KPOL Photo Archive #2
(In the Late 50's and the 60's)
Photos and Descriptions by Marvin Collins
(Posted and edited by Steve Blodgett)

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A page from the KPOL program log of August 19, 1958
Another page from a KPOL program log of January 16, 1960
 
The KPOL General Electric 50,000 Watt transmitter with antenna
phasing cabinet on the right side.  This transmitter was later removed and
shipped to the Dallas, Texas area where it was converted to short wave
broadcasting.  It remains at the Dallas site as a back up transmitter for
a more modern short wave transmitter.
This is the 10 kW Gates transmitter
 located at the KPOL AM site.
 This was the third KPOL FM transmitter. 
 The first was a used RCA one KW transmitter.
  The second was a 5 kW Gates transmitter.
  KPOL FM later became KZLA FM.
  KZLA FM moved from the El Serreno AM site
 to Flint Peak above Glendale.
  Later KZLA moved again to its present
 site on Mt. Wilson.
 
This is the Gates audio console at the KPOL AM studio/transmitter
site in the El Serreno area of Los Angeles.  This console fed both
the AM & FM transmitter for a while.  Normally KPOL AM & FM
were simulcast but there were times when the programming would
be separated by feeding the FM transmitter via the
audition channel of this console.


Doug Nelson was one of 
the engineers at KPOL.  This is the same 
Doug Nelson you may have spotted in the 
old KCBH photos.  After working at KCBH 
Doug worked at KPOL for a while and 
that was how I (Marvin Collins) learned of a 
job opening at KPOL where, at the time, 1957,
 I felt I had made the move from unknown FM 
to the big time AM.  We went from $1.75 per hour 
working in FM to $3.13 per hour working in AM.
 
This is Joe Cosgrove at work in one of two
small studios at the KPOL AM/FM site in the 
El Serreno district of Los Angeles.  This
high tech studio contained an Altec microphone
and two turntables, period.  


 

These are the equipment racks
 at the KPOL studio/transmitter site.  
The overnight engineer had the duty of 
dubbing all the next days commercials to one large 
reel to reel tape for manual playback the next day.
  This saved the daytime engineer from having
 to load up all the various commercial sources for the day.  
It was easy to just manually play the commercials from the one tape.
 
This is the KPOL antenna/transmitter switching panel.
KPOL used a three tower directional array.  At first KPOL
was licensed for 10 kW day and night.  About 1960
the General Electric transmitter was installed and
KPOL had a daytime power of 50 kW and a night time
power of 10 kw.  The GE transmitter was normally used
during the day and the original Gates 10 kW
transmitter was used at night.



A color view of the "high tech" KPOL studio
 at the transmitter site. This was one of two identical studios.
  The engineer sat at a Gates console on the other side of the window in 
on the left side of this photo.  A second identical studio was 
located behind this studio on the right hand side of this photo.
 
This pictures shows the new enlarged tuning network
installed when KPOL increased power to 50 kW daytime.
On one occasion someone used this tuning house
for taget practice but fortunately the bullets only made
holes in the building but did not damage any
components of the tuning network.
One of the endless tape cartridges used 
for commercial playback at KPOL. 
 It is interesting to note that these type 
of cartridges were still in use by many radio stations 42 years later.
 
A cart rack full of KPOL commercials.  
Cart racks identical to this one were still in use
by many radio stations over 42 years later too.


 

KPOL cart players and "ETs"
 
KPOL switchboard that routed cart machine
start commands coming in from the distant KPOL
studio in Hollywood at Sunset and Wilton.
KPOL west tower
 
KPOL, El Sereno
KPOL transmitter building
 
Sunrise at KPOL transmitter building.
  

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