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Post by dbsteff on Jul 15, 2009 10:47:26 GMT -5
OH...I forgot to mention....the new splash page doesn NOT say WLRS....only 105.1. I do hope they aren't about to drop the call sign!!!
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jul 15, 2009 6:55:11 GMT -5
SOMETHING NEW AT WLRS.COM
I went to the WLRS web site (wlrs.com) to discover that they have a new "splash page" referring to FM TALK
I assume that means that they are, as the splash would indicate, a talker.....anyone know what precipitated this morph?
They have been in a state of mindless flux for sometime now. I'm baffled at it all. I suppose that the automated experiment failed for them. In any case, I'd be interested in any inside scoop.
Regards to ALL
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jul 10, 2009 6:41:31 GMT -5
Nice write-up, humble webmaster!
Congrats!!!
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jun 24, 2009 6:25:59 GMT -5
You make a good point, Adam. I hadn't thought about the fact that Louisville's skyline has changed dramatically since my days there. It may well be that the windbreaking effect of all the new buildings...which were NOT there in the late 60's would have made a northbound walk up 4th Street a bit less challenging. I'll be interested in the results of your experiments.
The freezing rain event that froze my tires to the pavement is one I'll never forget. As I said, we get some awesome freezing rain and or ice storms in Dallas. I've had sheets of ice form on the side of my car...the side facing North...such that I couldn't get my key in the door's lock. This, of course, being before key fobs and remote control door locks.....but, not even in Dallas, have I had my tires freeze to the ground.
At the time, I was living in Shively, and had not moved to the rickety ol trailer that my buddy Don and I shared till we graduated from UEI.
When I put the car into reverse, it reacted much as if one experiences when one holds a foot on the brake and places an aoutomatic transmission into gear. I could feel the transmission engage, but the car wouldn't budge....it was weird.
Anyway, it would be interesting to see if you can replicate the experience in the winter. I don't recall the precise air temp at the time, but it was well below freezing, that is to say well below 32 F.
Take Care.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jun 23, 2009 6:40:32 GMT -5
HOW COLD WAS IT?
Spoke with my buddy, Don, last evening. I’m still trying to het him to pen some words about the earthquake experience, as the guy who was on-air in the 800 Building at the time it happened. He just shrugs. If I can get him to relate the story to me in enough detail, I’ll try to write it for him. He did remind me of one issue we all suffered through in the winter months, particularly after we moved to the 800 Building. It was how, when we would park in the Church parking lot, down the street from the 800, and walk to the canopy and front door of the 800, the winter’s wind would be blowing southbound down 4th Street. It would chill one to the bone. It’s a relatively short distance, but I recall, often, walking hurriedly up 4th St, and feeling like someone was walking immediately ahead of me with an atomizer bottle, spraying a mist of icy water in my face.
There were times, even though the distance wasn’t even a full city block, that I’d arrive in the lobby of the 800 Building with ice forming under my nose from the short jaunt. I suppose it must be the same even now. The wind would whip up the moisture from the Ohio River and hurl it down 4th St and into the face of anyone opposing its path. Geez, it gives me a chill just remembering it. Anyone care to share that they have had the same experience?
I’d be so cold, by the time I got to the studio on the 9th floor, my first task was to start some water to heat on the range in the kitchen to make some coffee….we only had that horrible powdered instant coffee, and in 1967-8 we had no microwave, so one had to wait for water to heat on a burner of the electric stove, just to have coffee, such as it was.
The WLRS antenna bays were none too happy with the icy wind either. We used to joke that we had only 3,000 Watts on the air, and expended, probably, 5 times that amount of wattage in the antenna de-icer.
Along the same lines, I remember, one particular morning that I rose at the usual dark-thirty to head to the station. I put my 1962 Ford Galaxie into reverse, to back out of the driveway and onto the street to begin my journey. The car made a bit of a lunge but didn’t move. What the “H” I thought.
I got out and inspected the car to discover that the ice storm, the night before had frozen my tires to the pavement. I’ve never had that happen since….it was a one-time experience…thank goodness. I had to go back inside and bring some water out to pour it on the ground to free my tires to roll.
We get some awesome ice storms in Dallas, but I’ve never had my tires freeze to the pavement.
Oh well, Don reminded me that we had some cold and chilling times during our time in Louisville. Perhaps you have too.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jun 6, 2009 13:50:43 GMT -5
Practice makes perfect, my friend. Record some articles from the paper, or elswhere, and listen to your playback. After you discover that you sound differently on tape than how you hear yourself in your own ear, you'll put that distraction behind you and can begin to develop an "Air Voice" It's not magic...just takes some practice. In the beginning, you might even want to over enunciate your words...it'll sound silly on playback at first, but it will coach you to enunciate properly, eventually. There are some other tricks, too. Have you ever taken any formal Speech" classes in school?
