What Connects the Finnish YLE Station and Prague?

The surprising role played by YLE Radio's measuring station when Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia.

Jeff: This week sees the 56th anniversary of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, which started on August 20th, 1968.  As tanks rolled into Prague, concerning changes were noted in the radio broadcasts from that country, and among other places, these were carefully monitored by a small outpost of YLE Radio in Finland.  Here’s Ray Robinson in Los Angeles to tell us more.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  There are painful memories to this day in the Czech Republic of the occasion in August 1968 when Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin put an end to what was commonly known as the ‘Prague Spring’ – a period of political liberalization and democratic reforms that had been instituted by Czech President Alexander Dub?ek.  The reforms had begun in the January of that year, and included such things as freedom of speech, freedom of the press for Czech newspapers, radio and TV, freedom of worship, and freedom of travel.

At the height of the Cold War, these reforms were not well received in Moscow, and the result was that a Warsaw Pact force of over 650,000 troops, accompanied by 4,600 tanks, were sent from Russia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria to occupy the country, equipped with the most sophisticated weapons in the Soviet military catalog at that time.

Back in 2020, an article was published on Finnish Radio YLE’s website titled “What Connects the Finnish YLE Station and Prague?”  The article was written in Finnish, and the English translation from Google was a bit stilted and awkward, so I’ve paraphrased it so we can now bring you the gist of the story.  It involves YLE’s ‘measuring station’ in a quiet, wooded area of Laajasalo Island, Helsinki.  In the same way that Staten Island is part of New York City, so Laajasalo Island forms part of eastern Helsinki.

The measuring station there was essentially a wooden house with sophisticated radio receivers and antennas, whose primary function was to measure the frequency of all Finnish broadcasting stations, and to alert any that might be drifting even slightly from their assigned channels.  It was staffed by a team of experienced radio technicians, most of whom were also shortwave and medium wave DXers, who, once their main responsibilities had been discharged, delighted in being able to use the equipment for other ‘side interests’.

The article states that when Soviet tanks crossed the Czechoslovakian border a little after midnight on the morning of Wednesday, August 21, 1968, in a small wooden building in eastern Helsinki, the handsets were monitored with attentive ears.  The Laajasalo measuring station was on standby, because something strange had been detected in the airwaves.  The previous day there had been signs of unusual transmitter activity and preliminary test transmissions.  Especially in Czechoslovakia's neighbor, Ukraine, it seemed that something was going on.

As events progressed on that Wednesday, no Czech shortwave transmitters could be heard.  Further, it was observed that all Voice of America, BBC and Deutsche Welle programming in Czech was being jammed.  And then, the occupiers' radio station, Radio Vltava, appeared on medium wave.

So in Laajasalo, they listened to the radio war.  The occupation of Czechoslovakia was a major news story around the world, but it was a challenge to obtain reliable information about what was going on inside the country.  Journalist Lieko Zachovalova reported for YLE from Prague.  His struggle to get a telephone report out to the editorial office in Finland has gone down in the history of journalism.

The problem for all foreign correspondents working in Czechoslovakia was that international telephone calls were monitored and sometimes deliberately cut.  For example, Zachovalova's first report had to be relayed to Finland via a Swiss call center, and it didn't make it into the news until day two of the occupation.

At YLE Radio's measuring station in Laajasalo, though, monitoring of Czechoslovakian airwaves worked flawlessly.  Jarmo Sivusaari, the head of the station at the time, recalls that they had the best equipment available.  But, listening to broadcasts inside occupied Czechoslovakia required not only good equipment but also amateur radio skills.

“Broadcasts could be heard well when you knew how to dig them out of the howl of the ether”, says Jorma Laiho, YLE's former technology director, who studied the history of the Laajasalo measuring station.  According to Laiho, a classic disinformation operation was underway.

The occupiers tried their best to prevent Czechoslovak transmissions by destroying or jamming the transmitters.  The central radio studios in Prague were taken over in just a few hours.  And at the same time, the occupiers broadcast their own program, which they tried to disguise as originating locally by broadcasting it on a familiar domestic Czech wavelength.  Laajasalo, however, noticed that the broadcast came from Ukraine.

The Czechoslovaks, on the other hand, established so-called free radio stations, whose transmission frequency and location constantly changed, so that the occupiers were not immediately able to silence them.

“The resistance via radio surprised the occupiers” Laiho says.  For example, on August 25, four days after the invasion, almost 20 free stations were monitored in Laajasalo.

