Dan Arthur Roberts

Dan Roberts started life in his younger years moving around the country but claims his home as California.  He started his love of radio and electronics as a HAM radio operator at an early age of 12.  He found out about commercial radio while at college at Oregon State University when a friend offered him a chance to tour a radio station.

In the mid 60’s, Dan worked a summer internship in Hollywood doing jobs for an electrical lighting company setting up studio and set lighting for ABC & CBS Television, who were changing over from black and white to color television.  Through contacts made that summer, in 1967, at the ripe old age of 21, he started a paying career working for Gates Radio Corporation in Quincy, Illinois.  Gates was one of the three largest broadcast equipment manufacturers in the world at the time.  That’s also where Dan met Steve Broomell, the former KATI radio DJ, programmer and engineer, who had just started at Gates in 1968.  From then on, Dan and Steve maintained a lifetime friendship with each other. While Broomell left Gates, Roberts continued working for them for a number of years at various engineering and sales positions but decided to leave in 1987.

Steve Broomell suggested that Dan talk with Pat Meenan at KATI about a General Manager position in Casper following the departure of Larry Wakefield.  They agreed it was a good move for both and Dan became a General Manager of a broadcast radio for the first time in his life.  Dan’s experience in engineering and management at Gates made for a good fit at KATI/KAWY.  He was there from 1987 to 1981 when Meenan sold the stations.

After leaving Modcom, Dan moved back into his engineering roots and worked for United Stations at KTRS-FM in Casper and KTAG-FM in Cody getting both those stations signed on the air.All the while, Roberts was trying to get his own FM radio station authorized by the FCC by beginning the paperwork in 1980.  In these years, getting a new station on the air took a long time. The authorization for KQLT-FM finally came for Roberts in 1983.  He signed his station on the air in 1984.  Bad timing, a bust economy and just plain bad luck was the downfall of  KQLT and he eventually sold this station in 1985,Dan eventually went back into broadcast equipment sales for a number of years and finally retired in 2010.  Today, Roberts is a snowbird and currently splits his time between his family in Casper, Wyoming and the sun and the winter warmth in Mesa, Arizona.