KPUR (AM)

KPUR (1440 AM), branded as "1440AM The Score", is a radio station serving the Amarillo, Texas, area with a sports radio format. This station is under ownership of Cumulus Media.

KPUR was once KFDA on 1230 khz. It hit the air in 1939. after WW2 Amarillo station KGNC moved from 1440 khz to 710 khz with greater power. KFDA filed to move to the vacated 1440 raising power from 250 watts on 1230 to 5,000 watts days and 1,000 watts nights. Night used a three tower directional antenna system. Call letters changed to KPUR in the early sixties. The station was sold by the KFDA-TV (and Texas State Network interests) to Charlie Jordan it's then manager.

The towers were located east of Amarillo just south of hwy 66 (today's route I-40) which shared land with the studios. In the mid seventies the land was largely sold off to shopping center developers. Towers were relocated to the present site. That site was subject to a late 1970s fire when a Harris MW-5 transmitter melted down. The MW-5 used a step up transformer to raise the three phase input power (at 240 volts) to 17,000 volts. The primary wiring had been bundled closely to the secondary wiring and tightly lashed together. When an insulation breakdown allowed the input wiring to arc , the high temperatures allowed the secondary wires to short to the inputs. This caused extremely high circulating currents and a meltdown of the transformer frame (made of metal castings and laminations).

The station is an affiliate of the Dallas Cowboys radio network.^[1]

References

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for KPUR
• Radio-Locator Information on KPUR
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for KPUR