Jacksonville Radio 1978

[stevations]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3vD5pEkRhE various stations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8AAJ5z_I8c WAPE 690

 

[TommyR]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

 

[badreligionnc]

awesome memories! I listened to WAPE 690 growing up in Beaufort SC in the 70's.

 

[HadYourPhil]

I was there then. This was probably recorded on a Saturday, with the possible exception of the last bit which was recorded at night when WAPE was very directional! A fun place to work.

 

[jmtillery]

I was there then. This was probably recorded on a Saturday, with the possible exception of the last bit which was recorded at night when WAPE was very directional! A fun place to work.

It was also and still is two separate radio stations with two tower sites. At one time WAPE had a separate and complete studio at the night transmitter site.

 

[nfladxer]

I was there then. This was probably recorded on a Saturday, with the possible exception of the last bit which was recorded at night when WAPE was very directional! A fun place to work.

It was also and still is two separate radio stations with two tower sites. At one time WAPE had a separate and complete studio at the night transmitter site.

Yes, the daytime site with 50kw non-directional is just South of Orange Park on US 17. The night site now runs 25kw directional into a six tower array near Baldwin off US 90. When I was hired for a night shift at the Big Ape in the late '70's, I was aware of the two transmitter sites. By that time, ALL of the programming, day and night, originated from Orange Park, with a first class engineer on duty in Baldwin during the nighttime hours. After I had been there awhile, I was informed one day that I had to tape my show a day ahead of time, because of some major electrical work that had been scheduled, and then had to bring the tapes to the night site. To my amazement, the night studio was, basically, a smaller version of the daytime studio in OP! Very Cool! Anyone who remembers to original WAPE studio building knows it was a very futuristic design when you realize it was built around 1958! The night site came later. The engineer gave me a tour, I gave him the tapes, and, the next night, when I returned to the air live, took several angry calls from listeners who didn't understand why I didn't answer the phone the night before! As Phil said, It was a fun place to work! And an honor to be a part of Top 40 radio history, working with a great staff, at a unique facility, and, of course, when on during the daytime, what a great signal up and down the Southeast coast, from Jacksonville's AM 690 The Big Ape!

 

[jmtillery]

I was there then. This was probably recorded on a Saturday, with the possible exception of the last bit which was recorded at night when WAPE was very directional! A fun place to work.

It was also and still is two separate radio stations with two tower sites. At one time WAPE had a separate and complete studio at the night transmitter site.

Yes, the daytime site with 50kw non-directional is just South of Orange Park on US 17. The night site now runs 25kw directional into a six tower array near Baldwin off US 90. When I was hired for a night shift at the Big Ape in the late '70's, I was aware of the two transmitter sites. By that time, ALL of the programming, day and night, originated from Orange Park, with a first class engineer on duty in Baldwin during the nighttime hours. After I had been there awhile, I was informed one day that I had to tape my show a day ahead of time, because of some major electrical work that had been scheduled, and then had to bring the tapes to the night site. To my amazement, the night studio was, basically, a smaller version of the daytime studio in OP! Very Cool! Anyone who remembers to original WAPE studio building knows it was a very futuristic design when you realize it was built around 1958! The night site came later. The engineer gave me a tour, I gave him the tapes, and, the next night, when I returned to the air live, took several angry calls from listeners who didn't understand why I didn't answer the phone the night before! As Phil said, It was a fun place to work! And an honor to be a part of Top 40 radio history, working with a great staff, at a unique facility, and, of course, when on during the daytime, what a great signal up and down the Southeast coast, from Jacksonville's AM 690 The Big Ape!

I had the pleasure of seeing both sites when I was GSM for the AM back in the mid 80s. By then, the AM had taken on the call letters WJAX and was programming a Christian format known as Jacksonville's Christian Station. Everything originated from the Orange Park studio and office location then. Nighttime operation was still 10kw directional with six towers near Baldwin. The Orange Park studio and office building was very impressive in design. The newly acquired FM and former WJAX-FM assumed the WAPE call letters and was still operating from the Jacksonville Public Library.

 

[tanner]

You could also pick up WAPE 690 in Beaufort, NC as well.

 

[HadYourPhil]

A.J., you can corrrect me on this, but I think the nighttime signal's air monitor was sent from Baldwin to the studios via phone line. In the parking lot of the studio, you could hear WTIX better than WAPE. But, as you drove back north to Orange Park and Jacksonville, you would abruptly drive into the signal. Like opening a window! Same thing around the JAX airport going north.

Certainly beat being only a daytimer! There are many pictures and stories of the Big Ape on http://limestonelounge.yuku.com/forums/13. I took many pictures of both sites.

 

[jmtillery]

A.J., you can corrrect me on this, but I think the nighttime signal's air monitor was sent from Baldwin to the studios via phone line. In the parking lot of the studio, you could hear WTIX better than WAPE. But, as you drove back north to Orange Park and Jacksonville, you would abruptly drive into the signal. Like opening a window! Same thing around the JAX airport going north.

Certainly beat being only a daytimer! There are many pictures and stories of the Big Ape on http://limestonelounge.yuku.com/forums/13. I took many pictures of both sites.

You are absolutely correct. The nighttime signal was still fed to the Orange Park studio via phone line when I was there in the mid '80s. And, yes, it was odd to hear WTIX in the Orange Park studio parking lot instead of hearing WAPE.

 

[nfladxer]

A.J., you can corrrect me on this, but I think the nighttime signal's air monitor was sent from Baldwin to the studios via phone line. In the parking lot of the studio, you could hear WTIX better than WAPE. But, as you drove back north to Orange Park and Jacksonville, you would abruptly drive into the signal. Like opening a window! Same thing around the JAX airport going north.

Certainly beat being only a daytimer! There are many pictures and stories of the Big Ape on http://limestonelounge.yuku.com/forums/13. I took many pictures of both sites.

You are absolutely correct. The nighttime signal was still fed to the Orange Park studio via phone line when I was there in the mid '80s. And, yes, it was odd to hear WTIX in the Orange Park studio parking lot instead of hearing WAPE.

Yes, Phil and Mark, you've got it exactly right! The old WAPE 10kw 6-tower nighttime array in Baldwin was a super tight pattern due East. When heading South on US 17 to the station's Orange Park studios at night, the signal was solid until about the Doctor's Inlet bridge, and then it was hello WTIX, goodbye WAPE. Actually, in the parking lot, usually you could pick up a mixture of 'TIX's skywave, WAPE's ground and skywave!, and some Cuban skywave intrusion, as well. That return telephone audio from Baldwin, made us sound more like FM, but only in the studio! LOL