KKCK completed a major upgrade in 1988. They moved down two channels, from 100.1 to 99.7 on the dial. Doing so allowed them to increase power from 3,000 to 100,000 watts. Placing the new tower in a strategic location near Lake Benton allowed KKCK to be heard well in Brookings, Madison, Watertown, Pipestone, Luverne, Worthington, and even Sioux Falls.
Ron Timm hosted evenings from 7-Midnight. Here, he takes a contest caller. I didn’t have the beam pointed properly when I first started recording this aircheck, so there’s some white noise. While the tape is running, you can hear KKCK’s signal strength improve as I “zero in” on their transmitter from 160 miles away. I miss having that big directional antenna at my disposal!
The antenna in question was a Winegard 10 element FM yagi. Also used in the capture was a Pioneer SX-3900 receiver, Alliance U-100 Tenna Rotor, Belden RG59 ultra low loss coaxial cable, Sears stereo cassette deck, and BASF 60 minute normal bias tape.