by Anotherwpgguy » Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:02 pm
Eldon:
After thinking about events, I have to retract a my comment on the intial install of the FM TX ... that wasn't me. I had to move the FM from one spot in the room to another when the new Gates went into service replacing the old Continental (I think) that wouldn't come on or turn off in response to the remote control. We retained that and it necessitated installation of a huge open contact switch to change the antenna array over between the main and standby TX.
So the morning man would phone me, and I'd walk the couple of blocks to the station to grab the CKOT car or van, drive out to the site and bring it on-air manually ... just between you and I, ... that was fun. Throwing the plate switch on what I thought was a power level the equivalent of a generator at Niagara Falls was pretty gratifying, even though it was on ly a Kw. The relays would kick in and the plate transformer would give this low frequency "Dunnnnggggg" sound as power and modulation hit it and ring it like a bell.
At the end of the broadcast day, we would play the sign off announcement, and following Oh Canada, I would flip the plates off, and the audio feed from the modulation monitor would turn to static, and I was off for the night to carouse and chat up the wild and crazy Tillsonburg girls who ... (in my opinion) .... should have been amazed at my part in them being able to hear the signal of CKOT during daylight hours. Girls who could swing to the hits of Jack Jones, Patty Page, and the bubble music of Lawrence Welk were pretty wild. The Ray Connif Singers had 'em faintin' in the aisles .... LOL.
One other memory comes to mind ... cleaning out the record library (remember when radio stations had those places?) .... there were hundreds of old very large transcription disks that were taking up valuable space, so I was assigned the job of gathering up dozens at a time and throwing them away. There was a swinging bridge across a gully on the west side of town, and a few of us would go there and play Frisbee with the disks into the gully below .... a bit of a waste now, but at the time, those disks were considered junk. If I'd had a shotgun, they would have made neat skeet clays.
Another CKOT technical memory ... we used a Motorola VHF for various things and had mobiles in the station car and a small hand-held which we used for remotes to studio link to go on air from many places. Under the right weather inversion conditions, the signal from a cement and gravel operation in Erie, PA would come pounding across Lake Erie and be much stronger than our hand-held. In the middle of a drop-in, you'd hear the truck dispatcher giving an address for a delivery of several yards of concrete in Erie, Pennsylvania .... what fun.
I rather liked John Lamers Senior .... he was as frugal as the day was long, but actually he was a real caring guy who knew my grandparents, and sort felt obigated to look after me and keep me away from corrupting influences of live .... like beer. He heard that some beer bottles had been seen in the apartment several of CKOT types shared, and he called me into the office and offered to have me move into his place. Which in retrospect, was a pretty nice thing for him to have offered.
Last thing .... I was paid minimum wage, which in Ontario at the time was a dollar an hour. I was on salary rather than hourly ... because Mr Lamers explained .... "you are a manager" .... what a hoax.
It was quite a break for me though .... how many 17 year olds get that kind of opportunity ... especially when the biggest TX I had worked on was a 6L6 metal tubed crystal-controlled oscillator that changed freq a couple of Khz by rubbing soft pencil lead on the element.
Zeesh!
All the best Eldon!
AWG