WAST (Ohio)

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WAST was a commercial daytime-only AM radio station in Ashtabula, Ohio, broadcasting on 1600 kHz. It served parts of Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania and was branded as Wacky Radio 1600. The station was owned by Quests Inc. and had a sister station, WELW.

The station began on February 6, 1964, as WAQI, founded by James B. Denton. The FCC granted the construction permit in April 1962. WAQI operated at 1,000 watts during daytime hours only, using a two-tower directional antenna, with most of the signal sent east and west from its studio and transmitter on North Bend Road and Ketchum Avenue in Ashtabula.

WAQI went silent on October 1, 1982 when its license expired. The license was later reissued on May 21, 1984 under the call sign WAST, but the WAST license expired on June 7, 1991 and was deleted by the FCC. Because current rules prohibit re-licensing daytime-only stations, the station is no longer on the air. The original transmitter/studio building and the north tower still stand on North Bend Road in Ashtabula.