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Post by David on Aug 5, 2021 14:23:51 GMT -6
While surfing the internet recently, I came across a real estate listing which indicated that the property at 1506 Gibson Ave. (KOGN's address) in Ogden has been sold. The listing also stated that there is a radio tower on the property which the buyer would be responsible for removing from the property. The listing has now been taken down so I can't provide a link to it, but if the property has been sold and KOGN's tower is going to be demolished, it suggests to me that the station will be going dark soon. I checked the FCC database and couldn't find any recent filings for KOGN, but the station has been broadcasting nothing but dead air for about a week now. I drove past the address on Gibson this morning on my way home from work, and the lights on the tower are off, and the studio building looks abandoned. Maybe the owner just walked away from the property and left the transmitter on? 🤔
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Post by amanuensis on Aug 5, 2021 15:35:03 GMT -6
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Post by friendlee on Aug 5, 2021 16:01:38 GMT -6
This makes me very sad.....I wonder if the W.E. 451A transmitter is still there? And why was the beacon nested in the top of the tower when it was built? KVOG was an important part of my summers visiting family in Ogden....
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Post by kenglish on Aug 5, 2021 16:03:49 GMT -6
What time of day were the tower lights off? Was it still dark? If the lights are off (when they should be on), but the building still has power to leave the transmitter sucking up power, that's a Citation waiting to happen! Makes me wonder if the lights have been burned out for a long while. (And, how were they claiming to check them daily?) 🙄
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Post by David on Aug 5, 2021 17:06:50 GMT -6
What time of day were the tower lights off? Was it still dark? If the lights are off (when they should be on), but the building still has power to leave the transmitter sucking up power, that's a Citation waiting to happen! Makes me wonder if the lights have been burned out for a long while. (And, how were they claiming to check them daily?) 🙄 Ken, it was approximately 1:00 AM Thursday morning when I drove past the station, when the tower lights definitely should have been on. I did some more searching on the internet and found a listing which mentions the radio tower on the property which needs to come down. Unless KOGN is planning on doing an STA with low power and a longwire until they can find a new tower location, the station will probably be gone for good soon. Too bad, because it's been in the same location in Ogden since 1948 in various incarnations. www.movoto.com/ogden-ut/1506-gibson-ave-ogden-ut-84404-511_1735026/
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fmdj1
Bronze Level Member
Posts: 143
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Post by fmdj1 on Aug 5, 2021 21:07:21 GMT -6
They did file to renew the license on June 1 and paid the fee, so hopefully they are planning on either trying to sell the license or move it.
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Post by David on Aug 6, 2021 1:13:52 GMT -6
FWIW, the open carrier on 1490 is gone now, so I'm assuming someone finally shut off KOGN's transmitter. At 1:00 AM Friday I heard a TOH ID for KZEZ in Santa Clara, UT, a distance of about 345 miles from Ogden. Not bad for my little XHDATA D-808 shortwave receiver! 🙂 I'll be interested to see what DX I can hear on 1490 if KOGN is still off the air this weekend.
BTW Frank, I'm curious how you found out about a license renewal being filed for KOGN in June. I looked all over in the FCC database and couldn't find anything regarding the station's renewal application.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Aug 6, 2021 7:26:52 GMT -6
David, I assume that by "going dark" you're referring to surrendering the license. AM sites are being sold a lot lately, even high profile ones. There's no reason to assume yet that a sale of the current transmitter site means the license will be turned in. The renewal Frank mentioned was about 2 weeks before the sale amanuensis found so it seems likely that the sale was known when the license renewal was filed. (If not, get me the name of the realtor.) BTW, with many new applications (like renewals) you need to use LMS, not CDBS, at the FCC site. Speaking of that filing, they do admit they didn't file the public inspection file data as required. The FCC has a bug up their chimney about that kind of thing these days so it might cause a bit of a problem, but likely not too serious. David, you've reported a number of times in recent years that KOGN was running an open carrier or off the air. If you look at this: enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff37981931c0179859346b9069d&id=25076ff37981931c0179859346b9069d&goBack=NLooking specifically at the AM/FM/LPFM Certification section, in your estimation would those certifications be accurate? As for other possible transmitter sites, there are a few. KSVN's site I'm sure would cover Ogden sufficiently to be feasible. KANN's and KMES' I'm pretty sure would work too. We'll have to see.
