November 2020 – Clay’s Corner

Providing news and views from a broadcast engineers perspective since September 1986

Around these parts, October means it’s transition time…from the warm and dry, and lately smokey, days of summer to the stormy month of November. Remember that October can be stormy too, as anyone that was here in 1962 will have stories about the Columbus Day Storm. This year is starting out about right with the second weekend of the month being full of rain and wind. Time for the first snow in the mountains and flooded streets from leaf-clogged drains. A couple of extras this year….A Washington State Ferry was struck by lightning (not often you hear about that) and the KIRO-TV studio roof sprang a lead during a newscast! And a confirmed Tornado in Grays Harbor County on Saturday morning, Oct. 10th. (My weather monitor went off at 4:45 a.m.) On the 13th, we were treated to a very strong wind storm knocking out power, reportedly to about 100,000 customers. At this writing, near the end of the month, we were supposed to get our first freeze to, perhaps, actually put frost on the pumpkin.

Elsewhere in the country, things were a lot worse – hurricanes on the Gulf Coast and record setting fires in Colorado all combine to further convince me that we live in a special place. I’ll probably feel that way until the day we have that, long predicted, big quake.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the Colorado Fire, said to be the largest in Colorado history. A friend of mine who lives in the Denver area commented about the smoke there…adding that it’s been very dry.

 

 

States impacted by these disasters routinely come to the aid of each other. In the case of this fire, I received an email from the person we deal with at Washington DNR regarding transmitter sites, informing us that she had been dispatched to Colorado until the end of the month.

Historically, about this time of year, many try and predict whether we will have a warm-mild or stormy and cold winter. Not sure how accurate these long range forecasts are….but they are fun to look at anyway.

One of the more famous weather predictors is the Old Farmers Almanac. As you can see, they really get precise. For our area, ‘WET YOU BET’. Don’t think this takes a lot of high powered computing to come up with this one. Historically, our winters are just that!

Looking north of the border, it looks like they are predicting ‘Snow-Time’.   Apparently, the U.S. – B.C. border shut-down is going to have an impact on the weather too?

Giving the scientific approach a chance at this. we need to consult the Climate Prediction Center or CPC. This is what they said on Oct 16th:

According to the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), La Niña conditions are present in the equatorial Pacific and are expected to remain present into the Spring of 2021. Below normal sea surface temperatures (SSTs) appeared in the eastern Pacific in mid-May, and have since expanded across the international dateline to 160 ˚E. Over the last month, cooling between 0.5 to 1.5 ˚C occurred in the western equatorial Pacific, but local SST anomalies remain positive. Since our last update in early October, SSTs have dropped from -0.9 to -1.2 °C in Niño 3.4, which is the principal area used for the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI). ENSO models have drawn upon the recent SSTs cooling and the already La Niña consistent atmospheric circulation to predict a moderate to strong La Niña event with ONI values of less than -1.0 °C during the peak months of November to January.  Probabilistic models have placed chances at 85% and 60% of La Niña lasting through winter and spring, respectively.  These odds have been upgraded since our last Climate Outlook, which placed odds of La Niña continuing through the winter at 68%, and only 32% for the spring. When La Niña conditions are present, cooler and wetter conditions are favored for the Pacific Northwest.

What does this mean for Washington in the coming months?

The CPC November temperature outlook has equal chances of above, below and near-to normal temperatures, which matches the October temperature outlook. The precipitation outlook gives Washington State the sole area in all of CONUS with increased chances of above normal precipitation. Chances of above normal precipitation are slightly higher in northern areas of the state in the 40 to 50 % range.

The CPC three month (November-December-January) temperature outlook has slightly favored chances of below normal temperatures only in the far NW reach of WA state. Elsewhere, equal chances of above, below and near-to normal temperatures reside. Striking similar resemblance to the previous 3-month CPC outlook, above normal precipitation is favored statewide with the greatest odds in the 40 to 50% range in eastern Washington.

