[BC] info on the last whatzit

[Barry Mishkind]

For those of you interested in the background of 
the console shown, this was sent from the person who shared the picture:

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This was apparently one of the studio consoles at 
the WBAP ?Broadcast Hill? studios constructed in 
the 194/7/48 time frame. The building housed WBAP 
AM/FM & TV from its first days. It is a huge 
building which still houses KXAS-TV, Channel 5. 
There were several radio studios in the building 
& there is a picture in one of the post war RCA 
catalogs which shows the master control console 
which looked very much like the pre-war routing 
switch (10 in X 6 out) at WGAR, Cleveland, Ohio. 
That one came from the 1939 World?s Fair in New 
York & was installed at WGAR shortly after the 
fair ended. It had the old 80 series systems 
amplifiers but was otherwise very similar to the WBAP console.

I believe this console was one of about a half 
dozen radio consoles (it is marked #5) in the new 
studio building. Radio was a big deal in those 
days and BAP was a big station
. The area below 
the desk top has three shelves with the preamps 
on the upped level, the program amps & some power 
supplies on the center shelf and, apparently, 
several monitor amplifiers on the lower shelf. 
The cabinetry is post war RCA ?all the way?! The 
systems amplifiers were apparently BA-1 preamps, 
BA-3 Program Amplifiers and BA-4 Monitor 
Amplifiers. They are long gone. Roger Helling 
rescued this one from the dumpster many years 
ago. It is stored at the transmitter site.

WFAA had several of the same consoles at the 
Jackson Street studios. They gave one to the now 
defunct local broadcast museum.