At 1,345 feet above the ground, KOKZ’s signal footprint is nearly as large as that of crosstown rival KFMW. Back in the late 1980s, these two stations were fighting it out for Waterloo’s CHR crown. In Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, it was a four way contest with KKRQ and Gary Dixon’s KQCR joining in battle. Billy Cannon did nights on KOKZ with lots of phones, fun, and energy, as you would expect.
I received this from Apple Valley, MN, using a Pioneer SX-3900 receiver, Winegard 10 element FM yagi antenna, Alliance U-100 Tenna Rotor, and Belden ultra low loss RG59 coaxial cable. It was recorded onto a Sears stereo cassette deck with a BASF 60 minute normal bias tape.
#1 by boomer on January 4, 2010 - 11:40 pm
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damn, I sucked…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
#2 by Drew on January 5, 2010 - 8:54 am
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That’s you? I used to listen to you when I was in Fort Dodge! Plus. from the Twin Cities with my Pioneer/Winegard system.
#3 by boomer on January 5, 2010 - 11:22 am
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Man, those signals just plow across the midwest, don’t they!
#4 by Drew on January 6, 2010 - 8:41 am
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Not as far as they used to, due to encroachment by new stations. KFMW and KOKZ both used to get into Des Moines on any car radio. Now, 107.9/Stuart and the upgraded 105.5/Perry make that impossible. But yeah, it was pretty amazing how much ground you could cover.
When I arrived at KKEZ in 1986, there was a road map on the wall with the counties outlined and a black circle drawn to show our coverage. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: an FM station that covered at least part of 34 counties! And our stick was only 600 feet. Much shorter than you guys!
I loved the old FM108 Legal ID: KFMW, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Dubuque!