George Wesley Ing

George Wesley Ing – The Early Years

George Ing is a legend in San Antonio Broadcasting. George came to San Antonio in the mid 1930s from his native Florida, where he was proud of his athletic ability in track and field. He procured a job with Eugene J. Roth. Mr. Roth had a small radio station on the second floor above his garage on Flores Street.

What little jurisdiction of radio stations that existed, was via the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. Roth selected KGRG (Gene Roth Garage) as the call letters of his radio station. With only 50 watts of power and most radios available at the time not very sensitive by today’s standards, George would install an outside antenna ensuring KGRG reception whenever a radio set was sold to one of Mr. Roth's customers.

Some time later, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came into existence, the call letters were changed to KONO. When an increase in power was granted, George moved the studio and transmitter to the St. Anthony Hotel. He erected two towers on the hotel rooftop and strung an antenna between them. Years later, over coffee and with much laughter, George and Mr. Roth (“Papa Gene” as most affectionately called him) told stories of racing each other to the top of the towers. Even though he was younger and athletic, George didn't always win the tower-climbing races.

Some time later KONO was moved to the Milam Building. During the Milam Building stay, a search was undertaken to obtain property where a studio and transmitter site could be collocated. This search yielded a short street off Ninth Street called Arden Grove, that ended in about 10 acres of vacant land. The property, literally an isthmus, was completely surrounded by the San Antonio River. George realized the high-ground conductivity would be excellent for a transmitter site. Mr. Roth purchased the land, and facilities for a studio and transmitter were built.

George designed and built the KONO transmitter, which was isolated from the control room by double-paned glass windows. Since the on-air talent was also responsible for transmitter operation, this allowed viewing of the transmitter meters so the values could be entered into the transmitter log every thirty minutes, as required by the FCC. George also built the studio audio-control console, which was similar to a Western Electric 23C. The “front yard” was the location of the new four-legged transmitting tower. Since power was now at 250 watts, KONO could now be heard thirty miles away during daytime hours.

KONO operations began at the new site about 1937, and George and his wife Mary Lou moved into a home on Arden Grove–walking distance from work. George did sign-on duty. A vivid memory for George at this time was entertainer Ernest Tubb riding up to the studio on his bicycle with his guitar over his shoulder, to do a live, early morning show.

Soon another change happened. In 1941, the FCC mandated a move of the KONO operating frequency to 1400 KHz.

Throughout World War II, George was KONO’s chief engineer and announcer. He was also the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) radio engineer. At that time, the SAPD was located just across the San Antonio River from the Tower Life Building (TLB). As an aside, at other times in its history, the TLB has been known as the Transit Tower and the Smith-Young Tower. George and Rocky Rhodes, of the SAPD Radio Department, ran an antenna from the TLB, cattycornered, high across St. Mary's Street to what later became the San Antonio Public Library. This huge antenna on a single-channel police system at the high end of the AM Broadcast Band allowed the police dispatcher to talk to SAPD vehicles all over the San Antonio area. However, a major problem still existed. The system only worked one way—dispatcher to vehicle. To solve the problem, George built small, low-power, glove-compartment transmitters for detectives' cars. This now allowed information to be forwarded back to the dispatcher.

Bill Kiley

Geoge Ing

Editor's Note: Photograph courtesy of Mary Lou Ing.

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