Frankly, after reading this several times, I am concluding that they are predicting that anything might happen. It will be interesting to see which method of long-range forecasts is more accurate.

Looking at the bigger picture nation-wide, this is what the maps of temperature and precipitation look like:

Not often we have a big sale of TV stations in the U.S. This one is pretty good sized…Scripps is purchasing Ion Media. What does this mean for us in the Seattle area? It means hat KWPX will have new owners. KWPX’s Chief, Terry Spring, has long been a fixture in our community. Here is how the FCC Notice read:

KWPX-TV 56852 ION MEDIA LICENSE COMPANY, LLC WA WA, BELLEVUE BTCCDT-20201013ABX E CHAN-33 Voluntary Transfer of Control From: MEDIA HOLDCO, LP To: SCRIPPS MEDIA, INC. Form 315

We are all familiar with TGIF and other multi-letter ways of expressing things. Sometimes duplicates come up. For instance – For years BLM only meant Bureau of Land Management. Now we have Black Lives Matter and WFH. Not familiar with that one? It means Work from Home.

So what’s up with the coronavirus situation?

As in previous columns, I try and provide a snap-shot of the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on our area. The short report – not good, getting worse. As of the 24th of October here are the State totals:

  • Total Active cases –  ~ 102,000
  • Total Hospitalized –    ~    8,300
  • Total Fatal cases –     ~    2,400

The following graphs tell the tale pretty well. In the first one, you can clearly see that we are on the 3rd spike. In the second one, you can clearly see that we have not flattened the curve.

Nationally, the news is not good at all.

  • Predictions are that the U.S. could have 500,000 deaths by February. (As of 10/24 that total now stands at 227,399.) Unless, nearly everyone starts wearing face masks.
  • The UW Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation fears that colder weather will drive more people indoors where the virus is more likely to spread.
  • According to U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar, the behavior of individuals saying household gatherings have become a “major vector of disease spread.”

The hope of us all is that a vaccine will soon be available that will protect those of us who have not yet caught this thing. Thankfully, we are hearing good news coming from the various vaccine trials. However, we are, according to the experts, several months away from being able to be vaccinated.

Then there is the question of who is going to be able to get it first? The following piece from the Seattle Times explains this pretty well:

Vaccines could take months to distribute, leaving some people waiting.

At the federal government’s request, the National Academies built a framework that anticipated scarcity, aimed for equality and maximum impact, and considered the disproportionate impacts of the virus on certain populations, Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, said during the UW event last week.

According to the plan: Vaccine doses should initially go to health care workers and first responders who are at high risk. Then, distribution should focus on people with underlying conditions that put them at significant risk and on older adults living in congregate settings such as nursing homes.

The next priority group includes K-12 teachers and school workers, workers in critical industries, people in homeless shelters, incarcerated people, older adults, and those who have underlying conditions and are at moderate risk.

Next, young adults, children and some workers in key industries could receive the vaccine. Then, everyone else.

The committee said the vaccine should be free and distributed in a manner that acknowledges systemic racism and the socioeconomic factors that have allowed COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, to disproportionately affect some communities.

Bottom lines –

  • Continue to wear your mask and stay far away from those that don’t.
  • Avoid inside gatherings.
  • Wait a few more months.

Unfortunately, we are at the start of the Holiday Season when families and people traditionally gather inside. This will make it doubly hard on all of us.

It’s Zoom to the rescue. Instead of physical gatherings, we now have virtual ones, using platforms like Zoom that will enable us to see each other.

In early October the Nielsen Radio Ratings came out. Here is a list of the things that grabbed my attention:

  • Our Market is now over 4,000,000!
  • Three of the top five are non-music stations.
  • An AM Station (KOMO) is #5. Granted they were helped by their 97.7 FM.
  • Two of the top ten are Non-Commercial operations – KUOW and KING.