Maybe we can find some way for you to stream or send me a copy of your demo. Don't let too much time go by, if you're serious about this, though. Another common part of the "bug" is to start hanging around at real stations, if you can make contact with anyone at a station who can arrange it. If you find a DJ who is not a complete egomaniac, he might even coach you a bit.
Good Luck!!!
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jun 3, 2009 11:11:41 GMT -5
I understand that since WLRS moved to 105, they have to be operating with new equipment, thet are at an entirely new location, etc.
So I am glad to know that whatever station is still operating at 102.3 is producing a strong crisp signal.
You do seem interested in radio, Adam, ever thought of giving it a try?
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Jun 1, 2009 6:45:34 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Adam. I really enjoy knowing what's going on back in my old stompin' grounds of Louisville. I think your impressions are borne out by the WLRS web-site. If you go there, they have a "Jocks" tab....if you click on it, NO pics appear. It would seem that they are, as you suggest, totally automated. I've been out of the business for a very long time, but I've never known a fully automated station that succeeded, not in the long run. As for transmission quality. I don't know if they still operate with the old, now...new at the time...RCA BTF-10D transmitter or if they've upgraded. In my days, the signal was of extremely high quality even to the furthest reaches of our coverage area.
Good to know the old "800 Building" is still hangin in there. I spent many an hour up on the 9th floor, in the studio, and on the roof in the transmitter shack. You know from my "Early Days" articles that I had many an experience at the WLRS of my day. I've often wondered if the huge coil springs that the 800 Building rest upon would give out and have to be replaced. That would be quite the undertaking. I was much impressed in 1967, when I first used the parking garage, before I determined I couldn't afford it, and began parking a little bit down 4th St. in a Church parking lot, to see that the entire superstructure of the 800 Building rested on these springs. They were to render the building earthquake-proof. The caused the building to sway quite noticeably, however, in the one earthquake-related episode I remember, scaring the beejeezers out of the residents and the jock on duty...my buddy Don, once again, when the occurrence happened. I'm still trying to get Don to write that story for LKY Radio, but so far, no luck.
I know from web articles, that they had considered a new facade for the 800 Building, to get rid of the turquoise exterior. Last I checked, and the last time my buddy, Don, was in Louisville, they had NOT done so. The WLRS web-site still has my pics and "Early Days" article posted on the "Locals Only" / "Old School" tabs....so, as odd as it seems, at this time, I'm the only (former) Jock, whose pic appears on the web-site. That gave me quite a chuckle.
I appreciate the info, Adam. Thanks for providing it. I'm always interested in what's happening in Louisville.
Best Regards
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on May 8, 2009 6:25:19 GMT -5
Thanks again Adam; I appreciate being kept abreast of what's going on in Louisville and the area. The two years or so that I spent at WLRS are those I look back upon with much fondness. I was the proverbial "starving student" as all my money went to tuition and basic essentials, leaving no real "mad money"...but, still, I met many wonderful people and had many memorable times...some of which I have shared in the form of the stories I have penned here on LKYRadio.
Dallas has been good to me, career-wise and such, but I will always remember Louisville fondly. Having lived in Dallas for almost 40 years, I have watched it grow and change greatly...not always, in my opinion, for the better. The old Texas Charm and hospitality have long since been replaced with an air of the metropolitan, more like NY City, or one of the other big cities of the North. In the desire to achieve a multicultural Nirvana, we have, instead created a cultural cacophony. In short, it's a stressful place to live, filled with the land-mines of stepping, however unintentionally, on someones sensitivities.
Dallas is still a "boom town" and there are opportunities galore, still, at 60 years old...I've had a full career and have finished with ladder-climbing and chasing the almighty buck. Now, showing my age, I long for a more laid-back and slow life in a less complicated region of the country. Who knows, perhaps, I'll get to see Louisville once again and those towers you have enlightened me about.
I appreciate you taking time to write me about Louisville and the common transmitting faciltiy...or location. I find it interesting.
FYI...a few years ago, one of the towers here at the Cedar Hill location had an unhappy run-in with a small private plane, it brought down one of the towers knocking several FM stations off the air at the same time. Luckily, the fallen tower didn't land on Circulator City, so the down time for the impacted stations was a matter of days, not weeks or months. Only one of the stations was not able to recover, revenue-wise, and never returned to the air. I hope Louisville never encounters such a catastrophe.
Best of Luck to you, Adam. I hope I will hear from you again.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on May 1, 2009 8:55:07 GMT -5
Oh...for you technical types; one piece of technical info: The common transmitter facility that I mentioned is refered to by the engineers as:
"Circulator City"
because so many FM stations share a few antennae.
For the non-technical types: A circulator is a device that allows one to combine the outputs of multiple transmitters such that they can share a common transmitting antenna.
