The worst radio station technical plant I've ever seen.

[davect]

Got photos to share?

Sadly, I do not.

 

[frankberry]

Did the airstaff walk a bit bow-legged after a couple months on air?

No. When the transmitter operated at full power, not a single piece of equipment would work properly. There was tremendous hum on all sources. Of course, the station was too cheap to ground the trailer or install copper screening. It was a mess!

 

[Bongwater]

Sorry, I misspoke. Been a few years. 1150 is Catholic Radio and 1250 was the old KFOX, turned RD. Was never in the 1150 side of the duplex-building.

Are you sure you don't mean 1050? (That KBLE thing.)

 

[xmtrland]

The site was originally owned by SRO. When you looked at the front of the building from the street there were two separate rooms to the building. 1250 on the right/North side. 1590 on the left/south side. The original duplex was 1250/1590. 1250 went to their Kirkland night site and 1590 went to Bainbridge at night for directional operation. 1590 eventually went to Bainbridge full time, day/night.

Then 770 am, KRPM then moved into the left/south side of the building and used the tower with 1250. 770 am eventually moved to Vashon island and diplxed with 1090am. KZOK also had a backup FM transmitter there for a while

KBLE, 1050 am moved into the left side after 770 am moved to Vashon, I think in the 90's?

 

[ContinuousWave]

Too bad the video for 850 AM in Houston is gone 😜

 

[frankberry]

Too bad the video for 850 AM in Houston is gone 😜

From what I understand, 850 AM, Houston, is off the air.

 

[yeoldeschool]

Back when Disney was still doing Radio Disney, a friend of mine was taking care of their Seattle area transmitter plant. One day his wife got a job out of the area, and he asked me to take over keeping an eye on it after he left. What I discovered, was the plant had not only been severely neglected, but had been infested with large rats, who had made the equipment racks and transmitter a literal rat condo. Each piece of gear in the rack was covered with rat poo and urine. I sent photos of the mess to the DOE of RD and he agreed with me, that nobody should be working in that place until it's all cleaned up, openings sealed, air conditioning installed, and all the gear replaced. I called an exterminator to give me an estimate. Walked up to the front door from the outside and turned the lock slowly, telling the exterminator to 'watch this'. After swinging the door open, dozens of rats started jumping out of the various rack levels and running out the door. The exterminator screamed like a little girl and ran back to his pickup. He said that was the worst infestation he'd ever seen, and there was no way he would go back in there. Ultimately, I sealed up the rat entrances, turned a couple cats loose in the building, and dawned my Tyvek bunny suit and respirator. I literally pushed the racks into the back of a rented pickup truck, equipment and all, and hauled it all to the local dump, where I happily pushed the lot into a pit. Once contractors cleaned and painted the building, installed air conditioning, new equipment and racks started arriving. I installed all the new gear, returned that site to the air, handed the keys to a new caretaker, and never looked back,

Am I the only one laughing at the mental image of the Mouse House running a transmitter shack writhing with feral rodentia?

It's like some karmic commentary on what's become of that company since Walt died...

 

[Radio Bob]

View attachment 3127

Help I've fallin and I can't hook up !!!!

 

[Radio Bob]

I was the chief at a 5kw in Florida. When I first came on board the former owner had made everything himself, phasor, antenna switching power panels etc. We got hit by a hurricane a few days after I arrived and when I went to access the damage the transmitter was still on air. I shut down the transmitter and took off the back and was about to reach in when I remembered the former owner told me, " Never assume the power is off in this place". That's when I discovered there was no MAIN in the power system instead, the former owner had purchased little fuse boxes and wired them in parallel to the meter. There were dozens that fed everything. What looked like the main was just there for show. He said to never let anyone from the power company in. Needles to say I pulled the meter and began cleaning things up..

 

[Brian Bowers]

there was no MAIN in the power system instead, the former owner had purchased little fuse boxes and wired them in parallel to the meter. There were dozens that fed everything. What looked like the main was just there for show.

I will never understand why anyone would skimp on electrical. There are so many other places to cut costs, but of all places, why electrical?! Thankfully I have never seen or worked in a broadcast facility that did that.

 

[Mikey Radio]

I will never understand why anyone would skimp on electrical. There are so many other places to cut costs, but of all places, why electrical?! Thankfully I have never seen or worked in a broadcast facility that did that.

