KEEN Radio, San Jose

Transmitter Site

Circa 1976

KEEN Transmitter Site (Photo)

This building in an orchard on the Old Oakland Highway near Wayne Avenue in San Jose housed the transmitter for KEEN (1370 khz.) from 1947 until 1992. Also on the site were two antenna towers used to send out the station’s directional signal.

KEEN Transmitter Building Diagram
A hand-drawn diagram of the KEEN building’s interior, showing the layout of the transmitting equipment and the station’s backup studio.

With a growing need for affordable housing in the area, the City of San Jose’s Housing Department finalized plans to build 246 homes on the site, and KEEN went off the air on December 31, 1992, pending a move to a new transmitter facility. KEEN’s Wayne Avenue facility – building and towers – were torn down shortly thereafter.

KEEN Transmitter Site (1990 Photo)
The KEEN transmitter building and towers as seen in 1990, a few short years before they were razed and replaced by homes. (Golden Pacific Archives)

In April 1995, the station returned to the air as KKSJ, sharing the transmitter site of KSJX (1500 khz., formerly KXRX) adjacent to the Bayshore Freeway (US 101) near the Union Pacific Railroad overpass and Eggo Way in San Jose. In January 1998, KKSJ became KZSF.

KEEN Transmitter Site (1961 USGS Map)
The KEEN transmitter site, as seen (right of center) near the Southern Pacific Railroad siding at Wayne, south of Milpitas and north of San Jose, on a 1961 USGS map.

CREDITS: 1976 KEEN building photo by David Ferrell Jackson (Bay Area Radio Museum Collection). Transmitter building schematic and 1990 KEEN building photo courtesy of Keith Farr (Golden Pacific Archives).

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