The jamming of free radio stations intensified on August 27.  Väinö Lehtoranta, who worked at the measuring station, guessed that a train carrying jamming transmitters had arrived, enabling the occupiers not only to jam foreign shortwave broadcasts in Czech, but also to jam local medium wave stations as well.  The last ‘free radio’ station went silent two days later.

During the eight-day radio war, the Laajasalo measuring station listened to what the people of Czechoslovakia and the country's reformist leader Alexander Dub?ek had to say.  The messages also interested the Czechoslovak Embassy in Finland and indeed the President of Finland too.

To try to save face, the Soviets said they had been invited into Czechoslovakia by the Czechoslovak Communist Party.  However, that was a lie, and no such invitation had ever been issued.  In Finland, that lie was repeated by Soviet Ambassador Andrei Kovalev, but the Czechoslovak ambassador to Finland, Zdenek Urban, apparently visited the Laajasalo measuring station for himself to hear what was going on in his home country, and he used the information he heard there to refute the Russian claims of the invitation.

Jarmo Sivusaari, who worked at the measuring station, remembers the ambassador's visit.  “He was at the station at least once and listened to the broadcasts for several hours.”  Väinö Lehtoranta, the station's late employee, also wrote about the ambassador's visit.  According to Lehtoranta, Urban's assistant brought beer as a thank you.  It quickly became clear to Urban that Czechoslovakia had not asked for Soviet help.  Soon President Kekkonen of Finland also knew about it.

Travel Report

So why decide to publish an article about all this some 52 years later in 2020?  Well, this was all brought back to light when a historical document was discovered in the archives of YLE Radio.  Jorma Laiho found the document, a Travel Report, which describes a visit to Czechoslovak National Radio three months after the occupation.  The beginning of the nine-page report titled ‘Notes from the trip to Pilsen 27.11.-5.12.1968’ is a normal technical text.

But, then the content changes.  The author relates in detail how the occupiers tried to silence the domestic radio stations and how the Czechoslovakians harassed them.

The travelers apparently met with three Czech sources who are identified in the report solely by their initials - Mr. Z., Mr. M., and Mr. P. - apparently all Czechoslovak radio staff.

They took the Finnish visitors to hidden studios, and to a radio station with the lights turned off, but with transmitters working at full power.  Road signs had been removed everywhere to make things difficult for the Soviet troops.

The report describes how the technicians of the Krasov radio station were marched ominously to the side of an open cable trench and made to stand there.  They thought they were going to be shot, but fortunately that particular situation was resolved through negotiation.

Pilsen radio continued to broadcast messages from the legitimate government, i.e. Dub?ek's reformists.  According to the report, Czechoslovakia's regional radio stations had been allowed to continue to operate, to that point at least, from normal legal studio facilities using legal transmitters.

The travel report tells how the occupying troops were surprised by the impassioned resistance by the ordinary people of Czechoslovakia, and were confused by how reluctant the Czechoslovakian authorities were to cooperate.  According to the report, broadcasting had a central position in leading passive resistance.  "Because the first communications coming through the radio came from people who enjoyed the people's trust, the people took the radio as their 'common' leader," Mr. M. tells his Finnish colleague.

And there the article on the Finnish website ends.  But it is a stark reminder in these days of reliance on webstreaming that in times of trouble, when phone lines can be cut and Internet access blocked, radio can still be a very resilient tool, with a potent voice that cannot easily be snuffed out.  As for Alexander Dub?ek, he was reassigned in 1969 to a lowly position in the Czech Forestry Commission.  The Czechs would have to wait another 20 years until real liberation came in the form of the Velvet Revolution in November 1989.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/AWR/Wavescan)

Chatham Island in the South Pacific: The Coast Watch Story

 

In our third and final topic regarding the radio scene on the Chatham Islands in the South Pacific, we begin with information regarding the Coast Watch Service that was implemented by New Zealand in the middle of the last century.  

However, even before we present the Coast Watch story, let us share one item of radio information on Chatham Island that we recently came across.  Back in March 1991, the Radio Rhema Gospel radio network in New Zealand successfully applied for a mediumwave license for a station on Chatham Island.  The mediumwave frequency 612 kHz was granted, though no further information is given regarding this projected radio broadcasting station.  

Now on to the Coast Watch story.  It was back in the year 1929 that the Royal Navy in England first gave consideration to setting up a Coast Watch Service among the scattered islands of the South Pacific.  The basic plan at that stage was little more than an idea that would be implemented if needed. 

However 10 years later in 1939, hostilities in continental Europe were bristling, and the outbreak of a deadly war was looming on the horizon.  Four of the major European powers, (England, France, Germany and Holland) each supported island colonies in the Pacific areas, and there was thus the realistic possibility that European enmity could also involve the Pacific.

