John Tanner at CKOV main control
CKOV
630 khz - 1000 watts
1961 - 1967
The station was on the second
floor of a building on the east side of
The Main Control Room consisted of
These relays were enclosed in foam
lined aluminum boxes under the turntables so they were virtually noiseless.
Slip cueing was the method used in
those days but some guys were good at timing and knew when to hit the button so
the table would be up to speed when it hit the first groove.
Some were not good at this, so
there were a lot of “wows” on the air.
The left side turntable was an old
Presto three speed rim drive formerly used as a disc cutter with a motor that
could be persuaded to run backwards if you spun the platter in that direction
and hit the power switch.
The two right side turntables were
idler drive, Presto Pirouettes
All three were equipped with the
infamous “Grey” gouger arms with GE VR-II turnaround cartridges for 78 and
microgroove recordings.
We played mostly 45’s, some 33
1/3’s and occasionally 78’s.
Above the two right hand
turntables were 2 Ampex 351’s with tube electronics’.
They also had a remote start button added at the bottom left of the added
faders.
Other control room gear, an old
three line telephone set with the separate speakerphone box, which was wired
into the console through a line selector.
We were a CBC basic station at the
time, carrying a lot of network programs, but only after
The monitor speaker was an RCA
Wedge with a 15” RCA driver.
It went to background level when
the control room microphone was activated.
It was hung on the wall to the
left of the operating position, about 6 feet above the floor.
Headphones for the announcer-operator
were available but rarely used.
We learned the proper mix using
the VU meter and using the speaker at background level, actually surprisingly
loud with no hollowness or feedback.
The live commercial copy book and
the telephone were on custom built holders above the console.
Commercials were filed in
alphabetical order and we had a bunch of dividers for markers if several
commercials had to be read in a row.
Some commercials, mostly national,
came on 16” transcriptions.
Locally produced commercials were
on multi cut reels of tape on the 2 Ampex 351’s.
We spent most of our on air time
cueing records and tapes.
There was a big studio in front of
the main control room, Studio A with the requisite grand piano, the RCA Starbird boom and other RCA floor microphone and table
stands.
We could run 4 microphones from
this studio.
The microphones available were
three RCA 74B’s and a handful of Electrovoice 635’s.
We also had the RCA studio warning
lights.
Studio A also had the same RCA
Monitor Wedge on the wall.
Off to the right of Main Control
Room was a small studio, equipped with a desk, a monitor speaker with volume
control, and an Electrovoice 635 microphone on an Electrovoice desk stand.
There was a console type key
switch, spring return, for a cough switch, a headphone jack with volume
control.
We used the BC-3C’s talkback
system.
This studio was used when
announcers performed with an operator or outside talent.
A second, larger studio off to the
left of Main Control had earlier been converted to an office but still had all
the connections to be used as a two microphone studio.
Also in the Main Control Room, the
transmitter control for the 1000 watt RCA Transmitter operating at 630htz into
a single tower.
All this was housed in a 19” Rack
panel to the right of the 2 Ampex 351’s and the
turntables.
We also had an RCA limiter feeding
the program line, which was open pair copper to the transmitter site in Okanagan Mission.
When the power failed at the
studio, which was quite frequently, we used an old manual start generator
located in the Arena Motors building across the alley.
The transmitter site had emergency
power, courtesy of an old generator from a World War One battleship.
We still had the old RCA audio and
transmitter control console, a big RCA monitor speaker and the required remote
control and transmitter monitoring equipment.
The production control room
consisted of a Gates SA40 board, two 16” turntables with the Grey arms and turnaround
cartridges, an RCA 44BX, bronze model on a similar chromed pipe mount, another
smaller RCA monitor speaker, one Ampex 351 with tube
electronics in a roll-around cabinet, a rack mounted Ampex
601, and another Ampex 601 in a portable case that
was taken out on remotes.
An adjacent small studio off to
the left was used for announcing and outside talent.
It had an RCA 74B for a microphone
on an RCA table stand, a monitor speaker and control and headphone and control.
The newsroom consisted of a custom
built Art Vipond Console, with 4 inputs.
It had a microphone input, a
telephone input and two Magnecord PT6 transports.
It fed line level signals to the
line selector in the Main Control Room.
The newsroom had a monitor speaker
and control, headphone outputs and controls on both sides of the desk with an Electrovoice 635 on a boom arm that could be used on both
sides of the desk.
