WBT Collection
This page was last updated: March 19, 2011
Crouse-Hinds
beacon from the top of
WBT's B tower.
This is the last original
beacon from WBT, the
other 2 original beacons were destroyed by hurricane Hugo in 1989.
This one was installed in 1945 after the FCC ordered WBT to go directional.
I finally got it cleaned up.
It blows your mind to think about how many times this
thing has taken direct lightning strikes.
> <
Here I am standing next to
a water cooled UV-862
transmitting tube that was one of 4 used in WBTs 50,000 watt
transmitter starting in the
1930s.
This photo shows
the beacon location
before it was taken down
in 1990 when the station installed all new lights at the same time the A & C towers were replaced after Hugo took them down.
It was between the > <.
I've been a fan of the history of radio station WBT for many years.
Before they changed to their current Talk Radio format they used
play some pretty good music.
I've always been on the look out for anything related to the station.
I have several interesting pieces of WBT artifacts in my collection so I thought I display them on this web page.
A good friend who is a retired engineer for the station
helped me get of most of these items.
I'll be adding more items to this page soon, check back often.
This photo shows
one of the 620 watt 120 volt
bulbs used in the beacon.
When I started cleaning up the beacon I found at least a coffee can full of glass, the remains of 65 years of broken bulbs in the bottom of the fixture.
There were also the bases for both bulbs. I'm going to try and mount a standard screw type light bulb socket in the old bases so I can use smaller
bulbs to light the beacon.
This photo shows a
side marker light from the WBT towers.
It now has a 20 watt flasher bulb in it.
This photo shows an
RCA remote line amp used by WBT for remote broadcasts such as in a church.
There would be a dedicated telephone line from the church
to the studio. All they had to do was hook the line to this amp, plug in a mic, flip the switch and they were
on the air.
This photo shows a
transistorized remote line amp
that does the same job as the unit above.
This photo shows a
transmitting tube from WBT's
original 1922 transmitter.
I think this is an early
UV-204.
The tube shown below is a
500 watt tube used when WBT increased power
for the first time.
This a mid 30s vintage machined aluminum
"ON AIR"
sign from WBTs studio.
WBT mic flag.
Looks like it might fit
an RCA 77.
Some more modern tubes
from WBT.
On the left is an 857B
Mercury Rectifier,
on the right is a
RCA 892R power tube.
These were used in the same transmitter as the UV-862 shown below.
The 857B was in the power
supply and the 892R was used as a driver for the four UV-862 tubes in the final.
The photo below shows
the original box that the
892R came in, it's over
3 feet tall.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my collection of WBT artifacts.
Many thanks to my friend Clare Owens for donating
the WBT QSL cards and booklets,
and to Ted Bryan who helped me acquire a number
of the larger items including the big tubes and the beacon.
PLEASE sign my guest book.
This is a booklet that WBT produced in 1987 to celebrate their 65 birthday
cover
first page
WBT QSL Card
front & back
Grady Cole postcard
My friend Andy Bickel
was Program Director.
He left the station about the time
they switched to full time
"Talk Radio" :-(
Starting in 1976 for the bicentennial WBT would have a major fireworks show over the big buildings in downtown Charlotte.
Here is a fan they gave out in 1996
WBT gave these out to everyone that attended their 65th birthday
Black Tie dinner.
I took some of my antique radio to display there.
The small photo inset to the left shows the beacon lit with 2 standard 60 watt bulbs.
"click" on the photo to see a video of it flashing
Here I am in the WBT studio with John Hancock,
I was there on March 18th 2011 talking about the upcoming Antique Radio Charlotte Conference.
I had a GREAT time, thanks John!
"Click" on the file to the left to download a MP3 of my visit to WBT.
