The Radio God's Thoughts

Radio....

2009-01-08T19:23:00.009-05:00

Just mentioning radio invokes plenty of thought and opinion on any number of related issues.

Radio will never ever be the same way it was 30.. or even 20 years ago. I realize people wish radio stations were still live 24/7 and had an all local airstaff, but that just can't happen anymore.

I was talking with a friend of mine in Denver the other night, who started out in small market radio and made it fairly big..... when he suggested live staff 24/7/365, I told him theres NO WAY that could be done, especially in a small market.. but he disagree with me. I think some people are still living in the past and stuck in the old ways, not that it's bad or anything.. but radio isn't the same anymore and people need to stop wishing it was or ever will be the same again.

Will traditional AM and FM radio ever die? Absolutely not, at least I certainly don't think so. However, it will change and it will be forced to adapt to new listening styles and habits along with adopting whatever technology comes along.

Now, mind you, I'm not saying ti should adopt EVERY piece of technology that comes along, because we all know how well HD/IBOC works, especially on AM. I'm talking stuff like alternative delivery methods, alot of which we already have in place, like being able to listen to streaming audio on cell phones and improving on that.

I do think one day, internet will be commonly available in cars one day as well.. so I think that's one thing the radio industry needs to work on. How can radio stations find new ways to get their signal,and therefore programming out to the masses in different ways?

One of the biggest problems in radio today is everything is corporate driven and mandated.. no one thinks outside the box ANYMORE. People make things out to be WAY more complicated then they need to be. Radio isn't that hard, nor is it extremely expensive to do great, local programming.. you just have to find new ways to do it and think out of the box when generating programming.

People are afraid to try anything new for fear of rocking the boat, they stick with what's familiar. I mean if you run a small town local radio station.. whats so hard about live and local AM Drive and PM drive... and instead of a live mid day person, have the AM guy voicetrack news, weather, sports and community events to run every 30 minutes till 12pm.. then after your PM guy do the same thing for the 12pm to 2pm period..... it doesn't cost that much more, if anything.. and you still have plenty of local content.

Unless you're in a big town or something major happens, your listeners won't really care.. they're get the information they need and music they like.

Programming is more about WHAT you do in terms of content not HOW you do it! General Managers, Program Directors and owners NEED to make their listeners feel important to the station and like the station cares about them. it is amazing what a little goodwill can do and how it makes a listener feel about YOU and YOUR station! When a listener feels so good about your station, guess what they're going to do? They're going to tell all their friends, family and coworkers how nice "that radio guy on WXYZ" is and encourage their friends to listen. Treat your listeners well and they will be listeners for life.. in radio LOYALTY is everything.

You NEVER know who a listener could be or how important they are to your station. That one listener you take 3 or 4 minutes to talk to on the phone about their day could be the CEO of a local company or the Advertising Manager somewhere.. and because of the way you treated them, they figure you must be "good people" and they decided to do business with you.

Ask your listeners what they want, need, like and don't like and don't want.. but don't do it to save face or seem like you care.. DO IT BECAUSE YOU REALLY DO CARE!

The fanciest imaging, deepest imaging voice and biggest signal won't mean SHIT if you can't deliver relevant, local content to your listeners and show that you appreciate them.

Whenever I've worked at a station and a listener calls me.. I will talk to them on the phone for as long as THEY want to. I NEVER EVER rush a listener off the phone. If I need to intro a song or do the weather, I just tell them to hold on and I put the phone down. Especially in smaller towns, someone like me.. the local radio personality may be one of the few people someone comes in contact with everyday, that listener considers you a friend.. and has made YOU a part of their life.. and we as DJ's need to realize and appreciate that more.

If it wasn't for our listeners, where would us radio folks be?

I remember working at one station, I was filling in for the Sunday morning gospel show and one lady called me up to tell me she really liked listening to me and that I was doing a good job... we then chatted about nothing in particular for like 5 or 6 minutes.... which i loved and when I hung up that phone, I felt so damn good about knowing someone was smiling because of me and enjoyed what I did.. that made my day!!

Let me relate a story that happened 2 1/2 years ago.. and is a perfect example of WHY I DO WHAT I DO AND WHY I LOVE WHAT I DO......

I was helping load a stand up wooden sign into the bed of a brand new pickup for the 2006 Memorial Day Parade in Williston, North Dakota where the radio station I worked for at that point, Country Thunder Z96 KYYZ was participating along with KTHC and KEYZ.

As we're slowly driving down the main street in town, waving at folks, having people wave back at us.... 2 or 3 girls who were probably no more then 10 or 11 years old stood up on the curb and in unison screamed, "WE LOVE YOUR COUNTRY!!!". That made me smile from ear to ear.. I looked over at my co worker and said "That, right there.. is exactly why I do radio".

I don't do radio for the attention or celebrity status, in fact.. I do the complete opposite of seeking it out, I kinda stay away from it. But being appreciated and knowing someone likes your hard work and has made you part of their daily routine is what it's all about.. because, then, you go from "just some voice on the radio" to "my next door neighbor friend who just happens to be on the radio".

In small towns, that's exactly how they see you.. just some guy on the radio and that's how I LIKE IT. They get to know your family, your pets, important days in your life... call up to wish you a happy birthday, stop you in the grocery store to chat and mourn with you during the tough times in your life. Your listeners become family.. and that's the best feeling in the world.

With the exception of one station I worked at where I wasn't allowed to have or show any individuality on the air and was yelled at if I used my name on air more then once or twice a shift.. I was taught to always be myself on the radio, be relatable and personable... be individual and make the show reflect your personality, make it your own "thing".

