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Post by dbsteff on Feb 19, 2015 8:18:31 GMT -5
As you may know from earlier posts, Both Don and I worked at both WXVW and WLRS in the late 60's. Thereafter. we both relocated to Texas to pursue our respective careers. Don took a job with General Dynamics in Ft. Worth and I accepted a position with what was then The Collins Radio Co. In Dallas. Shortly after moving to Texas, Don and I met at his house and during our visit a pic was snapped of the two of us as you will find below. Don, thoroughly disenchanted with what has become of Texas, as am I, moved home to the hills of West Virginia and bought a great home in the hills outside Huntington West Virginia. I had an opportunity to visit with Don and his wife during my Christmas vacation. His wife snapped a pic of the Don and me which I found reminiscent of the one taken back in 1969. It also demonstrates that some things haven't changed over the 40 years since Don and I moved to Texas. Don's favorite adult beverage remains a good cold beer, while mine remains Kentucky bourbon. Other things have, indeed changed. I'm now envious that Don has retained his hair, though it has changed in color. 40 years is a long time, but it seems to have passed rather quickly. Attachments:
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Post by dbsteff on Jan 23, 2015 9:00:49 GMT -5
UPDATE ON PERSONNEL CHANGESI had a wonderful visit with Don and his wife Ann while on my Christmas vacation to West Virginia to see my family. Don and his wife had moved into a very nice house nestled in the hills just outside of Huntington. They have furnished and appointed it very nicely. Because of the season, Christmas decorations abounded about the house. Ann took a picture of Don and I standing next to each other. It brought back memories of a pic that Don and I took, shortly after moving from Louisville to Texas....don to Ft. Worth and me to Dallas. I searched and found the old pic, which I will post herein along with the recent pic, taken by Ann. Somethings change and others do not. I do admit to envying Don for keeping his hair even though it has changed in color. Something that didn't change....Don's favorite adult beverage is still beer, while mine remains bourbon. A friend suggests I not be too hard on Dallas.....so. When Don and I moved to Texas, Don to Ft. Worth and I to Dallas we found ourselves in a milleau only 6 years after the JFK assassination/ I was struck at just how patriotic the people in the area were and how ashamed they were of what happened in Dallas that fateful November day in 1963. Over the ensuing years the talk radio stations in the local market spent much time on all the countless books that had been written on the JFK assassination. Numerous were the conspiracies and the books that reflected them. I won't dwell on all of that as I don't want to get too far afield from the purpose of this webpage. Living in Dallas in those years brought with it an obligation to try to get to the bottom of the matter. I read all the books and listened to countless hours of talk radio. I must say that the theory put forth by Fletcher Prouty (depicted as Mr. "X" in the Oliver Stone movie JFK) always struck me as the most believable. Prouty always insisted that we were asking the wrong questions. He suggested that instead of asking "Who"...how many...what about the grassy knoll,(Lucien Sarti) we should be asking "WHY". he insisted that if we can figure out the "WHY"...we'll know the answers about the "WHO". He was in a position to know. His story is quite compelling. See Prouty's 1975 article "The Guns of Dallas". So Dallas in those days was a very special place to reside. What it evolved into now.....well.....the Dallas I moved to in 1969 and virtually fell in love with no longer exists and won't be coming back. It's sad. Forgive me for getting onto a tangent, but it seems worthwhile. Dan Attachments:
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Post by dbsteff on Nov 4, 2014 5:55:59 GMT -5
I mentioned that in that era (60s) Collins transmitters were highly reliable and as a brand highly respected. Collins later became part of Rockwell International, who then sold the broadcast division to Continental Electronics. I recently ran across an old Collins logo, which I have had all these decades. There aren't too many of these to be found anymore so I thought I might share it with any nerds, like myself, who might find it nostalgic. Regards Dan ps PERSONNEL UPDATE: Don Fugate (shown on the WXVW page) recently retired and moved, with his wife, back to the hills of West Virginia, from whence both he and I hail. He will spend his retirement with rod & reel. He will travel between Texas, where he still maintains a home and West Virginia during the seasons of the year. Don's adult children still reside in the Ft. Worth area. Attachments:
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Post by dbsteff on Oct 26, 2014 4:33:06 GMT -5
