KISW question (ENG)

[ty]

Am I correct in my history that KISW ran at a much lower effective power than the rest of the Seattle FM's? If I remember correctly, they were at 5KW from Cougar. Some other stations that operated from different sites, KCMS, 115KW from Edmonds, grandfathered in, 100.7, Queen Anne, 106.1 Indian Hill, 106.9 Gold Mountain.

Thanks for the refresher.

 

[jdweaver]

Don't know about the past...but KISW was one of the original signals in the market...so I doubt they've ever been less than a full Class C (max power at max height). They could have been operating at a lower power from their old standby site on Aurora however. Right now they are a full 57KW at about 2,500 feet.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

... from their old standby site on Aurora...

Roosevelt Way.
Unless bulldozed in the past year, bldg and tower are still there.

 

[Bryant]

Bulldozed, of course.
Townhomes, of course.

 

[w9wi]

Am I correct in my history that KISW ran at a much lower effective power than the rest of the Seattle FM's? If I remember correctly, they were at 5KW from Cougar. Some other stations that operated from different sites, KCMS, 115KW from Edmonds, grandfathered in, 100.7, Queen Anne, 106.1 Indian Hill, 106.9 Gold Mountain.

I suppose it depends on when in history, but doesn't look like KISW's been particularly small compared to other area stations. I'll bet this table gets mangled:

Station: 1973 FM Atlas: 1966 Yearbook
92.5 KBES-FM: 100kw/1,100' 17.5kw/1,100'
93.3 KBLE-FM: 36kw/1,070' 6,600 watts/1,070'
94.1 KOL-FM: 100kw/220' 5,800 watts/245'
94.9 KUOW: 86kw/730' 45kw/300' but already had CP for 1973 facilities
95.7 KIXI-FM: 100kw/1,150' 79kw/1,090'
96.5 KYAC-FM: 19kw/1,070' KLSN 19kw/1,070'
97.3 KTNT-FM: 10.5kw/480' 10.2kw/410'
98.1 KING-FM 20kw/700' 15kw/410'
98.9 KEZX: 100kw/1,100' KBBX 35kw/1,100'
99.9 KISW: 66kw/1,120' 20kw/330'
100.7 KIRO-FM: 100kw/730' 16.5kw/750'
101.5 KETO: 100kw/1,150' KETO-FM 40kw/1,130'
102.5 KTW-FM: 16.5kw/320' 16.5kw/320'
103.9 KTAC-FM: 950 watts/490' 830watts/240', had CP for 2.7kw/320' apparently not built?
(this is now 103.7 KMTT)
105.3 KBIQ: 115kw/720' KGFM 120kw/720'
106.1 KLAY: 25kw/700' 39kw/245'
106.9 KBRO-FM: 30kw/86' 30kw/86'
107.7 KRAB: 45kw/1,190' 20kw/350'

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Where were some of those lower venues? KOL-FM, for example...would 245' be on the Harbor island tower they had? KING-FM would probably have been on the Queen Anne TV tower ... is it that low (or referencing KING should I say "Lowe?"). KISW, I suspect, was the Roosevelt Hill. Where was KTW-FM?

Do you know where to find those yearbooks? I suspect most libraries don't have them... (though Seattle main library has all the old regional phone books which is EXTREMELY useful for tracking history...)

 

[xmtrland]

For KTW fm I'm guessing......Back then 102.5-FM came off the West Seattle, Pigen Point tower that 1250am uses today. If I had to guess further I would say that back then 1590 may have been using West Seattle also for a day site? I know one of the old owners of 102.5-FM, SRO, still owns the land.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Yup...that tower had 1590 (KUUU) when it was AM counterpart to KZOK and still under SRO ownership.

Was at a community center not too long ago directly below that tower --- and they have a nice theatre, but have a challenging time with certain wireless mikes that LOVE to pick up the ol' Mickey Mouse audio.

 

[Bongwater]

Last I knew, KISW went 100,000 watts on Cougar Mountain in the '80s.....They went Tiger Mountain in the late '90s at half that power.......

 

[w9wi]

Where were some of those lower venues? KOL-FM, for example...would 245' be on the Harbor island tower they had? KING-FM would probably have been on the Queen Anne TV tower ... is it that low (or referencing KING should I say "Lowe?"). KISW, I suspect, was the Roosevelt Hill. Where was KTW-FM?

I don't know. I would suspect all of the stations with antenna heights of 1,100' +/- were at the same site. I would suspect most of the lower ones were either on downtown buildings or the towers of associated AM stations. Yes, I would guess KING-FM was on the KING-TV tower and KIRO on the channel 7 TV tower.

Do you know where to find those yearbooks? I suspect most libraries don't have them... (though Seattle main library has all the old regional phone books which is EXTREMELY useful for tracking history...)

I got mine from a different source. I've usually found (relatively) current versions in libraries but nothing older. (I wonder, if you approached your local library, if they'd give you their old copies when they replace them? But I doubt you'd get anything more than a few years old that way.)

 

[bossbill]

Re: KOL-FM

Yup, we first put the new rig on at Harbor Island with antenna on the main AM tower. Later we moved it to Cougar Mtn and shared the KRAB tower.

 

[Bongwater]

That KRAB Tower

The KRAB Tower has been used for a zillion stations. First for KMPS, then KMGI (KRAB's successor and briefly for KNDD), then for KCMS, KRWM, KNHC?. Any Seattle engineer out there want to clarify this mess? Is it still up and running?

 

[xmtrland]

Oh that old KRAB tower, how it liked to do the twist in a strong wind. When then KMGI and KMPS changed out their antennas in the mid 80’s. I realized several things.
1- I had never seen transmission line nearly rubbed to death from tower movement from wind.
2- Those 10 bay antennas that KGMI and KMPS took down, actually helped hold that tower up.
3- KZOK’s 10 bay antenna on that tower was all that was holding it steady.

KZOK was the third station on that tower.

That tower is down now. But the Entercom’s back up site now sites in its place with a new self supporting tower and Master Antenna. It backs up the signals on West Tiger that Entercom has and some others. Its full time home to KNHC.

I don’t think KCMS or KRWM ever used that exact location but they are just a few hundred feet north. KCMS on the same antenna as KPLZ, KJR-FM, and KUBE. KRWM on KUBE’s old tower.