Now, how hard is THAT to do? And how expensive is it to do that?

Onto other things radio....

I realize everyone working at a radio station these days does double duty and barely has time for themselves, but WHERE in the world did we leave our manners?

If you post a job opening on AllAccess or one of the many other job related sites.. please, at least have the courtesy to let an applicant know you got their material.. and if they weren't the ones selected for the job, let them know. A form letter will do and is better then nothing........ it takes 1 minute to write and if you send it to everyone at once by BCC'ing it, that takes maybe 5 minutes. What is, maybe 10 minutes out of your day to do that?

In the past, I've seen job openings that I'm certainly qualified for, so I apply.. and I hear nothing back.. nothing at all in any fashion. I see the job posted again, so I apply....... and again, nothing.

I see the job posted a 3rd and 4th time, but I don't even bother to apply. (And theres one specific station I've seen advertise a on air/programming job opening on AllAccess 4 or 5 times in 4 years).

I don't waste my time. Why? Because if they don't have the manners or courtesy to reply to me, they don't have a good attitude and probably aren't someone I want to work for anyways.

One of the BIGGEST problems facing the higher-ups such as GMs, PDs and OMs that run stations today..is that they forget they were once new to this business and they started quite low on the totem pole.. and usually with help from someone.

People forget where they came from, where they once were and how they started. Not only that, they get frustrated with lots of questions or whatever..how else do they expect someone to learn?

Managers and owners forget how to treat employees sometimes too. Sure, you want to keep a fine line between friend and employer.. but you'd be surprised how much it would mean to employee to hear a "Thanks" or "You did good" after an especially good airshift or a really well produced commercial.. or having the boss buy lunch for everyone. it creates goodwill among everyone. .... which goes back to how you treat your listeners. You'll be amazed at how some of the simplest, smallest thigns you do will make others such as your listeners and employees feel!

ALL I'VE EVER WANTED out of radio was a job where I get to play music on the radio. I don't ask for a huge salary (I wouldn't know what to do with all the money, lol!). I just want a decent paycheck in a stable environment where I won't worry about being fired or having the station sold... and I want to work for someone who appreciates my hard work and treats me so well, is that so much to ask.

And this will sound a bit worse then I mean it to and like I have an attitude... but I frankly do NOT care about the size of stations signal/coverage area, small or big.... I do not care about how big or small a town is that the station is in.. nor do I care about ratings, wether they're there or not for a station. I don't even really care about the format, as long as I'm playing music.. I can adapt to any format

To me, all that matters is that I'm treated fairly at work, paid decently.. and get to make a difference in the listening area. That's the basics at least, I'm sure theres more that I could think of. I'm willing to go anywhere in the world for a radio job as long as I've got an internet connection and a grocery store close by

Life is simple and I appreciate the smaller things in life. We worry too much and make way too big a deal out of things. We don't need to have lots of things or spend lots of money to be happy or satisfied.

One day, my dream is to work overseas, somewhere. I'd really love to spend a year or two at some radio station, like in the South Pacific or Caribbean. Why? I think there's something to be said for immersing yourself in a different culture, customs and way of life...which would be a learning experience you'd never forget.

I think it would also be nice and yet another learning experience to bring fresh new ideas to a radio station that hasn't quite adopted some new technology and is lacking... it'd be very rewarding to help them grow, becoming bigger and better.

Sure, living on an island might be considered a vacation by some, but that would wear off after awhile. I'd simply like to go somewhere a bit less stressful, somewhat more peaceful and just relax and enjoy life.

No matter where I live or work, all i want out of life is a "slice of paradise" to call my own, if you will....I want to enjoy life, love my job and not regret anything.

Got any comments, questions, thoughts, opinions or whatever else on this blog? You're more then welcome to post a comment here!! ALL COMMENTS, wether negative or positive are approved and posted here NO MATTER WHAT!

As well, if you'd like to let me know what's on your mind and want to keep it private.. you're more then welcome to send me an email to walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com

I'm sick of this shit....

2008-12-04T03:08:00.001-05:00

I'm god damned sick and fuckin tired of people posting anonymously on message boards or saying stuff behind my back about me.

If you don't like me, fine... but have the fucking balls to tell me to my face. I'm a big, grown boy and I can handle it.

I am NOT out to please everyone on the face of this earth. I am not the best radio person out there, but I love what I do and I'm not afraid to tell someone what I think.

Sure, I've had trouble with some jobs before. But I'm only 25, what the hell do you expect? Most of the criticism comes from folks old enough to be my parents that seem to forget WHAT THEY WERE LIKE WHEN THEY WERE MY AGE AND WHERE THEY COME FROM OR HOW THEY STARTED IN THE BUSINESS!!

If I were say 40 years old and I left a job.. it'd be chalked up to "programming differences" or something more professional sounding. But because of my age, people place the blame squarely on me. While some of it has eben my fault when I left a job, NOT ALL of it is.

Sometimes I think folks look at me, see how much I know or have learned about radio or where Ive been in the 5 years I've been working in radio... and are jealous they didn't know as much or get as far as me.

Go ahead, make fun of me some more.. tell me I'm the laughing stock of the business, make fun of my talent or lack thereof.... but I'll tell you something, for every ONE person who hates me or doesn't like my talent in the broadcasting business....... there are TWO people who support me.

And frankly, the only people that matter are the people who support what I do and who I am. Half the time, those who hate me.. hate me simply because they are jealous and have to tear someone down to feel good about themselves.

I am FAR from perfect, but I actually know a fair amount about the business when it comes to technical, FCC and programming matters.

