B
BobHamilton
Guest
Missed 1460 when it was a local adult station. The summer of 68 was my favorite! They had some good personalities and the music was great! Anyone remember?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WJJZ was the first station I ever visited, and that was
the year. I was way too young to appreciate the music
though. It remains to this day, the smallest studio
I've ever seen, it was in a little shed behind the
Washington House Hotel in Mt. Holly. Tom Wahl was
the guy I knew there, he was probably about 17 and
on the air as a part timer, and Pat McCall was on
full time, and would hang around until sign-off
because you had to have someone with a First Phone
License on duty whenever the station was on the air.
The second station was WIBG, Philadelphia, where
I did a video taped "tour" for a school project.
It was narrated and hosted by me and John Records Landecker,
who was 24 at the time. We interviewed the PD, who was
filling in on the air that day, got a fake newscast
by Paul Howard, and did a skit in the owner's office,
(was it Bill Buckley) where his secretary jumped up
off his lap when we came in. The audio was wiped out
by RF from the one of the towers just a few feet
from the window in Buckely's office (the station was
50,000 watts with 5 towers then) and all you could
hear was "Carry On" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
I sure wish I had that tape now ... although finding
a reel to reel black and white video tape machine to
play it on might be tough.
> Missed 1460 when it was a local adult station. The summer
> of 68 was my favorite! They had some good personalities and
> the music was great! Anyone remember?
>
the year. I was way too young to appreciate the music
though. It remains to this day, the smallest studio
I've ever seen, it was in a little shed behind the
Washington House Hotel in Mt. Holly. Tom Wahl was
the guy I knew there, he was probably about 17 and
on the air as a part timer, and Pat McCall was on
full time, and would hang around until sign-off
because you had to have someone with a First Phone
License on duty whenever the station was on the air.
The second station was WIBG, Philadelphia, where
I did a video taped "tour" for a school project.
It was narrated and hosted by me and John Records Landecker,
who was 24 at the time. We interviewed the PD, who was
filling in on the air that day, got a fake newscast
by Paul Howard, and did a skit in the owner's office,
(was it Bill Buckley) where his secretary jumped up
off his lap when we came in. The audio was wiped out
by RF from the one of the towers just a few feet
from the window in Buckely's office (the station was
50,000 watts with 5 towers then) and all you could
hear was "Carry On" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
I sure wish I had that tape now ... although finding
a reel to reel black and white video tape machine to
play it on might be tough.
> Missed 1460 when it was a local adult station. The summer
> of 68 was my favorite! They had some good personalities and
> the music was great! Anyone remember?
>
S
saintrichard
Guest
They must of had one heck of a null to the southwest, from Kensington to Center City to South Philly they were unlistenable, same when you would cross the WWB into Camden County and points south.
The coverage characteristics of WJJZ 1460 and WIFI 1460 are entirely different. The new set up gives the facility a better New Jersey signal, and a less than before Pennsylvania signal. The sticks are a mile inside the river in a paralellogram, verses the four sticks in-line on Burlington Island in the Delaware River. WJJZ-AM had a decent or at least usable signal in Northeast Philly, Lower Bucks County, and in interior Burlington & Ocean counties. WJJZ was daytime only.
S
saintrichard
Guest
I was fortunate enough years back to have a tour of WIFI by Mike V. bless his soul, a neat, little operation, I also observed the four, small, unpainted towers, in sort of a square, like 640AM's array, don't know if they are lighted or not, I did not observe any lights. Believe it or not, I can receive WIFI daytime in the South Philly, Center City area now, whereas when they were WJJZ years back, they were non-existent in these areas, like I said, they must of had one heck of a null to the Southwest in those days, from the island.
A
amfmtvsw
Guest
The posts/remembrances of the original/old WJJZ/1460 Mt. Holly are interesting to say the least. Yes it was a low budget/shoestring operation with old equipment but there were several positive things about the station. First, the management was gracious/kind enough to give this eager kid his first job in radio. For that, I will forever be truely grateful. Secondly and just as important, there were many great, great talents who worked both on-air and off-air at WJJZ and a few of them were/are my heroes. They were patient, tolerent, helpful, kind, and very forgiving of my many mistakes. They never criticized or ridiculed me. I was absolutely awful but people like Don Kirby, Dick Tyler, Pat McCall, Ron Aker, and many others encouraged me, helped me, forgave me and helped keep me going. To all of you who I worked with and who tolerated me, I thank you for your kindness and your help. Another great thing about WJJZ was it's SOUND/Personalities. I always considered it like a little WIP. It was very good for it's time and I'm thankful I had the great privilege to be a part of it. Thanks to WJJZ, I've worked with and have met many great people in this business. Thank You ALL and God Bless you for your patience with me.
I haven't heard WIFI 1460 in more than a year. Can someone get me up to speed on what they're doing? As I understand it, some church group owns it now.l I have also heard that they have had major transmitter problems and have been running at low power.
Where is the transmitter located these days? Is this a shared transmitter facility?
