KGEI Transmitter Site
An aerial view of the transmitter site for international shortwave station KGEI, located at Belmont, Calif., as it appeared in 2004. The former KGEI transmitter and studio building is in the lower left corner, beside the parking lot; the KNBR transmitter facility is above it in the photo. Near the lower-right corner of the photo is a series of three concrete bases that had served as the supports for KGEI’s 125-foot transmitter towers, which were dismantled when the station was closed in 1995.
The large towers at the center of the photo are KNBR’s current main (left) and auxiliary (right) antennas. The unused base at top left in the photo (to the left of the main KNBR tower) was formerly used to support one of KPO’s original T-style flat-top antenna towers, which was torn down in 1949 and replaced by the current 550-foot main tower. The current auxiliary tower was the original “east” tower in the flat-top configuration; the east tower also supported the KNBC-FM antenna from June 1948 until October 1949, when it was moved to San Bruno Mountain.
The “HAZ” markings throughout the antenna field are warnings to pilots heading into local airports, including nearby San Francisco International and San Carlos Airport.