What other 25 year old radio person can say they sat on top of a 40 year old transmitter trying to get it in the front door of the station at 2am in the morning? How many 25 year olds can say they know how to replace a tube and fuse in a transmitter? How many 25 year olds have ever mowed the grass around the tower?

Like me or hate me.. I love what I do, and I'm here to STAY!!!

http://www.onairdj.com

Just a few thoughts for the weekend...

2008-11-15T03:05:00.002-05:00

Hello All,

I hope everyone is doing well and keeping warm!!

Anyways, I've come to discover one thing.. there are ALOT of closet Paul Walker fans, lol. Make fun of me if you will, but I've actually gotten lots of email or private messages on various message boards from folks who've followed my career or visit my website often.

I'm one of those folks you pay attention to because you don't quite know what I'm going to say or do next or where I'll be next. I'm different and I take pride in that.. My aim in life is to do what I love doing and make others smile, laugh and in general make them happy.

If I've done that, that I've done well in my life.

On another subject....

I think no matter who or what... everyone deserves to be loved. There is so much wrong with this world, everyone is so judgemental and hateful. I'm trying to change my ways and see people in a different light.

I'm a little stressed out and bummed right now, but I'll get over that. I'm kinda lonely too, but that's usual.... it gets real bad around this time of year for me.

I'm also TRYING to reduce stress, and it's working fairly well. I'm also promising myself that I won't get as upset at things as I usually do....

Anyways, y'all have a nice day.

"Radio Ted"

2008-11-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

Boy.. whew.. I'm clearing out some audio and keep finding more that I've never posted before!!

Enjoy these from "Radio Ted"!!

Legal ID #1

Legal ID #2

Another piece of production audio!

2008-11-14T19:59:00.001-05:00

This is from WVAC-FM 107.9 Adrian, Michigan

Legal ID

AIRCHECKS!

2008-11-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

I don't have these posted on my website www.onairdj.com but I thought I'd share them here.

These are from my short lived time as the early afternoon guy on "Hometown Country 103.9" WLMI in Kane, Pennsylvania

Friday June 15th, 2007 at the 3:15pm break

Friday June 15th, 2007 at the 3:30pm break

Friday June 15th, 2007 at the 3:45pm break

Monday May 21st, 2007 at the 1:15pm break

Monday May 21st, 2007 at the 2:45pm break

Monday May 21st, 2007 at the 3:45pm break

Enjoy and feel free to comment!! I'll be posting these links on my blog too!

My Voice On A Radio Commercial!

2008-11-10T18:14:00.000-05:00

I did part of a commercial for a station in Arizona. Can you spot my voice?

http://www.onairdj.com/LawleyFord.mp3

Enjoy!

JINGLES! JINGLES! JINGLES!

2008-10-28T21:53:00.002-04:00

I have a webstream up, containing NOTHING but the best jingles ever made! (7+ hours of material, with more being added!). Ok, so theres one or two songs and a few airchecks in there, but still..

It's encoded at 32K Mono

mms://nyc04.egihosting.com:6380 Will play in Windows Media Player
or
http://nyc04.egihosting.com:6380/listen.pls Will play in Winamp, iTunes, RealPlayer, Quicktime, etc..

My Birthday/Christmas Wishlist

2008-10-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

Hey, I might as well share what I want.. maybe someone out there feels like being nice to me ;=)

My birthday is November 19th, I'll be 25 ;)

Id really like a good pair of headphones. The only requirements are that they be whole ear headphones, ones that cover up your entire ear(helps reduce background noise) and they have a long cord on them.... thats it, I'm not picky at all.

I'm also kinda wanting a 2 or 4 channel mixer and a decent microphone.

Maybe Santa will be nice to me this year!

Thoughts.....

2008-09-25T13:18:00.002-04:00

How's y'all durrin out there today? LOL. Ok, I'll stop being silly!

I don't update this thing as much as I use to or even as much as I'd like to. Frankly, there isn't alot going on. I like usingf this blog to share my thoughts and opinions with the world... and rather then just post drivel, I like to wait till I have sokmething decent and worthwhile to say.

However, if y'all would like to have me update it weekly with a link to my "website of the week" or something.. please feel free to suggest some kind of idea.

By now, if you don't know it already, I am no longer in Abbeville South Carolina at WABV-AM 1590. It's come up for discussion among several people and on a few message boards, so I thought I'd address the issue.

I wasn't fired, told to leave or anything, I left. The station had been hanging on my a thin thread for the last 6 plus months, mainly due to a lack of money but also due to technical malfunctions.

Sure, people will say there are things I did wrong or could've done better in Abbeville and at this point, I'd probably agree with them.

But you also have to realize that AM 1590 had been on and off the air for several years, so residents didn't think too highly of the station. Abbeville also had an FM, Z93 WZLA. The Greenwood and Greenville stations also had decent signals into Abbeville so this little AM Daytimer in a seas of other signals was handicapped from the start.

In several conversations with the General Manager of WZLA-FM, he even admitted that there wasn't alot of revenue in town and even they have had some tough times in the past. We both surmised that the only way for both stations to survive and not have to worry about income is if they were both co-owned.

People knew about WABV and they listened occassionally and I had several people tell me they LOVED the classic country music. BUT, alot of people down there are set in their ways or they have the "well, i'll let someone else do it" attitude.

When I got to WABV in December 2006, the RCA BTA1-M that had been the stations original and one n only transmitter since day one, didn't even work. Upon further inspection, we found the transmitter had been jurry rigged beyond belief and most of the itnerlocks had been bypassed. The ONLY thing that functioned as originally intended and was still the way it was 50 years ago was the interloick in the bottom front cabinet door, which would shut the transmitter off if it was opened.

