Powerful TV signals for the Monterey Bay area will be sent out from
this 210-foot tower atop Mr. Toro east of Monterey by stations KSBW-TV
and KMBY-TV who will share transmitting facilities. Mt. Toro reaches a
height of 3,500 feet at this point. Test signals already have been
received with exceptional clarity on the Monterey Peninsula. The two
stations have worked out the only share-time basis arrangement in the
nation, and will telecast network and local shows.
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This view from atop the television transmitting tower on Mt. Toro shows
the line-of-sight path TV waves will travel to the Monterey Peninsula
(left), insuring reception not heretofore possible. The station will be
in operation early next month.
Two Stations Share Facilities Atop Mt. Toro
Unique in the nation is the new TV transmitting station
atop Mt. Toro near the Monterey Peninsula. Although it has one antenna,
one set of transmission equipment, it serves two masters under a
share-time arrangement approved by the Federal Communications
Commission.
Both KMBY-TV, the Monterey station, and KSBW-TV, the Salinas station, use the same mountain - top telecasting facilities. They share channel 8 and share the time set aside for broadcasting. Both local and network shows will be telecast. The Herald pictures on this page show the modern RCA equipment installed on Mt. Toro to give the Monterey Peninsula, The Monterey Bay Area and the Salinas Valley the best in TV reception. [Below] Chief Engineer George Freeman adjusts a relay in the transmitting
equipment shared by stations KMBY-TV of Monterey and KSBW-TV of Salinas
atop Mt. Toro. Watching him are John Cohan, one of the owners of the
Salinas station (center) and Kenyon Brown, one of the oners of KMBY-TV.
The telecasting equipment is located in a mondern "shack" at the base
of the antenna tower.
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 Commercial slides and motion picture films will
be broadcast into space and to TV sets on the Peninsula from this dual
setup in the telecasting station shared by the new Salinas and Monterey
stations. Bill Oats, operating owner of KSBW-TV, and George Freeman
(right) inspect the intricate mechansim. Radio Corporation of America
equipment is used in the new facilities.
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Cecil Lynch tinkers with the 15 kilowatt power plant which supplies
electricity to operate the telecasting facilities for the new channel 8
TV stations serving the Monterey Peninsula, the Monterey Bay area and
the Salinas Valley.
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Silverton Ashton, part-owner and manager of Station KMBY of Monterey
records results of receent transmitting of test patterns over the Mt.
Toro TV antenna.
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Robert Hammett (left) and George Freeman inspect the back of an RCA transmitter rack in the Mt. Toro TV station. (Herald photos)
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On California's Monterey peninsula last week, two separate TV stations, about 14 miles apart in Monterey and Salinas, began beaming test patterns on the same channel (No. 8). It promised to be a friendly, take-turns arrangement. Monterey's KMBY-TV (one quarter owned by Bing Crosby) and Salinas' KSBW-TV had both applied to the FCC for the area's one open channel. Then they decided to pool forces rather than delay local television, perhaps for another year or so, while struggling through lengthy hearings. The FCC granted them its first share-time permit last February.
Regular telecasting will begin Sept. 11, with each station using its own staff and studios (but sharing the same transmitter atop Mount Toro). The stations will telecast a combined total of 85 hours a week —splitting the week nights and taking Sundays by turn. Four other share-time permits have been granted to stations in Rochester, N.Y., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, and Kansas City, Mo.
Modified: 8/22/05