WWKB Cutting Back To 10,000 Watts?

[JustPastBuffalo]

Gotta love it. The Barrister of the Board in his continuing quest to repeal IBOC. Bravo!

Also proudly displayed on a bookshelf in my office: a panel meter from, ahem, "another (not WHAM) Westinghouse HG-50."  It's a cube about 6 inches square, weighs about 10 pounds, and has a 2kv scale labelled LEFT PA BIAS.  Interestingly, the meter scale and legend appears to have been hand-lettered!

Hope you didn't have to dumpster-dive for that puppy... or was it given to you by a mutual friend...    

[Savage]

IBOC is self-immolating - I'm just trying to create a nice stiff breeze to help with the conflagration.

No comment on the meter.  Suffice it to say no dumpster-diving was involved.

Did anybody ever unearth that 1941 book about BBC, "A New Era In Radio?"  Great pictorial walk-through of the Big Tree Road site and WKBW/WGR.  It was truly an engineering showplace when built.  It's ironic that the legendary WKBW had a palatial transmitter site - and an unmitigated dump for studios, the place actually frequented by by the general public, clients and most of the staff!

[TheBigA]

It's ironic that the legendary WKBW had a palatial transmitter site - and an unmitigated dump for studios, the place actually frequented by by the general public, clients and most of the staff!

I've noticed that's the case at a number of historic radio transmitter sites.  From what I can tell, at some of them anyway, the stations owned the transmitter sites, and leased the studios.  Don't know if that was the case at KB.

[Scott Fybush]

At the time Big Tree was built, WGR and WKBW were operating equally palatial studios at the Rand Building (as well they should have been, considering that George Rand was a major investor in the BBC!)

It wasn't until later on that new, more cost-conscious owners moved KB into the dump on Main Street.

Man, I wish I could have seen that dump...

[Savage]

Just imagine, in your mind's eye, a kinda cramped, depressing hamfest where "no solid state stuff is allowed!!" and the average vintage of the gear for sale = your age x 2.5. 

Throw the event in a rundown old garage somewhere with inadequate parking.  A high-crime neighborhood would help set the scene.  Make sure the roof leaks badly.  It would be more realistic if you could find a garage where about 20 people had chain-smoked inside for the past 20 years.

There.  You've got 1430 Main.

[hypwr]

Lee, a relay from the WHAM HG-50 lives on to this day - it was retrofitted into WYSL's backup-standby-standby RCA BTA 1R as a switch to change power from 500 watts to 1kw.  I think it was originally an overload relay in the modulation section, IIRC.  The WHAM Westy was being stripped out for removal, and this relay was far more massively well-built than anything I could have bought new....typical of HG-50 construction.  I swear Westinghouse built those things to run 100 years.

Also proudly displayed on a bookshelf in my office: a panel meter from, ahem, "another (not WHAM) Westinghouse HG-50."  It's a cube about 6 inches square, weighs about 10 pounds, and has a 2kv scale labelled LEFT PA BIAS.  Interestingly, the meter scale and legend appears to have been hand-lettered!

Hey hypwr - here's a totally subversive, troublemaking suggestion.  Hook that KD HG-50 back up to Duquense Light, rip the NRSC processor out of the rack and put in a nice recapped Gates SA-39B limiter.  Turn off the freakin' IBOC.

Presto: a 15 kHz-wide AM signal on 1020 that will whip the pants off any FM in Pittsburgh.

When they were allowed to, the HG-50 and RCA's BTA 50F were incredible-sounding transmitters.  I still have 7.5 ips open-reel airchecks of CKLW that make people gape in amazement, 35 years after they were recorded.

Would that I could!!!!!!  There's no question, those old xmtrs sounded great.  Another great one is the GE that WCKY used for many years.  It was still in the building about 15 years ago when I visited them.  It had really neat round meters and was in the traditional GE green livery.

[Lee Rust]

Bob...at least 100 years. Especially at 1950 electricity rates.

[hypwr]

Savage-type-person,

Have you ever seen our 50HG in the flesh?  If not, if you ever get down this way, contact me by email and I'll set up a personal tour.  I will even take a photo of you in front of the rig.  This is an offer I extend only to "true believers".  Only lovers of old xmtrs. need apply.

Hypwr

[JustPastBuffalo]

Savage-type-person, Have you ever seen our 50HG in the flesh?  If not, if you ever get down this way, contact me by email and I'll set up a personal tour.  I will even take a photo of you in front of the rig.  This is an offer I extend only to "true believers".  Only lovers of old xmtrs. need apply. Hypwr

Savage, we might crash your invite. We'll rent a bus. You can drive. Fybush will navigate. I've got the tolls.

[chas108]

Savage-type-person, Have you ever seen our 50HG in the flesh?  If not, if you ever get down this way, contact me by email and I'll set up a personal tour.  I will even take a photo of you in front of the rig.  This is an offer I extend only to "true believers".  Only lovers of old xmtrs. need apply. Hypwr

Savage, we might crash your invite. We'll rent a bus. You can drive. Fybush will navigate. I've got the tolls.

Hypwr, if this tour happens, I'd love to see it as well...if you don't mind.