1980s US Commerical Shortwave Stations

[mdamico25]

Hi Everyone,

I figured I would post this on the DX-board since Radio Info doesn't have a category to exactly fit this. Does anyone have any memories of the two commerical US based shortwave radio stations in the 1980s- WRNO in New Orleans, LA and KUSW in Salt Lake City, UT? Back when I was a teenager in the late 1980s, I used to listen to both from my parents' house in Hazlet, NJ. I remember WRNO was mostly a simulcast of its sister FM station also in New Orleans. They played mostly album rock but also played Top 40 and had a noontime oldies show (simulcast with the FM) and also a Sunday night oldies show hosted by a guy called "Mike at Night" (also simulcast with the FM, I believe). I remember they advertised that they had a 5 million watt signal. They used to be a pretty solid catch here in NJ day and night. They claimed they had listeners all over the world.

I used to listen to KUSW more. They were a little harder to receive in NJ and changed frequnecies more than WRNO, but I remember they had a "soft album rock" format. Also some country and some oldies sprinkled in, with some inspirational music from the LDS Church in Utah. I believe they also had AM-FM sister stations in Salt Lake, but did not simulcast. I remember a made a phone request for CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and they played the song and mentioned my name, although they mispronounced my hometown. Being a 17-year old radio geek in 1989, I thought that was really cool.

When I went away to college in New Hampshire in the Fall of 1990, KUSW was still there, but not for much longer. I picked it up a few times in New Hampshire, but not as clearly as when I was living in New Jersey. By December 1990, they were gone- sold to the Trinity Nroadcasting Network and changed format to religion. I never listened to them again, but I understand they are now off the air. As for WRNO, not sure when the FM simulcasts ended, but they were gone by the mid-90s as well. Anyhow, just wondering if anyone remembers these two stations. Somewhere I have several cassettes of airchecks from both of them. Hopefully, someday I will find them- will bring back memories. The world has changed alot in the 20+ years, but in the pre-internet days, I used to think it was cool to listen to broadcasts from so far away. Take care..

-Mike

 

[rtc]

You can hear many vintage swbc airchecks of the period
here:

http://www.intervalsignals.net/

Scroll down to u.s.a. then click on
"commercial and other stations".

Vintage airchecks are at the bottom of the list.

 

[microbob]

There was also a shortwave station in Dallas TX in the mid to late 80's I remember them using The Yellow Rose of Texas as it's interval signal. KCBI I think were the station's call letters.

 

[kilokat7]

Hi Everyone,

I figured I would post this on the DX-board since Radio Info doesn't have a category to exactly fit this. Does anyone have any memories of the two commerical US based shortwave radio stations in the 1980s- WRNO in New Orleans, LA and KUSW in Salt Lake City, UT? Back when I was a teenager in the late 1980s, I used to listen to both from my parents' house in Hazlet, NJ. I remember WRNO was mostly a simulcast of its sister FM station also in New Orleans. They played mostly album rock but also played Top 40 and had a noontime oldies show (simulcast with the FM) and also a Sunday night oldies show hosted by a guy called "Mike at Night" (also simulcast with the FM, I believe). I remember they advertised that they had a 5 million watt signal. They used to be a pretty solid catch here in NJ day and night. They claimed they had listeners all over the world.

I used to listen to KUSW more. They were a little harder to receive in NJ and changed frequnecies more than WRNO, but I remember they had a "soft album rock" format. Also some country and some oldies sprinkled in, with some inspirational music from the LDS Church in Utah. I believe they also had AM-FM sister stations in Salt Lake, but did not simulcast. I remember a made a phone request for CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and they played the song and mentioned my name, although they mispronounced my hometown. Being a 17-year old radio geek in 1989, I thought that was really cool.

When I went away to college in New Hampshire in the Fall of 1990, KUSW was still there, but not for much longer. I picked it up a few times in New Hampshire, but not as clearly as when I was living in New Jersey. By December 1990, they were gone- sold to the Trinity Nroadcasting Network and changed format to religion. I never listened to them again, but I understand they are now off the air. As for WRNO, not sure when the FM simulcasts ended, but they were gone by the mid-90s as well. Anyhow, just wondering if anyone remembers these two stations. Somewhere I have several cassettes of airchecks from both of them. Hopefully, someday I will find them- will bring back memories. The world has changed alot in the 20+ years, but in the pre-internet days, I used to think it was cool to listen to broadcasts from so far away. Take care..

