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Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
thejimdoherty
()
Date: June 06, 2015 03:10PM
There used to be a tiny building at Harlem and Irving (next to the police station), that was once a radio station. I think it was WOPA. Anybody remember that building or have pictures of it?
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
b.a.hoarder
()
Date: June 06, 2015 03:55PM
I don't know about that location, but in Countryside on Joliet Road there used to be radio towers and a small building with the call letters WOPA. WOPA was owned and operated by the PNA, the Polish National Alliance and at one time they operated (possibly all through their existence) on a pay to play format. If you secured the advertisers, or just had deep pockets, anyone could book any open air time they had. I know nothing about radio transmitting but I think the small building only contained the equipment to receive (via telephone lines?) what was produced in the studio and get it to the antennas. There were four antennas there I believe and given the height of them it would have been unlikely to have them in a land locked area like Oak Park, IL where WOPA had it's studio. The studio might still be there, but I think they have new call letters, WPNA.
Even though most of the stuff played was ethnic I recall a DJ playing "underground" rock like was heard on WGRT back in the day and can still be heard on WXRT to a certain extent.
Today the towers are long gone, replace by a shopping center and I don't know where WPNA relocated them. By the way, the WLS tower is near I-80 and Rt. 45 in Will county. It was put there to get around some sort of Cook County tax on radio transmitters.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2015 05:57PM by b.a.hoarder.
Even though most of the stuff played was ethnic I recall a DJ playing "underground" rock like was heard on WGRT back in the day and can still be heard on WXRT to a certain extent.
Today the towers are long gone, replace by a shopping center and I don't know where WPNA relocated them. By the way, the WLS tower is near I-80 and Rt. 45 in Will county. It was put there to get around some sort of Cook County tax on radio transmitters.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2015 05:57PM by b.a.hoarder.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
the_mogra
()
Date: June 06, 2015 05:14PM
the police station @ Harlem & Irving was an IL state police one (now gone), and I used to think the radio transmitting tower there was for them
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
()
Date: June 07, 2015 01:00PM
I remember that small building - it was brick, somewhat art deco, and had station identifier letters on it that were obscured by overgrown brush. Was it something like WOPC or something?
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
rjmachon
()
Date: June 08, 2015 02:16AM
Was this a am or fm station? I can remember the building being there in 1974 but can't remember the call letters. That building was there as early as 1939. You can see it on the HistoricAerial Photo. I believe the address to this property was 7188 West Irving Park Road. Was this building was just the transmitter for the radio station, WOPA-AM? The call letters WOPA stood for The Oak Park Arms, a hotel on Oak Park Avenue where the station occupied the penthouse.
This was from the Chicagoland Radio History
WOPA -- 1490 took up residence at the Oak Park Arms hotel in the early 1950s, after a short time as WEBS, up until 1985 change to WBMX. Is now WPNA, though still at the same old stand.
WOPA -- after considering WMXA, the new Chicago station on 1200 went with the classic old local call when they signed-on in the late 1980s, until switching to WLXX in 1995.
WOPA-FM -- changed from WNOI, from Oak Park on 102.3 in the early 1950s. Was upgraded to 102.7 by 1961. Became WGLD in 1970, and is now WVAZ.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2015 04:24AM by rjmachon.
This was from the Chicagoland Radio History
WOPA -- 1490 took up residence at the Oak Park Arms hotel in the early 1950s, after a short time as WEBS, up until 1985 change to WBMX. Is now WPNA, though still at the same old stand.
WOPA -- after considering WMXA, the new Chicago station on 1200 went with the classic old local call when they signed-on in the late 1980s, until switching to WLXX in 1995.
WOPA-FM -- changed from WNOI, from Oak Park on 102.3 in the early 1950s. Was upgraded to 102.7 by 1961. Became WGLD in 1970, and is now WVAZ.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2015 04:24AM by rjmachon.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 08, 2015 11:38AM
That was the state police station in the corner building, not a commercial radio station. Yes, it was in an art deco or art modern style, and the call letters were in large aluminum letters on the front. I think that goes back to the days before police and fire used the UHF bands, and used frequencies that were just past the high end of the AM broadcast bands. I remember the older AM radios had dial markings for the police and fire bands. I think there still must be some sort of radio installation there as there is a large transmitting tower behind where the building stood, and it appears to be active.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 08, 2015 01:43PM
Found out a little more. The Illinois State Police station used the call letters WQPC, and while the building was abandoned and eventually torn down, the transmitter tower in the back is still used by the ISP and Illinois DOT. The information came from a website on call signs.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
()
Date: June 09, 2015 01:39PM
Excellent - thanks Dunning!
