[BC] Re: How Radio happened for me :)

[Mark Humphrey]

I too became interested in radio at an early age.  As a pre-schooler
living on a back road outside Ithaca, NY, our family usually listened
to WHCU 870 and WHCU-FM 97.3, which at that time were still owned by
Cornell University and transmitted from a big self-supporter atop
Mount Pleasant.  (The old tower was dismantled in the '70s because it
violated airspace requirements on the ILS approach to the Ithaca
airport, but the foundation is still intact.)   We listened most every
morning on a Stromberg-Carlson console set with a fascinating "magic
eye" tuning indicator.  From my bedroom window at night, I could see
WHCU's tower beacons flashing on the hill beyond the cow pasture --
and between those red lights and the magic eye, I guess I was
mesmerized by the technology.  Then I got a Realistic 9-Transistor
radio as a birthday gift and discovered major-market radio in the form
of WCFL and CKLW.

Several years later, we had moved to the Syracuse area, and one day my
4th grade class took a field trip to the big stations in town, WSYR
AM/FM/TV, which were then owned by Newhouse, publisher of the local
newspapers.   This was my first time behind the scenes at a broadcast
facility, but I noticed that everyone appeared to be having fun and we
all got a bag of goodies at the end of the tour.

Then at age 11, I had the opportunity to observe the construction of a
new FM facility in Syracuse: Mars Hill Radio, a Christian station
similar to what Willie plans to build.   WMHR's CE, Clayt Roberts,
shared an office at GE's former Electronics Park plant with my dad
(where they both had their day jobs), and devoted each Saturday to the
radio station project.  I had known Clayt since the Ithaca days; I
think he got started in radio as a transmitter operator at the old
WHYN-FM in Springfield and is now chairman of WMHR.   I hung out at
the hilltop studio/transmitter site most weekends, helped pull 8451
between the rooms, and watched the initial test of the CCA 3 kW
transmitter - and I thought those five colored lights on the front
panel were really cool.  We discovered that the riggers had left the
bullet out of one bay of the antenna, so I also learned a little bit
about TDRs!

As a favor to Clayt, I would periodically update his copy of the FCC
Rules with new "transmittal sheets" sent out by the GPO.  In 1972, a
new full printing of Part 73 was issued and I was given the outdated
March 1968 edition.  After studying the rules, I learned about FCC
legal procedures and realized that my high school could easily obtain
a low power non-commercial FM station.  So I submitted a proposal to
the school board, convinced a science teacher (Al Jenner) to be our
advisor, started scrounging for used equipment, and got my "third
endorsed".  My proposal was approved under the stipulation that our
construction budget was limited to $500. Al and I thought this would
work, so we went ahead and filed for the CP for a modest Class D
facility.  (In retrospect, an application for Class B probably would
have gone unchallenged in central New York in those days, but we just
couldn't raise the money)   While waiting for the FCC to grant the CP,
I satisfied my urge by hiking over to the local country station, WSEN,
after class and talking about radio with the afternoon drive jock.  He
convinced me to concentrate on engineering, rather than making a
career of air work.  Shortly before getting my driver's license, I
upgraded to a First Phone to satisfy the FCC requirement to perform
transmitter maintenance.

Our high school station, WBXL, went on the air in January 1975 with a
repainted GE tube console (a gift from WAER at Syracuse University),
Spotmaster "bathtub" cart machine, and the big-ticket item, a Gates
CB1200 turntable.  For processing, we had a Sta-Level clone which I
homebrewed, and a Fairchild Conax, donated by Clayt after he upgraded
WMHR to a Volumax 4110.  This fed a modified Phasitron transmitter
(also from WAER) and four bay horizontally-polarized antenna,
fabricated in the school's metal shop and mounted on a Rohn 25 tower.
 In college, I joined SBE and this led to positions with bigger
stations in the Rochester and Philadelphia markets.

Recently, I became part owner of WCJW 1140, a small market AM between
Buffalo and Rochester -- a station with loyal support from the
community, but a strict daytime license. (WRVA's skywave coverage is
protected in Western NY)  Fortunately, the FCC has allowed WCJW to
operate three FM translators at high profile sites which cover much of
the AM 2 mV/m service area.  We're now able to begin our live and
local morning show every day at 6 and carry evening high school
sports.  We've expanded local news coverage and gone to a 24 hour
schedule.    It's quite satisfying to meet listeners who appreciate
what we do for the community.

Still having fun,
Mark

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 2:06 AM, Jeff Johnson <jeff at rfproof.com> wrote:
> Thanks Willie! Your story and mine are similar, except I was a Christian
> before I was a radio junkie.
>
> Radio is still fun - usually - even though I've been on-call 24/7 since
> 1995.
>