KYY (San Francisco)

KYY was a short-lived San Francisco, California broadcasting station, licensed to The Radio Telephone Shop. It was issued its first license in December 1921, and deleted just over a year later.

History
KYY was the successor to The Radio Telephone Company's earlier stations, starting with 6UV in 1920.[1]

6UV/6XAE

In early 1920 A. F. Pendleton, owner of The Radio Telephone Shop, held a standard amateur station license, 6UV,[2] which was used to broadcast concerts beginning around March or April of 1920. This may have been the first station after World War One to make entertainment broadcasts in the San Francisco area.[3]

The April 1921 issue of Pacific Radio News reported that "The radio telephone station at 175 Steuart St., San Francisco, operated by Mr. A. F. Pendleton of the Radio Telephone Shop, transmits press by voice and CW on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 8 P. M. to 9 P. M. Several musical numbers are also provided on both nights. Signals from Mr. Pendleton's station (6UV) have recently been heard with good audibility in Portland, Oregon".[4] Later that year The Radio Telephone Shop was issued a license for an Experimental station, 6XAE.[5] A contemporary review noted that 6XAE was continuing the 8:00-9:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday programs, transmitted on a wavelength of 425 meters (706 kHz).[6]

KYY

Beginning in late 1912, radio communication in the United States was regulated by the Department of Commerce. Initially there were no formal standards for which stations could make broadcasts intended for the general public, and after World War One stations under a variety of license classes, most commonly Amateur and Experimental, began making regularly scheduled programs on a limited basis. In order to provide common standards for the service, the Commerce Department issued a regulation effective December 1, 1921 that stated that broadcasting stations would now have to hold a Limited Commercial license that authorized operation on two designated broadcasting wavelengths: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports".[7] On December 20, 1921 a broadcasting station license with the randomly assigned call letters KYY was issued to The Radio Telephone Shop, for operation on 360 meters.[8]

In contrast to The Radio Telephone Shop's early prominence in broadcasting, KYY had a minimal history. Initially the 360 meter wavelength was the only "entertainment" frequency available, so stations within various regions had to create timesharing agreements to assign individual operating slots. However, an August 1922 schedule reported no hours at all for KYY.[9] In addition, although by November 1, 1922 there were twelve "San Francisco Bay District" stations sharing time on 360 meters, the station was not included in the regional assignments that took effect on that date.[10] KYY was formally deleted on January 24, 1923.[11]

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References
  1. The Radio Telephone Shop (advertisement), Pacific Radio News, May 1921 page 324.
  2. "Sixth District", Amateur Radio Stations of the United States (June 30, 1920 edition), page 70. The "6" in 6UV's call sign specified that the station was located in the Sixth Radio Inspection district, while the fact that "U" fell in the range A—W indicated that the station held a standard Amateur license.
  3. "Early Broadcasting in the San Francisco Bay Area" by John Schneider, 1997 (theradiohistorian.org). In the October 1921 Pacific Radio News, Radio Telephone Shop Concert Set" stated that "Mr. Pendleton is one of the radio telephone pioneers of the West. His first telephone made its debut on the air about a year and a half ago." The Atlantic-Pacific Radio Supplies Company's 6XC also debuted in early 1920. Charles Herrold made an extensive series of broadcasts beginning in 1912, but had to shut down during World War One, and did not return to the airwaves until 1921.
  4. "Vibrations", Pacific Radio News, April 1921, page 296.
  5. "New Stations: Special Land Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, May 2, 1921, page 3. The "X" in 6XAE's call sign indicated that the station was operating under an Experimental license.
  6. "New Radio Telephone Schedules" Pacific Radio News, September 1921, page 49.
  7. "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
  8. "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license, serial #256, issued December 20, 1921 to The Radio Telephone Shop for a one period.
  9. "On the Air: San Francisco", Radio Journal, August 1922, page 163.
  10. "Central California Broadcasting Schedule---Effective Nov. 1, '22" ("San Francisco Bay District" section), Radio magazine, December 1922, page 36.
  11. "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, February 1, 1923, page 7.
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