 

 

Seattle-Tacoma (#12)

6+ Total Pop: 4,006,500    Black: 6.71% Hispanic: 9.14%

 

Station Format Owner Jul Aug Sep
1)    KZOK-FM Classic Rock 6.3 6.9 6.9
2)    KIRO-FM News/Talk 7.1 7.1 6.4
3)    KISW-FM Rock 5.2 5.7 6.0
4)    KUOW-FM / KUOW-AM / KQOW-FM News/Talk 5.4 5.3 5.8
5)    KOMO-AM / KOMO-FM News 4.9 4.4 5.0
6)    KJR-FM Classic Hits 5.5 5.5 4.8
7)    KQMV-FM CHR 4.9 5.1 4.2
8)    KRWM-FM Adult Contemporary 4.3 4.2 4.2
9)    KING-FM Classical 4.4 4.1 4.1
 

10) KPLZ-FM

 Hot AC 2.9 3.3 3.9
11) KNDD-FM Modern/Alternative Rock 4.3 3.8 3.9
12)  KBKS-FM CHR 3.0 3.4 3.7
13) KSWD-FM Soft AC 4.0 3.5 3.5
14) KJAQ-FM Adult Hits 3.1 3.4 3.3
15) KKWF-FM Country 3.9 3.4 3.3

 

 

 

Last month I wrote about the geographic division between W and K calls. Here is a bit more on that topic:

K/W Call Letters in the United States

 

Thomas H. White — January 1, 2020

This is a comprehensive review of K and W call letter assignments for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations in the United States, with an emphasis on stations that are on the “wrong side of the Mississippi”.

https://earlyradiohistory.us/kwtrivia.htm

Shutterbug extraordinaire, Dwight Small submitted some jewels this month.

With all the fog and smoke haze, it’s been very difficult to see much of anything, much less the conjunction between the Moon and Mars. Despite these obstacles, Dwight was able to capture this stunner recently. The Moon and just above to the right, Mars which is quite close.

Shutterbug extraordinaire, Dwight Small submitted some jewels this month

With all the fog and smoke haze it’s been very difficult in seeing much of anything, much less the conjunction between the Moon and Mars.   Despite these obstacles, Dwight was able to capture this stunner recently     The Moon and just above to the right Mars which is quite close.

Earlier he captured this spectacular view of the Moon rising over the lake. Wow! Once again proving how rough it is to be retired!

And this of a sunset lighting up the Cascades:

Like Dwight, I usually have my camera nearby so I can capture a scene worthy of sharing.

In this case, I was working on a NWPB project on Mt. Brynion near Longview. It was getting near the end of the day as I walked back to my truck, getting ready to leave I saw this:

On the 14th, the day after our rather significant wind-storm, things settled down nicely and ended with this sunset taken from my back deck..

 

And on the 18th…

 

Occasionally I am able to use the camera of someone else. In this case, the  following picture, taken on the 20th by one of the AccelNet cameras on West Tiger, has a couple of interesting features.

  • The Moon, just to the right of the Antennas on the left side.
  • The sunset turned Puget Sound a wonderful shade of red.

Meanwhile, another camera captured this image from a building to the north of the tower where the camera is mounted for the above picture. (Center of the following frame). This too shows the moon. In the upper right corner is a glimpse of the tower and antennas used by 88.5, 98.1, 103.7, 97.3, 99.9, 100.7 and 107.7.

Thanks to retired KIRO Radio and Central Puget LECC Chair, Phil Johnson for this item.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/632726/man-cycles-from-poo-poo-point-washington-to-pee-pee-creek-ohio

The way the average person can see Poo Poo Point is by driving south from Issaquah on the Issaquah-Hobart Road. Keep looking left at the west shoulder of Tiger Mt. for what appears to be a pretty steep cliff….that’s it. You will likely also notice the landing area for those who fly off of Poo Poo. It’s an open field to the left with the Wind Sock.

After all the discussion, including my comments in this column, it appears the FCC will vote in late October on All-Digital AM. According to media reports, this action will allow a voluntary migration. This means if an AM station wishes to drop their Amplitude Modulation and start broadcasting in all digital, they may do so. Many are viewing this as another step in the direction of ‘re-vitalizing’ our legacy broadcast band. FCC Chairman Pai put it this way, “This hints at digital AM’s potential to bring AM stations back from the brink of extinction to become competitive players in the market.”

