KOGN 1490 Going Dark?

[David]

The FCC database has a mailing address on Redwood Road in Salt Lake for KOGN. That might be where their studios are located. They've had serious automation problems for over a year now, and it usually takes several days for the problems to be resolved. Based on what's been reported here, I doubt there's anyone at the building on Gibson Avenue except when the automation goes haywire, or a power outage knocks KOGN off the air.

[David]

friendlee, didn't the KSVN studios used to be located in the old KVOG-TV (later KOET-TV) building at 1538 Gibson?

[friendlee]

Yes they were when Wendell Winegar owned it....I worked there with Sandman, Rabbit, CJ, and Thomas. The dutch guy did Saturday afternoons and two Spanglish-speaking fellows did Sunday mornings. Wendell and his wife lived upstairs.

[friendlee]

I just found Wendell's obituary...he only passed back in January.

Wendell Winegar obit

[David]

Aug 5, 2021 16:03:49 GMT -6 kenglish said:

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?)
🙄

I drove past the tower site and studio building early this morning again. Tower lights are still dark, and there weren't even any outdoor lights on the building turned on, even though the transmitter is still on the air with audio. It's probably a good thing that Ogden Airport is at least five miles from KOGN's tower! 😳

[CAwasinNJ]

1490 was listed as being at 1538 Gibson at one time as well. It looks like it was from 1948-1965. Maybe the address was renumbered?

[David]

I'm pretty sure the building at 1506 wasn't built until 1963 according to the real estate listings I viewed. KVOG-TV was only on the air for a couple of years before Arch Webb sold the station to the Ogden City School District in January 1962, and channel 9 was converted to non-commercial status. My guess is that Mr. Webb had the studio at 1506 built shortly after KVOG-TV was sold to Ogden City Schools, and they took over the studio building at 1538. If the radio station was originally located at 1538 Gibson, the sale of the building to Ogden City for TV broadcasting would explain why the radio station moved down the street to 1506 in 1963.

[friendlee]

Interesting! This explains a few things I wondered about when I worked at KSVN. The back part of the building where the defunct TV control room, TV studio, and scene shop were located appeared to have been added onto the front part where the KSVN offices and control room were. There was this odd, really narrow room with a high ceiling that was used as the record library at the eastern edge of the front part that seperated the front half from the back half. The upper story where the Winegar's lived was accessed by stairs that were at the western edge of the eastern part. The load-bearing walls were all cinderblock which made me wonder as the narrow record library had cinderblock walls on both sides AS IF THIS SPACE WAS CREATED BY THE CONSTRCTION OF A SECOND BUILDING behind the first. The bathrooms were also oddly seperated at this same "line" where there was what appeared to be a heavy fire door. With the information provided above I'd be willing to bet that KVOG was originally in the front part of building which was later added onto to create the TV station then moved into the "new" building next door when the TV station was sold off. Also, the existing KVOG building definitely has a late 50's-early 60's vibe to it. Additionally it might explain why the tower is more directly behind the KOET structure than eastward from KVOG. Next time I'm down to Ogden, I'll look at the 1538 Gibson building to see if I can see any architectural lines that might support this line of reasoning.

Now for the question that could start a new thread: I heard the original KSVN burned down. Is this true? Why? When? Where was it originally located?

[fmdj1]

I may be wrong, but if the tower is more than 5 miles from any airport and less than 200 feet high, I don't think they are required to light it, although it's probably still a good practice.

[CAwasinNJ]

KOGN's tower is 50 meters tall which is 164 feet, and about 2.5-4 miles (depending on which part you're measuring to) from Hinckley Airport.

[fmdj1]

Thanks for the info, CA! I believe there is a calculation to height in the less than 5 mile radius and what does and doesn't need to be lit, but I have no idea what it is. I suspect that it probably should be lit, though, especially if the closest distance is only 2.5 miles. I wonder if the owners know it's not lit if they are running it out of Salt Lake (I know they should be checking, but sadly that doesn't happen near as much as it should. There are good software solutions that monitor tower lights, but, from what I've seen, they aren't perfect.)

[friendlee]

I still wonder why the beacon was nested in the top section of the tower.....makes it reeeeaal difficult to re-lamp!

[CAwasinNJ]

Aug 16, 2021 15:34:12 GMT -6 fmdj1 said:

Thanks for the info, CA! I believe there is a calculation to height in the less than 5 mile radius and what does and doesn't need to be lit, but I have no idea what it is. I suspect that it probably should be lit, though, especially if the closest distance is only 2.5 miles.

Doing some more checking it appears that lighting is not required. If I'm reading TOWAIR correctly ( wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/towairSearch.jsp ) the antenna is almost 10,000 feet or not quite 2 miles further away than what would be required for FAA notification. That's just an estimate though. Looking at the FCC authorization does say that it doesn't have an Antenna Structure Registration Number or ASRN ( licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/view_auth.pl?Application_id=1007937&File_number=BML-20040802BKY&Callsign=KOGN&Facility=5175 ) So it looks like while it would be a good idea to light it, I don't think it's necessary. IANAL

[David]

There's been an interesting development in the KOGN saga. According to this Friday's edition of RadioInsight, the company that's had an LMA for KOGN since April 2014 has bought the station from La Familia Broadcasting.

radioinsight.com/headlines/212616/station-sales-week-of-9-10/

Now the $64,000 question is: did Positiva Radio also buy the property at 1506 Gibson back in June? I can't imagine that anyone would buy a radio station if they knew the property had been sold, and the new owner was going to take down the tower. KOGN is still on the air and its tower is still standing almost three months after the Gibson Avenue property was sold. Moreover, it's been several weeks since I tuned to 1490 and heard dead air, so perhaps the new owner invested some $$$ in getting the automation fixed. Thoughts?

[CAwasinNJ]

IMO reading the contract is critical here.

The contract was signed way back on January 23 2020. No that's not a typo. That was over a year and a half ago.

According to Weber County property records, the owner of the property is now Parkridge Inc which appears to be headed by developer Shawn Strong who has been doing some other developing in the area.

Clearly the property sale went through long after the station sale contract was signed. When the property contract was signed I don't know, but if I'm reading this right the previous owner was Valley View Rental and Sales. I couldn't find more information about them.

Also of possible interest is that in the FCC filing are email addresses for both Familia Broadcasting and Positiva Radio, should one wish to ask them directly. I'm not.