Museum Exhibit

Since 2012, I have been collecting and refurbishing classic radio station gear. Those efforts are documented in numerous postings on this site. In early 2026, I had the opportunity to donate the entire collection to the Texas Broadcast Museum in Kilgore, TX. It has been a wonderful experience and great way to allow others to experience the history of radio that I fondly remember from decades ago.

The exhibit shows a complete 1970s vintage radio station, including a control room, program automation system, and transmission rack. The control room features an audio mixing console and various source machines (turntable, cartridge machines, and reel-to-reel tape machine). Adjoining racks contain an automation system that was used to provide programming with a minimum of operator intervention and a transmission rack that allows signals from the mixing console to be put on the air.

The centerpiece of the studio is a Gates Executive Audio Console. The studio is laid out in the usual U-shape, which put everything within easy reach of the operator or disk jockey. Input sources include:

• Shure SM5B microphone
• Shure SM7B microphone
• Three Harris Criterion 90 cart machines
• Two Harris CB1201 turntables with Shure M232 tone arms and Shure M4407 cartridges
• Ampex AG-440 reel-to-reel tape deck
• Three SMC Carousel multi-playback cart machines
• Harris MSP100 tri-band audio processor
• CBS Audimax 4400 automatic gain controller
• CBS Volumax 4100 limiter
• TFT 760 Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) generator/decoder
• 40 W vacuum tube amplifier
• Two Electro-Voice Sentry 100A monitor speakers

All of the hardware in the studio works and with the Collins 310Z-2 FM exciter operating into a dummy load, nearby FM radios can pick up enough energy to receive the signal switched through the Executive mixing console. So, it is a complete FM radio station from microphone to transmitter (albeit a very low power station).

The racks adjoining the studio gear house the transmission equipment and a fully functional automation system. For an FM station back in the ‘70s, it was common to have programming handled by an automation system. The equipment required to accomplish this task included, but was not limited to, the following:

• A control unit to manage operation of the system and switch audio sources
• One or more multi-playback cart machines, typically a “Carousel” device
• Multiple reel-to-reel playback decks, which were loaded with pre-recorded syndication tapes

The three automation system racks include the following equipment:

• Rack 1 – Gates SSC controller, audio control center, ITC cart machines, PCB card frames, monitor speaker, and patch bay.
• Rack 2 – Ampex AG-440 tape deck, turntable, patch bay, auxiliary equipment, monitor speaker, and cue speaker.
• Rack 3 – Ampex AG-440 deck, Carousel cart machine, and monitor speakers.

The 1970s radio station display is an authentic implementation of the FM station that I built back in the late 1970s in Northern California. Each piece was collected from various sources (mostly eBay) and refurbished to the new equipment specifications.

The Texas Broadcast Museum is an extraordinary place. The scope of radio and television hardware on display is exceptional. There is literally something for everyone.

While assisting with installation of the gear, a local television station did a couple of stories on the project:

• News story: https://www.kltv.com/2026/03/12/kilgores-broadcast-museum-gets-new-old-studio-setup/
• Web version: https://www.kltv.com/video/2026/03/13/new-old-studio-kilgores-broadcast-museum/

The Texas Broadcast Museum is located in Kilgore, TX, which about a 2-hour drive from Dallas (about 1 hour from Shreveport).