AM TOWER LOCATIONS

[intheknow415]

Wondering about a few locations, which stations they are. The Bay Bridge sites, I think three diffrent stations. I think one of them is KIQI. Also in San Jose off of 101 where the Clear Channel Building is at. Of course since all the San Jose Clear Channel stations are FM these towers can't be any of those correct?

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Wondering about a few locations, which stations they are. The Bay Bridge sites, I think three diffrent stations. I think one of them is KIQI.

The Bay Bridge Toll Plaza stations are KQKE (ex-KABL), KIQI (ex-KSAY) and KMKY (ex-KDIA). The spit of land that the KQKE towers are on has long been known as Krow Island, which harkens back to the original call letters of the station (KROW) when it relocated to the site.

Standing at the site, you can also see KNEW's towers (north at Point Isabel), the tall KVTO/KEAR tower (at Ashby Avenue) and the KPIG configuration in West Oakland.

DJ

 

[jprg]

In San Jose right next to the 101 freway by the Julian Street exit you'll see four towers which are KSJX. I worked there in 1995. Those same towers also house AM 1370

 

[BossRadioDJ]

In San Jose right next to the 101 freway by the Julian Street exit you'll see four towers which are KSJX. I worked there in 1995. Those same towers also house AM 1370

The KSJX/1500 building -- actually on Eggo Way, next to the Kellogg's plant and the Union Pacific tracks -- had the station's original KX-RX call letters (that's right, with an added hyphen) painted on it for many years. Anybody got a photo of it?

The transmitter for KEEN/1370 (now KZSF) had been across San Jose on the Old Oakland Highway for four decades before losing its site and -- after much wrangling -- being allowed to diplex with 1500.

How the original KEEN building looked in 1976:

http://www.bayarearadio.org/stn_photos/keen_xmtr-bldg_1976.shtml

DJ

 

[semoochie]

I can't believe I'm going through with this: I didn't realize KEEN had lost its site. They must not have very keen sight!

 

[jprg]

Oh yes I do remember the pld KXRX when I was at KSJX and KKSJ was at 1370 at the KSJX site. They had a AOR format with Jim Lange. I also too some transmitter readings for them. KSJX at the time was Vietnamese and still is today. All I did at KSJX was "babysit" the automation and take readings every Saturday and Sunday until we could get a remote control installed at KEST in San Francisco where I worked.

I was at KSJX when the CE of KSJO (John Higdeon I think) stormed in the KSJX studio and yelled "Oh @#^*! The tower lights are off!"

 

[rickradio]

They had a AOR format with Jim Lange.

Now THAT must've been a truly bipolar experience...kinda like hearing The Real Don Steele backsell Wayne Newton's "Danke Schoen" (which really happened).

OK, end of wiseass remarks...I'm sure you meant "MOR?" Although the "A" and "M" keys are nowhere near each other... ???

Don't let BossRadio DJ see this one...

 

[radio dx]

Anyone know if they still use the old KLOK towers on King road in San Jose? it looks like they boarded up the old studio but now they are parking the company vehicles behind the fence now.

 

[blackhole]

Anyone know if they still use the old KLOK towers on King road in San Jose? it looks like they boarded up the old studio but now they are parking the company vehicles behind the fence now.

The place is pretty abandoned, but the engineer still works out of that facility and the towers are still in use.

 

[KDUN1030]

The KEEN tower site actually saw very little use as a studio. The station was in the Hotel DeAnza since the 40s or so and took up the whole mezzinne (sp?) of the hotel. The office doors were at the east end of the hotel and the studios and GM's office were at the west end. I started interning there in 68 or 69. Still had the performance studio with the grand piano and organ. The place was first class with all RCA equipment and mikes, AMPEX real to reals. KLOK opened the Tully Rd studios about the same time. Very first class with a garden in the middle of the lobby and a fancy patio. The old station building was on the KLOK site and was knocked down after the new building went up. At the same time KSJO had a studio and office at Town and County Shopping Center now Santana Row, KOME was in the Pruneyard towers and then an old house on The Alameda, KARA was on Park Ave in Santa Clara. All interesting places. The two most far out were the KPEN studios in the San Antionio Shopping Center in Mt. View and Lorenzo Milan's station near Old Town Los Gatos. I still remember after interning with KEEN I got my first full time job with KBAY, which at the time was in the basement of the DeAnza. To get into the studio you had to walk through the GM's office and listen to Ray Hollingsworth rag on you about the music. What memories.

