JAY WAGGONER'S WGTO AM 540, FLORIDA 50,000 WATT TRANSMITTER TOUR 1994

JAY WAGGONER'S WGTO AM 540, FLORIDA 50,000 WATT TRANSMITTER TOUR 1994

In Florida Jay was a contract engineer not only for WGTO but WFRB-AM 860, WRKT-AM 1300, WMMB-AM 1240, WWKO-AM 860, WCKS-AM 860, WHKR-FM 102.7, WXXU-AM 1300, WKKO-AM 860, WAJL-AM 1190 and a few others. You will probably notice, above the roar of all the equipment at the transmitter site, that Jay had a beautiful, very resonant radio voice. Fortunately those talents were utilized on the air at some of the stations listed above. Jay lost his life to cancer in late June 2015 at the age of 55. His impressive broadcast career ended in Pennsylvania where he was director of engineering for Entercom Communications in Wilkes-Barre. We miss you Jay. You were a true broadcast professional and a very warm, caring family man. I feel blessed to have known you. Thanks for the tour and you-tube for letting us share a small part of your radio legacy with the world.
The video was shot May 4th 1994 when the transmitter facility was located in the Green Swamp area near the Polk - Lake county line in Florida. Jay gives us a fascinating tour of this 50,000 watt AM facility with six towers. Due to the dense forest growth the towers could not be seen from the road. At the entrance was a metal gate with an FCC government licensed facility sign. I am led to believe that the 540 am signal is no longer transmitted from this site. Two web sites come to mind if you would like to delve further into this history of this station are Ted Webb's excellent site, titled “Radio Years.” WGTO is listed under “other stations. And Bob Pidilla's impressive central Florida history site “Central Florida Radio” with a wealth of information.