In the Air and On the Air - NBC SW Transmitter, Part 2

On this occasion, we go back to the year 1934 as we trace the very interesting story of a set of radio broadcasting equipment that was on the air in many different circumstances and in many different locations. In our story today, we now assemble a brief outline of several feature topics presented recently here in Wavescan, and we show the connection between each of these historic radio events.

We begin with what was described at the time as a light, compact radio transmitter that was designed and built specifically for installation in a high flying balloon. During the space race between the United States and Russia back some eighty years ago, a small light weight radio transmitter was installed in a small gondola suspended beneath a high flying stratosphere balloon. The date was July 28, the year was 1934, and the location was near Rapid City, South Dakota.

Test broadcasts were made in advance from this 8 watt transmitter on 13050 kHz under the callsign W10XCX. The balloon did fly high, almost a record height at the time, but a tear in the balloon’s fabric brought about a rapid descent, with the three-man crew bailing out and landing safely with their parachutes, and the gondola crashing into the ground.

The radio transmitter that was in use high in the sky was rescued, repaired and rebuilt, and it was used in the next balloon flight at the same location one and half years later. On November 11, 1935, with the equipment and crew sealed into a newly designed gondola, the balloon did achieve a new record altitude, some fourteen miles high.

The rebuilt transmitter, with the same 8 watts output on the same channel 13050 kHz was on the air under a new callsign, this time W10XFH. It should be noted that QSL cards were issued by NBC in New York to verify reception reports on this specific occasion.

After this successful high altitude flight, the electronic equipment was taken from the gondola and incorporated into other equipment to form a 100 watt shortwave transmitter that was installed into a brand new airplane, the China Clipper, for the inaugural flight across the Pacific. The callsign for this broadcast transmitter was now WOEH. The China Clipper set out on November 22, 1935 for an eight day flight, hopping from island to island with an overnight stay at each island.

Several broadcasts were made from station WOEH during this historic event, from such exotic locations as Midway Island & Wake Island. Additional broadcasts were also made while the plane was in the air in between the islands, including a progress report that was intended for rebroadcast from the well known mediumwave station in Manila, KZRM. The National Broadcasting Company, NBC, provided two men for these broadcasts from the China Clipper, an engineer and an announcer.

Early in the following year, 1936, the 100 watt transmitter, WOEH, was installed into another airplane for another historic flight, this time with the well known Howard Hughes as pilot. The flight on this occasion was from Los Angeles, up to Nome in Alaska, over to Siberia, and return.
Later in the same year, transmitter WOEH was taken on yet another historic flight, this time across the Atlantic to Paris, with again Howard Hughes as the pilot.

In the meantime, there was another RCA shortwave transmitter that was installed in the ship Seth Parker for broadcast usage as KNRA during a world tour beginning in 1934. After several mis-haps in the Pacific, the Seth Parker was sold and the 1 kW transmitter was removed.
In the next development, all of the previously mentioned electronic equipment was taken again and this time it was assembled into a much larger shortwave transmitter, now weighing five tons and rated at 1 kW. This unit was taken to Honolulu and installed onto a small naval ship that was used as an aircraft tender.

The purpose this time was to relay radio broadcasts from the Pacific back to the United States during a major eclipse of the sun in the year 1937. The ship was the Avocet, the transmitter callsign was WMEF, the location in the Pacific was Canton Island, the in-between relay station was RCA in Hawaii, and the ultimate reception station was RCA in California.

On all of these above occasions, the major purpose for the usage of the little transmitter that grew and grew on each occasion of its usage, was to feed news reports and commentaries back to the NBC in New York for relay on mediumwave across the United States. However, on each occasion, as was quite common in those days, a secondary purpose for these broadcasts was for direct reception on shortwave for any listener who might be interested.

After the solar eclipse in the Pacific, the transmitter was taken back to the continental United States, and placed in storage. However, five years later, this huge five ton transmitter was taken out of storage, renovated, and taken over to North Africa.

Then, in August 1943, it was transported to the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean where it was set up and placed on the air in the city of Syracuse. Shortly afterwards, it was re-loaded onto a ship and taken to Bari on the west coast of Italy, where it was then taken by road across the Italian peninsula to the city of Naples and placed on the air again.

In its onward journeys, this transmitter was finally taken to the city of Rome, where it was placed on the air as a temporary shortwave relay station for the Voice of America. By this time, this transportable radio broadcasting station was nicknamed as Relic, due to its age and size.
So, that is the story of a shortwave radio broadcasting station that started life as a small light weight portable unit at 8 watts for use in a high flying balloon in an isolated country area in the United States in 1934, and it grew larger and larger until it ended its life as a huge 1 kW unit in a distant country eleven years later. Here is a list of its many parts and its many travel adventures:-
* 1934 & 1935 South Dakota 8 watts 2 high flying balloons W10XCX & W10XFH
* 1935 & 1936 Pacific & Atlantic 100 watts 3 different airplanes WOEH
* 1934 & 1935 Atlantic & Pacific 1 kW Ship Seth Parker KNRA
* 1937 Pacific Island 1 kW Ship Avocet WMEF
* 1942-1945 Sicily & Italy 1 kW Relay station VOA

So, what happened to this historic transmitter afterwards? We don’t know, but we would presume, and probably correctly so, that the Relic was just simply abandoned in the city of Rome.
(AWR Wavescan via Adrian Peterson/NWS52)