-Mike

Hi Mike, I have fond memories of both stations too. I was another radio geek, a teenager during the late 80s, and really enjoyed listening to the programming and rock music on WRNO shortwave. KUSW was good too but the "Rock of New Orleans" was always my favorite. I remember calling the WRNO request line and getting mentioned on the air - a big thrill for a kid back then In fact here's a recording of it:

WRNO Shortwave circa 1980s.mp3

Oh, and here's 44 minutes of "Superpower KUSW" that I recorded back in 1987:

KUSW Shortwave 17.715 Mhz 2118-2205 UTC 26DE87.mp3

Enjoy!

 

[dxer720]

I listened to WRNO since about 1983 or 84. I have tapes of them when they used to have a program called "Radio Earth" (not at WRNO-FM simulcast. I taped a 1984 sign-on once. I think 15420, 17705 & 7355 were some of their favorite frequencies. They also ran Glen Hauser's "World of Radio" for a long time. They also had a nice local music/promotional show from/about New Orleans.

KUSW was also a favorite of mine, up till the 1990 sell-off to KTBN. I only seem to remember them using 2 frequencies, 15590 & 7520.

If I remember right, KUSW played an unusual role in world politics, too. In 1989, when the US went to Panama to drive out the country's then-leader, Manuel Noriega, he fled & sought sanctuary in the Papal Nunzio there. The US Army blared rock music day & night in an effort (which eventually worked) to get him to come out so they could capture him. They mostly blasted KUSW from their loudspeakers.

One of the American big 3 TV networks did a story on the station during this "stand-off".

 

[Icangelp]

I was in my 40's during the late 80's and out of DX'ing for the second time. (Traveling all week, entertaining customers weeknights, family time on the weekends.)

Missed KUSW entirely. K'k7, thanks for the chance to hear them, even if it is 24 years later. I definitely would have been a listener. Fruitport? That could cause some comments back in the insensitive 80's?

Anyone have know the title and artist of the intrumental playing prior-to and after the frequency change? I've heard it several times over the years.

Clapton?

 

[fybush]

Anyone have know the title and artist of the intrumental playing prior-to and after the frequency change? I've heard it several times over the years.

Clapton?

Dire Straits, "Telegraph Road," about 13 minutes into that very long track, if memory serves...

I loved KUSW when it was around. For part of its existence (1988-89), I was living in a very remote part of eastern California with no local rock station, and very little local radio of any sort to speak of, so KUSW filled a big void. I recall it being the first place I heard Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," among others.

I had an unusual KUSW coincidence a few years back...when I was involved in the relaunch of WRUR here in Rochester as a AAA station in 2004, one of the volunteers who helped us out early on was a guy who'd just moved to the Rochester area and was looking to get involved in radio...and he turned out to be none other than John Florence, who programmed KUSW back when. Sadly, he didn't have a lot of airchecks, and I think I now have everything he saved from the era. (He's back in Utah now, last I heard.)

 

[mdamico25]

Thanks everyone for replying and a big *Thank You* to kilokat for posting clips of both WRNO and KUSW, That brought back alot of memories!!

I believe the instrumental that was used as a "channel locator" for KUSW was called- "Down the Telegraph Road." I did a google search of this title and it comes back to a 1982 song by Dire Straits. Wikipedia says this song is 14 minutes long!!

To this day, I have a QSL card on my desk from "Superpower KUSW" which confirmed my reception of the station at 11.695 mhz on September 21, 1988, received at 9:45 pm local time in Hazlet Township, NJ.

I think the fatal flaw of both WRNO and especially KUSW was there was no accurate way to measure an audience that listened around the world. Since there were probably no accurate ratings, advertisers were probably hesitant to advertise. Plus, running a 5-million watt transmitter (WRNO) and 2.5 million watt (KUSW) would probably consume alot of juice- and without advertising revenues coming in, both were probably very costly operations.

