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Who was KCIV's engineer in 1982 or 1983?

T

Thom Rounds

Hi Guys,

Greetings from the East Coast!

I know this may seem like a strange question, but we just resurrected a Harris FM-25K transmitter in Fairfield, Maine that was originally sold to KCIV in 1982 or 1983 and was used on 104.5.

Just wondering if the engineer who dealt with this transmitter when it was first installed (or when it was taken down) might still be around. Anyone have any idea who would have dealt with this beast? After all the work we've put into it, I'm curious to know more about its history.

If anyone knows or can at least guess whose plate this was on, I can be reached at trounds at audiophools dot net.

Thanks in advance, and enjoy the holidays!

--Thom Rounds
 
KCIV was basically a one man operation whose owner, Les (Cunningham, I believe), lived at the transmitter with his elderly mother, atop a tall mountain, overlooking The Dalles, OR. He played mostly Classical music or some other variant for over 12 hours per day, 6 days a week and had been doing so since 1968. There were no cart machines and all spots were read live. I think he employed a salesman but I'm not even sure of that. I'm almost positive he was the sole engineer. He always signed off at night by mentioning ALL the distant locations that had received the station. My information is a little sketchy because I didn't live there and only visited the station once, along with a radio colleague who had befriended him. Les is long gone, as is my friend, who referred to Les as "the radio hermit".
 
Semoochie,

I have dug up a few facts that might help define my question a bit better.

I heard about Les (and it sounds like he was an interesting character), but if I've got my facts straight, he sold the station in 1982 whereupon it was relicensed as KMCQ. I found this info in some local papers' writeups of KMCQ's last day in The Dalles before being moved to Washington in 2006. I didn't find out about that until after I posted the question here.

I have the original paperwork on the transmitter, it was purchased from Harris in 1982 for 104.5 and shipped to Oregon, and the call letters on the invoice were "KCIV". I can only assume from what I know now that the new owners had placed the order for the transmitter before changing the call letters to KMCQ.

Sooooo... I guess what I'm really asking is who KMCQ's engineer was in 1982. I'm assuming Les stepped out of the picture after the sale, but that's just an assumption on my part. Whoever that is did the first install on the transmitter we've put so much blood, sweat and tears into resurrecting!

I will also try pdxradio. Thanks for the lead, markoni. I've been up to my eyeballs in this transmitter and haven't had time to read the responses until now.

Thanks again, guys!

--Thom Rounds
 
Colin(Cole) Malcolm might have that information. It sounds like something he would know. He was recently involved with KMCQ, while it was still in the Dalles but after its original sign off. This was after signing on the Goldendale WA stations and running them for many years. Are you THE Thom Rounds?
 
semoochie said:
Colin(Cole) Malcolm might have that information. It sounds like something he would know. He was recently involved with KMCQ, while it was still in the Dalles but after its original sign off. This was after signing on the Goldendale WA stations and running them for many years. Are you THE Thom Rounds?
Click to expand...

No, just a Thom Rounds... we come in six-packs. ;D

Seriously, if you're thinking of the Tom Rounds who was Casey Kasem's producer for eons and seems to be everywhere in radio, no that's not me. It just so happens we were born with the same name, and we're both heavily embedded in radio. I've never been heard outside New England, at least not on broadcast airwaves.

Is that who you had in mind?
 
I was hoping you'd jog my memory. He must be the one. Sometimes names are interesting: There was another Paul Harvey in broadcasting, who died awhile back.
 
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