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 09, 2015 02:54PM
The call letters have evidently been reassigned to a radio station up in Wisconsin, but here's a link to an article in Google Books about the old radio station:
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRX9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38&dq=wqpc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Shl3Vf-0LonEgwSG7oDIBw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=wqpc&f=false
I have to admit to being a police radio junkie myself. I remember sitting with my uncle, on the back porch of my grandmother's house near Armitage and Kostner, listening to the police calls on his old Philco Transitone radio. He would flip a switch on the back and you could listen to the police band. I remember that we would get a lot of interference when one of the electric trolley buses running on Armitage Avenue would get near. Now, I have my UHF scanner going all night long next to my bed, and it's really strange, I can sleep right through it until I hear a nearby address and I immediately wake up!
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRX9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38&dq=wqpc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Shl3Vf-0LonEgwSG7oDIBw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=wqpc&f=false
I have to admit to being a police radio junkie myself. I remember sitting with my uncle, on the back porch of my grandmother's house near Armitage and Kostner, listening to the police calls on his old Philco Transitone radio. He would flip a switch on the back and you could listen to the police band. I remember that we would get a lot of interference when one of the electric trolley buses running on Armitage Avenue would get near. Now, I have my UHF scanner going all night long next to my bed, and it's really strange, I can sleep right through it until I hear a nearby address and I immediately wake up!
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 09, 2015 07:27PM
A little more on WQPC that I found and copied from a website called msprg.com:
Illinois State Police
URLs for Illinois State Police
Wikipedia - Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police Web Site
llinois State Police is a fascinating subject which we probably are not going to learn much in this lifetime because few have had time to correspond about the matter. I will try a few things in hope to have a minuscule record on hand because the record needs to be on file. A good friend W9BRD Rod Newkirk now resides in Canada with his wife VE3ZBB. Rod was a longtime Illinois State Police radio officer and electronics man. Starting in 1946 manning the CW circuits on daily shifts.
March 22 2000 Rod stated, “When nd my old boss and pal Ero Erickson, then W9HPJ and later KA9DYS (He was so busy he let his ham ticket expire) died just a few years ago, his family emptied his cellar — full of priceless memorabilia pertaining to the police portion of the wireless art. I was in the process of changing QTH myself, groveling through 32 years of living too long in one place and didn’t dare tackle the job of sorting through all of his big cardboard boxes, notebooks and photos. So I had to turn down the job, advising them instead to contact Association of Police Communications Officers for whom Ero had been a steady correspondent and author. I might have taken the task after my own move was completed but then I began planning a move to Canada. I know there was a treasure trove in all that material of the very type you seek. Ero used to spend large chunks of his vacation time visiting and photographing police radio stations and personnel across the country. He was primarily responsible for more than half the size of the CW network, coaxing some out-of-the-way cities and states to hire FCC-licensed telegraphers.
Pictured the WQPC Illinois State Police Radio Crew in Chicago, taken Christmas of 1947. Left to right - Nathan Perlman ex-W9OVJ; Rod Newkirk W9BRD; Ero Erickson W9HPJ now KA9DYS; James Donohue W9KJY and Orval Wingate W9EDH now KX9C.
Disposition of the comm personnel; Officer Perlman had trained as a Rabbi, he declined promotion to supervisor and retired as a CW operator. Rod Newkirk was DX Editor for QST for 25 plus years and recipient of a 55 WPM award. Erickson retired in 1960 after 30 years of service, was in charge of District III Radio plus 2 - 4 & 5 until they were staffed by licensed technicians. James Donohue
is a former Coast Guard and Federal Barge Line operator, he was later Supervisor D2 Elgin station and winters in Texas traveling a lot. Orval Wingate retired to a large farm in Avon, Ill. He worked for Michigan S.P., Lorain Marine Telephone in Ohio, FCC/RID and retired from Los Angeles, P.D.
When this was written by Erickson, he stated all in good health 38 years after the picture taken. SGT Wm Engle of River Forest PD, then in charge of radio maintenance, took the group picture.
The Chicago HQ of Ill. State Police Radio was “WQPC” They housed a Wilcox transmitter running a kilowatt and had a 7090 kc crystal available for quiet Sunday mornings depending on whether a QPO amateur enthusiast was on shift. The boys were PRO A-P-C-O Union Members, see bulletin in picture.