The RCA BTA1-M would only modulate about 40 percent or so no matter what we did with it. It had taken a lightning hit several years ebfore I got there and suffered from 2while I was there.. with both of those lightning hits taking the station off the air for 24 to 48 hours.

One day, the transmtiter blew a fuse. ANd when it blew that fuse, if you tuned to 1590.. it sounds like you were listening to WABV 30khz away at 1560 and the audio was incredibly low, muffled and distorted. We kept trying to fix it and it'd stay on the air for about 6 to 8 hours before something else would break.

We eventualyl determined that the transmitter was beyond repair. It was unsafe to use, let alone fix. Both my engineer and I, at different times, got a nice jolt while working on the transmitter. I spent a week off the air until my engineer could get the Gates BC1G tuned to 1450khz from Hendersonville, North Carolina down to Abbeville, tuned up and installed.

Boy oh boy, that thing made a HUGE difference. WABV was RIGHT on frequency and instead of modulating at 40 percent and being at 250 Watts, we had her modulating at about 110 percent with 500 watts!!

When it came to money, I tried to sell time to churches, which proved futile and unsuccessful. And as some people know, I sold informercial time to several companies....that is mainly what kept the station afloat for the last 6 months!

I tried hiring sales people and I either got applicants who had NO earthly clue about radio. One person who applied said, "Why don't you flip on an FM signal?" and one person applied for a sales job at WABV had worked in Newark, NJ at station there called "Streetz 96.5" and when I asked her if it was an unlicensed pirate station she said, "I have no idea, I just did my job".

One sales person I hried QUIT after a week. Any sales person worth their salt knwos it takes longer then a week to get some results.

I tried in Abbeville, I really did. No one can say otherwise. Sure, I did some things wrong and I failesd. However, I doubt anyone would've lasted as long as I did under the conditions and circumstances I did. Secondly, for as much as people crticized me about WABV being a small town, shit signaled waste of spectrum, WHAT RADIO DORK WOULDN'T WANT TO PROGRAM THEIR OWN STATION?

I didn't have alot to work with there. I used an EMachiens computer bought at a pawn shop running a free automation program. I had a $90 Behringer Mixer board with a $40 Shure PG48 Microphone and a used (paid $200) Innovonics 222 audio processor. But my listeners didn't know any different and having a $10,000 console... $5,000 automation system, $500 microphone and $3000 audio processor wouldn't have made a difference ro helped revenue much at all.

To those who said I should've installed Scott Studios or ENCO or whatever..put in a EV Re 20 Microphone, an Orban audio processor....or a solid state transmitter...well, go take a leap! You've very obviously NEVER worked in a truly small market where revenue is low. There would be NO RETURN on ivnestment for most of those things (except the transmitter)and most of that wouldn't have amde a damn difference on the air. Some stations, even if they were making a profit, couldn't afford all that.

Since there was also talk about why the Owner and Licensee, Hellinger Broadcasting, Inc didn't seem to care or do much with the station, I'll dispell those rumours here and now.

My agreement as an EMPLOYEE of Hellinger Broadcasting, Inc was basically what an LMA (Lease) would look like. I was responsible for all programming, as well as keeping the station in compliance with FCC rules and regulations. I was responsible for paying the bills and bringing in revenue. I was allowed to keep what was left over, which was my salary. (By the way, I didn't take a salary for 9 months, just to keep WABV on the air!)

And before anyone tries to start trouble, it was NOT an LMA. I was simply an employee whos employment agreement looked like an LMA. I had a letter to prove I was hried as a WABV employee.

Frankly, I never told anyone what the real "behind closed doors" situation there concerning the condition of the station or my eployment because, franjkly, it was NO ONES business!

Whew, I got THAT off my chest. lol

I'll post some more again sometime soon. Y'all have a wonderful now, ya hear?!

Wow, it's been AGES...

2008-08-17T13:43:00.004-04:00

Ok, so it's only been 3 1/2 months since I last updated this thing, but in the world of blogging, 3 1/2 months is an eternity!!

Anyways, I just wanted to drop in, say Hello and all that good junk!

First of all, I want to tell anyone and everyone who reads this blog that my "nickname" and the title you see at the top of this page, "The Radio God" is JUST A JOKE! Now now, save your comments on my talent, abilities or supposed lack thereof. Awhile ago, I was simply looking for a really easy to remember and spell website domain name and just randomly came up with "theradiogod.com" and checked to see if it was available, and it was.. so I took it!

And to "unify" the domain name and my page, I started to use "The Radio GOd" as a nickname. However, I NEVER meant people to take it SO seriously! Hey, theradiogod.com is real easy to remember and spell when you want to get to my website, eh?

And for ANYONE who posts a comment to this or any other blog entries on my blog page who thinks I won't post it just because it's negative... well, go look at some other entries... I've got nothing to hide.

Anyways, it's a Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting here with George, my beagle while watching, what appears to be, a "Mythbusters" Marathon on the Discovery channel! I LOVE THIS SHOW! In a way, they're kinda like me.. they love to try things out, take this apart, build them and they get to play with stuff for a living..very cool! When I try and repair something, the farthest it ever gets is me taking it apart!

George is actually curled up on the couch behind me, as seen in the picture below..

I'm also listening to some jingles from http://www.jinglemad.com between Mythbusters segments.

Ah, I've got to do laundry later.. that's about the most excitement I'll get out of my day today!

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

2008-05-31T03:12:00.003-04:00

Well, I haven't updated this long in about a month have I? So sorry for slackin off!