Where is the transmitter located these days? Is this a shared transmitter facility?
Fountain Of Life has always owned the station, (Real Life Broadcasting) they put it on the air, with the late Mike Venditti as Chief Engineer and Manager (he and his family lived on the property also)
http://www.flcnj.org/
They don't have "transmitter problems" per se, but like several other directional stations are probably running non-directional while the array is being worked on. The quick rule of thimb is you can run 1/4 power non-directional while you fix things. Usually, the non-directional signal is better than the directional, although the FCC doesn't intend it to stay that way. The towers are on church property in Florence, not shared with anyone.
http://www.flcnj.org/
They don't have "transmitter problems" per se, but like several other directional stations are probably running non-directional while the array is being worked on. The quick rule of thimb is you can run 1/4 power non-directional while you fix things. Usually, the non-directional signal is better than the directional, although the FCC doesn't intend it to stay that way. The towers are on church property in Florence, not shared with anyone.
This is a reply I poated under "Heritage calls" on the Philly board. The events took place in the early '80's.
The calls came from the original "Gentle On Your Mind" WJJZ (JerZee) 1460 Mt. Holly, NJ It was a toilet. I worked there. The studios were in the Washington House on High Street. The clapboard sidng was so rotted, we had to put beer 6 pack carriers in the holes in the winter because the toilet would freeze. It was a dive.
The station was licensed for 5kw Da2. It had 4 towers in a dogleg on Burlington Island between Burlington NJ and Bristol PA, and was visible from that bridge. It used a Gates BC5 kw transmitter, which never worked (as long as I was there). You see, the Island was a teenage lawless "Lord Of The Flies" hangout, accessable only by boat. They broke into the transmitter building (as it was), and broke every meter in the xmtr and phasor unit. When it eas signed on the next morning, the breaker didn't trip, causing it to burn. We used it's back-up 1kw unit, a Gates Vanguard 1. And yes, we had to place toolboxes and test equipment in a friggin boat and ROW out to the Island from a marina in Burlington for service. Someone had stolen the motor from the boat, the third one, and the owner refused to replace it..so we rowed. Once there, we tied the boat to a tree, and carried said boxxes and equipment a half mile to the site. If we found out we needed a part, we reversed the ceremony, went to Radio Shack, and repeated the whole blessed ritual. We got $15 combat pay for every trip to the island as a bonus.
The movie "Eddie and The Cruisers" was to have been filmed at the Mt. Holly studios for the radio station scenes, but the power was so poor, it wouldn't handle the lighting! It would have been perfect too, as not one piece of equipment was changed since it began in 1965, including a MASSIVE Gate solidstatesman Presidential board with 16" Gates transcription turntables! So while they were in town to film the High School scenes at Rancocas Valley High School (Rydell High), they had to shoot the radio station scenes at WMID in Atlantic City (note the out of place CCA board and EV DS35 mic...not of the era).
The station lost it's license in 1982, with Uncle Charley stating the owners were "unfit" for testifying with "lack of candor" to the Commission during hearings of bribery to get the station owners the rights to Mt. Holly's Cable system. I personally cut the carrier, and turned off the filaments to the xmtr at sundown, November 1, 1982. It is now WIFI 1460
The calls came from the original "Gentle On Your Mind" WJJZ (JerZee) 1460 Mt. Holly, NJ It was a toilet. I worked there. The studios were in the Washington House on High Street. The clapboard sidng was so rotted, we had to put beer 6 pack carriers in the holes in the winter because the toilet would freeze. It was a dive.
The station was licensed for 5kw Da2. It had 4 towers in a dogleg on Burlington Island between Burlington NJ and Bristol PA, and was visible from that bridge. It used a Gates BC5 kw transmitter, which never worked (as long as I was there). You see, the Island was a teenage lawless "Lord Of The Flies" hangout, accessable only by boat. They broke into the transmitter building (as it was), and broke every meter in the xmtr and phasor unit. When it eas signed on the next morning, the breaker didn't trip, causing it to burn. We used it's back-up 1kw unit, a Gates Vanguard 1. And yes, we had to place toolboxes and test equipment in a friggin boat and ROW out to the Island from a marina in Burlington for service. Someone had stolen the motor from the boat, the third one, and the owner refused to replace it..so we rowed. Once there, we tied the boat to a tree, and carried said boxxes and equipment a half mile to the site. If we found out we needed a part, we reversed the ceremony, went to Radio Shack, and repeated the whole blessed ritual. We got $15 combat pay for every trip to the island as a bonus.
The movie "Eddie and The Cruisers" was to have been filmed at the Mt. Holly studios for the radio station scenes, but the power was so poor, it wouldn't handle the lighting! It would have been perfect too, as not one piece of equipment was changed since it began in 1965, including a MASSIVE Gate solidstatesman Presidential board with 16" Gates transcription turntables! So while they were in town to film the High School scenes at Rancocas Valley High School (Rydell High), they had to shoot the radio station scenes at WMID in Atlantic City (note the out of place CCA board and EV DS35 mic...not of the era).
