Licensed Call Letter Sequence: KGC, KNX

KNX = "Annex" (the studio was in the Arcade Annex). 

Facility History:

09/10/1920:    Experimental Operation: 5 Watts of power with call letters 6ADZ by Fred Christian.

12/08/1921:    First Broadcast License (DOC # 248 and # 358) (FRC # 20)
                       First Broadcast Date not yet known
                       Original AM frequency was 833 kHz at 50 Watts with call letters KGC at Hollywood, CA.
05/04/1922:    Call Letters changed to KNX.
09/05/1924:    License deleted.
10/14/1924:   A New license.  Changed to a different frequency,  890 kHz at 1 kW.  Photo of Transmitter. 
??/??/1927:    Power is reduced to 500 Watts
10/02/1928:    Power increased to 5,000 Watts
11/11/1928:    Changed frequency to 1050 kHz.
01/03/1929:    Facility moved to Los Angeles.
11/03/1932:    Power increased to 25,000 Watts
01/13/1933:    Granted authority to change equipment; add two additional tubes; use six 232A tubes; increase maximum rated power from 25,000 to 50,000 Watts. (This was a filed modification of the 25,000 transmitter.)

04/20/1934     Granted modification of license to increase power from 25,000 Watts to 50,000 Watts. 
04/30/1934:    Power increased to 50,000 Watts.  (by installing two additional 232A tubes.
10/21/1935:    Application for CP for 500,000 Watts.  Dismissed at the request of the applicant on 5/6/38.
01/01/1937:    Station joins CBS.
09/07/1937:    Granted a Construction Permit to install a new transmitter (no additional info.) 
04/05/1938:    Granted a modification of the above construction permit.  To see a copy of this document, click HERE .
09/?? /1938:   Installed RCA-50D transmitter.
09/12/1938:    A license to cover the Construction Permit is granted. (This must be the move to Torrance -B.M.) 
03/29/1941:    Changed frequency to 1070 kHz.
11/23/1955:    Received authority to use subaudible tones to activate air raid sirens in Los Angeles.
07/28/1959:    Granted a Construction Permit to install a Continental 316-B as an Auxiliary Transmitter. 
07/20/1960:    Granted a Construction Permit to to install a GE BT-50A1. 
02/28/1963:    License to cover the Construction Permit for the GE BT-50A1 is granted. 
02/28/1963:    License to cover the Construction Permit for the 316-B is granted. 
02/28/1963:    Installed Continental 316-B as auxiliary transmitter
02/28/1963:    Installed GE BT-50A1 to replace RCA-50D as main transmitter.  RCA transmitter is taken out of service.
09/??/1965:    Vandals cut the guys wires and trashed the 500 foot tower. Temporary operation by using a horizontal wire antenna and 10,000 Watts.   To see a copy of the engineering maintenance log that described this incident, click HERE.
??/??/196?:    Experimentation with a directional. Abandoned as undesireable.
??/??/1981:    Installed a Continental 317C 50,000 watt transmitter as main transmitter, replacing GE BT-50A1, which remained as auxiliary.
07/30/2001:    Demolished GE BT-50A1 to make room for new Harris DX-50 transmitter.
08/10/2001:    Installed Harris DX-50 transmitter, replacing Continental 317C as main transmitter, which remains as an auxiliary.

Ownership History:

Original:        Electric Lighting Supply Co. (Fred Christian)

10/14/1924:    Purchased by Guy Earl (LA Evening Express).
01/07/1928:    Purchased by Western Broadcast Co.
09/01/1936:    Purchased by CBS ($1.25 Million).
??/??/1996:    CBS merges into Westinghouse. (Corp. name changed to CBS 12/01/97).
??/??/199?:    Merged into Infinity.

More KNX Transmitter Site History
(Courtesy of Michael P. Smith, via Barry Michkind)

 The new KNX transmitter site in Torrance wasn't ready when Columbia Square opened in April of 1938. KNX continued to transmit from  its old site in the San Fernando Valley. The Torrance site went on the air in September of 1938. There was a daylong celebration of the new  ‘mighty CBS transmitter.’ The local newspaper printed a special edition welcoming KNX and CBS to Torrance. The site consisted of 12  acres on the corner of 190th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard.
 

KNX's Original Torrance Transmitter building.  The entrance was off of Hawthorne Boulevard.  This building no longer exists and has since been replaced by an auto dealership.  The photo on the left was taken from high up on KNX's broadcast tower.  The photo on the right shows KNX's original RCA 50 Kw transmitter and the impressive interior of the building.  Click on the photos for a closer look.

 In 1960, CBS began a project to remote control all of its O&O AM's, to eliminate the 24 hour manning of the sites. The property along  Hawthorne Boulevard was quite valuable by then, and since we no longer needed such a large transmitter building, a smaller building was  built next to the 500-ft tower. In fact, the tower rises out of an enclosed courtyard area in the back of the building. Two new transmitters  were installed, a 50KW and a 10KW, along with a generator and the remote control equipment. The generator was only big enough to  power the 10kw transmitter.
 

From the tower, looking southwest, the old 190th Street curves to the right side of the photo where it meets with Hawthorne Boulevard.  Today, 190th Street and surrounding areas have been redeveloped.  The old landscape seen here is forever gone.

In September of 1965, during the Michael Jackson show, persons unknown cut one of the guy wires and the original 500-ft tower came crashing down, knocking KNX off the air. KNX and CBS engineers scrambled to restore the signal. Edison planted two power poles on the property and a long wire was strung between them [one of the poles is still on site] and KNX was back on the air at 10KW. A tower, which was not yet erected, was found in town at the KFAC site. The tower was installed and KNX was back on the air at 50KW. This 365-ft tower is now the auxiliary antenna. A new 500-ft tower was erected to replace the fallen one. This is the reason KNX has two towers.  Although directional operation was experimented with in the late 60's, the nulls to the north and south were too deep, the project was abandoned, and KNX remains to this day non-directional.
 
 

This is a composite of 3 photographs that were taken from high up on KNX's tower back in "the old days".  We can see the routing of Hawthorne Blvd, 190th Street, and the old KNX transmitter building in the lower right.  In the middle of the photo at the top, we can get a partial view of a guy cable insulator.

Also in the late 60's, CBS gave most of the land to the city of Torrance with the proviso that it become a park. The park was dedicated in the early 80s as ‘Columbia Park.’ CBS retained right of way access to maintain the site. CBS also negotiated some very strict CC&R's, to protect the signal and the site. In fact, the Wicks Furniture building and the Staples building have large amounts of copper in the walls which is all tied into the KNX ground system. This makes the buildings invisible to the signal.

The last major upgrade at the site was in 1980 when the building size was increased to accommodate the new 50KW transmitter and a 210KW-diesel generator. This was my first big engineering project at KNX, working with Erik Disen, Larry Wichman, Ralph Wilson and Jim Garrett. Larry Wichman is still the transmitter supervisor [and one of the best in the business].

 After 40 years, the site is still in great shape and ready for the new millennium." 

- Michael Smith, Director  of Engineering KCBS/KLLC San Francisco  (former KNX Chief Engineer)