In the early part of the year 1939, before the declaration of open warfare on the European continent, England examined again the concept of a Coast Watch Service throughout the islands of the Pacific, inhabited and uninhabited.  As far as New Zealand was concerned, very practical plans were laid for the protection of their own many islands, as part of a more extensive plan for Australian participation further afield. 

Before the war began in September (1939), the ambitious plan for the New Zealand Coast Watch Service called for the establishment of 60 such stations to be located on islands generally somewhat under the influence of New Zealand itself.  Then subsequently, after hostilities erupted in distant Europe, New Zealand added another dozen Coast Watch Stations to the already established planned list.  At that stage, Chatham Island was also included.  Thus by March 1940, 62 stations were already active in the areas that were understood to be the responsibility of New Zealand.

As the system unfolded, the general plan for each Coast Watch Station was initially for the employment of three people; a radio operator, and two soldiers.  Collectively, those staff personnel were a mixture of trained servicemen, government officials, available civilians, escaped prisoners of war, and local volunteers.  

In addition, local native peoples acted as lookouts to provide information regarding enemy troop activities, air flights overhead, and shipping movements in the surrounding waters.  They were also involved in the rescue of friendly servicemen from downed airplanes and sunken ships.  Where it was possible, the foreign staff at each island station was rotated on an approximately annual basis.     

Each station was provided with a small radio receiver, and a low-powered and somewhat mobile transmitter.  The main crystal-controlled shortwave channel for each transmitter was the same throughout the entire Coast Watch system.  There were generally three call-in sessions each day, though these timings could be varied for secrecy, and for the forwarding of important information.

A control station in each cluster of stations forwarded significant information to either the large central station in Fiji or on to New Zealand itself.  The Coast Watch Station on Chatham Island sent their information on to Wellington direct. The equipment for each station was housed in a locally available hut, and usually, there was an additional secondary emergency hut some distance away that was hidden in a secluded area.

A valid follow-up question would be: Was all of that elaborate though largely secretive organization really necessary?  And perhaps also: Was the Coast Watch Service ever successful in its endeavors? 

The answer is: Yes, there were multiple occasions when a Coast Watch Service amply fulfilled its intended purposes.  However, in spite of the elaborate net of established stations, German raiders  still succeeded in sinking a total of 13 ships in the wider waters around New Zealand.  We tell the interesting story of one such event, a remarkable event that took place in the waters off the coast of  Chatham Island itself.

The Holmwood Story

A small inter-island steamer weighing just 546 tons was constructed at the Goole Shipyards in Yorkshire England in 1911 and it was named the Tees.  Some 30 years later, in mid-1940, the Tees was bought by the small Holm Shipping Company in New Zealand and renamed the Holmwood.  One of the main routes of the SS Holmwood was to traverse the 500 miles wide Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, carrying cargo, livestock, passengers, and postal mail. 

At 2:30 am on Monday, November 25, 1940, the Holmwood left the wharf at Waitangi on Chatham Island bound for New Zealand.  Wireless messages from New Zealand had warned of German Raiders in the area, but no one at Chatham considered that there was any real cause for concern

Aboard the SS Holmwood was a crew of 17 and a list of 12 passengers.  The passengers consisted of three families, including 5 children, all from New Zealand itself.  The lone Chatham islander aboard the Holmwood was 19-year-old Clara Evelin Hough. Unknown to the Holmwood, three German Raiders, Kulmerland, Comet, and Orion, lay just over the horizon, though they were disguised as Japanese trading ships, complete with Japanese names and Japanese identification.  For several days in advance, these three ships were listening to the radio traffic between the Coastal Communication station ZLC on Chatham Island and their respondent radio stations in New Zealand.

Much of the traffic between ZLC and New Zealand was in plain text and not in code, in both Morse Code and English speech.  In this way, the three German/Japanese ships became aware of the time and date of departure for the Holmwood from Chatham Island, together with its list of personnel and cargo.  The German Raider ships were interested in obtaining the cargo aboard the Holmwood, live sheep, food and supplies, and general goods.

At 7:25 am many aboard the Holmwood were eating their breakfast and the ship was now 27 miles out west from Chatham.  Captain J. H. Miller suddenly became aware that his ship had steamed straight into a trap, from which there was no way of escape for the slow Holmwood.  The main German Raider, the Kulmerland with its Captain Pschunder ordered the Holmwood to stop, and not to send out a radio transmission.

Captain Miller aboard the Holmwood decided to come to a stop as ordered, and not to send out a radio transmission.  He himself was not only the Captain, but he was also the Radio Officer.  In order to avoid a bombardment that would have killed the passengers, and because his radio was only low powered and would not be heard in New Zealand, and because Maritime Radio ZLC on Chatham was not yet open for daily business, he decided to comply, and not send an out a radio message. 