At one station I worked at, the GM was very fond of trade deals he had set up - so if anything electrical or hardware-related was needed, the engineers went to a particular mom & pop hardware store and he'd give them an equivalent amount in spots in exchange. If that store didn't have the parts or had no idea how to accomplish what our staff were trying to achieve (this was pre-internet), it was difficult to get him to allow them to go to a proper electrical supply or big box hardware store which would've had exactly the right thing.

The same GM was also fond of hiring his buddies to do electrical and construction-type work. They worked cheap, but were unlicensed, definitely unskilled and after we had a few major issues caused by his 'electrician' and their wiring jobs, the contract engineer finally got through to the GM that cheaper isn't necessarily better and it was better off to hire the right people with the right skills from the start, or it could easily cost more $$ in the longer-term.

 

[Kelly A]

The same GM was also fond of hiring his buddies to do electrical and construction-type work. They worked cheap, but were unlicensed, definitely unskilled and after we had a few major issues caused by his 'electrician' and their wiring jobs, the contract engineer finally got through to the GM that cheaper isn't necessarily better and it was better off to hire the right people with the right skills from the start, or it could easily cost more $$ in the longer-term.

And unfortunately, that's how a lot of small market owners ran their business. A friend of mine took over a contract job with a small station in Eastern Washington. He asked if I'd swing by the station with him to determine what it will take to bring the facility up to par. When visiting the TX site the first thing I noted was the old 60A main breaker panel had been connected to the lines from the utility with big wire nuts. My guess is they replaced an older fuse box with an older breaker box. My suggested first step was to pull a permit, hire a licensed electrician, and have them replace everything. If the owner wouldn't do it, then my friend should walk away.

 

[Greg Strickland]

A lot of this is housekeeping. Also, priorities, programming needs, and concerns of a different era, long ago. Back then we dealt with tubes and heat. Lots of gear had to be in the studio, for electrical or logistical reasons.

Many things are in the eye (and priorities) of the viewer. I see pictures of recently built studios I think are awful. But that is me and my opinion. Not my station, I don't work there, whatever.

I see transmitter sites built differently from the way I would build them. The engineers did an amazing job, the sites are beautiful, and they thought of details I would have missed. Outstanding engineering excellence being done as we speak.

As an employee, someone determines and supervises your activities. Your boss may not care about a pile of CAT-5 cables in a rack. You have personal professional standards, your pride and FCC rules. But you should consider why you are there, and your role as an employee. As an at-will employee, you are free to leave.

My view- Pictures are disconnected from context. You don't know the backstory. I used to be unhappy to see people with cameras in the station. Now everyone has a smartphone, and many feel entitled to record/stream video and audio as a right of existence. I got over it, and now accept it happily.

In the '70s I knew a station that kept a roll of toilet paper in the studio near the console. It made sense, to wipe a nose or clean up a spill on the gear. A civilian visited, and the prominent roll of toilet paper became an item in social circles. Kind of like a viral social media thing, but nearly fifty years ago. Executive order came down- the toilet paper must go!

 

[seatownmedia]

My first commercial radio job (1978) was located in a residential house in Idaho near the Washington border. An AM that was required to have a 1st phone at night. Lucky for me I didn’t have one so I lucked in to a daytime shift!

Though I was terrible on the air at age 18, I have fond memories of this place getting started at a station that accepted beginners. Not sure that really exists anymore. Sad. Went on to a successful career as a jock and PD. Looking back, extremely fortunate to have a job that I thoroughly enjoyed. Many don’t get that in life.

 

[pwayne1]

I worked in sales for a major Top 40 in New York State. The overnight jock brought in food and snacks for all the rats in the building and had them all named. Although the facility was a dump, we had a great engineer and all that old equipment worked!

 

[gr8oldies]

I worked in sales for a major Top 40 in New York State. The overnight jock brought in food and snacks for all the rats in the building and had them all named. Although the facility was a dump, we had a great engineer and all that old equipment worked!

The facility wasn't all that bad, but being on the Mississippi River brought all kinds of mice into the studio.....eating any food that was out, frying themselves in the automation or transmitter..whatever.

 

[yeoldeschool]

Nothing is more heartbreaking than seeing those videos of abandoned stations made by urbex guys. Especially the ones where their entire music libraries are simply left to rot from rainwater pouring in through collapsed roofs.

(Records and CDs... records and CDs everywhere)

(Abandoned blue Optimod 8100 @ 3:10)

Also, apropos of the earlier gentleman describing his experience with Radio Disney's rodent infestation, here's an urbex explorer encountering rats in a different (abandoned) AM transmitter house. His solution? Ammunition Modulation!

Never change, America.