We had some technical problems here and I put out some (not literally) fires. There were several computer issues and transmitter issues that kept plauging the radio station. We'd fix them, it'd break again, we'd fix, it'd break... and each time, when it broke it'd do the same thing.. but it was a different fix each time.

I want to thank Engineer Glen Zeigler who's been a great help programming wise. A big, big thank you also goes out to former Star 99 WEZN Morning Host John Harper, he and I correspond on a very regular basis and he's been an invaluable source of information and great ideas! I owe a debt of gratitude to Mark Hellinger, my friend and the owner of WABV... he has been very very supportive and understanding in the last 18 months!! I owe alot to ira Littman as well, who, over the last 4 1/2 years has become my best friend. He's been in radio for 40 years and he is someone I trust 100 percent and always get some great, honest advice from.

Josh Wilkey has also been invaluable and is the first to tell me when I'm doing something stupid or when I'm right on track. he's a straight shooter and is always there when I need some advice!

WABV will soon be upgrading our automation system, Thanks in part to our new "sister station", Bluegrass Country 1480 WSRC in Fair Bluff, North Carolina. WABV has been simulcasting WSRC's wonderful Classic Country, Western Swing and Bluegrass format for the last few weeks. We have joined forces and resources, and some great things are in the works. We currently carry IRN-USA news, we're working on even more local shows and there's going to be a big Bluegrass festival in Fair Bluff sometime this year.

Check out WSRC 1480 online at http://www.bluegrass-countryonline.com

Big things, exciting things.. and CHANGES are coming!

I AM BEING LOCKED UP! PLEASE HELP BAIL ME OUT!!

2008-04-30T15:06:00.001-04:00

Cool Country 1590 WABV's Paul Walker (that's me) will be getting locked up on May 22nd from 3 to 4pm in support of the Muscular Distrophy Association.
The event will be taking place at The Inn On The Square in Greenwood. The website for The Inn On The Square in Greenwood is http://www.innonthesquaresc.com/

Also, I will (hopefully) be doing live breaks on the air via cell phone while i am locked up to help further promote the cause and to get me bailed out.

In the next week or so, I will have more information as to how you can donate money to the MDA specificlaly for me, to get me bailed out.

I will also be talking, on the air, to one young MDA National spokesperson ho lives just up the road in Due West.

Other exciting things to come!

Well, shit..Another Crappy Day At The Radio Ranch in Abbeville...

2008-04-18T19:27:00.003-04:00

Ah well, we were back on the air at The Mighty 1590 for a few hours Thursday night before sign off. It WAS working well... 1000 Watts, 125 percent modulation.

We were the loudest AM signal in Abbeville-Greenwood! We had blown a rectifier earlier Wednesday which is what caused the transmitter to malfunction and not operate properly.

Anyways, The Gates BC1H was fine when I signed off. When I signed on Friday morning, the RF Line Current was at "ZERO" again and my audio was muddier then a pig, 6 feet deep in steaming s^%t!

My engineer had to order some parts from Newarks Electronics in Gafney, SC. WABV was off the air all day Friday and will be off till at least Saturday Morning.

The transmitter was blowing the 2 and 3 amp fuses as quick as I could get them in. I put in a NEW 3amp fuse and it went "kapoof" as soon as I turned the transmitter on.

I was expecting to hear from a few people on the phone today, but didn't. One of them has a very justifiable excuse and I hope she feels better....... but the other guy, we keep playing phone tag.

Oh well.

I'm probably going to end up going to bed early tonight.. nothing else to do.

Sometimes I wonder why I still give a shit about radio, why I still care or even try anymore. I love the business but it obviously doesn't love me back.

Today is NOT my day.....

2008-04-16T16:02:00.003-04:00

Well, the day can't get TOO much worse.

A few hours after signing on this morning, I noticed my audio was real loud, distorted and muddy. Shortly after, I got a phone call from a ham radio friend of mine in town who said the same thing.

I tried fiddling with the modulation monitor along with my Innovonics 222 and Symetrix 528 processors thinking a setting had SOMEHOW gone awry.

Well, that didn't solve anything...

I turned off my processor, in hopes I could by pass it and thinking it was an equipment issue. I could watch those levels for a day till my engineer got here.

Nope, it wasn't that either.

In fact, when I turned off the processor, I noticed that I had a slightly noisy signal on the boombox radio in my studio. That's when I looked over at my Gates BC1G transmitter.

The RF Plate volts read about 2250 or 2300. The RF Plate Current, RF Line Current and Modulation meters all had readings WAY out of wack. In fact, the RF Line current read ZERO and the other 2 barely read ANYTHING at all.

I shut the transmitter off, grabbed the keys to the fence and walked outside. I walked along the transmission cable and didn't see a problem. I ended up not needing to go into the fence, as everything looked ok.

I walked back to the front door......and it was... LOCKED! Out of habit, when I walk out the front door, I lock it, unless Im just going to the mailbox. I was on the phone with someone and got distracted.. locking the door on my way out without thinking about it.

The back door to the station was latched and had the deadbolt locked. All the windows were locked too.

I took a square piece of wood that was pretty thick and midly tapped it against the window pane till it broke, reached in and unlatched the lock and climbed in through the window behind the soda machine.

I called my Chief Engineer, he told me to shut the transmitter off and he'd be down tomorrow to look into it.

What leaves me wondering is... if barely, if any, power was getting to the tower.. how was my friend 4 or 5 miles away getting a listenable signal from the station? When my ham friend called me, he didn't note any signal issues with regards to it being weaker then usual

I also peaked at all four 833 tubes in the transmitter and didn't see anything wrong.