The entire list of crew and passengers, together with a lot of the cargo, were transferred from the Holmwood to the Kumberland.  Then at 1:00 pm, the Kumberland fired on the now almost empty Holmwood with its heavy guns, and the stricken ship sank. 

But that's not the end of the story, and there is more to come. 

(AWR/Wavescan NWS 627)

The Radio Scene on Coconut Island

It is true, there are several islands in various parts of our globe that are identified as Coconut Island.  However, the Coconut island that we are referring to in our program today is located off the south coast of Guam in the western Pacific.

This Coconut Island is just one mile long and less than a quarter mile wide, and yet in spite of its diminutive size, yet it played host to a large and important radio station way back in the middle of the last century.   This island is a hilly tropical island that lies in a north east-south west diagonal direction just one mile off the south coast of Guam.

Coconut Island is a bird watcher’s paradise and it attracts many day tourists from nearby Guam itself.  Apart from tourist personnel, the island is uninhabited.  In earlier years, the island was under Spanish jurisdiction, along with Guam.  However, in1898 Guam was ceded among other territories to the United States, and soon afterwards two thirds of Coconut Island was taken over by the American government for official usages. 

 In the latter part of the year 1944, after American forces had re-taken over from the Japanese on Guam, a site survey was conducted on the island for the installation of a LORAN a long range navigation radio station.  Back then, the Americans were installing numerous LORAN navigation stations at suitable locations in coastal areas in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
 Each LORAN station operated on a chosen frequency in the marine band just above the standard medium wave broadcast band.  The power level was usually 500 watts or less, and the antenna tower was usually quite tall.  These stations were on the air 24 hours daily, thus requiring several residences for participating staff.

Each LOARN station broadcast a pulse signal that was decrypted by electronic circuitry in specially designed radio receivers.  By tuning two or three different LORAN stations simultaneously, nearby aircraft and shipping could quickly determine their exact location.  In many ways LORAN was a forerunner to our present day satellite based GPS networks.
 A site on the south west end of Coconut Island was chosen for this new LORAN station and work commenced on this facility on November 11, 1944.  Two weeks later, the station was completed, and on December 26, it was taken into full service, along with three other LORAN stations in the Marianas Chain; Saipan, Ulithi and Ratidian Point. 

The callsign for LORAN Coconut Island was NRV1. These LORAN navigation stations were installed and operated by the United States Coast Guard whose main maritime station on Cabras Island Guam was authorized under the callsign NRV.  It is logical therefore that the LORAN station at that time on Coconut Island would simply add a numerical suffix to that main callsign, as NRV1
 Five years later on November 17, 1949, the LORAN navigation radio station NRV1 on Coconut Island was destroyed by Typhoon Allyn; and by March of the following year (1950), the station was completely rebuilt at the same location.  However, less than two months later, the station was again badly damaged by another massive windstorm, Typhoon Doris.  As a safety precaution, the entire staff were evacuated in advance of the May 9 storm.

And if that was not enough, the station was taken off the air for a short period of time in 1954 after another typhoon damaged the antenna system.  Due to the logistical difficulties in meeting staff requirements on a lonely and isolated small island, and also because of significant and costly damage to the station from the only too frequent typhoons, the station was closed in 1963, decommissioned on February 15 of the following year (1964), and rebuilt at a new location on the main island of Guam.   

The new LORAN station on the island of Guam was installed on United States naval property at Orote Point, near the end of a small peninsula on the central west coast of the island.  This new LORAN NRV1 with its several transmitters at its new location was taken into full service later in 1964, though its usefulness was beginning to come to an end. 
 With the introduction of international communications by satellite, LORAN stations were becoming redundant.  Station NRV1 at Orote Point was taken out of service in 1977, and it was noted that the station was no longer operative at the time of the onslaught of Typhoon Pamala during the following year 1978.

The corresponding receiver station for LORAN Guam was located at Ritidian Point, the northernmost point on the island of Guam itself.  This Ritidian Point facility was taken into service at the end of the year 1944, at the same time as the transmitter station on Cocos Island was commissioned.  The Ritidian Point receiver station was decommissioned in 1978, along with the transmitter station at its second major location, Orote Point.
 A search on Google Earth for the original location of LORAN NRV1 on Coconut Island reveals that almost nothing is left at that site, just overgrown verdure.  The station is gone, and the location has been reclaimed by nature.  There are no known QSLs anywhere, verifying LORAN Guam; in fact, there are no known QSLs anywhere verifying any of the LORAN stations anywhere in the world.   
(AWR-Wavescan)

Two Important Publications from Teak Publishing

New Summer 2015 International Shortwave Broadcast Guide

            Shortwave radio is your window to the world, states the well known radio writer Gayle Van Horn.  Throughout the world, shortwave remains the most readily available and affordable means of communication and information.  It lets you listen to voices from around the world.  You'll also learn about the lives and concerns of people from all walks of life, from soldiers, to farmers, to retired scholars.  Shortwave radio provides nearly instantaneous coverage of news and events from all across our globe.

