In addition to being
a station personality and traffic reporter. Dave Edwards also was responsible
for shooting the pictures that appeared on the weekly music surveys.
John St John at 31 N. 2nd
St. Looking surprised because I kick open the control room door and
fired off the shot just as he closed his mike. (1973)
Bob Alexander at 31 N. 2nd
St. Goofing off as always. If there was a camera around he was "On". In
this shot you can see the window air conditioner just to the right of the
rack. It wasn't airtight by any means and the smell of Roy Rogers burgers
and fries from the store on the 1st floor kept us all hungry. (1973)
Over Alexanders Shoulder
at 31 N. 2nd St. Taken right after the above, he was on the air timing
into the network newsfeed (see "digital"clock). This gives you a better
look at the 1938 Western Electric console. The power supply for it can
be seen just past Bob's head, hanging on the wall with a PA amp on top
of it that drove the studio monitor speakers. The Gra-Lab timer on the
desk was for hitting the post when talking up a record. Just above the
mike you can see the Miratel Conelrad Air-Alert reciever. ATC and Gates
cart machines fill the rest of the spaces in front of the operator. The
mike is an AKG D-1000E. (1973)
Building the new tower on
City Island. This shown the construction of the transmitter shack
on City Island between the Market Street Bridge and the old railroad bridge.
The land was unused at the time and was leased to us by the City of Harrisburg.
The bottom section of the building is solid concrete to withstand a flood
like Agnes brought us the year before (1972). The actual building starts
several feet above the '72 crest. This picture was taken facing South.
The railroad bridge can be seen in the background. The tower would be erected
on the downriver side of the building to offer some protection from floating
debris in the event of another flood.
Aerial view WKBO tower construction
looking South. This shot was taken from Air Watch One. The angle
is looking South from just East of the current baseball park. It was then
the remains of the sewage treatement plant destroyed in the flood of '72.
Newsroom at 31 N 2nd St.
This was the newsroom at the old studio at 31 North 2nd St. Starting from
the right there's the control head for the 2-way radio with an AM/FM radio
sitting on it. Above that is a window that opened on the lobby. In front
of the 2-way unit is a phone and an old card phone dialing machine. Numbers
were programmed by punching holes in the appropriate places on the plastic
cards. The card was then shoved down into a slot on the phone, and pushing
a button would start a mechanical reader that would then dial the phone.
Hey.... it was 1973 and that WAS state-of-the-art for speed-dialing.
In the corner is the rack with most of the equipment in it. From the top,
an Ampex R-R deck, a cart recorder/player, an ATC cart machine, and a patch
panel. To the left was a home-made console constructed by our ace Chief
Engineer, Gary Magill. He stuck a "Collins" ;abel on it for the added class.
Above the console is a, believe it or not, wrestling timer used for the
obvious reasons. Through the window you can see the Production Room and
the Gates SnowPlow board. Sitting above it is another Gra-Lab timer. Behind
that is the back of the wooden rack in the control room housing the clock,
cart machines and Conelrad reciever. |