Newkirk says, “Most of the old time CW Ops of those days were older than I was, so they’re beginning to thin out rapidly now.” But on rare occasion I do run into a QSO where the OM may mention a stint on the police network. Fewer and fewer as time goes on. The day will come when somebody will rediscover how CW cuts through the soup when all else fails, but it will be too late. Just like we’ve torn up railroad tracks and right-of-ways to put us all on the clutches of the oil cartels and auto barons and clogged the roads with 18-wheelers.
Ero Erickson was author of most of this material from an article which looks like World Radio Magazine, he states : “There may be some interest in a picture of radio telegraphers who once worked for the State of Illinois, for the State Police Radio, When C.W. was King (no computers.)
Our photo of the police radiomen was taken in 1947 shows the crew and equipment of WQPC Chicago HQ of the Illinois State Police. W9BRD Rod Newkirk called the Western Electric transmitter a 12 Meter rig, because it had 12 meters installed!
The A.M. Phone transmitter was turned on in 1936, operating on 1610 Kilocycles at Chicago and ran over 20 years at 1 K.W. When operated for the last time an attempt to restart it was made a month later, age took its toll, it blew fuses. The transformer windings had cooled and shrunk, causing shorts. R.I.P, AM Phone Police Broadcast.
Illinois required all operators to hold two FCC licenses; at least a 1st Class Radiotelephone operator’s license and a 2nd Class Radiotelegraph license.
Ero, you were prophetic. Yes there is a lot of interest in Police CW Radio, may it always be remembered! Author will do his best with Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia & PA.
Your author was looking over old material provided by Red Devores W8LYV formerly WV. State Police Charleston which had portions of this article on the ILL S.P. - Red’s material supplied 26 March 2005. W9BRD is still alive and going strong in the Toronto region as VA3ZBB with dual citizenship. I worked Rod Newkirk early 2005 on 40 Meters CW. I called him Jeeves and he usually knows it is me calling him, that proverbial name because of his fine QST Column he ran for a long time. Jeeves never got a penny for his hard work, it was dedicated to humanity!
Illinois SP Ride in 1936 with an AM receiver and speaker behind the head light facing the driver.
All above information was supplied by Bob Ballantine W8SU June 2009
Illinois State Police
URLs for Illinois State Police
Wikipedia - Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police Web Site
llinois State Police is a fascinating subject which we probably are not going to learn much in this lifetime because few have had time to correspond about the matter. I will try a few things in hope to have a minuscule record on hand because the record needs to be on file. A good friend W9BRD Rod Newkirk now resides in Canada with his wife VE3ZBB. Rod was a longtime Illinois State Police radio officer and electronics man. Starting in 1946 manning the CW circuits on daily shifts.
March 22 2000 Rod stated, “When nd my old boss and pal Ero Erickson, then W9HPJ and later KA9DYS (He was so busy he let his ham ticket expire) died just a few years ago, his family emptied his cellar — full of priceless memorabilia pertaining to the police portion of the wireless art. I was in the process of changing QTH myself, groveling through 32 years of living too long in one place and didn’t dare tackle the job of sorting through all of his big cardboard boxes, notebooks and photos. So I had to turn down the job, advising them instead to contact Association of Police Communications Officers for whom Ero had been a steady correspondent and author. I might have taken the task after my own move was completed but then I began planning a move to Canada. I know there was a treasure trove in all that material of the very type you seek. Ero used to spend large chunks of his vacation time visiting and photographing police radio stations and personnel across the country. He was primarily responsible for more than half the size of the CW network, coaxing some out-of-the-way cities and states to hire FCC-licensed telegraphers.
Pictured the WQPC Illinois State Police Radio Crew in Chicago, taken Christmas of 1947. Left to right - Nathan Perlman ex-W9OVJ; Rod Newkirk W9BRD; Ero Erickson W9HPJ now KA9DYS; James Donohue W9KJY and Orval Wingate W9EDH now KX9C.
Disposition of the comm personnel; Officer Perlman had trained as a Rabbi, he declined promotion to supervisor and retired as a CW operator. Rod Newkirk was DX Editor for QST for 25 plus years and recipient of a 55 WPM award. Erickson retired in 1960 after 30 years of service, was in charge of District III Radio plus 2 - 4 & 5 until they were staffed by licensed technicians. James Donohue
is a former Coast Guard and Federal Barge Line operator, he was later Supervisor D2 Elgin station and winters in Texas traveling a lot. Orval Wingate retired to a large farm in Avon, Ill. He worked for Michigan S.P., Lorain Marine Telephone in Ohio, FCC/RID and retired from Los Angeles, P.D.