Should the place ever burn down or something...the Dallas Ft. Worth listeners would be in a reral quandry
Just a piece of anecdotal information.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on May 1, 2009 8:29:00 GMT -5
Follow-Up to my earlier report regarding my incident with a mail and identity thief:
Find Stolen Mail From All Over Metroplex Suspected thief arrested at apartment complex By SCOTT FRIEDMAN Updated 6:30 PM CDT, Mon, Apr 20, 2009 Related Topics: Irving
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A suspected mail thief is arrested in Irving with hundreds of pieces of mail from all over the DFW area, police said. Police and U.S. Postal Inspectors have arrested a woman accused of stealing mail from all over the metroplex. Police said someone spotted Tracy Jo Rhine, 38, leaving a Valley Ranch apartment complex with a big stack of mail. Irving officers stopped Rhine near the Oaks of Valley Ranch apartment complex on East Valley Ranch Boulevard early Wednesday morning. In a criminal complaint, investigators said they found 300 pieces of stolen mail in Rhine's car, from 9 cities across the metroplex, including credit cards, personal checks, debit cards, and bank statements Officers also found tools in the woman's car that were apparently used to pry open the locks on apartment complex mailboxes. According to Irving police, the stolen mail came from suburbs including Coppell, Farmers Branch, Plano and Allen. In a down economy postal inspectors said they would not be surprised to see an uptick in mail theft this year. They offer one piece of advice to protect yourself: don't leave your mail in your mailbox overnight, even if the box has a lock on it. "Most of these criminals work in the dead of the night," said Amanda McMurray of the US Postal Inspection Service. "And if you remove your mail once a day, every day that's pretty much a guarantee that you will not get it stolen." Postal Inspectors are in the process of contacting people who had mail stolen. Rhine faces federal charges of mail theft. If convicted, each piece of stolen mail can carry up to five years in prison.
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Post by dbsteff on May 1, 2009 6:28:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Adam. I've been away from the Louisville area for a very long time, and don't know what the heck is going on in that market.
My years at WLRS were among the most fondly remembered. Though it was a very long time ago, I remember those days as if they were recent.
Having been a DJ and a station engineer for WLRS in those days, I have a particular fondness for the call sign WLRS. I have always feared that, at some point that call sign might go defunct. I'd hate to see that happen, but I'm not naive regarding such things, either.
Again, thanks for the info regarding the transmitting locations, I appreciate it.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Apr 16, 2009 14:12:32 GMT -5
John Quincy suggested I share the following info with all of you. It is info I shared with John in an e-mail, thinking he might issue a new "E-mails we've received" but he asked me to share the info directly...so here goes...it's about identity theft, and the month long nightmare I've gone through:
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Hello John;
Just wanted to let you know of my month long battle with an identity thief. He apparently stole three payment envelops from my residential mailbox. These envelops gave him my checks, samples of how I sign my name and my account numbers at my mortgage company, etc.
He then transported my routing and account number to some bogus checks he had produced, and took me for over $1,300.00.
(Turns out you can buy check making software at any Office Depot or similar store!)
When I received my bank statement, later in the month, I nearly fell off my chair.
I had to close my existing bank account, open new ones, file a police report, and wait nearly a month for the bank to replace the money defrauded from me.
It has been a complete NIGHTMARE!
The police informed me that mail theft is rampant and that one should NEVER place one’s outgoing mail in his residential mailbox. They tell me it’s a daily occurrence for theft of mail to take place and the resulting identity theft to follow.
In fact, they told me that, since my neighborhood was, obviously, being targeted, that I should open a P.O. Box and file the necessary "change-of-address" notices, such that neither incoming nor outgoing mail would appear in my residential mailbox. I have done so. In any case, I never dreamed my neighborhood, an upper middle class suburban neighborhood, would be the target of mail theft, but I just got a painful education to the contrary.
When I filed a mail theft report with the Postmaster General, I learned that this is a problem all over the country and their investigation unit is completely overwhelmed.
So…I thought you and our LKY readers might like to know about the cautions Learned from the police, and the Postmaster General.
I still have to file identity theft reports with the credit bureaus….I don’t know, yet, what other “fun” this thief has planned for me.
Regards to you and to all our LKY members.
Dan
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Post by dbsteff on Apr 2, 2009 14:14:34 GMT -5
WLRS 1969 MY FINAL ENCOUNTER WITH JIM
Once again, this story is more about the internal and personal conflicts I experienced with another DJ at the time. I have hesitated to share it. My buddy Don, however, thought it would be OK to relate it since it is about the internal workings of WLRS circa 1969
I have mentioned another of the WLRS DJs in the context of his antics regarding recording some off color material one evening after sign off and that he and I had words about it, afterwards, because Mrs. Henson questioned me about having signed off at the appropriate time that evening, as if I had been responsible, in some way, for airing something inappropriate. Perhaps, had my old 62 Ford Galaxie been equipped with an FM Radio, I would have never made it away from the 800 Building, without realizing what was going on back in the studio and could have gone back up to the studio and switched off of audio processor... Or even confronting Jim about what he was doing. My old Galaxie was NOT FM equipped, and I had no idea, as I drove away, what Jim was up to.