Like a lot of these things, ‘The devil is in the details’. For instance, will the FCC permit other than HD-Radio transmission, for instance, the popular DRM?

One of the major plusses for making this change is, perhaps, understated. This will go a long way toward overcoming the differences between AM and FM stations on the dashboard of today’s vehicles.

  • Ability to run a music format with much improved fidelity, including stereo.
  • Ability to overcome the every increasing noise that attacks AM signals.
  • Ability to run textual information, which is now standard with FM.
  • Ability (potentially) to multicast.
  • For the first time make an AM Station sound good enough that the average listener will not tune away.

One of the big questions is, who, other than the Hubbard station in the vicinity of WDC, will actually do it? Some have expressed the thought that they have nothing to lose (except for the money to actually implement it) feeling that many AM’s have fallen on hard times with little, if any, revenue and/or ratings.

If this action had come along during better times, and not in the middle of a Pandemic, with all of its economic consequences, perhaps the idea would be more warmly received.

What’s making all this possible is the fact that today’s new vehicles are being sold with radios installed that are capable of receiving an All-Digital AM signal. This means these owners would be able to receive the Digital AM on day one.

In my view, there are some candidates for giving this a try.

  • AM’s that now have a translator that is not listened to by the majority of their audience, to the point they can afford to ‘disconnect’ all their former AM listeners. (This is the case for the station in MD that’s been doing all the testing.)
  • AM’s that are doing very poorly and are part of a cluster of successful FM’s.
  • AM’s that have antenna systems and transmitters that will not require major modification.

I will admit, there are some down sides –

  • Those with conventional AM receivers will, upon the station making the change, hear nothing but noise.
  • Jillions of radios made in the last 100 years will not be compatible.
  • With very few non-vehicle Digital Receivers out there…stations will be relying on streaming.

Frankly, I am excited about this and honestly hope that an AM in the Seattle market would take the plunge. I own two vehicles that are fully capable of receiving an All-Digital AM. I hope I get to experience this before my time is up.

I could not help but notice that our own Ben Dawson was asked to comment on this topic. Here is what BFD-III PE had to say:

“The real meat of the AM revitalization NPRM was to finally make realistic changes in the basic allocation rules to reflect modern noise and propagation conditions, which are significantly different than those of the 1930s, which the present rules are based upon,” he said.

“And that simply hasn’t happened. When we’ve talked with FCC staff about it, the impression we’ve gotten is that the upper echelons of the commission just don’t think it has much importance.”

Dawson believes the cross-service FM translators allocated to AM licensees have cluttered the FM band. “Translators and low-power FM stations are just being sandwiched in.”

Digital AM in the United States faces an uphill battle, Dawson said, in part because many owners and large groups object to paying licensing fees. (While Xperi has offered AM stations a license for all-digital HD Radio technology in perpetuity without fees, that offer is seen as a kickstarter rather than a long-term policy.)

“The adoption of FM, NTSC, FM stereo, digital TV; none of those had licensing fees,” Dawson continued. “And neither should digital AM. And of course, DRM [Digital Radio Mondiale] doesn’t and is already being employed in some countries.

“But we need to develop the allocation rules for all digital and movement toward that has been very slow.”

Perhaps this is a good time to mention that Ben has been awarded the 2020 IEEE Broadcast Technology Jules Cohen Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award. This is the highest award from the Broadcast Technology Society. Congratulations my old friend!

Some of the previous winners of this award are:

  •  2019: Garrison Cavell
  •  2018: Merrill Weiss
  •  2017: Byron W. St. Clair
  •  2016: Lynn Claudy
  •  2015: Thomas B. Silliman

Time to update your record of the FCC’s address. Yup, they have moved from their old location at the Portals to 45 L Street. I have some memories of their old location…was there a couple of times, first time, on a upper floor, to discuss with staff regarding issues involving Part 74 frequency coordination. The other time was involving EAS and on that occasion I sat in one of the directors chairs (comfy if I recall). What is a bit surprising is the fact that the FCC does not own their own building. They actually lease it. The new digs cost less and are 30% smaller. Of course, the size of the space does not matter much, as they too are mainly working from home.