An old teletype clacking away in
the background provided newsroom ambience to broadcasts from this location and
was the only source of news copy, save local correspondents and newspaper
scalps.
Behind production control was the
rack room with remote control equipment, various amplifiers and other
equipment.
It would later house STL equipment
and remote pickup equipment.
Early remotes consisted of a
custom built control desk by Art Vipond.
It was a thing of beauty.
It consisted of a custom built
four channel console with two Neat turntables one on each side, a microphone
input and a line input for the portable Ampex 601.
We would take a tape with all the
produced commercials on it and the records needed for the remote show.
The 601 was also used for remote
recording where power was available.
For truly portable recording, we
had two old spring motor driven Wirek machines with
battery powered tube electronics.
They looked a little like a Magnecord PT6 in a box and used paper tape on 7” reels.
They were originally designed to
be used with wire but had been converted to use the paper tape.
The control desk also included
headphone and monitor feeds, including a monitor amp that fed two large EV Musicaster Speakers, line output amp and talkback
facilities to the station.
Remotes were first by telephone
line, later by RPU, which Art Vipond created from
some surplus taxi cab radios.
It sounded pretty good from
anywhere in the
The only thing was, the station
was on the second floor and the control desk had to be lugged up and down a
flight of stairs.
It was transported in the
station’s van, one of the first Ford Econolines.
We used to do 2 or three hour
shows with this unit, with everything but newscasts coming from the remote
location.
Remember, all this equipment is
single channel monophonic, all tubes.
In 1962, we added RCA RT7A
cartridge machines.
We had three of them, one
record/play and two playback only.
All three were installed in the
main control room so all could be available for playback.
An RCA switcher was used to bring
the three outputs into one.
A remote control was crafted so
the record machine could be fired from the production control.
This meant the on-air personality
in Main Control had to load cartridges for the producer in Production Control.
Later, the record/play unit was
moved to production and the machines were upgraded to RT7C’s
All the carts were stored in racks
at the back of the control room.
I remember one Deejay who was
fired who picked up the handheld bulk eraser and ran it down the backs of all
the carts before he left!
Everything had to be re-carted.
We also tried various other types
of gear.
Anyone remember Ampex CueMats?
They used flexible 12” magnetic
discs that looked like LPs and the machine that recorded and played them which
looked like a turntable.
Or how about that Gates thing that
looked like an
Thankfully, we didn’t buy any of
those.
Around 1963 or ’64, CKOV obtained
an FM license.
CJOV-FM went on the air I think in
’64 or ’65.
The transmitter was on
The site had a short antenna,
which was felled by ice early one winter.
The station transmitted through
that winter with the antenna lying on the rocks.
The site was powered by three
diesel generators, running eight hours each.
There was a huge fuel tank to keep
them running for months.
During the day, it simulcast the
AM programming.
However, when we got into network
and religious programming from
How this was accomplished was a
minor miracle.
We used the B side of the board,
or audition channel as RCA billed it, as the FM program source.
We’d simply put an LP on the third
turntable on the B side of the board, throw the control room microphone over to
B, announce the album and roll it.
We’d roll the entire side and
sometimes forget about it.
The record would run out and the
phone would ring, usually the FM manager, Charles Patrick, likely the only
listener, to tell us to turn it over.
Later, one of the Ampex 351’s was used for tape programs.
It was not unusual to be running a
religious tape on AM and a taped program on FM on either Ampex.
Later, the production studio was
used for live programming after
After I left the station in 1967,
the RCA BC-3C was swapped out and replaced with a transistorized RCA BC7 Stereo
Console.
Turntables were replaced with
McCurdy idler drives and Micro-track wood arms.
The electronics in the 351’s were
upgraded to Inovonics.
The station dabbled with IGM
automation for awhile, set up in Studio A but later scrapped it as unworkable.
It ran on IBM punch-cards and had
Reel to Reels and cartridge carousels.
I worked there from December 1961,
starting as go-fer and high school reporter for the sum of 50 cents an hour,
graduating to remote operator, control room operator, assistant engineer, teen
show deejay when John Tanner left to go to CFUN, Vancouver, now at a dollar an
hour, night operator and deejay, moving to afternoon drive deejay and morning
show host before leaving in April of 1967 to move to Lethbridge,
Alberta.
At that time, I was making $350 a
month!
I got my first on air break on
Christmas Eve, 1961 when the operator called in sick.
