Kfab (high school, radio , friends)

[Gunluvver2]

I grew up in the STIX in Eastern Colorado. KOMA was one of the most popular 50,000 Watt Superstations on the air at that time. In the late 1950's and up until about 1969 they had some of the best Rock music and Disc Jockeys of all time in my opinion. I have friends from Texas to Alberta, Canada and we all listened to KOMA when we were in our teens.
KIMN out of Denver was another great rock station during that time but it had a weak signal. The SUper station of all time had to be XERX, I hope I got that right. Wolfman Jack was one of the DJ's for a few years. Reverend Ike was a hoot to listen to also. If I remember correctly they were a Del Rio, Texas station that had their tower just across the river putting out a 200,000 Watt signal. I might be wrong on some of these points and if I am I hope there are some old time radio afficianados who can correct me.

Those were some great times.

GL2

[Candleshoe]

Actually, KFAB is one of those "superstations", broadcasting on a clear channel at 50,000 watts, 24/7. If I remember correctly, KOMA had a somewhat directional night time pattern, which made their signal just blanket the great plains states at night. KRVN is also 50,000 watts, 24/7, but goes highly directional at night, meaning that you could conceivably pick them up clear out to the west coast with a great radio, yet you'd be lucky to pick them up in Kearney.

The Ionosphere comments were correct, it's all physics.

Anybody who's a fan of late night AM radio listening should pick up an RCA "Superradio lll", available on the net or in a lot of hardware stores. This puppy goes for around $50 or less, has incredible sound for music and has easily the best AM receiver at any price! From Grand Island, I can pick up the big Denver and Minneapolis stations during the daytime!

[itsMeFred]

Late night AM is where the weirdos hang out...

[Gunluvver2]

Like art Bell? LOL

GL2

[itsMeFred]

DH was out around 3AM the other night. And he pointed out that it's one thing that ol' Art sees UFOs and black helicopters and what not. But the truly un-nerving thing is how many folks call in to say they've had the exact same experiences.

Where are these folks during the day...? Do we know them? Are they bagging our groceries, teaching our children or running our municipal services?

Should we be scared?

[SCGranny]

What, you mean ya'll have never seen UFOs and black helicopters?

Maaaaan, here I was thinkin', move to clear skies an' I'll be able to see them a mile away, not wait for them to pop up outta the trees.. They're silent you know...and...suddenly... THERE!



Seriously, yup, they probably are bagging your groceries, or sitting around the next table over at the restaurant... the best thing about radio is its anonymity. The ones you have to worry about are the ones you never see - deep in their rooms, tinfoil over the windows... And those are the ones who won't call into the radio stations, because they know that "They" (FBI, CIA, NSA - pick one) can follow the radio and telephone transmissions...back to their house... see them thru their TV screens, even when they're off...

<theme from "Night Gallery" plays and fades>

[rangerider]

Couldn't resist homing in on this discussion. Though I've been in MT for over 25 years now, my formative years were around the Neligh-Norfolk area in the late 60s and 70s. Most of the time we listened to KWOW out of Omaha; it was a top forty station at that time and came in pretty well until sundown (note clever Gordon Lightfoot plug ). My folks and others their age listened to WJAG out of Norfolk. We always had a transistor radio sitting on top of the fridge and that's what was on, especially when the storms were rolling, winter and summer. They had a weatherman by the name of Louie Slaybough for many years, and he was about as good as they come, especially for that day and age when weather forecasters actually watched the sky. Later in high school I was learning to fly, and I remember seeing him out at Karl Stefan airfield in Norfolk, walking around and looking at storm clouds.

In the summer of '75 I was between my freshman and sophomore years in high school and living in Tilden, NE. I don't remember exactly where I was, but I remember listening to WOW as the Omaha tornado tore through that town on May 6th. I was helping my shop teacher build his house that summer, and seem to remember working up on the roof as we listened, but I can't imagine we had it built out that that much by May. I do remember it was a fairly nice day there, certainly far removed from what was happening 150 miles south.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it also seems like Saturday nights at 10 o'clock was the time to turn over to 50,000 watt clear-channel KOMA out of Oklahoma City to listen to Wolfman Jack. And I can remember lots of winter evenings carefully trying to tune in distant AM stations to listen to CBS Mystery Theater. Remember E.G. Marshall and, "Until next time, pleasant.....dreams?....(followed by eerie woodwinds). And I sure do miss the King Biscuit Flower Hour. I have caught some reruns of that from time to time, and it still has some of the best rock performances out there. Wish public radio or someone would pick up some of this stuff and rebroadcast it on Saturday nights - I'd be an avid listener.

Where I live I am fortunate to have two very good AM stations to listen to. One, KMMS, is a talk radio format with some very, very astute people staffing the mic. The other is a little art deco building on the banks of the Yellowstone river in Livingston, MT, KPRK 1340 on your dial. Great music and local events programming, and it's largely free of the endless repetition characteristic of the bulk of FM offerings. (Course, that format is why we can remember the lyrics to dozens of our high school favorites!) Wish I could pick it up better where I live. Until they get a repeater, that 10 bucks a month spent on XM (or streaming broadcasts online) is well worth it.

Great thread, it brought back some cool memories and, I just found out, you can order the entire run of CBS Mystery Theater for about 45 bucks. Here I come...

Still rootin' for the Big Red, even though nobody knows who they are here...

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by rangerider

In the summer of '75 I was between my freshman and sophomore years in high school and living in Tilden, NE. I don't remember exactly where I was, but I remember listening to WOW as the Omaha tornado tore through that town on May 6th. I was helping my shop teacher build his house that summer, and seem to remember working up on the roof as we listened, but I can't imagine we had it built out that that much by May. I do remember it was a fairly nice day there, certainly far removed from what was happening 150 miles south.

Great memories, thanks for the reminders... boy I remember that tornado... was able to actually watch it approach my parent's home in Ralston, but thankfully it made one of its few turns and missed their house (but that turn sent it onto Grandmother's Restraunt, Ralston Bank, and H&H Cheverolet)...

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

Keeping in mind, we're more than 350 miles west of Omaha...

My husband was sitting out in the pickup tonight waiting on a heifer to decide if she was going to calve on her own or require a midwife. While biding his time, he flipped through the radio channels to find a station.


He came home tonight, "You will never guess what I was listening to, tonight. KFAB!"


Is there anything that says "Nebraska" more than finding KFAB on the dial? lol

KFAB comes in every night here in Duluth, MN (about 450 miles NE). One of the strongest stations on the AM dial at night. Very listenable UNTIL KFAB's next-door neighbors (WTAM 1100 in Cleveland and KMOX 1120 in St. Louis) turned on their "HD Radio" at night and creamed KFAB with annoying hash that makes it difficult to listen to much of the time.

[itsMeFred]

you can order the entire run of CBS Mystery Theater for about 45 bucks.

I'm there, too!

Being 34, I got radio shows via re-runs on The Golden Age of Radio Theater when I was kid. I think I was 8 or 9 when I heard, The Hand on a Mystery Theater replay.




It haunts me still!