Post by dbsteff on Sept 7, 2008 13:55:58 GMT -5
When WLRS was still at the original location on S. 3rd Street, the transmitter and studio were in adjacent rooms with a window between them. One could be at the board and look through the window to see the transmitter. One winter's afternoon I had stopped off at a butger chain..."Burger Queen", not Burger King, but Burger Queen. Don't know if that chain still exists. Anyway, I stopped off on my way to work and picked up something to eat. Typical fare, I recall, chesseburger and fries, and a coke.
By the time I arrived at the station, the cheeseburger and fries had become rather cold, so I employed the trick all the other DJs had employed, when it came time for lunch. I opened the door on the transmitter P.A. (it was not part of the interlock system, I suppose because you couldn't really come in contact with any lethal voltages....and it was an OLD transmitter with quirks I've mentioned in other threads.) and placed my bag of goodies into that chamber to warm.
About the time I was ready to retrieve my lunch, the door burst opened and there was Clarence and our PD, at the time, Dick Brabant....the guy who had hired me.
OH SH----! I thought. If Clarence finds I am using the transmitter as a food warmer, he'll....well....let's just say he wouldn't be amused.
Soon, one could smell the aroma of my lunch wafting through the area. Fortunately, Clarence never remarked or went looking for the source of the aroma...to my great relief.
It was 1967, so it's not as if we had a microwave or some other means of reheating food. Still, I'll never know what would have happened if Clarence had noticed and found the source of the aroma.
Clarence and Dick unlocked the door to the Radio School and dissapeared into that part of the building. I quickly made a B-Line to retrieve my lunch. By the time I had done so, I had envisioned all manner of horrific possibilities, like the bag catching fire, the cheese melting and dripping down onto the final...a 4CX4000A, if memory serves...and numerous other horrible possibilities were coursing about in my mind until I retrieved the bag.
BTW, I observe that John Q. has begun posting the stuff I sent him recently on the WLRS page...THANKS, JOHN!.....some scans of vintage WLRS stationery are there along the the pics I sent him from WLRS circa 1968. They are the same pics that WLRS was kind enough to post on their web site, as well.
There are several CD's of music, spots, PSAs, commercials, and of course music and announcements by yours truly.
In 1968, WLRS did not roll tape for air-check purposes. I did record my own air, ocassionally, to see how I was doing. John hasn't posted any of those just yet, but I'm sure, he'll get around to it soon. I told him to use as much or as little of it (there's a ton of it) as he pleases.
Anyway, after we moved to the 800, we had a full kitchen, including a range and oven, fridge, etc.
Of course, I couldn't have abused the transmitter in such a manner then, anyway. It was now a brand new RCA BTF-10D and was tucked away on the roof in the transmitter shack.
It was controlled by a remote control unit that Clarence had fashioned. It was mounted ( see the photos on the WLRS page) in the right-most 19" rack as a black panel with pushbuttons for the filaments control and the Plate voltage control. The filaments control was active, there would be a purple light on. If the Plate voltage was active, there would be an additional red light on.
Clarence had set up the two racks such that all the audio gear was in the left cabinet and all the RF gear was in the right.
The pics show, to some extent, the transmitter control panel, the Collins Audio processor/limiter above it, the McMartin MPX generator/monitor above the Collins limiter, and the freq monitor etc toward the top.
Regards;
Dan
By the time I arrived at the station, the cheeseburger and fries had become rather cold, so I employed the trick all the other DJs had employed, when it came time for lunch. I opened the door on the transmitter P.A. (it was not part of the interlock system, I suppose because you couldn't really come in contact with any lethal voltages....and it was an OLD transmitter with quirks I've mentioned in other threads.) and placed my bag of goodies into that chamber to warm.
About the time I was ready to retrieve my lunch, the door burst opened and there was Clarence and our PD, at the time, Dick Brabant....the guy who had hired me.
OH SH----! I thought. If Clarence finds I am using the transmitter as a food warmer, he'll....well....let's just say he wouldn't be amused.
Soon, one could smell the aroma of my lunch wafting through the area. Fortunately, Clarence never remarked or went looking for the source of the aroma...to my great relief.
It was 1967, so it's not as if we had a microwave or some other means of reheating food. Still, I'll never know what would have happened if Clarence had noticed and found the source of the aroma.
Clarence and Dick unlocked the door to the Radio School and dissapeared into that part of the building. I quickly made a B-Line to retrieve my lunch. By the time I had done so, I had envisioned all manner of horrific possibilities, like the bag catching fire, the cheese melting and dripping down onto the final...a 4CX4000A, if memory serves...and numerous other horrible possibilities were coursing about in my mind until I retrieved the bag.
BTW, I observe that John Q. has begun posting the stuff I sent him recently on the WLRS page...THANKS, JOHN!.....some scans of vintage WLRS stationery are there along the the pics I sent him from WLRS circa 1968. They are the same pics that WLRS was kind enough to post on their web site, as well.
There are several CD's of music, spots, PSAs, commercials, and of course music and announcements by yours truly.
In 1968, WLRS did not roll tape for air-check purposes. I did record my own air, ocassionally, to see how I was doing. John hasn't posted any of those just yet, but I'm sure, he'll get around to it soon. I told him to use as much or as little of it (there's a ton of it) as he pleases.
Anyway, after we moved to the 800, we had a full kitchen, including a range and oven, fridge, etc.
Of course, I couldn't have abused the transmitter in such a manner then, anyway. It was now a brand new RCA BTF-10D and was tucked away on the roof in the transmitter shack.
It was controlled by a remote control unit that Clarence had fashioned. It was mounted ( see the photos on the WLRS page) in the right-most 19" rack as a black panel with pushbuttons for the filaments control and the Plate voltage control. The filaments control was active, there would be a purple light on. If the Plate voltage was active, there would be an additional red light on.
Clarence had set up the two racks such that all the audio gear was in the left cabinet and all the RF gear was in the right.
The pics show, to some extent, the transmitter control panel, the Collins Audio processor/limiter above it, the McMartin MPX generator/monitor above the Collins limiter, and the freq monitor etc toward the top.
Regards;
Dan