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Tim Coco, president and general manager of WHAV, takes readers of Radio magazine on a virtual tour of the radio as it existed from 1947 to 1980 in the August issue of the national engineering publication.
Coco's article, "A Technical History of WHAV," begins by taking readers back to the 1947 weeklong open house at WHAV's new studio building. The Haverhill Gazette, then-owner, opened the art deco-styled building over successive days to business people, potential radio time buyers and finally the public. The new studios were designed by local architect Clinton F. Goodwin and built by William H. Starbird, a local contractor. It was largely outfitted by area manufacturers Western Electric and Raytheon.
"Compared to years later when magnetic tape would come on the scene, few pieces of input equipment appear in the control room. The new Western Electric 23-C five-pot studio console is fed only by a 639 cardioid microphone in the room, plus those from the studio below. The console is in the center of a U-shaped wooden desk, covered with red linoleum with stainless steel side trim," Coco wrote.
Coco proceeds to take readers to the transmitter building atop Silver Hill and then details how newly introduced 45 RPM records and magnetic tape pushed the station into a new era. He also relates several stories from his experience working in the old buildings from 1978 to 1980. These include discovering vandalism that forever altered the faéßade of the studio building and an explosion at the transmitter site.
One of WHAV's first announcers, Phil Christie, and two of its last, Jack Bevelaqua and Marc Lemay, are still heard on what is now an Internet, cable television and low-power (Part 15) radio station.
Radio magazine is published by Penton Media of New York. "A Technical History of WHAV" can also be found online at radiomagonline.com/departments/signoff/technical-history-whav/.
The WHAV call letters have been associated with local broadcasting since 1947. For more than six years, the WHAV call has been heard on the Internet at WHAV.net and a number of public access cable television stations in Andover, Haverhill and Methuen, and Plaistow and Sandown, N.H. The station is also heard over low-power AM 1640.
To listen, or for more information, visit www.whav.net.
