A young man and a long wire.
Manufacturer Broadcast Electronics put out a press release this week drawing attention to WEBO(AM) on 1330 kHz in Owego, N.Y. It is using a BE AM 5E transmitter and a temporary “long wire.”
The station “has been radiating 1 kW from a long copper wire strung across three telephone poles as part of an STA since July 2006,” BE stated. “25-year-old David Radigan purchased the station at that time and acquired a BE AM 5E solid-state transmitter, replacing a 1958 Gates plate-modulated transmitter in order to keep the station on the air temporarily at reduced power.
“Under a previous ownership, the news station was divested of its capital assets and sold off for a dollar; at one point, the AM operated as part of the town’s movie theater operation,” it reported.
BE quotes its customer as saying “Some guys buy a house at my age. I bought a radio station.”
The station has been at reduced 1 kW operation pending approvals for a new tower facility, designed by Consulting Engineer Bill Sitzman of Independent Broadcast Consultants. The finished facility and transmitter will restore the station to 5 kW non-directional daytime and 36 watts at night.
A few years ago the tower was sold to a holding company and the broadcast license sold. Radigan Broadcasting Group purchased it in 2006.