            Shortwave listening, or SWLing, is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz, also known as HF or the High Frequency bands.  You can easily listen to shortwave broadcast stations from countries all around the world; all you need is a shortwave receiver.  When and what to listen for is covered comprehensively in the pages of a new edition of the International Shortwave Broadcast Guide.

            The International Shortwave Broadcast Guide (Summer 2015 edition), by Amazon bestselling author Gayle Van Horn, W4GVH, is an important information resource you need to tap into the worldwide shortwave broadcast radio spectrum.  It is a 24-hour station/frequency guide to almost all of the known stations currently broadcasting on shortwave radio at the time of publication.

            We might add that this unique shortwave resource offers an hour by hour schedule that includes all language services, frequencies and world target areas for each broadcast station.  In addition, there are new chapters that cover basic shortwave radio listening and Who’s Who in the Shortwave Radio Spectrum.   Also extensive work has been done to improve the readability of this edition on the various Kindle platforms.

            The International Shortwave Broadcast Guide (Summer 2015 edition) is now available for purchase worldwide from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X8BIF0K.  The price for this latest edition is still the amazingly low US $4.99.   This book is being released internationally from all Amazon websites.

            This new e-publication edition is an expanded version of the English shortwave broadcast guide formerly printed in the pages of Monitoring Times magazine for over 20 years. This one of a kind e-book is now being published twice a year to correspond with station seasonal time and frequency changes.  Frequency updates between editions are posted on the Shortwave Central blog at: http://mt- shortwave.blogspot.com/.

            The International Shortwave Broadcast Guide will have wide appeal to a large array of shortwave radio hobbyists, amateur radio operators, educators, foreign language students, news agencies, news buffs and many more who are interested in listening to a global view regarding news and events as they happen.

QSLing the World - A How-to Guide
Another book written by Gayle Van Horn that is available electronically tells the story “QSLing the World”.  Gayle was previously a Monitoring Times columnist and the shortwave frequency manager for the magazine.  Her book is a comprehensive resource and reference ebook for any radio hobbyist who is interested in acquiring a verification of reception from almost any type of radio station, whether it is broadcast, utility, amateur, satellite, or clandestine.

            While some radio hobbyists are program listeners who listen simply for program content, there is a large segment of listeners in the hobby who like to collect written proof that they have indeed monitored the stations they have received or talked to.  They do this by sending a report of reception in the hope that the station staff will return a card or letter, a QSL, verifying the radio reception.   Along with QSLs, some radio hobbyists also collect station memorabilia that may include such items as frisbees, bumper stickers, pennants, decals, T-shirts, or anything associated with the station logo, slogan or call sign.

            This new 140 plus page eBook, “QSLing the World”, draws from Gayle's 30 plus years of experience in the radio hobby. This includes best general practices in logging, reporting, and mailing a station reception report.  Gayle also addresses an often-neglected question: What do you do with your QSL cards and letters after they start to accumulate?

            This second edition of “QSLing the World” is now in Kindle eBook format; it is the most comprehensive compilation of trends and tips on the art of QSLing ever published for the radio listening hobbyist.  It is an important reference guide in any radio shack for those who want to QSL the stations they are hearing on their radios.

 (AWR-Wavescan/333)

Over the Years With PWI

In our continuing series of topics regarding the shortwave stations operated by PWI, Press Wireless International, we look at the wartime years over in islandic and continental Europe.  During this era, the Press Wireless factory on Long Island, quite near to their shortwave transmitter station at Hicksville, manufactured many shortwave transmitters at various power levels, including their now famous 40 kW unit, as well as their low powered mobile units. 

These PWI transmitters were shipped to England and subsequently to continental Europe by both navy and commercial vessels, usually with each consignment split and conveyed by different ships.  In this way, if some ships were sunk by enemy submarine attacks, then only a partial consignment was lost, not a complete consignment of electronic equipment.  It is known that at least one mobile station was lost in 1944 due to enemy action, and that station still lies to this day on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Actually, Press Wireless began their European operations in 1932 with the opening of an office in Paris France, and the leased usage of transmitting and receiving facilities from the French PT&T authorities in nearby country areas.  Their Paris operation collected the news flow from other countries in Europe and fed the information to the United States via the PWI receiver station at Little Neck on the north side of Long Island, New York.

