No Subject

We forgot to check out 104.9 in Lima, Ohio for the new WUZZ call
letters, which is too bad, since we now note that the station has
applied to go back to its old WAJC calls.  Other than that, Lima radio
seemed unchanged from our last visit last fall.  Heading south, we
applauded the 24/7 live, local operation at WMVR (105.5/1080) in
Sidney, and listened with puzzlement to the all-Garth Brooks stunt
format on WLSN (106.5 Greenville), which has since gone to a "real"
country format.  Nice of Garth to do the station IDs, too...

Down I-75 a bit in Piqua, WPTW (1570) had a long noon news block
complete with police blotter and, yes, the death notices.

Dayton proved to be an easy market to visit -- almost all the big
stations are in just three groups.  Jacor dominates the market, with
standards WONE (980, and WIZE 1340 Springfield), urban WBTT (94.5
Englewood), soft AC WLQT (99.9 Kettering), modern rock WXEG (103.9
Beavercreek), rocker WTOU (104.7), and hot AC WMMX (107.7) all housed
in an old warehouse building in a downtown historic district.  (You
can see a picture at their website, http://www.arsdayton.com/).  Up
for sale are the three Clear Channel stations in the market, WING
(1410), CHR WGTZ (92.9 Eaton), and classic rock WING-FM (102.9
Springfield), which operate from the WING transmitter site south of
town.  And Cox owns not only the local newspaper and WHIO-TV (Channel
7), but also news-talk WHIO (1290), oldies WCLR (95.7 Piqua) and WZLR
(95.3 Xenia), and country giant WHKO (99.1).  WHIO(AM) has a strong
local news committment and good local morning and afternoon news-talk
blocks.  WING has talk in the afternoon, too, but mornings were filled
with a bunch of leased-time infomercials, oddly enough.  WONE's
morning show comes from Cincinnati sister station WSAI (1530).  And
WGTZ still uses that classic legal ID: "WGTZ, Eaton Dayton and
Springfield ALIVE!"

Smaller commercial stations included urban daytimer WDAO (1210),
gospel daytimer WGNZ (1110 Fairborn), and the urban duo of WROU (92.1
West Carrollton, with rap) and WRNB (96.9 Troy, with R&B oldies).
There's religion on WFCJ (93.7 Miamisburg) and WEEC (100.7
Springfield), "Rebel" country on WPFB-FM (105.9 Middletown), and
satellite standards on WPFB(AM) on 910.

On the noncomm end, that quirky AAA-loving side of us kicked in as we
tuned in to WYSO (91.3 Yellow Springs) at Antioch University, a darned
fine little station indeed.  WDPS (89.5) is run by the Dayton Public
Schools from 9:15 every morning until 4:30 every afternoon, when it
yields to share-time religious operation WQRP.  WQRP *used* to be on
88.1 in West Carrollton, but traded that signal to Dayton Public
Radio, WDPR, last year.  The Kettering schools had rock music playing
on WKET (98.3), with some WKET programming also coming from
Wilberforce and WCSU (88.9) later at night.  The University of
Dayton's student-run station, WGXM (98.1, with an on-campus 99.5 
translator), was doing the most unusual programming of all -- 35
minutes of a CD skipping!  Anyone home?

After finding a hotel with a good south-facing room where Cincinnati's
FMs would be easy targets in the morning, we headed south towards
Mecca; in this case, the WLW (700) tower just off I-75 in Mason.  This
must be the most amazing nighttime view in the country, with the giant
illuminated "W L W" letters stretching across the broad center section
of the diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox tower.

After dinner in Cincinnati, a night in Dayton, and a morning of
airchecking, it was back to Mason, WLW, and a most enjoyable visit
with engineering manager Paul Jellison.

What can we say about the WLW site?  We've visited, by our estimate,
at least 1000 transmitter sites in the last few years.  There has been
none finer than WLW.  The Blaw-Knox stick is as impressive by day as
by night, but that's just the beginning of the history that lives
along Tylersville Road.

The building that's now home to the Jellison family was the original
transmitter and studio of WSAI radio in the 1920s, and if you look
closely above the door, the faint image of the WSAI calls can still be
seen.  (The building closely resembles the WTIC transmitter in Avon,
Connecticut, by the way).

Next door is the WLW transmitter building.  Walk in the front door and
you'll see four transmitters: the original, and recently-restored,
1927 Western Electric 50kw transmitter; a unique Crosley "Cathenode"
transmitter, designed for high-fidelity (but low-efficiency) operation
and later converted to a more traditional design; the current Harris
DX50; and the 1975-vintage Continental 317 that's now a backup.

Walled off in a back room is the true gem: the one-of-a-kind 500kw
transmitter that was a joint project of GE, Westinghouse, and RCA in
the 1930s.  It's no longer in working condition, alas, but it's still
a monumental sight at a room-filling 54 feet long and 15 feet high.
It was water-cooled, and the cooling pond still sits out front.

Jim Hawkins has done a better job than I ever could at picturing this
magnificent piece of history; visit his page at
http://www.exit109.com/~jimh/wlw.shtml/ and you'll be planning your
own trip to southwest Ohio!

(Many thanks to Paul Jellison for his gracious hospitality; he spent
more than an hour showing us everything from the bomb shelter
downstairs to the STL equipment hiding in a lead-lined cabinet of the
old 500kw monster.)