When this was written by Erickson, he stated all in good health 38 years after the picture taken. SGT Wm Engle of River Forest PD, then in charge of radio maintenance, took the group picture.
The Chicago HQ of Ill. State Police Radio was “WQPC” They housed a Wilcox transmitter running a kilowatt and had a 7090 kc crystal available for quiet Sunday mornings depending on whether a QPO amateur enthusiast was on shift. The boys were PRO A-P-C-O Union Members, see bulletin in picture.
Newkirk says, “Most of the old time CW Ops of those days were older than I was, so they’re beginning to thin out rapidly now.” But on rare occasion I do run into a QSO where the OM may mention a stint on the police network. Fewer and fewer as time goes on. The day will come when somebody will rediscover how CW cuts through the soup when all else fails, but it will be too late. Just like we’ve torn up railroad tracks and right-of-ways to put us all on the clutches of the oil cartels and auto barons and clogged the roads with 18-wheelers.
Ero Erickson was author of most of this material from an article which looks like World Radio Magazine, he states : “There may be some interest in a picture of radio telegraphers who once worked for the State of Illinois, for the State Police Radio, When C.W. was King (no computers.)
Our photo of the police radiomen was taken in 1947 shows the crew and equipment of WQPC Chicago HQ of the Illinois State Police. W9BRD Rod Newkirk called the Western Electric transmitter a 12 Meter rig, because it had 12 meters installed!
The A.M. Phone transmitter was turned on in 1936, operating on 1610 Kilocycles at Chicago and ran over 20 years at 1 K.W. When operated for the last time an attempt to restart it was made a month later, age took its toll, it blew fuses. The transformer windings had cooled and shrunk, causing shorts. R.I.P, AM Phone Police Broadcast.
Illinois required all operators to hold two FCC licenses; at least a 1st Class Radiotelephone operator’s license and a 2nd Class Radiotelegraph license.
Ero, you were prophetic. Yes there is a lot of interest in Police CW Radio, may it always be remembered! Author will do his best with Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia & PA.
Your author was looking over old material provided by Red Devores W8LYV formerly WV. State Police Charleston which had portions of this article on the ILL S.P. - Red’s material supplied 26 March 2005. W9BRD is still alive and going strong in the Toronto region as VA3ZBB with dual citizenship. I worked Rod Newkirk early 2005 on 40 Meters CW. I called him Jeeves and he usually knows it is me calling him, that proverbial name because of his fine QST Column he ran for a long time. Jeeves never got a penny for his hard work, it was dedicated to humanity!
Illinois SP Ride in 1936 with an AM receiver and speaker behind the head light facing the driver.
All above information was supplied by Bob Ballantine W8SU June 2009
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
shekaago
()
Date: June 15, 2015 04:02PM
Awesome topic! Great research, Dunning1! I'm renewing my HAM license this year so, as you can see, I am a radio buff as well and I do remember the yellow brick building, actually situated on Harlem between Irving and FPD, even though the address was 7188 Irving Park Road. I found two Tribune articles, one from April 10, 1937 and one from October 31, 1955 with information on WQPC. If anyone wants a PDF of these Tribune articles, DM me with your email and I'll send them to you. Also, if I can dig up any old photos, I'll post them.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
shekaago
()
Date: June 15, 2015 04:15PM
Update... I have just found an April 9, 1937 Tribune Article with a black and white newspaper photo (not great quality) of the building housing WQPC. I don't know if I will have success posting it, but I will try.
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 16, 2015 05:40PM
Found a picture of the station from a website called APCO History: click on the link and scroll down a little:
http://www.apcohistory.org/pdf/1942-09-sept_pages7-12.pdf
http://www.apcohistory.org/pdf/1942-09-sept_pages7-12.pdf
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
Dunning1
()
Date: June 16, 2015 05:48PM
Oh Wow! Have a look at this 1939 advertisement for Raytheon Tubes, featuring WQPC, on page 5 of this Radio Today magazine!
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Today/30s/Radio-Today-1939-
01.pdf
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Today/30s/Radio-Today-1939-
01.pdf
Re: Radio station at Harlem and Irving
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
()
Date: June 16, 2015 06:33PM
Fantastic! It's bigger than I remember it being, too.
