KQIV (defunct)
KQIV (also KQ4 and FM107) was a short-lived but popular progressive rock FM radio station in Lake Oswego, Oregon, that operated on 106.7 MHz. The station was owned and operated by Willamette Broadcasting Company, Inc. (Walter J. M. Kraus, President) and signed on at 10:15 P.M. PDT on September 15, 1972.
The original KQIV offices and studios were located at the Lake Oswego Elks Lodge (#2263). Members of this historically conservative organization frequently crossed paths with the station's hippie disc jockeys and creative people.[1]
The KQIV transmitter was located at Outlook, between Oregon City and Carver. An American Electronic Laboratories (AEL) FM-25KD transmitter fed 24 kW into a Jampro JSCP eight element antenna yielding an ERP of 100 kW.[1] The antenna was mounted on a 200-foot tower based at an elevation of 800 feet.
Both the "Q" and "IV" in the station's call sign alluded to four-channel quadraphonic sound. Although KQIV was widely reported in the local press to be the second quadraphonic broadcast station in the world[2] and the first to be designed and built to be quadraphonic,[1] those reports were based on erroneous information. KQIV established its quadraphonic identity and "Rockin' in Quad" branding on its anticipation of being selected as the exclusive FM station in the Portland radio market to field test the Dorren Quadraplex System, invented by audio engineer Louis Dorren.
Early efforts to transmit discrete four-channel quadraphonic music required the use of two FM stations; one transmitting the front audio channels, the other the rear channels. A breakthrough came in 1970 when KIOI (K-101) in San Francisco successfully transmitted true quadraphonic sound from a single FM station using the Quadraplex system under Special Temporary Authority from the FCC. Following this experiment, a long term test period was proposed that would permit one FM station in each of the top 25 U.S. radio markets to transmit in Quadraplex. The test results hopefully would prove to the FCC that the system was compatible with existing two-channel stereo transmission and reception and that it did not interfere with adjacent stations.
About a month before KQIV went on the air, the FCC suspended further testing of Quadraplex due to a concern that the system used a subcarrier component not permitted under its regulations.
KQIV continued to identify itself as a quadraphonic station in the hope that Quadraplex testing eventually would be permitted. Meanwhile, the station broadcast music from phonograph records encoded in various quadraphonic matrix formats.
In 1974, operation of KQIV was turned over to Brotherhood Broadcasting Company (Roy Jay, President) which changed the station's music format to urban contemporary, branded as Soul 107. In 1975, the KQIV offices and studios were moved to Milwaukie. Ongoing financial difficulties led to the court-ordered liquidation of KQIV, which went off the air on June 18, 1976.[3]
Following the demise of KQIV, 106.7 MHz remained vacant in the Portland area for nearly 14 months. On August 1, 1977, Communico Northwest Corp. began operating KMJK (Magic 107) on the frequency with studios at "Magic Manor" in Lake Oswego and its transmitter in Portland.
In 1986, the FCC finally approved Dorren Quadraplex as the standard system for discrete quadraphonic transmission. By then, however, industry interest had faded.
References
- 1 2 3 "First In The Nation—New Station Not After 'Kicksy' Crowd". Enterprise Courier. November 24, 1972. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ↑ LaNita Anderson (September 15, 1972). "New-Style Station Airs From Oswego". Oregon Journal. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ↑ Francis Murphy (June 18, 1976). "KQIV-FM goes off air Friday". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
External links
- KQ4 Rockin' in Quad: Former KQIV engineer and others document the history of KQIV
- FCC Public Notice: Ruling on discrete four-channel multiplex transmissions