I was so nervous,
I forgot to shut off the transmitter at
When I started at CKOV, it was
owned by Jim Browne Jr. who was the GM, Walter Grey was the morning deejay, Jack Cooper did mid-mornings.
Girlfriend Gloria (Gloria Mildenberger) did afternoons.
John Tanner did afternoon drive
and we had operators at night.
After 11, it was a live deejay
show until sign off at
Others who passed through the
doors, Cal Coleman, Wayne Barry Heinrich, Al Jensen and his son, known as Kid
Jensen for his Radio Luxemburg days, Greg Acres and many more whose names I can’t
remember.
Jack Bews
was the News Director and Morning Newscaster.
Bob Hall did sports
During those early days, we picked
our own music, listened to every disc that came into the station and had
distinct day parts as far as music was concerned.
We had specialty programming with
guest hosts.
Scotty Angus did “Echoes of the
On New Year’s Eve, the widow of
the station’s founder, “Mother Brown” would show up with her ‘78’s and a bottle
and do a live show with guest drop ins and phone
inserts.
It got pretty wild.
We also did a regular remote
church broadcast and regular studio broadcasts for the Salvation Army.
The piano often was used live for
these shows and sometimes didn’t sound very good.
We used to hide our empties in there.
At about
We’d gather up all the microphones
after sign off, use the production board and the main control room board and
mix live to the Ampex machine in the control room,
using the second Ampex for effects, ie: reverb and phasing.
We’d usually isolate the vocalists
in Studio B and put the drums in the production Studio.
We had a 77DX, a 44BX, 4-74B’s and
a handful of Electrovoice 635’s to work with as well
as the grand piano in Studio A.
We made some pretty good
recordings, some of which actually made it to vinyl.
In the early ‘60’s, your show was
your own.
There were no consultants or music
directors.
Your teachers were your peers or
the big US and Canadian stations you could pick up at night.
There were no broadcast schools
and you were hired on talent alone.
You learned how to do everything.
I remained at CKOV, rising to the
post of Chief Announcer and left in April of 1967 to move to
Well, when I started there, Walt
Grey was the morning man, Jack Bews did the news, Bob Hall was on sports.
They formed Hall-Grey Enterprises
and brought acts to the valley as promoters.
I remember I helped them at some
of their gigs, including one particularly drunken evening at the old ElDorado on Lakeshore Road (long since burned to the
ground), with Rolf Harris.
Bob and Walt were a great team.
One thing I remember, Jack Bews never paid attention to the on-air light in main control
and came barging in when you were talking, slamming his tapes into the overhead
rack and making all kinds of noise.
Art Vipond
and I hooked up an electronic lock which kept the control room door closed when
the mic was on.
The first day, Bews
comes along, an armload of tapes, slams into the door and breaks his nose!
We left the lock on for a few
weeks, then took it out.
After that, Jack always waited for
the light to go out.
And the day of John Kennedy's
assassination, I was at KHS in the radio room.
I had a spare period and I was monkeying around with the radio, seeing what I could pick
up.
I heard the news on an American
station, dialed over to 'OV and we were still playing music.
I called the private control room
number but no one picked up.
I ran the three blocks to the
station, dashed into main control and screamed at the jock (can't remember who)
to hit the CBC Net (we were a CBC affiliate back then).
Al Jensen used to do a jazz show
Friday nights.
He'd bring his own records and a
little smoke.
Cal Coleman liked the sauce.
He'd get "likkered"
up and come into the station after hours and re-do some of the spots he felt
could be improved.
At 12:15p after the
Mr. Day (we called him
"Digger", would come in with the announcements every morning and the
copy department would clean them up.
"Digger" would find any
new staffer and pull out his pocket tape measure and measure you head to toe,
then say, yes, we have one in your size.
The cart for the funeral
announcements had the jock intoning "Today's funeral announcements are
brought to you by Day's Funeral Service, with appropriate organ music going on
while you read the death notices.
Coleman one night thought he'd
switch it up a bit.
Imagine the newsman's surprise the
next day to hear the boom-biddy-boom of tympanis followed by
Also when he was on remote and saw
another stations vehicle from out of town, he'd flip on the mic
and say "Hi! I'm Cal Coleman and
I'm available!"
Cal finally got fired for passing
out in the doorway of the Royal Anne Lounge during Regatta after Dave Dunn the
sales manager and the National Rep for Safeway had to step over his body to get
inside.
Memories by Mike Cleaver