British Broadcasting Century Podcast, Paul Kerensa, August 22nd, #126 The BBC goes Transatlantic..and Shortwave Radio
"6 November-2 December 1923, and the BBC and the USA had a little conversation. Well, a big conversation, across an ocean, across a week, heard by listeners east and west of the Atlantic.
Our moment-by-moment timeline of British broadcasting has reached this momentous moment (aren't all moments momentous?) when British ears heard America, and American ears heard Britain, via radio.
It was all Radio Broadcast magazine's fault/idea. Its co-owner, Frank Doubleday of Doubleday, Page and Co, thought it would be nice for the two countries to hear each other via some organised tests - and while US radio had reached the UK, the time difference made it trickier for the signals to be heard the other way around. It meant BBC staff setting their alarms for a few days of 3am broadcasts, and Biggin Hill Aerodrome proved the ideal place for the engineers to pick up what America was sending.
So this episode comes live (well, recorded) from Biggin Hill Aerodrome. You can even hear the odd plane.
It was here that BBC Deputy Chief Engineer Captain West and team listened for US radio - and ate Mrs West's fried sausages. Oh yes, we bring you all the details, including Reith and Eckersley singing God Save the King...
...and we bring you a guest: BBC producer and presenter Josephine McDermott has made an Archive on 4 documentary on international shortwave radio - The Sound of Soft Power. Link below, have a listen, and hear her tell us of the joy of finding such an archive.
A second part of the 1923 experiments came after Christmas that year, so a second part of this story will be on the podcast in a few episodes' time - around ep 132, when Prof Simon J Potter will enlighten us on the BBC's global reach, linked to the Pittsburgh and Paris broadcasts heard on the BBC in late 1923."
I came across it on YouTube
Availability for streaming/downloading as a podcast on this webpage
(Mike Barraclough,UK/BDXC)