I promised to keep you aware of any change in status to Don Fugate or myself. Don, as promised, has moved back to the hills of West Virginia. Both he and I have become quite disillusioned with The Dallas- FT. Worth evolution. One need only watch a few episodes of the TV series "The First 48" to see what has become of Dallas. Sadly, one need only watch a few episodes of that same TV series to see what has become of Louisville. It breaks my heart. Don will spend time, in his retirement with rod and reel. He will shuttle (seasonally) between his house in Ft. Worth and the one he and his wife have purchased in WV. His adult children and his grandchildren still live in the Ft. Worth area. As for myself, I'm doing a gig with a small FM station in Macomb Illinois. I record programming in my home-studio, upload them to Dropbox and then the station pulls them down and airs them on Wed evenings from 9PM -- 11PM Central Time. The station: www.wtnd.org. They stream live. I enjoy doing the programs. I operate with the air-name of "Rick Austin"...a name I came up with by borrowing the names of two of my great nephews, Ricky & Austin. The format for my show is oldies rock. I'll continue to do this so long as my health permits. I will eventually follows Don's lead back to the hills. I don't know exactly when. I have a house I'd have to sell...etc. I'll keep you posted. It will be difficult to leave Texas, as it has been very good to me career-wise. Don & I both fell in love with Texas and it's unique myth when we both move to The Dallas Ft. Worth area in 1969. Dallas was already a big city, but with a little southern town personality. One could count one could always count on a charming "YA'LL COME BACK NOW" when leaving a restaurant or other business establishment. Those days are long gone now and will not be coming back....SAD!!! Thousands move into Texas every month from all over the country and, of course, from other countries. Indeed, Texas has for all intents become the northernmost province of Mexico. We have created a cultural cacophony that is proving to be utterly untenable. I can't imagine it will ever be made to work. Oh Well, time will tell, I suppose. Regards Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Oct 27, 2013 7:45:42 GMT -5
Hi everybody; I thought it might be worthwhile to reprise my Stereo tutorial as depicted in my "WLRS BROADCASTING in Stereo" article so:
Virtually all FM stations today transmit in “Stereo”… such that they don’t even make mention of it. But in 1968 Stereo was a very big deal. There were many FM stations on the air, at that time, but they were transmitting in Mono. Some were quick to get on board wit the Stereo craze, others lagged behind the herd. So, it was a Huge marketing point of distinction to proclaim that one was “Broadcasting in STEREO”
If you listen to some of my audio snippets, as posted by John Quincy on the WLRS page, you’ll hear stingers proclaiming that WLRS was indeed “BROADCASTING IN STEREO”.
The technical significance of Stereo Multiplexing was lost on the listener. Only those of us in the technical community really had an appreciation for it. In part, the Stereo signal was quite an engineering coup.
When the notion of stereo transmission first came into the Radio community, several competing techniques were put forth for consideration and ultimate adoption by the FCC.
The FCC proclaimed that any such technique must be compatible with the Mono signal already in place. There were, after thousands of existing receivers out there, and the FCC wanted to ensure that they were not rendered obsolete by the Stereo concept. Color TV faced a similar challenge when it was introduced into a well established Monochrome market. There was to be no clean break, which would have been the outcome of many of these other techniques……much as we are about to see in the Digital TV changeover coming in Feb, 2009.
Anyway, the challenge was to come up with a technique that would be useable by existing Mono FM receivers, but could then be decoded to produce Stereo in the new Stereo-equipped receivers.
I may be wrong, it’s been 40 years…but I believe it was RCA that solved the problem.
It was pretty darned clever, as to how they did it.
In order to keep the Mono receivers happy, one was constrained to transmit in Mono.
So how did these technical magicians provide Stereo over the same transmission?
Well, by means of transmitting a difference signal on a sub carrier, riding along side of the main signal.
It’s really pretty darned smart. I’ll offer a greatly simplified explanation, and hope it makes sense…..here goes:
If one considers the two signal involved in Stereo…..a Left Channel (L) and a Right Channel (R) The equivalent Mono signal is a simple combination of the two: L+R. This is the signal that was transmitted on the main frequency of the station. Thus, existing receivers could decode and present this mono signal as they always had. First problem solved.