The station lost it's license in 1982, with Uncle Charley stating the owners were "unfit" for testifying with "lack of candor" to the Commission during hearings of bribery to get the station owners the rights to Mt. Holly's Cable system. I personally cut the carrier, and turned off the filaments to the xmtr at sundown, November 1, 1982. It is now WIFI 1460
Here is a shot from Eddie and the Cruisers in the WMID studio.
The panel with the three meters in the rack is now a clock in
my office.
http://mcnally.cc/nixie/eddie.jpg
Funny story about the outside of the radio station in the movie ... WRHE.
One day when I was PD of Rock 104, we went out to lunch, and passed
Hagerty Fuel Oil's abandoned building on Route 9 in Linwood, and it had
HUGE neon letters on the roof ... WRHE, and a little communications tower
which was always there.
This was just before WDVR/WKTU/WTKU came on the air, so we thought
maybe it was going to be their studio. A couple of days later, not only
were the call letters gone, the building was torn down. Mystery !
A few years later, my girlfriend and I were watching Eddie and The Cruisers
for the first time (on HBO) and there it was ! I shrieked and laughed,
and had to explain the story.
The panel with the three meters in the rack is now a clock in
my office.
http://mcnally.cc/nixie/eddie.jpg
Funny story about the outside of the radio station in the movie ... WRHE.
One day when I was PD of Rock 104, we went out to lunch, and passed
Hagerty Fuel Oil's abandoned building on Route 9 in Linwood, and it had
HUGE neon letters on the roof ... WRHE, and a little communications tower
which was always there.
This was just before WDVR/WKTU/WTKU came on the air, so we thought
maybe it was going to be their studio. A couple of days later, not only
were the call letters gone, the building was torn down. Mystery !
A few years later, my girlfriend and I were watching Eddie and The Cruisers
for the first time (on HBO) and there it was ! I shrieked and laughed,
and had to explain the story.
Since I was on the air at the time, I guess I have to fess up. At least Sam, the station owner at the time, bought me lunch every once in a while.I have many positive memories from my days there. Seems to me I also remember a certain Bob Hamilton doing someting at WJJZ back then?BobHamilton said:
BTW, I actually went out to the transmitter island one day with Mark Olkowski who now heads up radio engineering for CBS/Infinity.
Yes, I was there in the "Golden Years" of WJJZ. When I went there for my original interview, I almost passed the studios by. I thought it was the cooking staff entrance. Among others, I remember Don Kirby, Tom Wahl, Ron Aicher, etc. I also remember doing a Rancocas Valley HS football game by hooking up to a pay phone near the stands. BTW, I did go out to TRANSMITTER ISLAND one day with Mark Olkowski - now head of engineering for CBS/Infinity Radio. I also remember a certain Bob Hamilton doing something at the station as well. To all who have fond memories of this WJJZ Era - THANK YOU!
Hi Pat --
Our paths crossed back in your WJJZ days. My father was the manager of WT Grant,
and you were seeing a girl that worked there. I remember you had that maroon
Dodge Charger with the black fur roof ! You and Tom Wahl showed me around the
station - I think you had to hang out during his shift because you had a First Phone
license, which was required in those days. I got into radio when I was 18 and have
been doing it ever since. Right now I'm Chief Engineer for Millennium Radio in
Atlantic City at WFPG/WENJ(AM 1450)/WPUR/WXKW/WSJO and on the air on
weekends on New Jersey 101.5 WKXW. Thanks for the inspiration back at WJJZ !
... Tom McNally
Our paths crossed back in your WJJZ days. My father was the manager of WT Grant,
and you were seeing a girl that worked there. I remember you had that maroon
Dodge Charger with the black fur roof ! You and Tom Wahl showed me around the
station - I think you had to hang out during his shift because you had a First Phone
license, which was required in those days. I got into radio when I was 18 and have
been doing it ever since. Right now I'm Chief Engineer for Millennium Radio in
Atlantic City at WFPG/WENJ(AM 1450)/WPUR/WXKW/WSJO and on the air on
weekends on New Jersey 101.5 WKXW. Thanks for the inspiration back at WJJZ !
... Tom McNally
C
carlvenorden
Guest
Tom, that really does explain a lot.
I was sure that was the WMID studio, but for the life of me I could not place the outside of that radio station in Eddie and The Crusiers!
Thanks for that recolection!!
Carl
I was sure that was the WMID studio, but for the life of me I could not place the outside of that radio station in Eddie and The Crusiers!
Thanks for that recolection!!
Carl
I do remember the WT Grant store for obvious reasons. My girlfriend at the time worked there ginning up money for college. She got embarassed when I went there for lunch as she was a waitress there. The Dodge Charger with the furry top I got at Pohle Dodge. Pohle was a radio account of mine and put the special top on my car as a promotion. I have a very funny story about that top that may be too adult for this discussion. At any rate, I am glad Tom McNally is doing well in radio after all these years. For those who want to hear the story about the top, you can reach me at [email protected].
- Status