In the Air and On the Air - NBC SW Transmitter

In the Air and On the Air with Many Callsigns & Many Locations - SW Transmitter - Part 1

In this feature, we go back to the balloon era some eighty years ago, and we trace the history of a small shortwave transmitter that was on the air, and in the air, under three different callsigns. This is what happened.
Back during the early 1930s, there was a space race on between the United States and Russia to see who could get the highest first. In 1933, plans were implemented to launch a massive high flying balloon somewhere in the United States. This would be a joint project between the National Geographic magazine and the United States army.
The location chosen for launching was near Rapid City in South Dakota, and teams of personnel, civilian and army, made all things in readiness. The balloon when inflated stood at a mind boggling height. There was a strong gondola strung beneath the balloon, and it contained many scientific measuring instruments, as well as an 8 watt shortwave transmitter under the callsign W10XCX.
On July 28, 1934, the launch of the Explorer balloon began with a rapid ascent near Rapid City South Dakota. Progressive observations were radioed on shortwave from W10XCX to a 200 watt station on the ground, W10XCW, for onward relay to shortwave W3XL & W3XAL in New Jersey. There are no known QSL cards verifying these relay broadcasts.
Just before the Explorer reached a new record height, a tear was noted in the fabric of the balloon, and the entire craft began to plummet towards the ground. In good time, the three man crew parachuted to safety, and the gondola crashed to the ground.
Soon afterwards, plans were laid for another balloon flight from the same location with similar equipment and this took place on November 11 in the following year 1935. It would appear that the previously used low powered shortwave transmitter was rescued, repaired and re-installed in the gondola for the next flight. It was still rated at 8 watts and still operating on the same channel 13050 kHz, though a new callsign was given, W10XFH.
The balloon, re-designated as Explorer 2, was upgraded and fitted with a newly designed and sealed gondola and the strange craft now stood at a staggering height of 315 ft. This second flight proved to be more successful than the earlier flight and they set a new height record at 74,000 feet, a little over fourteen miles high.
During this flight the Explorer 2 personnel talked with ground station W10XFN, and also to the new China Clipper airplane, callsign KHABZ, that was on a test flight in California. Relay broadcasts from the gondola were again carried by the NBC network via their shortwave stations W3XL & W3XAL in New Jersey. NBC in New York issued specific QSL cards for the transmissions from both W10XFH in the air and the 200 watt W10XFN on the ground.
During this same era, Pan American Airways, known better as PanAm, were implementing plans to launch an air service across the Pacific. They procured three Martin seaplanes which they named as China Clipper, Hawaii Clipper, and Manila Clipper, though the first one, China Clipper, became the most famous.
As part of a publicity plan, a shortwave broadcast transmitter was installed on the plane for its inaugural flight across the Pacific. This transmitter was the previously used light weight unit, known as W10XCX & W10XFH for the balloon flights during the past two years, though it was repaired and modified, with a power increase from 8 watts up to 100 watts. A new callsign was allocated, this time WOEH.
The farewell ceremony in Los Angeles for the commencement of the inaugural flight was a gala event. The Captain, with the family name Musick, read a congratulatory letter from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, there was band music, and the usual speeches from participating dignitaries.
The China Clipper flew out of Los Angeles California on Friday afternoon November 22, 1935 with a cargo of postal mail numbering 110,000 items, as well as two personnel from the NBC radio network, an engineer and an announcer. The first leg of the flight was to Honolulu, a journey of two thousand four hundred miles, a flight of eighteen hours, at an air speed of 125 miles per hour.
The first official flight of the China Clipper, from Los Angeles in California to Manila in the Philippines, took almost sixty hours of total flying time, for a distance of more than seven thousand miles. Overnight stops took place at Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam, with the final destination for this historic pioneering flight at Manila.
En route, the transmitter WOEH was in use for progressive radio broadcasts to nearby radio stations. On several occasions, these broadcasts were picked up and relayed back to the United States for network mediumwave coverage. One such broadcast was taken on relay by the RCA communication station located at Kahuku on the northern tip of the island of Oahu.
Other noted broadcasts were made from Midway Island and also Wake Island. As the China Clipper was nearing Manila on this first occasion, the NBC personnel aboard the plane made a broadcast specifically to the well known mediumwave station KZRM in Manila.
During the following year, 1936, the NBC portable shortwave transmitter WOEH was transferred into a Douglas DC plane for a flight to Alaska piloted by the well known aviation entrepreneur, Howard Hughes. Program relays were arranged with the RCA stations at Bolinas in California, KEE on 7715 kHz and KEI on 9490 kHz.
Later in the same year, Howard Hughes made another memorable flight in a low winged monoplane from New York to Paris. With him on this occasion also was the same 100 watt transmitter, WOEH. Relay broadcasts in the United States were arranged through the RCA receiving station located at Riverside on Long Island.
Even though the relay broadcasts from the transmitter WOEH were heard by international radio monitors throughout the United States and in the South Pacific, there are no known QSLs verifying these transmissions.
No, that was not the end of transmitter WOEH. During the next year, 1937, it was incorporated into the electronic equipment of another radio broadcasting station that was on the air in the Pacific and later in Europe. More about that next week.
(AWE Wavescan/NWS51 via Adrian Peterson)