98.7 FM KVOK - KVOK - AM 560 - Kodiak, AK

KVOK is a 1000 watt AM station on 560 KHz that was built in 1974. AFRN was still on the air, and KMXT had signed ... See more on in 1976. KVOK went off the air for about a month around August 1977. KVOK returned to the air in September after AFRN reduced power to 50 watts. KVOK is still on the air, but from a different transmitter site, at Buskin Lake, on a rented USCG tower. Originally it was on a 150 foot tower located right behind the Southern Alaska Forwarding warehouse which is behind Mimi's Deli. The original antenna was quite unique. There were about 12 toploading wires extending from the top of the tower almost to the ground. There was another set of 12 wires, insulated from the tower, extending from a point about ten feet above ground directly horizontally to convenient trees around the perimeter. This above-ground counterpoise was fed from a tap just a little bit above ground in the tuner. I found a group of photos I took from the top of the tower just before I took it down in late 1993, but they were all of the view from there and only one showed any tower. The neighborhood has certainly grown up since then! I have a number of artifacts from the site. The old tower is near Homer, on the ground. You'll notice, since I'm a broadcast engineer that I put the transmitter first in this story. Well, the studio was in several locations. Today it's at 1315 Mill Bay Road in Jim Ashford's building. Just before this location it was at 1227 Mill Bay Road. Before that it was in Kashevaroff Villa, and before that it was at the Kodiak Inn. Bob Bridges's dad originally built the station. Here's an e-mail message from him. From: "Dr. Bridges" alaskabob (at) RivRad.com Subject: Radio Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 18:49:17 -0700 Hello Joe: Thanks for the e-mail. It has been a very long time. I was in Kodiak for the first time three years ago and boy had things changed. I heard the the old site was being decommissioned and video taped the site. When I cut down those 3 plus acres of forest there wasn't a road near by. Peter Bailey helped on a few days back then in the summer of 1974. Our history on Kodiak goes back to 1967 when my Dad was finishing the construction of KSRM in Soldotna. We happened to meet some Kodiak people at the time and they told us of the need for a station on Kodiak. So, I should be able to fill in the 1967 to 1979 era. When I visited KVOK three years ago, very little was left from the original gear. Only one Revox was identifiable. Thanks for letting me know that some of the gear "lives on". The top-loadedcounterpoised antenna that Carl E. Smith designed was very good. The FCC had fits over approving it but we got it done. I will be glad to submit a history for the KMXT site as one central repository of information is a good start. There are issues that never have seen the light of day, that had a major influence on the operation of KVOK, and the relations (sometimes strained) with the Coast Guard, AFRN and KMXT. They are purely historical now, but are worth putting in perpective. Presently I am a partner in a nine member radiology group in Riverside. We have three imaging centers, and have the contract for the major hospital here. Prior to Riverside I was an Assistant Professor at University of California - Irvine School of Medicine. I am double boarded with certification in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Kind of far removed from radio these days.. but I hope to get back into Alaska doing locum tenens. Looking forward to saying "hi" personally. Sincerely, Bob Bridges