Now came the clever piece of engineering.
I won’t dwell at length on how the subcarrier was generated or the 19 KHz pilot tone upon which it was referenced, as we’d be out into the weeds quickly. I will mention, however that the presence of the 19 KHz pilot tone was what the Stereo-Equipped receivers detected to illuminate the “STEREO” lamp on the receiver as well as to provide the reference for the demodulation of the difference signal that allowed Stereo to be produced.
I’ll try to explain this in the easiest math model possible:
The L+R signal was the Mono equivalent as described earlier. The R signal was run through an inverter amplifier to produce –R. The –R was then combined with the L signal to produce what is called the difference signal, or L-R. This signal was transmitted on the subcarrier.
In the receiver the difference signal, L-R was combined with the L+R in the following fashion:
L+R L-R = 2L
Now one has L (the left channel) decoded at twice the volume level. (Easily attenuated back to L)
Now the receiver would run the difference signal through an inverter amp to produce signal: –L+R. This signal was then combined, in similar fashion, with the Mono signal L+R, as before. This produces the result:
L+R -L+R = 2R
Now one has R (the right channel) decoded at twice the volume level.
The receiver now has decoded both L and R and can present them as Stereo to the speakers of the radio. In the absence of a 19 KHz pilot tone, the receiver would simply process the L+R (Mono) and present it to both speakers. Also the “STEREO” lamp on the receiver would be extinguished. PRETTY CLEVER, HUH?
Anyway, at a minimum, a station transmitting in Mono would require a new exciter to convert to Stereo….not to mention that all the studio equipment would have to be converted to stereo, as would any STL (Studio to Transmitter Link) equipment. So it was a major undertaking for an existing station.
So it was a very BIG DEAL, in those days, for a station to proclaim itself to be “BROADCASTING IN STEREO”
Most stations, including WLRS much ballyhooed the fact, as evidenced by our Station IDs and other stingers.
FYI: The Color TV challenge was solved in the same fashion. The main signal transmitted the image in Black & White, while a difference signal (much more complicated than the one used in FM Stereo) was used to decode the R-G-B color signal and paint color onto the Black & White picture.
Regards
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Oct 3, 2013 17:14:13 GMT -5
Personnel Update;
I have spoken throughout this thread of my buddy Don Fugate. I have learned that he has purchased a home back in our hometown of Huntington WV. He and his wife intend to relocate back there at some point in the future and perhaps commute between their home here in Texas and the one they, just recently, purchased in WV.
I am considering doing the same. The Texas that Don and I both moved to in 1969 and utterly fell in love with, simply doen't exist any longer. It's a real shame.
The temperate climate and the benefits of no income tax make us both loath the notion of leaving.....but the crime rate and the new demographics cause us both to consider what we're staying here for.
In any case. I thought you might like to know what's up with the old WLRS / WXVW staffers....namely Don and I.
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Post by dbsteff on Jan 28, 2010 7:16:00 GMT -5
early in this thread, I spoke of the instance wherein I boldly stepped through an equipment room (on the roof of the 800 building) into what seemed thin air. I believed for a few seconds that I had stepped smooth-off the side of the building. The even scared the stinky stuff out of me. I deal with it in more detail earlier in the thread. Recently, I came across, while surfing the net, a pic taken from a vantage point south of the 800 building, looking north. Sure enough, there is the infamous door at the top of the building. In the pic, the door even appears to be open. I shall NEVER forget that door, and thought you might appreciate seeing it: Attachments:
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Post by dbsteff on Dec 28, 2009 7:03:40 GMT -5
Travis.....Check it out.
You need only drive into the parking garage of the 800 Building and see for yourself.
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Post by dbsteff on Dec 17, 2009 10:53:31 GMT -5
Don at WLRS during the earthquake
I’ve tried repeatedly to get my friend Don to write his experience at WLRS during the 1968 earthquake, of which I have written in its own string, but I can’t seem to get him to do so.
As an alternative, I’ve had him relate the story to me, at length, verbally. I will try to write it in the manner he described it to me:
To help make sense of a couple of points, I invite the reader to look at the vintage pics on the WLRS page of the control room, console, mics, etc.
