This is the infamous first transmitter of the BBC "Birdhouse Broadcasting Company". This device was used by myself and several friends to transmit music and talk to our neighbors and friends. We operated from an abandoned quail hatchery near my home in the early 1960s. Our antenna ran 250 feet from the shack, located in an old railroad bed (great grounding system), up to a water tower owned by the nearby Carhartt Clothing plant. We once received a reception report from Clay City Kentucky, about 20 miles away. The Knight Kit Wireless Broadcaster and Amplifier was modified and radiated around five watts. Using an old Juke Box amplifier, donated by Clarence Miller, we fed audio back through the 8 ohm secondary of the transmitter's audio transformer. It sounded unbelievably clean. What fun! I was 13 years old at the time. For music, we used an old RCA 45 turntable and a Sears tape recorder. The microphone was an old Shure Brothers of some sort. For a mixing board, we used a small four channel mixer made by Lafayette Electronics. The Knight Kit was later replaced with an old 160 meter ham transmitter with around 30 watts output. The audio from the Knight Kit sounded much cleaner than the Globe transmitter. One of my friends, who lived a block away, would raid his father's supply of 16 ounce Hudepohl Beer and sneak it down to our shack. Along with a "Church Key", we kept an ample supply of Hudy well hidden in a small rock over-hang nearby. One night my friend had a little too much beer and got somewhat explicit on the air. One of our nightly listeners, another friend's parent, threatened to notify the FCC if it happened again. Another one of the BBC gang kept us well supplied with new 45 RPM records and Playboy Magazines. We never asked him where and how he obtained them but always suspected it was through a five-finger discount. If you remember this and listened to our broadcasts, please send me a short story or memory and I will publish it on this page. (So you don't know what a "Church Key" or a "Five-Finger Discount" is, then go ask a Boomer.) Coxde3@aol.com |
Knight Kit AM Broadcaster and the BBC
| BBC Comments: "Dave please do not use my name, but I remember making-out with my girl friend at night, on the dead-end road, near the old Carhartt factory and listening to your bird-house station. It was on my old 58 Chevy's car radio. What fun we had listening." (BBC Listener) =========================================== Bruce Cox writes: Brother Dave, I remember well the early days at the BBC. I made a lot of visits during the construction at the coup. The first listening experience I had, other than on sight, was at the old White service station on Main Street. The song was Apache which was an instrumental. When I hear that song today I always think about those times. I made many visits to the old WIRV after school and on Saturdays when you were on the air. Thanks for all the great memories. Bruce Cox Your Cousin Brucie |
BBC Transmitter
BBC Turn-Table
BBC Turn-Table
BBC Tape-Recorder