WRMI LEGENDS

if you want to help keep us on the air...

Donate Here by clicking this Donate button :

 

If the paypal logo doesn't work...

goto: https://paypal.me/wrmilegends

---

Ted Randall

The reason we are here

Click on this picture

To Listen to the Ted Randall Memorial Broadcast Audio:

 

Ted Randall Klimkowski (WB8PUM)
Age 73 | Lebanon, Tennessee
Signed off the air for the last time on May 11, 2025

Ted Randall Klimkowski (WB8PUM), age 73, of Lebanon, Tennessee, signed off the air for the last time on May 11, 2025. The Going Home Service—Saying 73s, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 19, 2025, in the chapel of Sellars Funeral Home, Lebanon, TN, with Brother Rodney Haskins and Dr. Michael Barrett officiating. Interment will follow at Cedar Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday from noon until the time of service. Pallbearers will be family and close friends.

Ted was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Carmel A. Earheart Klimkowski and Theodore F. Klimkowski. He graduated from Robichaud High School in 1969 and went on to attend Detroit Bible College, where he deepened his foundation in Christian faith—something that would become a guiding force throughout his life. In his younger years, Ted enjoyed fishing, camping, and spending time outdoors—always drawn to peace, nature, and reflection.

He began his broadcasting career at just 15 years old at WMUZ, a Christian radio station in Detroit.

While at WMUZ, Ted met and befriended Dr. Gene Scott, ultimately helping introduce him to shortwave radio. That meeting not only expanded Dr. Scott’s global ministry but sparked a lifelong friendship grounded in faith and communication.

Ted’s broadcasting journey took him through some of the most iconic stations in radio history. He worked at WVMO, WSDS, WKMF, WCZN, WSAM, WKCQ, WXOX, CKLW, and more.

He ran the local cable television station WKBL in Saginaw, Michigan, located in the downtown mall, where he pioneered an early form of music television by pairing video with popular songs—predating MTV by nearly seven years.

After moving to Tennessee in 1979, Ted became a major force in local broadcasting. He worked with WQKR, WAMG, WCOR, WRMX – Oldies 96.3, Shortwave Station WWCR, WSM-AM, WSM-FM, WZPC – Power Country 102.9, WFCM / Moody Radio, WJKM, and more. He also did engineering for Cumulus and served as Chief Engineer for 5 Star Radio in Clarksville during the early 2000s. During his time with WSM-AM, he also served as an announcer for the Grand Ole Opry, one of the most historic and beloved programs in American radio. He managed and operated WJKM for five years and served as Chief Engineer for Cromwell Radio (now Cromwell Media) for over 20 years, overseeing engineering for ten stations in the greater Nashville area.

In addition to his broadcast achievements, Ted was a successful entrepreneur. While living in Saginaw, Michigan, he founded Great Lakes Carpet Cleaning Company and Emergency Restoration Services, offering full-service cleaning and disaster recovery. After moving to Tennessee, he continued the business under the name Big Red Carpet Cleaning and Restoration, expanding it into a regional operation. Alongside this, he launched a groundbreaking chemical company, developing advanced treatments like Scotchgard-style water repellents and pet odor solutions—technologies that were decades ahead of their time.

A true media pioneer, Ted was responsible for bringing Cashbox Magazine online—making it the first commercial magazine on the internet. His groundbreaking work with CompuServe helped pave the way for modern digital publishing. He was also among the first to stream both audio and video online. His early broadcasts attracted so much traffic they crashed multiple DNS servers—a sign of how far ahead of the curve he was.

Known by his amateur radio call sign WB8PUM, Ted hosted The QSO Radio Show for over 20 years, connecting listeners and operators across the globe. He was a proud member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Chapter 103, and received the ARRL Bill Leonard Media Award in both 2008 and 2009.

Ted’s final project was one of his most unique and heartfelt: producing WRMI Legends and programming content for ham radio and shortwave audiences, where he found creative ways to spread the Gospel through American Rock and Roll. Even in his final years, Ted remained passionate about using radio to reach people in unexpected places—with a message of hope, truth, and faith in Jesus Christ. That mission will live on through the voices he inspired, the broadcasts he created, and the memories he leaves behind.

Ted is survived by his loving wife, Holly Misslin Klimkowski; sons David (Sarah) Klimkowski and Matt (Stacy) Klimkowski; and grandchildren Roman, Noah, and Lily Rozevink, as well as Brian and James Klimkowski. He is also survived by extended family and many cherished friends in the amateur and professional radio communities.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Carmel A. and Theodore F. Klimkowski.

