[BC] WERI-in-the-sky

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

WERI-in-the-sky

After I installed WERI-FM, now WEEI-FM, at its old site on Route 3 near Ashaway, Rhode Island, Nat Urso, the station owner, decided that it would be a good idea to put an aircraft in the sky to provide radio traffic reports of the beach traffic. Westerly had Nisquamicut  Beach, one of the largest white-sand beaches in New England. I had a pilot's license and aircraft could be rented for $15 per hour from a FBO at Westerly Airport.

All I had to do is install a removable remote-pickup radio for a link to the studio. For this, I cut a sheet of plywood to fit into the storage area behind the seats in a Cessna 150. I screwed the remote-pickup unit to that, and installed a small folded-dipole near the rear window. This 400 MHz unit could be installed and removed in a few minutes. I had some initial problems with RF getting into the microphone, but this was solved by using a carbon microphone with a bias battery and a transformer. This provided line-level audio, which sounded quite okay for speech.

I tested this several times before my first live on-air performance. The WERI-in-the-sky broadcast was sponsored by Goldstein and Gurewich, a Farmall farm-equipment dealer. The broadcasts were a success and eventually I became a bit too bold for my young britches. I started to report the location of police radar traps!

In the '60s, setting up a radar trap was a cumbersome process. The police would set up a van on the side of the road, install a radar unit on a tripod, and connect everything up to equipment within the van, which would record vehicle speed on a strip-chart recorder. This was in the days before traffic violations were called "civil infractions," so everyone had a right to a trial by jury and review of the evidence. Because of the work involved setting up a radar trap, the police were furious that I would report in on the radio.

When the beach traffic was greatest, locals coming from Connecticut would take Highway 184, the New London to Providence Turnpike, which parallels Interstate 95 as it crosses the state line. Using this route, locals could travel unimpeded out to Ashaway, then down Route 3 into town. This bypassed all the heavy beach traffic. The Connecticut State Police set up a radar trap on this route and I reported it on the radio.

That evening, there was a knock on the door of my apartment in Westerly. Three burly Connecticut State Troupers wanted to "talk" to me. In fact, they crossed over the state line into a state in which they had no jurisdiction, and threatened me. This was Saturday night.

On Sunday during the noon traffic report, I reported my State Police encounter to my listeners. I also reported that there was a new radar trap just before the Route 2 traffic circle on Route 184.

When I landed the airplane at Westerly, two federal agents grabbed me, claiming that there was a warrant for my arrest in Connecticut. I was transported to Providence, Rhode Island, and held over night at a federal detention center until two Connecticut State Police officers came to get me. They transported me to Hartford where I spent another night in jail. On Wednesday morning, I was led into a room, where the three State Police Officers who had originally threatened me were seated. One said; "I hope your enjoyed the tour of our detention facilities. You are now free to go!"

I called Nat Urso, who was also a lawyer and special council to the Attorney General in Rhode Island. He said he would send someone from the station to pick me up.

The WERI-in-the-sky performances were canceled --forever.

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/