There is something very special about 2020 for broadcasting. It was 100 years ago (1920) that much of it began. There are a number of recent articles written about KDKA, WWJ, KNX etc., each one claiming to be a part of the puzzle that was the beginning of commercial radio in the U.S.

To be fair to my Canadian readers, I found this item on-line:

Radio as we know it was first created by Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian working in the US. And although many sites list an American station as the first broadcaster, in fact it was a station in Canada, XWA that was granted the first broadcast licence on this day December 1st, back in 1919.

XWA, was a Marconi station in Montreal and the call letters stood for “experimental wireless apparatus”.

The first scheduled broadcast was in May 1920, also predating American broadcasts, becoming the oldest radio station in the world, although actual broadcasts were very limited, and nothing like the 24/7 operations of today.

By 1920 XWA had changed it’s call sign to CFCF which it retained for decades. Those call letters stood for “Canada’s first, Canada’s finest”. Much later the TV operation would also use those call letters.

It remained a highly popular radio station and changed owners over the years, and call letters as well.

In 1991 it was CIQC, and a news format. In 2005, another format change to news-talk, and in 2008 a switch to all-hits radio. But AM radio was dying, and in Montreal a percentage of the Anglophone audience had moved out of Montreal and the mainly French-speaking province.

With the combined factors of a reduced audience, the fading of AM radio in popularity generally, and its remaining audience split amongst several competitors, there was clearly trouble on the horizon by the 2008 switch to all hits music.

In 2010, using the call sign CINW 940 AM, owners Corus Entertainment shut the operation on January 29th. At 10;00 am the programming ceased and looped messages were played explaining that given “current economic conditions” continuing to broadcast was impossible.

At 7.02 that evening, the broadcasts simply stopped and the first and oldest of radio stations, certainly in North America, and possibly the world, went silent.

For additional information about the history of Radio in B.C. go here: https://vancouverbroadcasters.com/history.html

Here in our area we have a lot of radio stations that are also at, or approaching, that 100 year mark. KJR was certainly one of the first with much evidence that it is 100 years old. It’s not hard to find the older AM stations in the area by looking at their present, or former call letters. (Dates from the FCC)

KVI – 570 – 11.24.26 – One of the few still using their 3-letter call.
KIRO – 710 – 1.17.27
KXA – 770 – ??.??.24 – now KTTH
KJR – 950 – 12-30.26 – This from the FCC Data Base. There is plenty of evidence that KJR went on much earlier
KOMO – 1000 – 3.9.22
KGBS – 1090 – 11.5.28 – now KFNQ
KTW – 1250 – 4.22.22 – now KKDZ
KOL – 1300 – 5.23.22 – now KKOL
KMO-1360 –3.30.22 – now KKMO

There are a couple of other ‘Oldies’ in our area:

KRKO – 1380 – 3.17.22 – In Everett (perhaps unique in that it’s a 4-letter call)
KGY – 1240 – 3.30.33 in Olympia – now KBUP

In Eastern Washington –

KHQ – 590 – 2.28.22- Spokane – now KQNT
KGA -1510 -1.4.27 – Spokane
KPQ – 560 – 9.23.26 – Wenatchee
KUJ – 1420 – 12.3.26 – Walla Walla
KWSU – 1260 – 6.21.22 – Pullman

From this FCC data, it appears there will be a number of stations turning 100 in 2022.

It’s a bit harder to determine which FM Station was the first in the Seattle area.

Certainly,  a couple come to mind.

KING-FM – 98.1 – 5.21.48 – (Yes, still KING-FM)
KTNT-FM – 97.3 – 5.29.49 – (Now KIRO-FM – still licensed to Tacoma)

If anyone has a list of the first FM’s in this area, please let me know.