-Mike

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Nice memories!

I missed KUSW entirely, for some reason. I wonder if it was signal, though I'm pretty sure I had no problem getting (then skipping past) KTBN.

WRNO blasted up here. The signal in the aircheck here sounded similar, loud and proud with very little (if any) fading.

I thought it was actually pretty cool that a popular local FM station was simulcasting on SW...of course, this was long before the era of streaming audio. I loved it when the jocks mentioned the big SW signal.

I'm not sure when the FM simulcast ended. I know at some point, they actually picked up Rush Limbaugh (!), which he'd occasionally promote on the air as the "Worldwide Service of the EIB Network". But I missed those local New Orleans air personalities blasting on that SW signal...

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The WRNO aircheck ("The Rock of the World") sounds like it wasn't an FM simulcast, but specifically for the SW broadcast.

I seem to recall that they did that from time to time.

I just realized that WRNO-FM is now "Rush Radio 99.5", a talk station named after Rush Limbaugh - who is on the FM station once co-owned with the shortwave outlet he called the "EIB World Service".

 

[davideduardo]

I think the fatal flaw of both WRNO and especially KUSW was there was no accurate way to measure an audience that listened around the world. Since there were probably no accurate ratings, advertisers were probably hesitant to advertise. Plus, running a 5-million watt transmitter (WRNO) and 2.5 million watt (KUSW) would probably consume alot of juice- and without advertising revenues coming in, both were probably very costly operations.

As to ratings, while there were, and are, ratings services around the world, they are local and the amount of listening to SW is minimal in most places and even less for a specific station... to the point that WRNO and KUSW likely did not "make the book" anywhere.

The real flaw in the plan was the failure to recognize the fact that advertisers have not bought campaigns in multiple countries for decades. Advertising is bought locally in each country, and the campaigns are often tailored for the nuances of each nation's culture; even the most famous Coke campaigns have had changes in the lyrics of jingles and even in orchestration to fit the market. With or without audience, those stations were serving a need that did not exist.

Both stations, IIRC, had 100 kw transmitters. SW operations often use the antenna gain in the narrow lobe that is being served at any given time, thus the million watt figures. Of course, a 100 kw rig of that era used a lot of juice, but still a lot less than most major world class SW operations then... you had HCJB with 500 kw rigs in the same band.

 

[cd637299]

How many of you remember NDXE----an Alabama station that tried to mimic WRNO, but was going to be a full-service SW outlet, with MOR music, news, maybe lifestyle features, etc.?

The station never made it to air, but I was on their mailing list after giving the guy a call (I forget his name), They had all kind of souvenir stuff like mugs....but IIRC, none of them were free.

They also wanted to be the first *stereo* SW station. How that was to be accomplished was anybody's guess. The guy told me that initially you had to have 2 SW radios, one tuned off down & one up. Um....yeah.

BTW there was no FCC approval to start any US radio station with an N, but I think he felt that it was just gonna be a formality. (N is used for some hams & such.)

Seems as if the Dot 2 Network is going in the same footsteps!

cd

 

[mdamico25]

One final note about KUSW, I remember hearing a story, not sure if it was an urban legend or not, but supposedly on the day the Trinity Broadcasting Network took over at the end of 1990, the entire KUSW record library was "blown up" or otherwise destroyed in the station's parking lot. Reminds me of the movie "Footloose." Once again, not sure if it is true or not. Scott- do you remember if John Florence mentioned this when you met him? Speaking of Mr. Florence, he is featured in December 1987 aircheck earlier in this thread.

Thanks again everyone for the great memories..

-Mike

 

[fybush]

Yes, TBN publicly destroyed at least a symbolic portion of the KUSW record library. I don't believe they got the whole thing, though...

 

[microbob]

I know it would not happen but I'd like to see a return of KUSW. I guess TBN still owns the station and can't sell to another broadcaster.

 

[Icangelp]

Way off topic.

Thanks, Scott & mdamico25. I'd only heard the instrumental portion of Telegraph Road or I would have immediately recognized it was the legendary Dire Straits. Just listened to the complete song on Rhapsody.

