 104.9 0.75kw 1947 Alameda
KGO 106.1 50kw 1947 SF

We see that KSBR, a superpower was relocated to the Sacramento area. Otherwise the channels are the same today was they were 61 years ago.

Wasn't most fm stations in 1950 just getting around their permit and experimental phase? I ts like most of these call letters that are ties to these 1950 frequencies moved or do not exist anymore except for KDFC where they moved in 2011.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I had to think for a bit exactly which FM CBS owned at the time, so I did some research and cut and pasted. Here is a list of the Bay Area FMs as of 1950. CBS owned KQW-FM, then at 103.7:

During my summer '51 visit, I had no access to an FM receiver so I cannot say what frequency KCBS-FM was operating on. Years later (1962 perhaps), on another trip, I recall listening to a station on (IIRC--but it was many decades ago) 98.1 or 98.5, whose calls ISTR as KMPX or something like that. I think the station was licensed to San Francisco and I remember it as not being the loudest FM in the places I listened (mostly Silicon Valley, IIRC). Still, the signal was adequate. The format was what was known as "big band" in those days (and later became known as adult standards). For some reason (no idea of the reason), I had the impression that this big-band station was owned by CBS.

 

[recto101]

Was San Francisco and San Jose Markets bigger than Los Angeles in those days like 1940's to 1950's? I noticed that KNBC and KCBS had their flagship stations in SF before the Call letters moved to LA. and did ABC ever planned to make KGO as KABC as its call letter in those days or did market research of the days made ABC to put KABC on the KECA spot? When it was determined that LA is bigger than San Francisco.

 

[DavidKaye]

Was San Francisco and San Jose Markets bigger than Los Angeles in those days like 1940's to 1950's? I noticed that KNBC and KCBS had their flagship stations in SF before the Call letters moved to LA. and did ABC ever planned to make KGO as KABC as its call letter in those days or did market research of the days made ABC to put KABC on the KECA spot? When it was determined that LA is bigger than San Francisco.

San Francisco was the original West Coast hub for radio broadcasting before LA took over. In fact, NBC has never owned a radio station in LA. There are several reasons for SF's dominance in broadcasting. One was that it was the major West Coast vaudeville and legit theater stop prior the rise of LA in the 1940s. Secondly, AT&T's longline circuits went from NY to SF and from SF to LA.

During the heyday of radio, NBC had its studios at 111 Sutter Street in the Hunter Dulin Building. Later they moved to their own building at Taylor & O'Farrell, known at Radio City. In those days, NBC's West Coast operation would likely be originating network programs for Red (NBC), Blue (later known as ABC), and perhaps shortwave or local programs for KPO (aka KNBR) or KGO, all simultaneously.

During World War II, KQW (KCBS) originated a lot of news programming for the CBS network. The networks christened their local stations KNBC and KCBS due to their importance in the scheme of things. In LA, while KNX was bigger, they didn't change the callsign to KCBS likely because KNX had been a long-established callsign.

Actually, the network-named callsigns came about fairly late in the game. WABC, WNBC, WCBS, KCBS, KABC, and KNBC were all established at the end of the heyday of network radio, believe it or not. WNBC spent most of its life as WEAF, WCBS as WABC, WABC as WJZ, KABC as KECA (Earle C. Anthony), and KNBC as KPO.

Trivia: At one point, ABC had the callsigns WABC, WXYZ, KABC, and KXYZ.