Notice that the microphones are mounted to goosenecks. The two tone arms were equipped with Shure M-44-7 pick up cartridges and set to appx 1 gram of tracking force.
Don relates that he was at the controls at the time of the quake, though no one knew, initially, that it was indeed, a quake. Everyone living in or having parked a car in the 800 Building garage was aware of the fact that the superstructure of the building rests on huge coil springs. The building was specifically designed to be earthquake resistant, though no one gave it much thought, since the likelihood of an earthquake in Louisville KY, seemed remote, at best. So, Don wasn’t expecting what was about to happen. (See the pic of the “800 Building” on the WLRS page)
Don explained that, suddenly, the microphones began bobbing up and down on their goosenecks, and that the tone arms each jumped up and off the LPs only to land again on the LP and bounce off again.
Don says that the entire building could be felt bobbing up and down. This was unusual and quite alarming, as one can imagine. The 800 Building was known to sway in high winds, also due to the spring action attached to the superstructure, but it was NOT known to bob up and down.
After what must have seemed like an eternity, Don decided that he should take the station off the air and leave the building.
He loaded the “SIGN-OFF” cartridge into a cart machine and started it.
I had recorded the SIGN-OFF cart and, of course, never dreamed it would be played in such a circumstance. So…it was relatively lengthy. It opened with the theme from “Gone with the wind”….”Tara’s Theme”, over which I read the station particulars…….something like this:
“At this time WLRS concludes another broadcast day…..WLRS operates at a frequency of 102.3 Megahertz with an effective radiated power of 3,000 Watts”….etc, etc, etc……the tape then faded into the National Anthem
Waiting on the SIGN-OFF tape to run its course proved to be excruciating for Don, who, by now, could hear much commotion in the hall of the 9th Floor, where our studios were located. So, he potted down the sign off tape and opened the mics long enough to say “Due to technical difficulties, we are signing off at this time.”…. Or words to that effect.
Don wasted no time in taking the transmitter off the air and making his exit to the corridor, where he encountered virtually all the other residents, who were home at the time, making their way to the staircase. No one wanted to ride the elevators down.
Only after making it to the street level, outside the building, did everyone realize what had happened, and that a tremor had occurred. The springs hadn’t suddenly failed, dooming the 800 Building to an untimely demise…..on the contrary, they had performed precisely as designed.
Don doesn’t recall precisely how much time passed before it was decided that the building was safe for re-entry, but he eventually made his way back to the 9th floor and put WLRS back on the air.
So…..there is some additional WLRS “Early Days” trivia for those interested.
If Don should ever decide to write the story in his own words, I’ll be sure to pass it along to LKY Radio.
Regards to All
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Dec 17, 2009 10:50:05 GMT -5
Don at WLRS during the earthquake
I’ve tried repeatedly to get my friend Don to write his experience at WLRS during the 1968 earthquake, of which I have written in its own string, but I can’t seem to get him to do so.
As an alternative, I’ve had him relate the story to me, at length, verbally. I will try to write it in the manner he described it to me:
To help make sense of a couple of points, I invite the reader to look at the vintage pics on the WLRS page of the control room, console, mics, etc.
Notice that the microphones are mounted to goosenecks. The two tone arms were equipped with Shure M-44-7 pick up cartridges and set to appx 1 gram of tracking force.
Don relates that he was at the controls at the time of the quake, though no one knew, initially, that it was indeed, a quake. Everyone living in or having parked a car in the 800 Building garage was aware of the fact that the superstructure of the building rests on huge coil springs. The building was specifically designed to be earthquake resistant, though no one gave it much thought, since the likelihood of an earthquake in Louisville KY, seemed remote, at best. So, Don wasn’t expecting what was about to happen. (See the pic of the “800 Building” on the WLRS page)
Don explained that, suddenly, the microphones began bobbing up and down on their goosenecks, and that the tone arms each jumped up and off the LPs only to land again on the LP and bounce off again.
Don says that the entire building could be felt bobbing up and down. This was unusual and quite alarming, as one can imagine. The 800 Building was known to sway in high winds, also due to the spring action attached to the superstructure, but it was NOT known to bob up and down.
After what must have seemed like an eternity, Don decided that he should take the station off the air and leave the building.