As the onset of the European Conflict progressed, PWI moved its European operation in the summer of 1940, initially from Paris to Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast in the south west of France, and then to Tours, almost in the center of France, and finally to Vichy France, though that location was soon afterwards closed. 

  

Towards the end of the War in Europe, PWI began to send shipments of radio equipment from the United States, beginning in the early part of the year 1944.  The first of the 40 kW PWI SSB transmitters to arrive on the other side of the Atlantic was installed at Lingfield with the receiver station at Swanley Junction, both in Surrey in the south of England.  The purpose for this station was to establish communication circuits with the United States. 

Two more of these 40 kW transmitters were transported to England; and the teams of technical radio personnel associated with these units received their training on a similar unit located at PWI Hicksville.  In 1944, the technical equipment and personnel were taken by ship to the British Isles. 

One ship in use for this purpose was the ex-passenger liner, “Mauretania" which travelled across the Atlantic alone, without convoy.  It was considered to be a fast ship that could outrun any other seafaring vessels that might be in pursuit.  The equipment was landed in Scotland and taken south by road.

The radio personnel installed one of these PWI transmitters at an army camp located at Stowe-on-Wold in Gloucestershire, almost in the south of England.  This transmitter was used for two purposes.  One was to broadcast fake communication transmissions that would give the impression that the coming invasion of continental Europe under what became D-Day would take place in Calais, or perhaps even in Norway, instead of the intended Normandy; and the other purpose was for army communications back to the United States. 

Following the installation of the transmitter in England, the PWI team landed in France and began work on the installation of the other unit at Les Essarts, an outer suburb of Paris.  Originally, this 40 kW PWI transmitter was planned for installation at Renne in France.  However, with the progress of events at the front line, a more advanced location, Les Essarts, was chosen.

The electronic equipment for this station was delivered in 1,000 crates & boxes, and it was re-assembled in 25 days by 45 personnel.  This transmitter facility was installed in buildings commandeered for the purpose and the receiver station was located in an old farm house further down the same road. 

  

Power came from three Cummings diesel generators, and rhombic antennas were beamed on the United States for communication with PWI Little Neck, New York.  This new and rather substantial shortwave station was activated in September 1944.  A photo at the entrance way to the station shows the callsign as CZ2T, though it identified on air simply as Radio Paris.

            The main purpose for this PWI station in Paris was to relay news items and news commentaries from SHAEF Supreme Headquarters American Expeditionary Forces back to the United States for insertion into the broadcast programming of the Voice of America.  On several occasions, international radio monitors in the United States, New Zealand and Australia noted PWI Hicksville & Paris in communication with each other for the transfer of radio news items.

    

For example, in March 1945, Radio Paris CZ2T was noted on 15920 kHz with a program relay to the United States; and in September this station was noted on 15293 kHz with program inserts for the NBC Blue Network.  In the reverse direction, PWI Hicksville was noted calling SHAEF Paris on several occasions.  The Hicksville channel callsigns at the time were WPJ on 11640 kHz & WJQ on 10010 kHz.

Apparently someone in the radio world had an insight into the workings of PWI Paris, because in September 1945, a column editor in Australia stated that the permanence of this station was doubtful.

  

However, the story does not end here.  In addition to the single 40 kW PWI transmitter at Les Essarts, there was a multitude of other transmitters, maybe even 15 or more.  One of these was a 10 kW shortwave broadcast transmitter that was installed in a subsidiary building at the Les Essarts station for the relay of radio programming from Radio Diffusion Francaise in Paris.  The main coverage area from this unit was intended to be Europe & Africa.

  

As far as is known, this shortwave broadcast transmitter operated on only one channel, 9560 (9550) kHz.  The programming was always a relay from Paris, and often in parallel with shortwave transmitters at other locations.  This station was often heard in the United States, and sometimes in Australia & New Zealand.  It was also listed in several early editions of the World Radio Handbook.

It appears that the power of the French shortwave station at Les Essarts was raised from 10 kW to 100 kW somewhere around the year 1947.  It is possible then that the power level of the 40 kW transmitter was raised in the era after peace was resumed in Europe, and after the American personnel had returned to their homeland.

So there you have it.  This PWI shortwave station located on the edge of suburban Paris was on the air with news for newspapers, and voice reports for radio & TV stations in the United States, as well as with program relays for re-broadcast by the Voice of America.  In addition, this shortwave station also operated as a relay station for the international shortwave service of Radio Diffusion Francaise.