May sound crazy, but back in the day, I prefered hearing some music on AM versus FM. Seems to me that music coming from a distant AM or SW station mellows out music and gives it a dreamlike quality.

Lived in the Kansas City area in the late 60's, and was an avid listener to 1090/KAAY and the late night underground/acid rock music played on Beaker Street, hosted by Clyde Clfford. Although the signal was strong in KC, it was subject to fading and other worldly. Then again, it could have been what I was smoking. 8)

 

[stacker]

Lived in the Kansas City area in the late 60's, and was an avid listener to 1090/KAAY and the late night underground/acid rock music played on Beaker Street, hosted by Clyde Clfford. Although the signal was strong in KC, it was subject to fading and other worldly. Then again, it could have been what I was smoking. Cool

Going further off topic here. Clifford's "Beaker Steet" was done from the KAAY transmitter site. At the time, the transmitter was not remote controlled, so an operator had to be on site. The background music under Clifford was to mask the sounds created by the RCA transmitters fans.

 

[RadioFan2J3]

Both stations, IIRC, had 100 kw transmitters. SW operations often use the antenna gain in the narrow lobe that is being served at any given time, thus the million watt figures. Of course, a 100 kw rig of that era used a lot of juice, but still a lot less than most major world class SW operations then... you had HCJB with 500 kw rigs in the same band.

I visited the WRNO SW site at some point in the early 1980s and it was a Harris 100 kW transmitter, the currently manufactured product of the time. I do not remember exactly what model it was, and I am not sure if it was a pulse type modulator or it was a classic high level Class B push-pull modulator.

As for antennas, I think the FCC requirements for HF broadcasting in the US involve two aspects, no broadcasting to the US and all antenna systems have to be directional. No omnidirectional antennas are licensed.

As for 500 kW output HF transmitters, HCJB wasn't unique in running transmitters at that power level. Greenville VOA has six 500 kW Continental 420A transmitters, but granted, technically, they were two 250kW transmitters with a combiner network. Those transmitters were actually built in the early 1950s for an earlier planned VOA transmitter site which was never built. The transmitters were in storage until Greenville was built in the early 1960s.

 

[rfry]

Both stations, IIRC, had 100 kw transmitters. SW operations often use the antenna gain in the narrow lobe that is being served at any given time, thus the million watt figures. Of course, a 100 kw rig of that era used a lot of juice, but still a lot less than most major world class SW operations then... you had HCJB with 500 kw rigs in the same band.

Just to note that to various offshore broadcast organizations, Harris Broadcast Division in the US has supplied medium-wave AM broadcast transmitters spec'd/tested/proven to deliver 2 megawatts of fully-modulated carrier power (over 3 megawatts total r-f power output with modulation peaks of >100% positive and 100% negative).

This is "dummy load" power, not including any power gain from the antenna system driven by the transmitter.

The users of these transmitters can generate ERPs so high that they can be received over relatively large areas of the globe -- day and night.

RF (Harris RF Applications Engineer, retired)

 

[w9wi]

They also wanted to be the first *stereo* SW station. How that was to be accomplished was anybody's guess. The guy told me that initially you had to have 2 SW radios, one tuned off down & one up. Um....yeah.

(I do remember the talk about NDXE. Seemed to me as if it was a pipe dream from the start, not just the exotic call letters. ISTR the owner was the guy behind regular AM station WJHO in the same town.)

Sounds to me as if they're talking about the Kahn independent-sideband AM system. It was pretty simple in concept: left channel goes on the lower sideband, right channel on the upper. Thus, if you took two radios & tuned the one on the left a bit below the desired station, and the one on the right a bit above, you'd get more left-channel audio on the left and more right-channel audio on the right.

I have to think the separation would be pretty poor that way, but if you didn't need to buy a stereo radio I suppose it was an interesting selling point.

They experimented with it on a number of stations - ISTR 1380 St. Louis, which I was able to hear occasionally in Madison, Wis., was one of them. It was probably my imagination but I do recall hearing some separation that way. (probably because I was using two different brands of radio.....)

It was eventually approved for routine use, for the period when five different AM stereo systems were allowed. Failed in the marketplace though.