 

[radio dx]

If I remember right I think the KPEN (97.7) studios were located in the beautiful old mill shopping center (now HP) just down the street from the San Antonio shopping center.

 

[radio dx]

Later KOME relocated to 3031 Tish Road ground floor. You can see the building from Hwy 280 and Winchester Bld. and KSJO later relocated to 2875 Moorpark Ave. around the corner from Tish Road. How 94.5 KWSS (now KBAY) ended up creekside in the middle of nothing on Shallenberger Road is any ones guess. These radio stations ended up in some really stange places in the metro San Jose area. KAZA ended up in building number 3 at the old Town and Country village and 95.3 KRVE (now KRTY) was located on Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos and had a street front window to down town "los Gats"

 

[BossRadioDJ]

They had a AOR format with Jim Lange.

OK, end of wiseass remarks...I'm sure you meant "MOR?" Although the "A" and "M" keys are nowhere near each other... ???

Don't let BossRadio DJ see this one...

Head exploding ... brain bits all over the floor...

(That was for Rick. And now, back to our regularly-scheduled program.)

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Re: KEEN Early History

The KEEN tower site actually saw very little use as a studio. The station was in the Hotel DeAnza since the 40s or so and took up the whole mezzinne (sp?) of the hotel. The office doors were at the east end of the hotel and the studios and GM's office were at the west end. I started interning there in 68 or 69. Still had the performance studio with the grand piano and organ. The place was first class with all RCA equipment and mikes, AMPEX real to reals.

Red Skelton was the star and emcee of the KEEN opening ceremony at the De Anza when the station debuted back on June 21, 1947:

http://tinyurl.com/2mqleh

In the early days, however, KEEN's De Anza studios were fairly spartan:

http://tinyurl.com/gkot7

By the way, the station broker Exline has an unidentified AM station in San Jose listed for sale. Any guesses which one it is?

DJ

 

[jprg]

Yeah I remember KPEN being in the Old Mill Shopping Center in Mtn View. I was like 11 or 12 at the time and I remember looking through the glass and seeing a long haired DJ play jazz fusion music on two "turntables!" How cool!

 

[radio dx]

KRVE (down town Los Gatos) had the studio facing the street with a large window at the sidewalk level so people walking by could watch the on air dj do his or her thing...how cool too bad they had a weird music format. It was a neat thing to be able to watch at both stations I agree.

 

[radio dx]

I can also remember KBAY/KEEN moving to S. Winchester at Payne (Pacific Valley Bank Bldg.) then to a small but then new office at 3rd street at Hamilton in Campbell.

 

[KDUN1030]

I did board op stuff at KRVE when they had Portugese (sp?) programs on the air. They would forget to give me a hand cue and if I missed the nod of the head these guys would scream like nuts. It was much smoother doing board op for Hugo Schneider when he did the German program for years on KBAY. Since my parents were German I understood every word he was going on about when he was off the air and on the phone.

I really don't remember KPEN at Old Mill, I remember it on a second floor office in San Antonio Shopping Center on the Showers Ave side. The building is gone now. Bill

 

[radio dx]

Hay KDUN 1030, who was the guy that played top-40 in English in the early mornings at KRVE? I remember that at about 6:45/7am they would go into Portugese or German programing? and that guy sounded like col. Burkholter from Hogans Heros.

 

[KDUN1030]

I only did weekends at KRVE and I can't even remember name of the guy who hired me there. I did noon to 6 at KBAY, I followed Gene Pincus who was PD and gave me the job, followed by a guy name Gene Condon from 6 to midniight. Every night when he came in the first thing he would do was take his shirt off and ask me, "You hangin around a little while tonight Billy" and I was out the door before Guy Lombardo could finish his first song of the evening, AH what a place- Floyd Farr would come in several times in the afternoon and go in the back where the UPI machine was and close the door for 15 to 20 minutes. Always wondered what was so interesting to read.