Post by dbsteff on Sept 4, 2008 18:40:28 GMT -5
As I've mentioned in other threads. I worked at WLRS between 1967 --69. I worked for a wonderful gentleman named Clarence Henson. Clarence took a personal interest in me, and I've never forgotten it. I have no idea what became of Clarence, if any of you know, please fill me in.
Clarence allowed me to be part of one of his installation trips. Clarence was, most of all, a broadcast consultant. He spent much of his time travelling around the country, putting stations on the air "turnkey" for investors.
In this case, there was a pre-existing AM station in Owensboro KY which was adding an FM counterpart. In order for me to join in the fun after my shift at WLRS, Clarence flew me from Louisville to Owensboro, or some little airport close by, I can't remember exactly. It was a super big deal to me cause it was my first time to fly.
I flew on an old "gooneybird", as they were called. It was a two turboprop plane with the wings above the passenger compartment. It had two Rolls Royce engines and was an Ozark Airlines plane. I thought myself HOT STUFF....at 20 yrs old, being flown around to help put a station on the air....WOW!
Anyway, Clarence picked me up at this little airport and drove us back to the station. I can't remember the call letters of the pre-existing AM station....it's been 40 years, after all. They had done something I'd never seen before, and it sure seemed a great idea. It would be even more a great idea today, with all the energy conservation measures we concern ourselves with.
They had vented the heat from the AM transmitter into a system of ducts and control dampers. In the summer the heat was vented to the outside. In the colder months, the heat was vented into the station to heat the actual facility. I never had time to learn if the thing was thermostatically controlled, or just how they managed this system. I doubt that the heat from the transmitter was sufficent to heat the facility on its own, but I bet it reduced their heating bill considerably.
Clarence had hired some professional tower jockeys to haul the heliax and multi-bay antenna up the side of the existing tower. The tower was a self supporting type and darned tall, though I can't remember if I ever knew how tall....it was a "Big-un".
Anyway, Clarence had positioned a large wooden spool, of the type the power company might have to transport wire, such that one could use a small ladder to get to the top of the spool, thus insulating oneself from ground before taking hold of the tower itself, which was still hot. The station would not shut down its AM operation while the FM antenna and heliax was being installed.
The hair on your arms would stand up and you would feel a definite "tingling" sensation in your arms as your took hold of the tower. Once completely on the tower, the tingling would stop.
It was the first and only time I had been on a still-hot tower.
Anyway, I was climing the tower to help the guys steady the heliax, as it was being clamped to the leg of the tower. As anyone knows, who's ever been to the top of a tower can attest, the tower is not the rock solid structure it appears to be from afar. At the top, one will find the tower "dancing" around such that one had better hold on tight, or find oneself hanging by his safety belt.
Without warning, the guys at the top of the tower began screaming over the walky-talky that the tower was collapsing. Clarence knew what was going on, as he was still on the ground.
The rest of us were scared, instantly, s--, well let's just say none of us would require ex-lax that day.
The guys at the top began coming down the tower at a furious pace. Me too. I was much closer to the ground, so I was off the tower well ahead of them.
After we were all on the ground, Clarence informed us we had just gone through an earthquake.
MURPHY'S LAW, of course. an earthquake...in KENTUCKY!
No one wanted to go back up until we knew what to expect. It was November 9th 1968......if you check the USGS web site, you'll see they have a record of the quake. It was actually centered in Illinois.
Anyway, later, I rode back to Louisville with Clarence. We discovered that this same quake was felt even in Louisville. It was powerful enough to cause the tonearm to skip along one of the turntables, and scared the beejeezers out of the DJ and the residents of the 800. It also knocked a cherub or gargoile or some little stone creature from the church across the street and down the block from the 800, off its perch, sending it to break in half on the sidewalk below. The parking lot adjacent to that church, is where I generally parked during my air shift.
A little known attribute of the 800 was that it was the first eartquake resistant building in Louisville. If you drive up into the parking garage of the 800.....unless something has changed over the years, you'll see that the entire superstructure of the 800 sits on huge coil springs. While these serve to protect the building from serious damage, they also allow the building to sway in the face of tremors, or even in high wind.
Anyway, typical of my luck, Murphy's law saw to it that the experience was especially exciting.....half way up a self supporting tower during an earthquake in, of all places, Owensboro Kentucky.