Jim and I were NOT buddies after that experience. Additionally, a couple of things occurred that made things worse between the two of us.
On one occasion, I was asked to work Jim’s shift. I don’t remember if he was sick, or why he was NOT available to work his shift. So, I had to double shift, working sign on till noon, then returning for my normal shift from 7PM to sign off at 1AM.
In any case, I worked his shift that particular day. I decided that I would do a non-stop medley of Hawaiian music for about an hour in the mid morning hour. It was a mix of instrumentals and vocals, interspersed with the usual quotient of spots, news breaks, etc.
The studio line began to ring. It was Mrs. Henson. She said that the main WLRS line, the office line had been ringing off the hook with questions and compliments regarding that medley, which was totally spontaneous on my part….but apparently had been well received amongst the listeners.
I accepted the compliment, but really gave it no more thought. Little did I know that Mrs. Henson would let Jim know about it and essentially inquire why he had never made the phones ring off the hook in the past? He was, understandably, less than pleased with me.
After the incident, what appeared to be acts of sabotage began to happen.
You recall that I had prepared a number of reels of preprogrammed material for use, particularly in the even of a belt break on one of the turntables or some other panic episode in the control room. After a while, I came to use those tapes regularly. I would load two onto the Magnecorders…two different ones, each evening so their interplay mixed with turntable inserted vocals, would keep the program from becoming predictable. That’s why the snippets available from me on the WLRS page are primarily instrumental. I always inserted the vocals manually. Anyway, my tapes were kept on a shelf in the control room closet. (Not visible in any of the pics, but behind the 19” racks where the equipment was mounted.)
Dead spots began appearing in my tapes…erasures, for sure, not tape drop outs.
Someone was deliberately erasing these spots to make the tapes unusable.
I could never prove it, but it wasn’t too difficult to figure out who was doing this.
So… I went out and purchased a Samsonite briefcase…a BIG one, and began keeping the tapes with me at all times. I would take them home with me and bring them back for use each evening. It was a pain in the butt, of course, but it kept any further dead spots from appearing.
One evening I came in early and met a friend who wanted to take me to dinner. I left the briefcase on a table in the P.D.s office and my friend and I left for our meal. Jim was on the air, at the time…I don’t recall why, as it was not his usual shift.
In any case, when my friend and I returned to the station. I found that Jim had pried open the briefcase and was standing there to show me the contents: My program tapes.
He accused me of theft.
At first, I was unaffected and replied, Jim, I guess it didn’t occur to you that if I were stealing tapes, I’d be carrying them out…not bringing them in. Besides, I own these tapes, they are NOT WLRS property. It was then I lost it. Much screaming on my part ensued. He had destroyed the briefcase by prying it open and I announced that I’d expect him to replace it….which he never did. I couldn’t pursue the matter, as my last day with the station was less than a week away. I was ready to throw Jim off the balcony. I was furious.
Strange, how psychology works. I actually think that, even though he knew I’d be gone in a week, he wanted to try to get me fired, or at least ruin my reputation with Clarence.
I received word, not too many weeks after I had moved to Dallas, that Jim had, himself, been fired. I never knew why…but figured that what goes around….
Jim was a strange fellow. He was in the Louisville Radio School, so I guess as long as he paid his tuition he was kept around. He had neither the voice nor the board-skills to be much of a Jock…so I wasn’t surprised to hear he was gone.
Those of you who have been in the business for any length of time know that all too many Air-Personalities are prima-donnas…I would hasten to add there are more, on a percentage basis, in the software engineering field…..I’ve managed hundreds of them over the years… ;-)
I suppose we are, each, our own characters…I certainly am. Still, Jim was a special case, indeed.
So… there’s another anecdotal tale of the inner goings-on at 1969 WLRS
This happened, as I said, shortly prior to my leaving WLRS in June 1969. So, there aren’t any stories that I can relate that would be later than this recounting of my experiences with Jim.
Google indicates, he still lives in Louisville. I have no idea what field he ultimately pursued.
I still bug my friend and former-fellow DJ Don to write some of his stories…so far, no luck
Best Regards
Dan
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WJYL
Mar 25, 2009 11:35:34 GMT -5
Post by dbsteff on Mar 25, 2009 11:35:34 GMT -5
MY BAD!!! I was thinking of the old disco hit "I can't stand the rain" by ERUPTION....sorry.
Dan
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