Mind you, this transmitter is in great shape (or was??) and had been wonderfully maintainted while in use up to a few years ago at a station on 1460 in Western North Carolina. It's way better then the RCA BTA1-M WABV had in use that finally died after 51 1/2 years of service.

Other then having my audio and signal go to shit.. and having to break the window, my dady is just damn peachy. At least it's not winter, and I have a permanent breeze in the back hallway now.

Not much else new to report!

More updates

2008-03-14T22:40:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!

It's been a little while since I *REALLY* updated this page!

The Gates BC1H was installed several weeks ago here and is doing well. The audio portion of the Gates BC1H is all solid state, as compared to the audio portion from the old RCA BTA1M was all tubes. The Gates BC1H can modulate ALOT better and ALOT LOUDER, which is a good thing and helps my signal out even more.

Please update all of your bookmarks! The DOMAIN NAME WalkerBroadcasting.com is disappearing due to the expiration of said domain name. However, my website will still continue on. You will be able to access it by going to http://www.realradiousa.com or http://www.theradiogod.com!!

Both addresses will go to the same site actually.

COMING SOON! You will be able to hear my voice on WWFM 89.5 and KDFM 98.5 in the town of Koror which is located in the Republic of Palau. The Republic of Palau is 300 miles east of the southern part of the Phillipines, 400 miles north of Papua New Guinea, 600 to 800 miles Southeast of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands and 1400 miles west of Micronesia.

The stations are owned by former US Army Sergeant Alfonso Diaz who whos also a Palauan Senator. The stations utilize Crown 500 Watt transmitters with Omnia 3FM processors, Electrovoice RE27 Microphones and 12 Channel Mackie Mixer Boards and DJ Pro Automation software from Italy (I forget the name)

Palau is home to 20,000 locals and 7,000 foreigners.

You will get to hear my voice doing WWFM 89.5 and KDFM 98.5 Station Identifications, Promotional Announcements & Liners. You'll be able to hear me on the FM dial if you are local to Koror or online at http://www.palauradio.com

Check out some Palau related websites:
http://palau.pw/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau
http://www.visit-palau.com

I'm working on a few other projects here and there. I'm helping a friend locate land for a tower site to be utilized by a Non Directional Daytime AM radio station. I'm assisting a radio station in accquiring tshirts and bumper stickers and trying to sell a few radio industry related things. (Not things I necessarily own)

I'm sure I'll post more later on when I think of something I forgot. The maps below show exactly where The Republic of Palau is.

Here are two images of a map showing where Palau is.....

Damned computers....

2008-03-14T22:21:00.006-04:00

Damned technology...... I'm having DNS issues with my Charter business class internet, I'm having problems with the domain name switch over, it is happening but it's taking awhile and not going as well.

So, that being said... if this site disappears, some parts of it doesn't work or goes kapootski... that's why! Just hang tight and if something goes BOOM, it'll be back to normal....eventually!!

*Sighs*. Does anyone have a sledgehammer I can borrow??

WABV Update

2008-02-17T18:38:00.003-05:00

Well, the RCA BTA1-M Transmitter is cooked. Well, not literally, but it's seen it's last days. Then again, after 50 years of operations, what can you expect?

The think wasn't very well maintained by previous engineers (I have no idea who they were though).. and the unit was jurry rigged in several places. I was, frnakly, still surprised this thing worked. I did kinda expect it to die one day, so this isn't a total surprise.

We have the hardline transmission cable in place and the ATU rebuilt, painted and mounted. We were up at 500W last week and found , on the same night we had the "new" cable in and ATU remounted that a part had burnt out a fe wmonths ago and we didn't know it till then..

In trying to fix what was wrong with that part, we discovered a few other problems.. and not only can this transmitter not function anymore.. it plain old wouldn't be safe to do so anyways.

I DO have a Gates BC1G tuned to 1580 sitting in the back hallway that came from La Poderosa 1580 WDAB in Travelers Rest/Greenville. It uses 4 833's and 4 807's just like my BTA1M but we haven't had time to finish going through that box and determine if anythings wrong with it. The BC1G is the original transmtiter from when 1580 used to be WBBR.

My engineer knows of another Gates transmitter that ALSO uses 833 tubes which is sitting in Western North Carolina that isn't too far off frequency wise. He's going to be going over to that station Monday to check out the box, make arrangements with it's current owner and bring it down here Tuesday.. and HOPEFULLY.. we should be back on the air Wednesday... hopefully, but that's all dependent on what happens in the next few days.

The only thing that could throw a monkey wrench into the plans is that the crystal I bought for the Gates BC1G from Comemrcial Radio Supply in Cavendish, Vermont may not work with the gates transmitter were getting from a station in Western North Carolina. If we have to get another crystal, it may be a few more days off the air.

Now I'll have oodles of 833 tubes... my RCA BTA1-M Has 4 good 833 tubes in it. My Gates BC1G has 4 good 833 tubes in it and the other Gates transmitter (forget the model number) that's coming from Western North Carolina also has 4 good 833 tubes.

It'll be nice to have an overabundance of 833 and 807 tubes laying around. I'm not totally sure if the other Gates coming down here has 807's or not.... I forget what my engineer told me... we were up till 5am trying to get this contraption working.

I'll post more updates when I know what's going to be happening.

What a week...

2008-02-02T05:32:00.000-05:00

I don't update this as often as I should admittedly, but hey.. something is better then nothing... right? ;=)

Anyways, a couple things have been going on around here...

I've been trying to eat healthy. For those who don't really eat healthy, it's harder to do then you think.. you have to take it in small steps because breaking yourself of a bad habit (take out food, etc)... isn't that easy!