            More about PWI in Europe on another coming occasion.

(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 312)

The Radio Scene in Scotland

Hadrian's Wall (wikipedia)

North of the Stone Wall - The Radio Scene in Scotland

In the middle of September, Scotland held a referendum to determine its future, and the two way choice was either to remain with England as an integral part of the United Kingdom, or to become independent as a separate country.  Because of this referendum and its widespread implications, we interrupt the normal flow of topics here in Wavescan, and instead we present a new topic under the title “North of the Stone Wall: The Radio Scene in Scotland”.  However, as we are now aware, the referendum revealed by a wider margin than expected that Scotland will remain an integral part of the United Kingdom.

            The best known stone wall in the world is the Great Wall of China which astronauts tell us is visible from outer space.  This great wall in Asia was constructed in an attempt to prevent invasions into China proper from tribal territories to the north.

            However a lesser known, though surely an equally important wall as far as the ancient peoples were concerned, is Hadrian’s Wall which is located in the far north of England.  This wall was constructed in an attempt to prevent incursions from clan peoples living to the north.

            Hadrian’s Wall is located entirely in England, just south of the border with Scotland and it stretches across England from coast to coast, a distance of 73 miles.  On the west end, the wall is less than a mile from the border with Scotland, though on the east end, it is nearly 70 miles from the border. 

            Hadrian’s Wall was named in honor of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who visited England at the time of its construction which took six years to complete, in the year 122 AD.  The wall was manned by nearly 10,000 personnel made up of both Roman occupation forces as well as local British peoples.

            The encyclopedia informs us that the territory of Scotland covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain as well as nearly 800 nearby islands.  It shares a common border with England that is just 60 miles across, otherwise Scotland is surrounded by the two pounding bodies of water; the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.   Their largest city is Glasgow with more than half a million, and their capital is Edinburgh with a little less than half a million.  Their total population of the while country stands at around 5¼ million.

            Scottish history is rich and long and it goes way back to the earliest known human settlements.  Their written history began with the invasions of the Roman legions in England around the year 80 AD.  In those days, Scotland was known as Caledonia.  In subsequent eras, Scotland was ruled by a succession of regional and national monarchs, until unity with England began under the Treaty of Perpetual Peace in 1502.

            Interestingly, Scotland recognizes three languages: English, Scots and Gaelic.  The standard English is equivalent to British English; Scots as a language could be described as a dialectal version of old English; and Gaelic is an earlier Celtic language in the British Isles, linked to similar languages in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany in France.  

            The English pound is the recognized currency in Scotland, though three different banks in Scotland also issue Scottish currency at the same value.

            The world’s most popular outdoor sport, golf, was developed in Scotland.  It was a variation of a similar game called paganica that was played by Roman soldiers on duty over there two thousand years ago.  In the original paganica, the players used a curved stick to hit a leather ball stuffed with feathers or wool.

            On May 6, 1905, the Argyllshire Herald newspaper carried a report that negotiations were underway for the lease of a field on which a wireless station would be built.  A total of 6 acres at Uisead Point Machrihanish Bay was procured from Captain MacNeal, sufficient land for a wireless station with its associated buildings for transmission equipment, a power generator, personnel accommodation, and of course the tall transmitting tower as well.  This wireless station was located on a narrow peninsula on the west coast of Scotland,some 60 miles southwest of Glasgow.    

            The Machrihanish Wireless Station was constructed for Canadian born Professor Reginald Fessenden of the National Electric Signalling Company and it was intended for mutual communication with a similar station at Brant Rock in coastal Massachusetts in the United States.  The wireless mast reached 450 feet high, it incorporated an internal ladder for full length access, it stood on an insulated base, and guy wires held it in position.

            In December 1905, the Campbelltown Courier newspaper carried a report that work on the station was completed, and in January of the next year, transatlantic communication began in Morse Code between Machrihanish (callsign LK) and Brant Rock (callsign BO).  Spasmodic communication was achieved, sometimes at a surprisingly good level, throughout the following year.  Interestingly, the Chief Operator at the station in Scotland, Mr Armour, reported in a letter to a scientist that he heard voice transmissions from Brant Rock at 4:00 am one morning in November (1906).

            However, on December 5 of that same year 1906, a stormy gale hit the coast and felled the tall wireless mast.  Though no one was hurt, the station was never re-established; instead, the equipment was sold off and the staff dispersed.

            But, that is not the end of the wireless scene in Scotland; instead, it was just the beginning.