Still, I'll never forget the personal interest that Clarence took in me. I hope he is still with us, and that life has been good to him. "Phonebook.com" would indicate his son still lives in Louisville.
So much for another WLRS the early days story.
Clarence allowed me to be part of one of his installation trips. Clarence was, most of all, a broadcast consultant. He spent much of his time travelling around the country, putting stations on the air "turnkey" for investors.
In this case, there was a pre-existing AM station in Owensboro KY which was adding an FM counterpart. In order for me to join in the fun after my shift at WLRS, Clarence flew me from Louisville to Owensboro, or some little airport close by, I can't remember exactly. It was a super big deal to me cause it was my first time to fly.
I flew on an old "gooneybird", as they were called. It was a two turboprop plane with the wings above the passenger compartment. It had two Rolls Royce engines and was an Ozark Airlines plane. I thought myself HOT STUFF....at 20 yrs old, being flown around to help put a station on the air....WOW!
Anyway, Clarence picked me up at this little airport and drove us back to the station. I can't remember the call letters of the pre-existing AM station....it's been 40 years, after all. They had done something I'd never seen before, and it sure seemed a great idea. It would be even more a great idea today, with all the energy conservation measures we concern ourselves with.
They had vented the heat from the AM transmitter into a system of ducts and control dampers. In the summer the heat was vented to the outside. In the colder months, the heat was vented into the station to heat the actual facility. I never had time to learn if the thing was thermostatically controlled, or just how they managed this system. I doubt that the heat from the transmitter was sufficent to heat the facility on its own, but I bet it reduced their heating bill considerably.
Clarence had hired some professional tower jockeys to haul the heliax and multi-bay antenna up the side of the existing tower. The tower was a self supporting type and darned tall, though I can't remember if I ever knew how tall....it was a "Big-un".
Anyway, Clarence had positioned a large wooden spool, of the type the power company might have to transport wire, such that one could use a small ladder to get to the top of the spool, thus insulating oneself from ground before taking hold of the tower itself, which was still hot. The station would not shut down its AM operation while the FM antenna and heliax was being installed.
The hair on your arms would stand up and you would feel a definite "tingling" sensation in your arms as your took hold of the tower. Once completely on the tower, the tingling would stop.
It was the first and only time I had been on a still-hot tower.
Anyway, I was climing the tower to help the guys steady the heliax, as it was being clamped to the leg of the tower. As anyone knows, who's ever been to the top of a tower can attest, the tower is not the rock solid structure it appears to be from afar. At the top, one will find the tower "dancing" around such that one had better hold on tight, or find oneself hanging by his safety belt.
Without warning, the guys at the top of the tower began screaming over the walky-talky that the tower was collapsing. Clarence knew what was going on, as he was still on the ground.
The rest of us were scared, instantly, s--, well let's just say none of us would require ex-lax that day.
The guys at the top began coming down the tower at a furious pace. Me too. I was much closer to the ground, so I was off the tower well ahead of them.
After we were all on the ground, Clarence informed us we had just gone through an earthquake.
MURPHY'S LAW, of course. an earthquake...in KENTUCKY!
No one wanted to go back up until we knew what to expect. It was November 9th 1968......if you check the USGS web site, you'll see they have a record of the quake. It was actually centered in Illinois.
Anyway, later, I rode back to Louisville with Clarence. We discovered that this same quake was felt even in Louisville. It was powerful enough to cause the tonearm to skip along one of the turntables, and scared the beejeezers out of the DJ and the residents of the 800. It also knocked a cherub or gargoile or some little stone creature from the church across the street and down the block from the 800, off its perch, sending it to break in half on the sidewalk below. The parking lot adjacent to that church, is where I generally parked during my air shift.
A little known attribute of the 800 was that it was the first eartquake resistant building in Louisville. If you drive up into the parking garage of the 800.....unless something has changed over the years, you'll see that the entire superstructure of the 800 sits on huge coil springs. While these serve to protect the building from serious damage, they also allow the building to sway in the face of tremors, or even in high wind.
Anyway, typical of my luck, Murphy's law saw to it that the experience was especially exciting.....half way up a self supporting tower during an earthquake in, of all places, Owensboro Kentucky.
Still, I'll never forget the personal interest that Clarence took in me. I hope he is still with us, and that life has been good to him. "Phonebook.com" would indicate his son still lives in Louisville.
So much for another WLRS the early days story.