PAT wrote:
> Today, Thursday, I got a chance to speak to folks at CCC and
> ask them about the television signal on Channel 4. The young
> lady who answered the phone at 620-251-7700 said to me she had
> only worked there a short time and knew nothing of it. She put
> me through to a man who had worked there for about twenty years
> and he said they had discontinued the 'station' (which was a
> learning exercise or practice for students *more than ten years
> ago*. He said "it was only licensed as a low-power station and
> we had so much interference (which, under the terms of our FCC
> license we had to accept) from the bigger station in Oklahoma
> City, and our equipment got old and hard to maintain, so we
> decided to abandon that part of our program. We have not been
> on the air in years, but Oklahoma City still comes booming
> through now like a local now and then."
> I told him I believed they were still a licensee in FCC records
> (Neil, am I correct on this? You said you looked it up)...
It's still listed in TvRadioWorld at http://tinyurl.com/6k8j5 .
Unfortunately, TvRadioWorld isn't up-to-date. The FCC database
indicates that the license expired on 12/01/1998.
http://tinyurl.com/3kpse
> ... and he was surprised to hear that. I asked him about the
> television station broadcasting in the 1950's doing weather all
> the time. He said he started working at the college about 1981
> and he could not help with that, but he was *certain* it had not
> been them ...
If I understand this correctly, he was certain that the station had not
been broadcasting in the 1950s. But he also stated that the station's
equipment was "old and hard to maintain" (leading to the decision to
discontinue operations) "more than ten years ago" -- i.e., before 1994.
So I wonder when the station was broadcasting? Perhaps during the 60s
and 70s?
> He did agree, Neil, that the 'old station, when it was running,
> more than a decade ago' was 310 watts. He suggested I should
> speak to someone at the 'Dalton Defenders Museum' (which doubles
> as the Coffeyville Historical Society).
> A phone call to the historical society (a/k/a Dalton Defenders
> Museum) did not produce much luck....
> So Neil, there is your half-answer. I realize not a very good
> one.
Well, perhaps it *does* answer the original question that started this
thread: why doesn't Cable One use cable channel 4? If the station was
operating during the 60s and 70s, when many cable TV systems were
being built, this might explain why the original cable company in
Independence didn't use cable channel 4.
In which case, Cable One could probably start using it now.
Still, there may be other reasons why Cable One might not want to use
it even now. DTV is going to arrive eventually (by 2009 according to
the latest rumor); consequently, Cable One might want avoid activating
any more analog channels.
Or maybe Stanley Cline's theory about traps [TD V23 #520] is correct after
all. < http://tinyurl.com/4oy9k >.
> I rather suspect the one time I got ghosting images and snow
> with a very faint picture it must have been the OKC station
> under good atmospheric conditions.
Probably.
And BTW, the station was K04EJ, not W04EJ. Given the recent thread
about the K/W line, how could I have screwed that up?
Neal McLain
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But did you know that back in the days
when FCC was actually issuing 'licenses' for Citizen Band radio
operation, *all* those licenses began with 'K' regardless of where
they were located? What do they have now, for people who bother to
tell them about a CB radio? I think it is first and last initials
and one's zip code. In other words I would be 'PT67301' I think. PAT]
Neal McLain (nmclain@annsgarden.com)