AM 830 first signed on the air on January 9, 1986 as KSRT, a Spanish-language news and information station. The station was directional day and night, with a daytime power of 2,500 watts and 1,000 watts night. Former NFL placekicker Danny Villanueva was co-owner and general manager. The transmitter site was at Oak Flat in the Santa Ana Mountains near Santiago Peak. While mountain tops are good for FM transmission, AM stations need low, flat land for the best signal propagation. The poor ground conductivity yielded a less-than-optimal signal for KSRT. (Today, KSRT is a Regional Mexican music station in Cloverdale, California.)