[AMRadio] KOMA radio

[Jim Wilhite]

You are right Don, they are Blaw-Knox.  I forget the height but think they 
were about 300 ft.  The last set of  guys were about half way up.  I tried 
to locate the coverage by the local newspaper but couldn't fine it.  They 
had pictures of the base installation of one of them.  I have yet to hear if 
they will replace them or not.  The OKC competitor at the time, WKY had a 
Franklin which they repaired about a decade back, so maybe there is hope.

Given the current call sign is KOKC and it is all talk, which serves a 
mostly niche market, I am not sure the revenues for the station will be 
enough to support replacement.  The current owners bought the station a few 
years back and paid near 1.6 million for the license and location.  One 
thing that KOMA had going was it drew a large sum of national revenue in 
those days and I am not sure what they do now.

A fellow ham and friend was hired a few months back to work on coverage and 
the licensing of the station.  I haven't talked to him so am not sure what 
they are up to.  However I bet they very well may give up the 50 KW and 
coverage to opt for more of a local map.

Sad deal all around.

Jim
W5JO

-----Original Message----- 


Hate to hear about those old 4-sided towers.  Probably Blaw-Knox; the clue
is the single set of guys attached near the middle, rather than multiple
sets of guys along the length of the tower.  The term for that configuration
is "cantilever tower". The guy wire insulators in the photo look similar to
the ones on the towers at WSM, WLW and WFEA.  The base insulators were
likely in two  cone-shaped sections stacked one on top of the other, one
resting upside down fastened to the concrete pier and the other attached to
the base of the tower.

Don k4kyv