My KTEL Days

My first commercial radio job was something to remember. The station was KTEL and it was where my cousin Burl cut his teeth in the business. It was 1978, the station had been remodeled since Burl had worked there as they had moved the offices from downtown to the transmitter. It was still a real dilapidated place. When Burl and Lee came to visit one time, Burl pointed to the little holes in the wall and said--"that is where I fired a pellet gun at the bugs crawling on the wall". When I got on board the station was all country which took some getting used to, they had just stopped playing rock. My friend Jeff recently told me in the rock days, everytime a jock would play In-a-Godda-Divida (the classic 27 minute song) the Cranky Engineer would screech into the parking lot fearing that the DJs were partying.
KTEL was also the station where my Grandfather gave gardening tips on Tuesday morning as part of the "Men's Garden Club". The station was totally run by Jack Keating an elderly man who was rarely at the station. I only saw him 3 times during the year that I worked there. Once was when he hired me.
I was the last DJ to sign off of the old board. We were the Seattle Super Sonics station and I was working the board running the game when they won their NBA title in '79. Also the cranky Engineer was terminated after working there for 25 years during that one year. I later went back to WSU to get my degree and returned to KTEL for a brief time 6 years later.

The Third Class FCC License

My goal as a child was to get into radio.  It may be because as I remember, the tower of KTEL, a few blocks away, was visible from the house on Leonard Street where we lived until 1965.   It could be that when we moved to a new house, I had the bedroom that once belonged to Bob Garred, who had gone on to become a national radio voice before his passing. It may have been the memory of  my dad taking me to KTEL, back when we lived on Leonard to visit Burl, who at the time, was working as a Rock And Roll DJ at night and on weekends, while going to high school during the day.
At the time, to get a radio job, you needed a 3rd Class FCC Radio Telephone License with Broadcast Endorsement.
When I started my Junior year of High School, I studied to get my license.  To get the 3rd Class License, I had to pass elements 1 and 2 which were very easy, but element 9 was rather difficult and I was not great at passing tests..
During Spring vacation, we went to the Seattle area, of course we were all in Walla Walla at the time.  We stayed at the Thunderbird in Bellevue, which eventually would become one of the two Red Lions in that town, it would eventually become the Doubletree and then, later, be torn down for high rises.  The test was administered on certain days at the Federal Communication Commission  on the 32nd floor of the Federal Building in Downtown Seattle.
Both my sister and I were dropped off at the Federal Building to take the course.  I knew that I passed elements 1 and 2, but was not sure about element 9.
I found out that I passes all three elements and received the license looking like the one above, my sister passed elements 1 and 2, but was unable to get a broadcast endorsement.  Her's looked like this

When I got my first radio gig, it was a KUGR at WSU.  The license was not needed because it was heard on the cable system, rather than the "air".  I remember that was so the station could play commercials, giving valuable experience to a radio sales force and to production engineers.
 I finally got a gig at KTEL where I did need my third phone, which I proudly posted, but I was mad to find out a few months later that operator licenses where being phased out and operated were getting a permit in the mail with no test needed.  I believe today, operators at any level are not licensed.

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 29--The Whitman Campus Station

This Walla Walla station is 48 years old, yet it's easy to ignore. Many people who have lived in Walla Walla for years, may not even know it's there.  

KWCW is Whitman College's campus radio station.  It is located in the Reid Campus Center. 

I found it because it played rock, which was hard to find in my Walla Walla school days.  It for the most part wasn't mainstream pop.  It was things  like obscure album cuts, obscure bands, acoustical music, 60s music.  It was the ultimate underground station. DJs played what they wanted.  

In 1978-79, I took a break from WSU.  I got  a job at KTEL and went to WWCC for a year.  The community college did not  have a radio station and KTEL played all country. 

I volunteered to work at KWCW, that way a could play rock for the city.  I did not go to Whitman, but they were happy to have someone fill the air shift. It also helped that I had a 3rd class radio license, which was needed at the time. 

If you live in Walla Walla, you can listen to KWCW, known on campus as K-Dub at 90.1.