I am wondering if Bud is giving me a lead-in to use this clip:
There was a well known 50,000 Watt daytime station in Birmingham, AL, WVOK. It was known as the Mighty 690, and it was a challenge to hear them in Chicago. They signed off or reduced power about the time that day propagation became good to my area. I have included a short recording I made around 1962. It is strange how I was attracted to stations which used echo or reverb. This clip was recorded on skywave just as it was starting to get dark.
Late one night they came on the air with a test broadcast with a full 50,000 Watts. They had a powerhouse signal as strong as KAAY. I think I have about forty-five minutes of that broadcast on tape in case anyone is interested. (I need to digitize it, so it can be shared.) It is a shame they couldn't use that power level and antenna pattern full-time. If I remember correctly, I normally heard a powerful station from Havana on 690 during hours of darkness. Even though I was a DX'er, Havana didn't interest me because they didn't play rock and roll.
I am guessing Bud probably heard what used to be WVOK as his mystery signal on 690 KHz.
There was a well known 50,000 Watt daytime station in Birmingham, AL, WVOK. It was known as the Mighty 690, and it was a challenge to hear them in Chicago. They signed off or reduced power about the time that day propagation became good to my area. I have included a short recording I made around 1962. It is strange how I was attracted to stations which used echo or reverb. This clip was recorded on skywave just as it was starting to get dark.
Late one night they came on the air with a test broadcast with a full 50,000 Watts. They had a powerhouse signal as strong as KAAY. I think I have about forty-five minutes of that broadcast on tape in case anyone is interested. (I need to digitize it, so it can be shared.) It is a shame they couldn't use that power level and antenna pattern full-time. If I remember correctly, I normally heard a powerful station from Havana on 690 during hours of darkness. Even though I was a DX'er, Havana didn't interest me because they didn't play rock and roll.
I am guessing Bud probably heard what used to be WVOK as his mystery signal on 690 KHz.
Hello:
ReplyDeleteJust found your post regarding WVOK. If possible I would love to have a copy of the tape. It's just impossible to find airchecks of WVOK. My WVOK website is
http://wvok-memories.tripod.com
Thanks
Harold
Hello Ron/Bud:
ReplyDeleteWas wondering if I could get a copy of the 45 minutes aircheck from WVOK. Airchecks from this station are few and far in between. My email is wvokmemories@charter.net
Website: wvok-memories.tripod.com
Thanks so much.
Harold Brown