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Post by David on Aug 6, 2021 15:52:18 GMT -6
Yes CA, I was referring to KOGN surrendering their license to the FCC when I said the station might be going dark. As for KOGN being off the air, it's never been off the air for more than 10 days at one time that I know of, and it usually goes off the air if there's a power outage or severe weather like a strong thunderstorm or sustained high winds.
KOGN definitely has some automation issues which need to be addressed if the station is going to resume broadcasting. Usually on the weekends it's nothing but "dead air theater" on 1490 until someone finally fixes things during regular business hours, but as we've discussed here before, broadcasting dead air isn't necessarily considered being silent. But it's hard to sell advertising on a station that's not broadcasting any audio for 3-5 days at a time. KOGN supposedly rebroadcasts another station that's located out of state, so maybe that's what's causing 1490's automation to go haywire when there's no one minding the store. I know from reading the STA's that Frank has filed for KSRR that KOGN's license holder is going to have a tough time finding a new location for an AM tower, even if they diplex from another radio station's antenna site. We've all seen what's happened to real estate values in Utah in the past 5-10 years, and how many AM stations have gone dark because their tower site land has been sold.
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fmdj1
Bronze Level Member
Posts: 143
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Post by fmdj1 on Aug 6, 2021 20:32:03 GMT -6
David, I actually saw the renewal filing in their public file. You make a good point about land, as we're all too familiar with. Our STA extension was just granted and we have, thankfully, found a landowner that will let us build, but we will have to change our city of license, sadly. We're waiting on census data to make sure we can cover our new city population at night and then we'll get ready to file (finally! )
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Post by David on Aug 11, 2021 14:09:25 GMT -6
FWIW, KOGN is back on the air with audio now, so apparently the tower on Gibson Avenue is still standing--or 1490 is diplexing from another location. I'll have to drive past the station in daylight this weekend and see what's going on. I wonder how much time the new property owner has given KOGN's owner to shut down the station and vacate the premises.
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Post by kenglish on Aug 11, 2021 15:57:18 GMT -6
The ad I saw said the property would make a great location for Self-storage units. Maybe they could keep the tower where it is, and build around it....sort of like WSB in Atlanta (and others). It could be part of a lease-back arrangement.
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Post by friendlee on Aug 11, 2021 16:35:10 GMT -6
I drove by just yesterday.......looks abandoned (and I have seen plenty of abandoned radios stations! ). I don't know how there is much signal with all the trees in the extreme near-field of the tower. Sun-faded poster taped to the glass front door. An old sofa and other discarded debris in the front office. Not sure if they are transmitting from the Gibson Avenue site or not. No recent tire tracks in the dirt out front, the gate to what was the parking lot eons ago is locked. The gate to the antenna field is wired closed. I did get a cool photo though. On a related note, the Western Electric transmitter was still in the building as late as 1985 when I worked next door at KSVN. If it's still there, we should go and get it.....!
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Aug 12, 2021 4:43:55 GMT -6
Since they have no permission to transmit from anywhere else either in LMS or CDBS and the tower and building are still there, I think it's pretty safe to assume that they are transmitting from that site.
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Post by kenglish on Aug 12, 2021 10:32:16 GMT -6
The question is...where are their studios? I've seen the KTMW building (300 S Redwood), and the old 1550 studios (1800 S Redwood) listed on various sites and filings. Also, speaking of abandoned studios, wasn't there an old station up that way, that was just "go home, lock the door" abandoned, that was written up on a website? There were photos of cart machines, rotary phones and office typewriters (some with paper still in the carriage). 60's and 70's equipment, too.
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