I've been eating Ground Turkey instead of Ground beef when making "hamburgers" and making "Hamburger Helper". I've been using low fat salad dressing on my salad and the broccoli I've been eating. (I got a bag of broccoli florets at the grocery store). I've been using the store brand "I can't believe it's not butter" along with Morton's "1/2 Salt" mixture.

It's no huge change, but it's certainly a help and a start. The biggest problem in mydiet is that I need to cut down on calories/carbs and salt in my diet.

We (My Chief Engineer and I) have been making some improvements and working on the radio station. We spent all day Thursday (from about 930am till 11pm) working on building a new ATU (antenna tuning unit)... we had to clean and paint the old one then put it all together, which isn't terribly easy.

We also spent the day laying out new transmission cable. Well ok, it isn't new... but it's used, in good condition.. new to me! (Thanks Neal and WPAT 930!!).. it was a bit of a trip to get that done because we had to get it over a 10 foot tall bush of prickers without kinking up the wire.

I was excited to finally be at full power. Sure, we should've been months ago, but however ya spell it, it's exciting nonetheless. We were about ready to fire up the transmitter around 9:30pm to make sure everything worked... and well, it didn't.

Apparently, when trying to go to high power a few months ago a part in the back of the transmitter got burnt out.. and we didn't find out till right then. I don't know which part it is exactly, but the relay (i think that's what it was) gave us a green and silver light show 2 or 3 times...... one "light show" was so big & bright ... it made me go, "Oh g*d d&^n" and jump back a foot or two.. lol

Im surprised this 50 year old RCA BTA1-M Transmitter still works.. but it does, it's limping along.. but it's doing the job we ask of it.

Anyways, onto other things.......

Most people know I have a pet... George, a beagle whos 6 or so years old (he's odler then I originally thought). A dog is such a great friend to have around.... pets really do reduce stress. How can you be made for long when a dog with big flopper ears and big, dumb brown eyes looks up at you and licks your hand? You pet likes you unconditionally no matter what... they just wanna place to sleep, eat, go to the bathroom and plenty of love/attention from their owner.. plus they aren't as expensive to take care of as a real person.. LOL............ they don't demand all sorts of clothes and material items.

I was on City Talk 105.9 in Liverpool, England the other day during the ovenright Roy Basnett show. Yo ucan listen to the 10 minute MP3 here:

http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/citytalk.mp3

You can check out the City Talk 105.9 website by going to www.citytalk.fm where you can even listen to the station live on the internet!

I've taken some new pictures.. and have a fe wmore new ones to take. I will be posting them soon!

Well, that's all for now.. I'm going to go take a shower, make some lunch and walk George. Enjoy your weekend!

not been sleeping well, frustrated with things
going to be doing some engineering work at WABV....

Whew....Computer problems at Work!

2007-12-11T07:33:00.000-05:00

...You know about Murphy's Law, right? Well, it seems to apply to me..ALOT!

About 10 minutes before I was going to go to bed, the automation comptuer at WABV wouldn't boot up 100 percent. It'd show the desktop wallpaper, but wouldn't load the start button or desktop icons. For al lyou non raido folks, the automation computer is what plays out the mp3's on the hard drive of our classic country music.

I pulled a computer in from the transmitter hallway and put it in a corner in the studio. It doesn't have any music on the hard drive but it does have an internet connection and Winamp on it.

We are simulcasting another radio station right now and probably will simulcast them on Wednesday and Thursday as well..possibly even Friday, depending on how quickly we can fix the computer and reload everything into it.

You can tune into our webstream at http://www.wabv1590.com I have it turned on right now, it's encoded at 24K Mono. (And yes, the other station knows I'm simulcasting them)

*WHEW*.... Im going to go take a nap, I need a bit of a rest after running around for 2 hours earlier this morning trying to get everything up and running.

I found some old airchecks!!

2007-12-02T02:22:00.000-05:00

Well, ok. .i didn't exactly FIND them per se, I've had them on my hard drive but I just thought about them earlier tonight and decided to share them online.

Paul Walker on The United Broadcasting Network

This clip was recorded off then WCNX-AM 1150 Middletown, Connecticut which was a United Broadcasting Network affiliate. It aired in October 1997 when I was only 13 years old!

Paul Walker On WTIC NewsTalk 1080 Hartford, CT Clip #1

This aired on February 11th, 2000 16 years old. I was an in-studio guet for Ann Baldwin's last day on the air.

Paul Walker On WTIC NewsTalk 1080 Hartford, CT Clip #2

This also aired during Ann Baldwin's last talk show, when I was an in studio guest on February 11th, 2000

And YES.. I know the audio quality is horrible....... These clips are almost 10 years old in some cases. The UBN clip was recorded on a casette tape then recorded into the computer using the computer microphone. the WTIC clips were recorded off an AM tuner onto a VCR Deck sitting next to a TV and fed into the computer using the computer microphone.

I didn't know any better back then, LOL!!

Enjoy the audio.. and have a Happy Holiday!

Thanks To Neal Newman

2007-11-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

Normally, I'd send a message like this to someones private email inbox, but since I want to share what I am thankful for...this expands on one of the things I am thankful for, so I wanted to share it with everyone.

Mr. Newman, the East Coast Regional Engineering Director for Multicultural Radio Broadcasting was flying his plane from Jacksonville, Florida back to New Jersey. He needed to stop for gas. He decided to land at the Greenwood Country Airport, borrowed someones car and drove over here.