He loaded the “SIGN-OFF” cartridge into a cart machine and started it.
I had recorded the SIGN-OFF cart and, of course, never dreamed it would be played in such a circumstance. So…it was relatively lengthy. It opened with the theme from “Gone with the wind”….”Tara’s Theme”, over which I read the station particulars…….something like this:
“At this time WLRS concludes another broadcast day…..WLRS operates at a frequency of 102.3 Megahertz with an effective radiated power of 3,000 Watts”….etc, etc, etc……the tape then faded into the National Anthem
Waiting on the SIGN-OFF tape to run its course proved to be excruciating for Don, who, by now, could hear much commotion in the hall of the 9th Floor, where our studios were located. So, he potted down the sign off tape and opened the mics long enough to say “Due to technical difficulties, we are signing off at this time.”…. Or words to that effect.
Don wasted no time in taking the transmitter off the air and making his exit to the corridor, where he encountered virtually all the other residents, who were home at the time, making their way to the staircase. No one wanted to ride the elevators down.
Only after making it to the street level, outside the building, did everyone realize what had happened, and that a tremor had occurred. The springs hadn’t suddenly failed, dooming the 800 Building to an untimely demise…..on the contrary, they had performed precisely as designed.
Don doesn’t recall precisely how much time passed before it was decided that the building was safe for re-entry, but he eventually made his way back to the 9th floor and put WLRS back on the air.
So…..there is some additional WLRS “Early Days” trivia for those interested.
If Don should ever decide to write the story in his own words, I’ll be sure to pass it along to LKY Radio.
Regards to All
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Nov 18, 2009 8:00:33 GMT -5
Hi Everyone;
I enjoyed reading the mail posted here and am trying to recall if the all news station cited here KEWS was the one which found itself odd-man-out after a tower collapse some years ago, due to a small plane clipping th guy wires of a tower shared by numerous stations. There was a mad dash to get back on the air by a number of ststions, which moved to the other tower on Cedar Hill, where nearly everybody....TV--FM broadcasts from. Of course, the AM stations, not concerned with "line of sight" height issues transmit from theit independant locations.....but the tower collapse, at the time, brought on utter Chaos for numerous of the FM stations in the Dallas market.
The reason the matter sticks in my mind is that I had become a fan of the station and its news format, then after the tower incident, it simply vanished. I don't know if they couldn't find alternate place on one of the circulators at "Circulator City" (the broadcast complex at Cedar Hill) or precisely why they simply disappeared.
Perhaps Gary Scott can jog my memory.
Regards
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Sept 25, 2009 6:48:55 GMT -5
Well, at last, WLRS has fleshed out it's web page.
Looks like they are an FM-Talker of the conservative bent. In the Dallas market, talk has been the domain of AM Radio...so It will be interesting to see how this format works in the Louisville market. Only conservative talk has resonated in the Dallas market. Air America and other Liberal attempts at talk in the Dallas market have fallen flat, and done so quickly.
I like the new webpage....though, selfishly, I miss my "Early Days" segment, from the old site....Oh well!
As I have said in the past.... I'm very happy that the call sign WLRS has survived. Having been a part of the early days of the station, (1967 -- 69) it means a lot to me, personally, to know that WLRS, as a call sign is still part of the Louisville landscape.
Regards to ALL!
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Aug 3, 2009 6:51:17 GMT -5
Thanks so much for the info, Adam. I'm greatly relieved to hear that WLRS is still around.
They can carry on with all the silly format machinations, and the rest, but W-L-R-S id parto of, not only Louisville history....but mine as well.
I tried repeatedly to to contact "Tommy Lee" at WLRS, but would accept or return my calls or e-mails. He's certainly not as accommodating as was his predecessor.
You have done me a favor providing the info as you did, Adam, I very much appreciate it.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jul 17, 2009 6:06:23 GMT -5
Thanks, Adam. I appreciate the info and your effort in gathering it. Not too many FM talkers survive....at least not in the Dallas Market. It's the domain of AM Radio here.
I look forward to your info regarding the top of the hour ID.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jul 16, 2009 10:25:42 GMT -5
GOT it.....How come Terry is a poor 2nd choice?
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