JAY WAGGONER'S WGTO AM 540, FLORIDA 50,000 WATT TRANSMITTER TOUR 1994

JAY WAGGONER'S WGTO AM 540, FLORIDA 50,000 WATT TRANSMITTER TOUR 1994
In Florida Jay was a contract engineer not only for WGTO but WFRB-AM 860, WRKT-AM 1300, WMMB-AM 1240, WWKO-AM 860, WCKS-AM 860, WHKR-FM 102.7, WXXU-AM 1300, WKKO-AM 860, WAJL-AM 1190 and a few others. You will probably notice, above the roar of all the equipment at the transmitter site, that Jay had a beautiful, very resonant radio voice. Fortunately those talents were utilized on the air at some of the stations listed above. Jay lost his life to cancer in late June 2015 at the age of 55. His impressive broadcast career ended in Pennsylvania where he was director of engineering for Entercom Communications in Wilkes-Barre. We miss you Jay. You were a true broadcast professional and a very warm, caring family man. I feel blessed to have known you. Thanks for the tour and you-tube for letting us share a small part of your radio legacy with the world.
The video was shot May 4th 1994 when the transmitter facility was located in the Green Swamp area near the Polk - Lake county line in Florida. Jay gives us a fascinating tour of this 50,000 watt AM facility with six towers. Due to the dense forest growth the towers could not be seen from the road. At the entrance was a metal gate with an FCC government licensed facility sign. I am led to believe that the 540 am signal is no longer transmitted from this site. Two web sites come to mind if you would like to delve further into this history of this station are Ted Webb's excellent site, titled “Radio Years.” WGTO is listed under “other stations. And Bob Pidilla's impressive central Florida history site “Central Florida Radio” with a wealth of information.

[@genewaggoner4354]

Jay was my Uncle . I didn’t see much of my Uncle growing up however the times I was with Jay he would take time to explain to me ( well try to as I couldn’t keep up lol …) what he did at the stations . Just stumbled across this video . I wish I saw it when he was still alive it would had helped . Thanks for posting .

[@DaveEdwardsEntertainment]

I'm glad you found the video. As you mentioned, Jay was more then willing to share his extensive knowledge of electronics and could explain it in such a way even I could understanding it. The video was recorded long before there was a KZbin. I'm sure you remember Jay's beautiful, resonant, speaker shaking voice coupled with his perfect diction. He was on the air at a few radio stations. At the time of the taping Jay was a contract engineer for I believe six radio stations. Four in Brevard where he lived and two in the Orlando area. It's a shame we didn't get to spend more time with him. You had a terrific uncle who is missed by all who knew him.

[@unclequack5445]

Aww man what did he die from?

[@SerenityMae11]

He died from AIDS. He was gay.

[@Chad-Giga.]

It's like a closed loop indoor grow room with those five tons running constantly! Very relatable

[@daniellopresto6502]

I worked with Jay in around 2000 or so and lost tract of him in 2011 or so. We had our ups and downs, but I still miss him. He was.... "qwerky"....

[@jim-lx7vz]

Wonderful video and story !!!!! I too wish I had met this gentleman but my journeys through radio in Guam, Thailand, and others places show who are REAL technicians who care for the equipment first. RIP, 50 is too young.

[@rickvia8435]

Jay was genius and yes, his voice on this vid made it obvious he was On Air talent. Very sorry to hear of his passing. What an awesome tour.

[@ka0kuj599]

That's a nice tribute to Jay.

[@johnsampson1096]

When Chief Engineers really knew what they were doing! RIPJay.......

[@johninjersey]

RIP? :( He looks very young.

[@danfan-music]

Memories of this station go back to the Mid-70's-Daytime Operation only! Very impreesive video! E

[@jerrysinclair3771]

I remember this station when we visited Cypress Gardens in the early 70s. I really appreciate the tour...sorry to hear that jay passed away in 2015.

[@gatesmw50]

Nice Video. Today those antenna warning beacons are lit by LED s.

[@williammoore2982]

I remember receiving this station when I lived in Wilmington,N.C. One of FLA power house stations. Wish someone had done a tour of the Brennan's WAPE 690 before the original studio was demolished. I received it while living in Wilmington,N.C., Also received it in the mornings and evenings when I lived in Asheville,N.C..

[@bruceobama8588]

I applied for work at WAPE in 1979, and was treated to a detailed tour of the property in Orange Park.. At night, they transmitted from a 4-tower directional array west of Jacksonville. Both sites were powered up alternately every day.

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you.

[@johninjersey]

Really enjoyable tour! I had never heard of a negative tower before. Like to know more about how that works

[@midcenturymodern9330]

I'm not sure if negative tower is the same as suppressor tower, but back when WLW was running at 500,000Watts (not a typo) they had to erect two suppressor towers to avoid obliterating radio stations in Canada. WLW tour guide talks about it at 7:20 in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZOrm5atftSHn7s

[@tonyking9235]

THANKS FOR SHARING

[@seatboi]

Great tour, but these modern solid-state transmitters leave much to be desired when you see a 50Kw TUBE -based transmitter! Thanks for posting this! R.I.P., Jay! ;(

[@Truth-Be-Told-USA]

Cool. Interesting

[@vskingkong]

Very interesting video. About half way through this presentation I started wondering about whether this much radiation on a daily basis could become a problem with certain types of cancer, then reading through the comments about his passing I have to wonder whether his cancer was related to his profession. In any event my condolences to his family and friends.

[@isaaccool3183]

RF cannot cause cancer as it is non ionising. Think of it this way the Sun exsists in the same spectrum as RF only much much higher in frequency and is much much more powerful then anything else we can make.

[@SerenityMae11]

And the sun causes cancer

[@chrisduhaime5689]

Remember the goat growing up in the 70s they covered south central Florida WGTO

[@frankyroge7665]

Respect for Jay

[@hornet6969]

His level of engineering knowledge is vast.

[@earlfleer2723]

Would like to have information on the career of the late Mike Venditti who is considered an expert on high power AM transmitters.

[@TempoDrift1480]

Rad!!!

[@kellycoleman715]

He should have had himself cloned just in case he failed. He knew every aspect of that station backward and forward, inside out. Impressive.

[@deicide666311]

Mosfet powered!!!

[@Chad-Giga.]

Is this the real jaystation?

[@earlfleer2723]

Does anyone have pictures of the original XERF transmitter and tower? If so, Please post.

[@OfficialDPTheRealDeal]

480v info 400amps???

[@agustiana1247]

Ok

[@tonyking9235]

WHAT DOSE IT COST TO RUN FOR ONE HOUR

[@TempoDrift1480]

It's too bad that all the fantastic equipment does nothing but broadcast advertisements for shit that about three percent of the entire population would be appealed to.

[@mohinderkaur6671]

Ver nice old techn ... Still love the AM band ... Soon they will need to be re-purposed to use the new 5G methods of massive mind control as simple propaganda broadcasts don't seem to work!!!

[@dimadozen3482]

This station has also been used to harass people by blasting them with radio frequencies

[@netautorisationnetautorisa545]

*THIS WE **#NEED** **#NOW** .... TO **#ATTACK** THE RUSS KILLERS ...* *100% ...*

[@alienwarex51i3]

Are you a TI?