Something Is Strange

Something Is Strange.

Rather than listen to the radio, like I usually did as I traveled to my air shift at KKYX that Fall Sunday evening in 1977, I spent my commuting time thinking. Since I had just received my college degree and I had started a full-time job in the computer industry only a few weeks earlier, I was beginning to face the possibility that my broadcast career was probably nearing its end. It's not that I didn't like things at KKYX, or I wasn't enjoying my time on the air. It was more the physical and mental toll of going full blast seven days a week for over four years. I also knew that, even though I was reluctant, I needed to move on to new things.

As I was about to enter the KKYX studio building, I encountered an exhausted looking Ed "Hot Wire" Pryor, chief engineer, and Ed Spangler, assistant engineer, leaving the transmitter building. Most everyone on the staff called Ed Pryor “Hot Wire” to eliminate confusion as to which Ed they were talking about. I immediately knew something big was, or had been wrong, or both engineers would not have been at the station on a Sunday evening.

“Hot Wire” explained that the planned installation of higher rated electrical power service by City Public Service (CPS), the local power utility, had resulted in multiple power failures, which “kicked” KKYX off the air multiple times. After further unexpected problems, “Hot Wire” managed to get KKYX back on the air, using generator power, while CPS worked on repairing their installation problems. CPS finally finished the repairs and “Hot Wire” had been able to return KKYX to CPS power just before I arrived. That explained why I had seen multiple CPS vehicles leaving just as I was entering the KKYX driveway.

I needed to get to the studio control room and relieve Jerry King, so I said “good night” to Ed Spangler, who was leaving for home. After a more than 18-hour day, which had started with an all-night maintenance shift, “Hot Wire” wanted to go home right away too. However, the generator was still running, and he needed to shut it down.

Before I continue, I should explain that KKYX had a BIG generator. It was big enough to power not only the transmitter, but also the building equipment, such as air conditioning and heating. Since I was the engineer on duty for most of the air shifts I worked, I was required to become generator qualified.

Being generator qualified was important, since failure to follow exact instructions meant no generator start and no power. Our inside joke was that Mister Diesel, himself, had designed the generator engine, since it was very old. All I know is that the engine was big. Winching the large flywheel into starting position required a block and tackle. The cooling radiator was industrial garage door sized. The most imposing part was the compressed air used to start the diesel engine. With only enough air in the tank for one normal start, if you messed up the start, that was it. Refilling the air tank took a long time.

I hated generator qualification. Since my air shift usually ended just as the weekly maintenance shift started, I was readily available for qualification training. Since the generator was run under full load for at least a couple hours two or three times a month, I had ample opportunity to watch the start-up procedure multiple times before I was allowed to "touch" the generator. I was also quizzed over and over until I could go through the entire start-up procedure without thinking. Only then was I allowed to attempt a generator start. Furthermore, I had to complete multiple successful starts before I was considered qualified.

Staying qualified meant I would have to periodically show I could still start the generator, even under adverse conditions such as dark, cold, and heat. To make it somewhat more interesting, we held competitions to see who could start the engine with the least amount of compressed air. "Good" meant that you could start the engine using less than half a tank of air. Generator start-up was easy compared to the shutdown–which could take up to thirty minutes to complete. Failure to properly complete the shutdown procedure, which included bleeding the engine cylinders and winching the flywheel into the correct position, almost certainly meant the engine would not start when needed–even with a full tank of compressed air.

I entered the control room just as the top-of-the-hour newscast started. As I sat down in front of the audio board and started preparing for my air shift, Jerry King filled me in on the power-loss adventures he had encountered during his shift.

Chrissie Murnin finished her newscast and was about to start the weather forecast. The power went out again. "Hot Wire," who was completing his final generator checks before shutting it down, had us back on the air with generator power within seconds. Chrissie finished the weather, and I started playing my first record “out of the news.” A few minutes later, "Hot Wire" entered the control room, handed me the transmitter log and said, "For now, stay on generator power. I’ll take care of it later…I'm going home!"

I was used to doing, at least a part of my air shift, most weekends, using generator power. I knew the generator was reliable. So, I settled in for another normal Sunday evening air shift. “Hot Wire” would take care of the CPS power problems when he came back.

Chrissie came into the control room about ten minutes later and stated, "Something is strange." All the police, fire, and emergency radios at the newsroom were powered on, but none of the normal communications were taking place.

Because of the day-long power problems, neither “Hot Wire,” Chrissie, Jerry, nor I had any idea that all of San Antonio was without power and KKYX was the only San Antonio broadcast facility on the air!

Very soon, we would discover that CPS had a problem much bigger than any of us could have ever imagined. The fun was about to begin…

Paul Kirby

Paul Kirby

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