We’ve learned that Rick Bosscher, longtime RF Supervisor at KFMB-AM-FM-TV, turned in his keys for good in mid-December 2018, less than a year after Tegna bought the stations. He was hired by Chief Engineer Charlie Abel in 1977 after installing and servicing the FM and TV transmitters in 1976 as a technician for RCA.

Charlie recognized in Rick a deep knowledge of electronics given him by RCA as well as an attention to detail that would serve him throughout his career. He started in Grand Rapids, Michigan as a young technician at a local broadcast station and decided to further his training with RCA.

His job became unique in San Diego. As the KFMB Stations RF specialist, he installed all of their radio and TV transmitters, microwave and satellite systems, and related control systems. He oversaw much of the station facilities management and news mobile technical maintenance as well. His sites were known for their tidy and high-quality “fit and finish.” Because of his maintenance skills, the equipment he oversaw tended to last longer than standard. The KFMB-AM Harris and Collins transmitters, for example, are 27 and 37 years old and still operate like new.

Bosscher is an amateur metallurgist who’s made his own automobile engines in his spare time. He recently restored a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray he inherited from a neighbor.

He’s a ham radio operator, callsign K6FMB, who owns and modified for use on the lower HF bands a Bauer 707 AM transmitter that KFMB staff had originally assembled as a spare in 1959.

Bosscher told me he is relaxing and completing some projects around his Clairemont home and taking his Stingray for drives to the beach.