One cannot talk about the early days of Radio Broadcasting without mentioning what is billed as the oldest radio program still on the air – WSM’s Grand Ole Opry. The ‘Opry’ has been on hold due to the corona virus pandemic. However, there was a special gathering to celebrate the show’s 95th anniversary.

One of the oldest stations in the U.S. is the famous KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA (now owned by Entercom). As perhaps a sign of the times, they can now be heard on FM via a translator on 100.1. Effective November 2nd, their ID will be – ‘100.1 FM and 1020 AM KDKA’.

Note how the FM gets top billing!

Another sign of the plight of AM Radio is this item:

Chattanooga’s Oldest Radio Station “Goes Silent”; WDOD Sold To Baylor

WDOD, Chattanooga’s oldest radio station, has gone silent after 86 years on the air.

The large, valuable WDOD property along the Tennessee River has been sold to Baylor School.

WDOD’s last day on the air was Tuesday. It most recently had a sports format. The station had moved to an Air America format in 2005 when longtime station fixture Earl Freudenberg left to join WDYN. WDOD later moved back to easy listening.

Bernie Barker, station general manager, said, “The equipment at the station was very old and the parts were hard to get. The components had to be made in some cases.”

He said Baylor School needed the property for expansion so the deal was signed on Wednesday.

Mr. Barker said the WDOD license was turned back to the FCC.

He said no employees lost their job.

The deed says the property is 22 acres and the sales price was $600,000.

The station maintained its original call letters for its entire life.

It’s indeed interesting how many stations never change their call letters. In our area, we can, perhaps, count on one hand those that have not.

Usually in selecting call letters, a station wants to avoid any confusion. This was not the case in our area as we had a KMO and KOMO operating at the same time for many years. Finally KMO, bowing to the potential confusion factor, changed from KMO to KAMT. Later the station switched to KKMO.

I recently ran across a list of stations in Colorado Springs, CO and found something interesting. A number of stations whose calls start with KK –

  • KKMG-FM
  • KKFM-FM
  • KKPK-FM
  • KKLI-FM

Many years ago, KIRO and KOMO-TV installed Satellite Up-Link equipment at their (then) co-owned AM transmitter facilities on Vashon Island. In the case of KIRO, they did not have a clear microwave shot to their Seattle facilities, so they installed passive-reflectors up on each of their 710 AM towers that provided a microwave path to equipment in a newly constructed building behind the AM transmitter building. In the process they installed some large dishes to connect to the ‘Bird’. Here are some pictures of them recently being removed, all to become a large pile of surplus aluminum. Note the size comparison with the workers.

Thanks to Steven Allen for some of these pictures!

Well those days are long gone. The time has come to take it all apart and haul the pieces off for scrap.

In the following picture you can see the big dishes, lying face down. If you look closely, you can make out one of the KIRO AM towers just above and to the right of the center of the old dish. (Red Arrow)

Here’s the other one with the, no longer used, electronics building in the background.

And this one. These things were huge by today’s standards.

I found a piece created by Moneywise where they list states where Americans are leaving and moving to. Interesting to note how three of the top five areas that are gaining, are located in our area.

5. Washington

Inbound moves: 59.5%

While states like Florida owe their influx of new residents to retirees, Washington’s growth is due in large part to the number of job opportunities for young professionals.

Companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks are all headquartered in the Evergreen State and are major draws for jobs. Roughly half the people who moved to Washington in 2019 did so for work, according to United Van Lines.

Although the cost of living in Washington is higher than other states, the wages tend to be higher as well.

“Housing is where we saw a big jump in cost,” writes Reddit user ZombieLibrarian, who moved to Washington from Kentucky with his wife. “The jump in cost was exceeded by the jump in our salaries, though, so it sounded a lot more scary than it actually was.”

2. Oregon

Inbound moves: 65.4%

The Beaver State has been flooded with new residents since the founding of the Oregon Trail in the mid-1800s, and 2019 was no exception. For the third year in a row, Oregon occupied the No. 2 spot for inbound moves on United Van Lines’ study.

