WSAI 1360 Transmitter Fire

[BobOnTheJob]

I was a teen at the time & my recollection of it was something like this: The existing transmitter (an old Western Electric?) & it's building were badly damaged in the late 1960's. They were already well into installing a new building/transmitter/phasor when this happened, so the daytime recovery was swift, but they had not completed the directional capability yet. I recall something about an STA to operate with 250 watts non-directional at night. I do remember there was a DJ with a Sparta console & 2 turntables operating from the new transmitter room...it sounded great without the phone line limiting the high frequency response...it also splattered 3 channels each way...WCLU must have loved that. Does anyone have any remembrance of this event?

 

[jterhar]

I was chief engineer back in the 80's at SAI AM and FM. It was definitely past the hayday. At the time, it was owned by Affiliated Communications, a part of the Boston Globe. I don't know what the current situation is but, back in those days, the towers and transmitters sat in the middle of a working farm. When I got there, the farmer and his wife lived in the house near the transmitter building. There was no indoor plumbing in the farm house. The old building sat behind the new building, to the north. Tower 3 was to the south in the middle of a field. Tower 2 was next to the building and was the daytime tower. Tower 1 was over a ravine. It could be considered a counterpoise ground, as you had to walk through it to get to the tuning house. One of the three engineers, Earl Coriell, had been there since the Sunbeam Communications days. The other two engineers and I went to the transmitter frequently for change-over and monitor points. We did a tour of the old building with the Western Electric transmitter along one entire wall. There was no obvious fire damage. But he did tell of the time in the 60's when they almost had the new transmitter facilities completed in the new building. The W-E had been the spare and the main was a Gates. The Gates had been moved to the new building. It was an afternoon drive when the WE caught fire. He didn't say how fast they got back on the air, but in those days, minutes of down time were unthinkable.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Unfortunately, I wasn't listening at the time of the fire, but there had to have been some downtime....unless they had the new facility done & running into a dummy antenna at that moment--nobody's that lucky. I do seem to recall that they were off the air at night for a day or so and then got a 250 watt non-directional STA. The fact that programming originated from the new transmitter building would seem to indicate that there was whatever time necessary to get a jock & a remote setup from Price Hill out to the Mt Healthy transmitter. I want to say the Chief's name was Eberhart around that time.

The station is still at the same site. Until not too long ago, a local tower climber lived there...I believe he kept the towers re-lamped & painted in a barter deal.

Back to a few minutes of lost airtime being unthinkable...that would probably still be true if any one station still had the reported 70-80 shares that WSAI had at night. I miss the days when one station could be such a huge part a city's life.