Photos
The following pictures were kindly donated by Bryan Jackson & Gary McElyea
Photos of the demolition of the Albany Street studio & office building in June 2005
Ever wonder what happened to those WPTR call letters that adorned the tower facing Central Avenue?
The new studios for WPTR - 96.7 'The Pulse' and WDCD AM 1540 'The Life'
A look at the Action Central News team in front of the 1860 Central Avenue studios in Colonie.
This photo comes from Mike King of Florida via Brother Lou Roberts of WGNA-FM here in Albany.
Photo's (& captions) contributed by former WPTR 'Good Guy' Bob Badger!
Action Central News: "Here is what visitors to WPTR's 1820 Central Avenue location saw. It was next to the 'Gold' studio. That studio was destroyed by fire in 1964 (I think). I was on the air at the time, but from the transmitter at the present location [Albany St.]. As promotion people do, reports we in newspapers and on television of my "fleeing for my life with a stack of 45's and never missing a beat". WTRY sat in front of the building doing live reports of a "local Colonie radio station" having a fire. When WTRY's ownership learned of the shabby treatment, some hell followed in Troy and they offered help in the way of engineering, equipment loans, etc." |
Transmitter Site Studio - 1962:
A remote board with two
turntables and a couple of 50's era cart machines. The top 40
hits are in the black box. The 40 foot wide 50,000 watt
transmitter is on the other side of the bulletin board which
also served as a sound barrier from the huge blower fans. I put
a copy of the WPTR coverage map on the board as a motivational
tool when I looked at the equipment. A few months after my
arrival, we moved some much better equipment to the site from a
studio located in Frear's Department Store in Troy that had been
shut down." |
Photos of WPTR from 1969 - Courtesy of Kip Grant
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"Here are some photos showing WPTR in April 1969. The occasion was a tour by our college radio club. The exterior view of the Albany Street property shows the original and new buildings. The three towers are in “the backyard”. Farthest from view is the older building housing the transmitter and the “country club studio” as the jocks called it. The newer construction closest to the camera is what was constructed following the fire at the studios on Central Ave. circa 1964." |
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"That’s Roy Reynolds posing in the main studio. By this time, everything was on tape cartridge, although a single turntable did remain off to the jock’s left (just in case?). Walking through the front door into the reception area, this is the view visitors would see to their immediate left. In the few times I got up the courage to walk inside, the receptionist was always understanding of the desire to just stand there and admire the goings on. The control board is a Gates “Yard”." |
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"The newscasts were delivered from a small and relatively simple studio featuring a Gates “Producer” control board, two cart machines and an RCA DX77 microphone. The adjacent newsroom had your basic necessities: a typewriter or two, recording gear, and police/fire monitors." |
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"The final studio photo shows the tiny studio in the transmitter building. One of Bob Badger’s photos shows an early “studio” in this same room. It was strange to walk from the newer facilities into the much older building that housed the huge transmitter, the engineering department, and the overnight deejays. It was explained that the all-night jocks had first class tickets and could baby-sit the transmitter. The studio was constructed in a corner of the transmitter room and contained another Gates “Yard” board, four cart machines and a couple of turntables." |
"It’s amazing to look back at what really was nothing more than some basic turntables and cartridge machines and recall the magical sound Boom Boom often called “Big Radio”. The dozens of disc jockeys who over the years used those very basic tools to create the 'round the clock fun and excitement we knew as ‘PTR deserve a round of applause. Hopefully the many others who have photos of 1540 over the years, especially on Central Avenue, will send them along!" - Kip Grant
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