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My first DXing report from Hawaii
- Thread starter gar hi
- Start date
I checked the 1964 Broadcasting Yearbook on David's site, and it turns out that KUGN was then at 5kw days, 1kw nights. Undoubtedly if KUGN was at 5kw then, they would have been as big or bigger issue than KHQ.
For some reason, 650 from Honolulu is off the air tonight so I thought it a good opportunity to take advantage of.
There was s weak talk station fading in and out which I haven't gotten an ID from and a station with music in the background.
Of course, I had hoped it was WSM and at one point it took over, though very weak, and they were playing the song 'Let Me Be There' by Olivia Newton John.
I went to WSM's site and it was not in their recently played list.
So I checked CISL from Vancouver and sure enough it was on their recently played list.
There was s weak talk station fading in and out which I haven't gotten an ID from and a station with music in the background.
Of course, I had hoped it was WSM and at one point it took over, though very weak, and they were playing the song 'Let Me Be There' by Olivia Newton John.
I went to WSM's site and it was not in their recently played list.
So I checked CISL from Vancouver and sure enough it was on their recently played list.
Back in the 80's one of my friends went to Hawaii and he was surprised that he could hear Vancouver (B.C.) AM so well out there. The was back when 730 was a top forty station, so he'd listen to it every night. He said the signal out there was really good. We were living in a Vancouver suburb at the time. I asked what else he could get. He just plugged his radio, turned it on and the familiar "hot hits LG73" jingle rang out, so he didn't try anything else.
730 is now all traffic all the time and a good steady nighttime regular.
Too bad your friend didn't search for other top 40 stations here back then.
He would have heard 610 KFRC (though not consistently and not very strong) I have heard KEAR.
640 '64 KFI' which is a steady nighttime powerhouse here.
I'm sure there are many more received here that were top 40 in the good old days of radio.
Too bad your friend didn't search for other top 40 stations here back then.
He would have heard 610 KFRC (though not consistently and not very strong) I have heard KEAR.
640 '64 KFI' which is a steady nighttime powerhouse here.
I'm sure there are many more received here that were top 40 in the good old days of radio.
FWIW....during the eight years or so that I was getting into Seattle on a regular basis during the last decade, CISL was reliable day/night. Most of the time, I stayed near the airport in the Renton/Tukwilla area (sp?), which is south of the city. On the drive north to Vancouver, it would get blown out for about 20-25 miles by KAPS on 660 at 10kw with a "funky" antenna from Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is roughly half way between Seattle and Vancouver. But at my usual hotel location, CISL's signal (fair at best) would be as good, if not better than KAPS.
But don't forget that Honolulu had arguably one of the best Top 40's in the country with KPOI and the "Poi Boys". There was huge talent there, including Ron Jacobs who went on to program KHJ in LA to #1 and Tom Rounds who did the same at KFRC.
Living a little more than two blocks from K-POI's studio and transmitter during my junior year of high school was the catalyst that took my interest in radio beyond DXing. The evening jock, Steve Nicolet lived in our apartment complex and thanks in part to him, I got to hang around at the station from time to time and learn by observing.
If I'm not mistaken, Ron Jacobs had recently left the station by the time I arrived in Hawaii, and Tom Rounds was now PD and morning man. Afternoon drive was Bob "Beard" Lowrie, who also hosted a popular Saturday night horror movie series on TV (Beard's Weird Movie). I forget who hosted mid-days, but Nicolet did evenings, and Dave "Moose" Donneley was the all night guy...and something of a legend in his own right. I'm not sure what became of any of those guys except T.R., but it was truly an all-star top 40 lineup. Perhaps David can shed a little light on this. K-POI and the Poi Boys in the mid-60s was as good as it gets. After I returned home, I had an orange day-glo K-POI bumper sticker (complete with Poi Boy logo) on the car for a year or two!
Apologies for the veer. "We now return you to your thread".
I worked a "second job" for TR for twenty years until his unfortunate death, and even worked briefly with Ron Jacobs until he left TR's company and went back to Hawai'i. Were TR still around, I could have asked him about the rest of the crew, but I don't know anyone else who was there.
Some behind the scenes folks at K-POI did pretty well, too. The promotion guy went on to be one of the promoters and organizers who put together that little rock festival at Woodstock some years later. I met him at TR's home several times... and heard how he learned to do open air events from TR, first in San Francisco and then in Miami.
I also got some perspective on Honolulu radio from working for Cecil Heftel, who owned KGMB and his son, Richard, who managed it. The market was pretty much Aku & KGMB and KPOI for many, many years after KULA and KGU declined as music based radio took over.
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What's the Big AM in Hawaii?
I go try them in the winter times
I go try them in the winter times
In the 70s I heard the 650 from Honolulu, I think it was KORL at the time, in Northern California near San Francisco.
I had to wait until just before sunrise so WSM would quiet down.
I'm going to try 650..But here in West Sacramento it's KSTE, even it's at 920 watts at Night
There is no single "big" station. The possibilities are all 10 kw, and it just depends on your local frequencies whether they may be possible.
The main ones are 650, 690, 760, 830 and 1040. That's because those are the 10 kw station on relatively clear frequencies. Back when these channels were clearer, all were heard in the eastern US, too.
How about Ohio?
I heard and verified 650, 690, 760, 830 (at 250 watts), 940, 1040, 1210 and 1270 as well as a tentative on 550, 1380 and 990.
Thanks for the update, David.
I'm not surprised when I hear about KPOI staffers going on to success elsewhere. I thought KORL (650) was putting up a reasonably good fight with Ted Sachs (later "Sax") as PD. They had the bigger signal (theoretically), the better dial position, and PAMS series 18 jingles running. But their audio always sounded a little muddy to me, and while their talent was mostly good, it was no match for KPOI's. I knew that KGMB was doing well, but I never understood the deal with Aku. I couldn't listen to him. I guess that's because I was a mainland haole, who "didn't get it". KULA had a rather popular talk show host in Sam Fisk. Talk shows were pretty much a rarity then. He was entertaining, and looking back at it now, I guess also something of a pioneer. Not long after I left, KULA became KKUA and flipped to top 40. A friend of mine and I used to swap tapes, he'd send me KKUA and KPOI, I'd send him WLS and WCFL.
Okay, sorry for another veer. I'll try harder to behave myself!
I think there is a station on 1570 that gets heard on Vancouver Island in Canada from time to time. I've seen it mentioned on a Canadian radio forum. KUAU, 15kw. A religious station, apparently.
Last night on 700, there was a signal that would come and go and be audible when in the strongest part of the cycle.
No station ID but I heard "Ohio State" mentioned.
I'd think KALL would be the more likely station to be heard here but I don't know where exactly they send their directional signal at night.
No station ID but I heard "Ohio State" mentioned.
I'd think KALL would be the more likely station to be heard here but I don't know where exactly they send their directional signal at night.
Just guessing that KALL is your most likely suspect. They are sports and they send most of their signal SSW I think.
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