He was only here for a few hours, but it was very , very valuable time and I came away learning a few new things. Not only did Neal teach me and share some valuable knowledge with me, but he ALSO went out to my tower here at the station and helped me clear crap from the fence.. and my tower is now free and clear and any overgrowth. We were out there in the dark, in the middle of the field at 7:30 in the evening working by the headlights of the Ford Explorer sawing off tree limbs and bushes.

If Neal and I didn't absolutely love what we do, would we have been out there at 7:30pm working by the light of headlights from a truck standing in prickers sawing off tree limbs?

It is people like Neal who so graciously share their time, knowledge and expertise with me that makes me thankful and makes me feel honored to know such fine people. Neal is an exceptional engineer who is an encyclopedia of knowledge.

Just a reminder this holiday season.... think about those who really mean something to you and how they impact your life...... even the littlest incidents can make the biggest impacts.

Regards,
Paul B. Walker, Jr.
Operations Manager/Program Director/On Air Personality"
The Best Country Classics Ever Made" Cool Country 1590
WABV-AM 1590 Abbeville, SC http://www.wabv1590.com/
http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/ www.myspace.com/walkerbroadcasting
www.myspace.com/wabv1590 walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com

Oh, blah.. whatever!

2007-11-30T02:05:00.001-05:00

I just haven't been in a good mood lately...

..there are those people who are your friends or say they like you only when it's convienient for them, when they're bored or you're the only one around..

Trust me, I know.. it happens to me..ALOT....... there's a few people I like but sometimes, I don't think they like me despite what they say.. and they certainly don't take enough time to show me they even remotely care.

You know, I admit freely.. that I am an emotionally needy person, I've never denied that..but at the same time, I don't think that asking for some attention and appreciation is too much, everyone deserves it.. I just feel like Im getting ar less then my fair share.

My sleep has been totally fucked up too, Im sleeping for 3 hours in the middle of the night then staying awake till 3pm, and crahsing for 6 or 7 hours and staying up all night again.

Sometimes I feel like my only REAL friend is my damned dog. Yeah, that's right.. I said it. When you think about it, he never yells,swears, talks back, gives me crap or misbehaves. .and he listens to everything I've got to say.. unlike most people.

Anyways, I'm off to bed.. goodnight folks!

Some random early morning thoughts....

2007-11-12T04:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I've had a few thoughts on my mind over the week and just wanted to share 'em. It's nothing major, but wanted to expunge them before I head to bed.. lol

I'm in a tad bit better shapre then I was 10 months ago. Around the corner is a small convience store/gas station that you have to go down a hill to get to from WABV and back up a hill to return to WABV.

Mind you, it's not a huge hill.... but it's a bit steep. I like to rid my bike the 1/2 mile.. why? Just because it's fun and a bit more exercise then walking. Wel, when I first started 6 months ago, I couldn't make it all the way up the hill without stopping..getting off and walking my bike up till the hill levels off.

NOW, even with a bag in my hand, I can ride all the way up without stopping or any problems whatsoever. Gee,, I seem to be easily pleased, HAHA. Small milestones I guess. I can only imagine if I walked or rode my bike several times a week, on a REGULAR Basis for a mile or two.. how much better shape I'd be in then!

I guess the reason I'm happy is because I need to get in better shape, something I've been doing on and off for the last 2 years... and I need to get back on that bandwagon. Now, I just need to start eating/drinking better.... gotta stop eating all those frozen dinners and canned soups. I need to start drinking more water and stop drinking so much soda.

I'm6 feet 2 and weigh almost 225 pounds. Now, that's not bad at all, but when you consider I used to weigh 175 pounds all through high school because I walked 30 miles a week, to and from school... you can see why I need to get back into better shape.

I have, admittedly, have had somewhat of a "checkered" radio careerin the past. For one reason or another, I've left those past jobs. However, I'm left to wonder what would today be like, if for instamce, I have never left KYYZ in Williston North Dakota? Just one of those "what ifs" that you occassionally think about.

However, everything works out for the best.. and is meant to happen.. so while I'm struggling here at WABV, things will get better, they just have to!!

When will WABV be going all Christmas music? It will be happening sometime in the next month or so. Will it be the day after Thanksgiving? Will it happen a week before Christmas?

How long will the Christmas music last.. till December 26nd? January 2nd?

When the Christmas music ends, will Cool Country 1590 come back from vacation or will you see a NEW "flavor" of WABV for your listening pleasure?

AH HA!! I'm not going to tell you just yet, you're going to have to stayed here to this blog and to AM 1590 in Abbeville & Greenwood to find out who, what, when, where and why!

Almost the weekend...

2007-10-26T00:23:00.001-04:00

Well, thinks are looking up here a little at "THE MIGHTY 1590"!

Im going to be picking up some Paid-Time Programming. For now, I just have Sunday afternoons at 11 for a natural medicine and health book show. It will run for an hour. I hopefully will be picking up at least 1 hour a day Monday thru Friday in the coming weeks from companies pitching various medical stuff, and yes.. colon clensins.

I know you're rolling your eyes and probably thinking all sorts of things. One thing I can say is that when the bills have to be paid, you do what you have to do. When I got into radio, I never thoght I'd "stoop to this level" so to speak, but overtime, Ive realzied... well, this is what needs to be done to help bolster the bottom line.

George D. Beagle has been hired as a staff member of WABV/Cool Country 1590. To see his information, just go to http://www.wabv1590.com and click the "Staff" link to find out more.

My 24th birthday is coming up! I turn a whole year older on November 19th, the same day as Ted Turner and larry King. Hmmm.. could that be an omen of good things to (eventually) come?

I'm praying to all that's holy in the universe of radio that it is an Omen!! :)

I hope all is well with everyone!!