Aside from the plentiful trees and lush vegetation, Oregon is also rife with tech industry jobs, particularly around Portland and Hillsboro, an area which some have dubbed the “Silicon Forest.”

“There are hundreds of satellite offices of big companies that support the semiconductor industry,” writes Quora Anil Kumar. “Additionally, Nike, Columbia and Fisher Investments are headquartered in Portland Metro.”

1. Idaho

Inbound moves: 67.4%

It appears the Gem State is no longer a hidden gem.

Idaho had the highest percentage of inbound moves in the country in 2019, marking its first time at the top of United Van Lines’ inbound list in more than 25 years.

With a burgeoning job market and an extremely low cost of living, Idaho is particularly attractive to IT workers who want to avoid shelling out millions for a home in other tech hubs like California.

The median price of a home in Boise is $332,698. In San Francisco, it’s $1.32 million.

On top of that, many residents say Idaho is a great place to raise a family.

“I loved the fact that my kids knew their teachers in and out of the classroom,” writes longtime Idaho resident Diane Allen on Quora. “I knew their bus drivers and knew my kids were in good hands.”

After many years of thinking that Tacoma was very much a 2nd rate town – comes this headline:

Study: Tacoma is nation’s fastest-selling housing market

In Seattle, the median home sales price in September rose by 18.5% over the same month last year to $640,000. The average home price in Tacoma was $435,000 – a 14.5% increase over last year.

For the third month in a row, Tacoma also was the fastest market in the nation, with half of all homes pending sale in just six days, down from 16 days a year earlier. Seattle was tied with Indianapolis and Grand Rapids, Mich., as the second fastest market in the nation, with half of homes pending sale in seven days.

Tacoma also was the second most competitive market in the nation, with 59.6% of homes selling above list price.

Always good to see where radio signals come from in other markets. The following comes via John McDaniel at NWPB of a site in the Wallowa Mountains Southwest of Enterprise, Oregon called ‘Sheep Ridge’. This is the location of K265DX, one of several translators operated by WSU’s NWPR out of Pullman. The first picture is of the receive antenna for the translator.

Some of the other antennas and systems at this location:

Sheep Ridge has some serious elevation. The license for this site shows it being 595 meters above average terrain and 2174 meters above sea level. That works out to be about 7134 above sea level. So where is Enterprise, Oregon?  Check out https://www.enterpriseoregon.org/

A very scenic place indeed. Take a look: https://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/northeast/Enterprise/Enterprise.htm

When you hear, or read, the words Tri-Cities, Washington what do you think? OK, how about Richland? Perhaps Hanford and nuclear power or the WSU Campus? Betcha you don’t think about the fastest production automobile? Big news was recently made with a product from that community along the Columbia River in Eastern Washington.

The headline in Motor Trend read:

The SSC Tuatara Is Now the Fastest Car in the World at 316.11 MPH!

Saturday, October 10, a team gathered alongside a closed, seven-mile section of Highway 160 near Pahrump, Nevada to attempt—and set—a new record, with U.K. pro racer Oliver Webb driving a supercar hailing from Richland, Washington, the SSC Tuatara. The new speed? A staggering 315.7 mph!

And now, more good news. The U.S. elections are about over!!! For reasons I will never understand, both of the major parties got hold of my email address resulting in, at least, 50% of my email coming from those two groups. Interestingly, as I look out the front window of my home, there is not a yard-sign to be seen. I’m sure that this season has been good for the broadcast industry with record amounts of, very welcome, money being spent on political advertising. However, for me, I will be very happy to see this event be finished.

A big thank you to Buzz Anderson for the following timely item:

The following was sent to me recently by an old friend in Wisconsin:

That’s about it for this month, my friends. Lord willing, I will be back next month to most of the usual locations.

Until then, stay safe as you carefully venture out with your facial coverings and freshly washed hands.

Clay, K7CR, CPBE

SBE Member #714 since February 5th, 1968