Tuesday, October 31, 2023

WYUU



Tampa, Florida's WYUU was an Oldies station from 1989 until 2002.  After a three year stint playing Country music, they flipped to a Tropical outlet in 2005.  They are currently branded as "92.5 Maxima" with a Rhythmic-leaning Latin pop format.
 

Monday, October 30, 2023

WTAK



106.1 WTAK plays Classic Rock in Huntsville, Alabama.

Sunday, October 29, 2023

KFAV


99.9 FM KFAV plays Country music in the western suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri.  They are the sister ststion to Classic Country outlet 730 AM KWRE.  Both are licensed to Warrenton, MO.
 

Saturday, October 28, 2023

WTHK


"Thunder Country 93.5" WTHK was on the air in Hudson, New York from 1995 to 2001.  At one time they trimulcast along with WTND in Poughkeepsie and WTHN in Ellenville, NY.
 

Friday, October 27, 2023

Stars

KWSR - Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo, California

KVGS - Meadview, Arizona

KHKU - Hanapepe, Hawaii

CKSR - Chilliwack, British, Columbia
 

Thursday, October 26, 2023

KLIZ


"Z107" KLIZ was a CHR station licensed to Brainerd, Minnesota.  At some point they flipped to Classic Rock and are curently known as "107.5 The Power Loon."
 

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Voice of America Museum

My wife and I recently visited the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting near Cincinnati, Ohio.  I've known about this place for a long time and being a radio nut you would have thought I'd visited years ago especially since it's less than an hour away.  The museum sits inside the Bethany Relay Station, the original building used by the VOA from 1943 until 1994.  At the beginning of World War II, Adolf Hitler was using radio as an effective propaganda tool.  President Franklin Roosevelt needed something to spread the truth back into Germany.  Local entrepreneur Powell Crosley Jr. and his team of engineers provided the technical knowhow and soon turned an unassuming field into the most powerful shortwave transmitting site in the world.  Crosley also owned WLW "The Nation's Station" whose distinctive Blaw-Knox tower is located about a mile up the road from the museum.  VOA programming originated from Washington DC and was sent by telephone line (and later satellite) to be sent around the world via Bethany's towers.  Today the Voice of America is broadcast in 48 languages to an estimated weekly worldwide audience of over 320 million people.

Main control room

A scale model of the VOA Bethany grounds.  The towers were razed in the late 1990s but the switching matrix, where they changed antenna configurations by hand, still stands.

About half of the museum is focused on the VOA while the other half is the medium of radio in general including memorabilia and tons of vintage radios.

In 1940 Powell Crosley commenced broadcasts on WLWO, one of only about a dozen shortwave stations in the United States at the time.  Meanwhile, Germany operated 68 shortwave transmitters and Japan had 42, both of which pumped out propaganda and psychological warfare.  Crosley's experience with powerful shortwave signals made him a good choice for helping set up the Voice of America.

My wife tapping out "I-f  Y-o-u  T-a-k-e  M-y  P-i-c-t-u-r-e,  I  W-i-l-l  K-i-l-l  Y-o-u" using Morse Code.

An actual unit owned by the inventor of wireless telegraphy Guglielmo Marconi.

"This just in....I'm a radio nerd"

Both of my chins really loved this place!

I bought a t-shirt at the gift shop.  A local brewery makes this lager named after what Hitler called the folks at the VOA--"The Cincinnati Liars."






I brought a sticker to the museum to donate if they didn't already have it on display.  It was a 40th anniversary decal which can be seen here.  They seemed pleased to get it and I plan on mailing them the rest of these stickers as well.  Seems like a better place for them than in a box at my house.
 

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

K-Rocks

WRHK - Danville, Illinois

WIMK/WUPK - Iron Mountain/Marquette, Michigan

KSRX - San Antonio, Texas

KRQK - Lompoc, California
 

Monday, October 23, 2023

KEED

The original KEED was on the air at 1450 AM in Eugene, Oregon from 1954 until 1985.  That year they moved to 1600 AM and broadcast there until 2005.  The KEED call letters are currently back at 1450 AM airing a Classic Country format.
 

Sunday, October 22, 2023

KJLU

88.9 FM KJLU is a Jazz station broadcasting from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.  They went on the air in 1973 with call letters KLUM.
 

Saturday, October 21, 2023

KIAI



"93.9 The Country Moose" KIAI is a 100,000-watt station licensed to Mason City, Iowa.
 

Friday, October 20, 2023

KEWB


94.7 FM KEWB was a Top-40 station in Redding, California starting in 1983.  They flipped to Country for a few years in the 1990s and then went back to CHR in '99 becoming "Power 94.7"
 

Thursday, October 19, 2023

CKQB



After a dozen years on the AM dial as CJSB, Ottawa, Ontario's 106.9 FM CKQB went on the air in 1994 becoming the first commercial station to switch from AM to FM in a major Canadian market.  They were a Rock station branded as "The Bear" for 20 years before flipping to CHR as "Jump! 106.9" in 2014.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

W229CQ

"La 93.7" W229CQ was a Spanish Adult Contemporary station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  They are currently a Regional Mexican outlet branded as "La Z 93.7".  W229CQ is the HD2 subchannel for sister station "104.7  La Gran D" WDDW.
 

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

KDNR

KDNR "Rhythm Driven 106.3" was a CHR/Dance station licensed to Los Lunas, New Mexico near Albuquerque.  They were on the air from 1995 to 1997.
 

Monday, October 16, 2023

KRNQ


"Q102" was a Top-40 station in Des Moines, Iowa beginning in 1974.  They eventually transitioned to Hot AC which lasted until the early 1990s. 

 
The KRNQ call letters eventually ended up about three hours away in Keokuk, Iowa as a Classic Rock station.  It is currently a Religious outlet as part of the Bott Radio Network.