Ted’s life was one of faith, vision, and relentless innovation. Whether building businesses, shaping the future of broadcasting, or helping a friend find their voice, he lived to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Though his mic has fallen silent, his voice continues to echo—in the lives he touched, the signals he sent, and the legacy he leaves behind.

Saying 73s, WB8PUM. Until we meet again.

 

---

Check out the New 2020 News @ 20 after each hour

 

---

 

Our New Schedule!! 

5.050 9PM - Midnight Eastern Daylight Time 

Then We Move to

7.570 - Midnight - 2AM Eastern Daylight Time

 

---

Listen to

Parrot Party Radio!!

The WRMI Legends tribute to Jimmy Buffett!

Just click the picture

Tell  "Play Parrot Party Radio"

---

Listen to Timeless Hits:

Tell  "Play Timeless Hits Radio"

---

ALL of the Reverse Speech Books

---

---

---

---

  

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;

and then shall the end come.

QSO LIVE

---

 Watch us Live on location

Click the picture below to watch:

 

---

 

 

Sponsors of WRMI Legends:

---

 

 

 

---

RIA'S HAM SHACK Sundays at 10PM Eastern 

 

QSO RADIO SHOW  Sundays at 11 PM Eastern 

 

The WRMI LEGENDS Dream Team

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME - WITH JEFF CLARK - MONDAY 9 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME -WITH DAVE MASON - TUESDAY 9 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME -WITH TED RANDALL- WEDNESDAY 9 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME -WITH DAN COLLINS - THURSDAY 10 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME - WITH STEVE HUNTER - FRIDAY 9 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455

THE GREATEST HITS OF ALL TIME -WITH JEFF LAURENCE - SATURDAY 9 PM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 5050/9455 

RIA'S HAM SHACK -WITH RIA JAIRAM - N2RJ - SUNDAY 10 PM - 11 PM EASTERN ON 5050

QSO RADIO SHOW -WITH TED RANDALL - WB8PUM - SUNDAY 11 PM - 1 AM EASTERN ON 9455

RADIO DISCLOSURE -WITH TED RANDALL - WB8PUM - OR MATT AARON - KG4WXX - SUNDAY 1 AM - 2 AM EASTERN ON 9455

 

BIG JIM EDWARDS WAS ON SUNDAY NIGHTS - HE IS MISSING IN ACTION

IF YOU LOCATE JIM - LET US KNOW

 

AND WE CAN'T GO WITHOUT MENTIONING THE LATE GRANT HUDSON

WHO WAS THE FIRST LEGEND TO JOIN TED ON WRMI LEGENDS WHEN WE WERE ON 5085.

GRANT DID THE SHOW GRANT'S GOLD ON FRIDAY NIGHTS

AND WE ALSO CANT FORGET THE LATE CHIP HOBART

WHO DID TUESDAY NIGHTS

THEY MAY BE GONE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT FORGOTTEN.

  

---

  

What is Shortwave Broadcasting? 

Shortwave broadcasting – the common term for High Frequency or HF broadcasting – is a radio service licensed by the FCC to operate between 5,950 KHz and 26,100 KHz. Shortwave is an international broadcast service intended to be received by the general public in other countries.

The uniqueness of shortwave is its reach. A powerful FM station may be heard for about 60 miles in any direction. One of the handful of remaining clear-channel AM stations may be heard up to 750 miles away at nighttime. But depending on the amount of power, the location of the station and its antennas, a shortwave station can be heard for vast distances. The secret is the ionosphere – a layer of the earth's atmosphere that reflects some radio waves back to the earth – rebounding shortwave to radio receivers thousands of miles from their point of origin.

Shortwave Radio and The World 

Shortwave radio remains the only medium capable of direct communication from one country to listeners in another country without govermental intervention. With more than 1.5 billion shortwave receivers in use worldwide, the BBC estimates that at any given moment, over 200 million sets are tuned to shortwave broadcasts. Especially in developing countries, shortwave remains the dominant mass communications medium.

For example, shortwave listenership in the Americas ranges from 61% (Peru) to 41% (Guyana), 35% (northern Brazil) and 37% (Caribbean nations). Many of the boom box-type radio/tape player units sold in other countries, particularly in Latin America, include shortwave bands. Mexico, with about one third the population of the United States, alone has over 16 licensed shortwave stations and over 5 million shortwave users.

Despite the wealth of broadcast, cable, satellite and Internet services available, shortwave remain the dominant form of mass communications in many places  throughout the world. And with the remarkably wide area coverage shortwave radio provides, it is a service that Paul himself might have had in mind when he quoted the Psalmist: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

 

 

---