Speaking of Les and Paul... Two mighty fine DXers And a darn good guitar As was Lucille RIP BB
Saul Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 15:28:35 -0400 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [NRC-AM] WBEY 1370 Calera, AL "Fallen Flags" Thank you, Les and Paul, for the pix! Bob Galerstein WB2VGD Monroe, NY On 5/15/2015 12:17 AM, Paul B. Walker, Jr. wrote: And here we go, here are Les' pics of DWBYE 1370 Calera, Alabama. The sign out front of the station near the road http://www.onairdj.com/wbyesign.jpg The front of the WBYE building, close up http://www.onairdj.com/wbyefront.jpg The front of the WBYE building a little further back, from a different angle http://www.onairdj.com/wbyefront1.jpg Enjoy.. or, well not... seeing as what these pictures show... a dead, gone and never coming back radio station. Paul On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 9:33 AM, Paul B. Walker, Jr. <[email protected]> wrote: Les, If you took pictures and want to email them to me, I will be glad to post them in a way that all members can access them, since i'm not sure this list can accept attachments and i'm not sure members would liek a ton of photos flooding their inbox. Paul On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 9:31 AM, ROBERT GALERSTEIN <[email protected]> wrote: Les, Is it possible to post some of these photos, or submit them to the NRC website? Bob Galerstein WB2VGD Monroe, NY On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 10:02 AM, Les Rayburn wrote: > Out driving yesterday, when my wife and I passed a run-down sign that was so sun-bleached as to almost be unreadable. But a quick glance at the business associated with the sign made me realize that I was looking at W-B-E-Y, 1370 AM. I turned around and went back for a closer look. A quick turn of the dial told me that the station was off the air...and I couldn't recall if it was in my log book at home. I took a few pictures using my cell phone camera, as we had a look around. In back of the building was a large fiberglass C-Band satellite dish, that I imagined had once received programming from some other source. But no evidence of an STL link. Instead, I found a tall telephone pole with what looked like the remains of a 40 meter dipole mounted near the top. 50 ohm coax ran from inside the building to the top of the pole. Could someone had loaded up this for use as the stations antenna? The large faded letters on the front of the building were almost like the voice of a ghost. It was sad, and nostalgic---all at the same time. Railroad fans use the term "fallen flags" to refer to railroads that no longer exist. Think of companies like Conrail, or Southern. Their boxcars can still be seen on trains today, echoes from railroads past. I couldn't help but thinking of the term "Fallen Flag" when it came to this station. Had it once been a hometown hero, reporting on local happenings, lost dogs, and obituaries. Or was it one of the many gospel/religious stations that seem to dot the southern landscape more than any other? A quick check of Wikipedia revealed a little more, but not much. It looks like the station went off the air in 2002---but it's absent from my logbook. How could I have missed a 1,000 watt daytime only station, less than 15 miles from my home? Hmmm.... I wonder if anyone out there logged this station? And I can't help but wonder how many more stations like this we'll lose in the years ahead. -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63 Member NRC, IRCA, & Medium Wave DX Circle Former CPC Chairman for NRC/IRCA Elad FDM-S2 SDR, SDR-IQ,Funcube Pro, Wellbrooke ALA-1530+ loop, Clifton Lab Active Whip, Quantum Phaser, Kiwa Loop, Palstar MW Pre-Selector _______________________________________________ Get your copy of the 35th Edition of the AM Radio Log http://www.nrcdxas.org _______________________________________________ Get your copy of the 35th Edition of the AM Radio Log http://www.nrcdxas.org _______________________________________________ Get your copy of the 35th Edition of the AM Radio Log http://www.nrcdxas.org _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