During that same year, 1906, the Marconi company was awarded a contract for the installation of two wireless stations in Scotland, one at Tobermory and another at Loch Boisdale.  The Tobermory station

was installed on the island of Mull just off the west coast of the Scottish mainland and it was on the air under the callsign GCA.  The Lochboisdale station was installed on a small island at the very north of Scotland just off the west coast, and it was on the air under the callsign GCB.

            In the era after the end of World War 1, the directory lists show a dozen or more wireless stations on the air on both the mainland and islandic territories of Scotland.  These stations were in communication service with three different organizations; the Royal Navy, the Royal Air force, and the British Post Office.  For example, the navy operated station BYD at Aberdeen, the air force operated station GFK at Donibristle, and the General Post Office operated station GSW at Stonehaven.

            That’s as far as we go in the Scotland story for today, and in our programing in two weeks time, we are planning to complete the story, “North of the Stone Wall”. 

(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 294)

Medium Wave Broadcasting on High Power

Atwater- Kent, Model 84 

A Blast from the Past: Medium Wave Broadcasting Stations on High Power

A few weeks back here in Wavescan, we presented the story of radio broadcasting with high power on the long wave band.  On this occasion today, we present another similar story, regarding radio broadcasting with high power on the medium wave band, under the title:  A Blast from the Past.   So let’s go way back to the introductory events, in the year 1925.

            Back at that time, the power output of licensed medium wave radio broadcasting stations throughout the world was quite low.  Many stations were on the air with a power output of just 5 or 10 watts, and occasionally lower; and even then just 100 watts was a common power level. 

            A comparison of entries in various radio lists at that time, reveals that the highest power level in 1925 was just 5 kW, and we should remember that the rating for transmitter power was calculated as the input to the transmitter itself, which would be approximately twice the calculated power output to the antenna system.  Thus a 5 kW listing in 1925 could be interpreted as approximately 2½ kW output into the antenna system.

            In 1925, the radio lists show that 5 kW was the highest power rating for a medium wave station anywhere in the world.  There were just eight stations listed at 5 kW in the United States, four in Australia, and just one in Canada, making a world total of only thirteen stations on the air at this transmission level. 

            Even then, the lone Canadian station was in the planning stages and not actually active on the air.  This station was CKCW and it was granted a construction permit for a location near the city of Toronto. 

            However, station CKCW was never erected as originally intended near Toronto, but instead the license location was transferred to nearby Bowmanville under an adjusted call sign CKGW.  This new station CKGW was subsequently inaugurated some three years later in 1928 and it became well known due to the fact that an associated low power shortwave transmitter carried a relay of the medium wave programming under the call sign VE9GW. 

            The original call CKCW was eventually assigned to another station in Moncton New Brunswick which went on the air in 1934 with a more normal power of 100 watts on 1370 kHz.

            Interestingly, in that same year 1925, the American radio magazine Radio Broadcast for January printed a prophetic item on page 474, forecasting an increase in power for medium wave stations.  The writer conjectured that one day we would listen to super power medium wave transmitters with a power  even as high as 10 kW!

            During the following year 1926, a higher power level began to appear in the medium wave station lists, with two American stations at 10 kW (KGA Spokane & KJR Seattle), another at 20 kW (WOK Chicago), and one at 50 kW (WJZ New York).

            During the 1930s, the medium wave power race was on throughout the world, with a maximum power rapidly increasing up around 100 kW.  Additionally, many stations in Europe and Asia were operating at a level around 50 kW. 

            In 1933 for example, the highest powered medium wave station was listed as station OKP near Prague in Czechoslovakia with 120 kW on 614 kHz.  Radio Moscow in Russia sported 100 kW on 704 kHz, and XGOA in Nanking China was shown with 75 kW on 680 kHz.

            During that same era, six stations in France, Germany and Switzerland are listed with 60 kW; and eight stations in Sweden, England, Scotland and Italy are listed with 50 kW, including the famous 2LO in London.

            During the mid and late 1930s, the power race was demonstrated further afield, with both Vienna on 592 kHz and MTCY at Hsingking in Manchukuo qt 100 kaW; in Japan, JOAK2 in Tokyo operated at 175 kW on 870 kHz.  The highest powered medium wave radio broadcasting station in the South Pacific was the well known national station 2YA in Wellington with 60 kW on 570 kHz.  In those days, 2YA was often heard in the United States, as well as right across Australia. 

            During the  early 1940s, more than fifty medium wave stations in the United States were on the air at a power rating of 50 kW, which by then was the highest that the FCC would permit for regular broadcasting.  Most of these high powered American stations were operating on a Clear Channel, with little or no co-channel interference.

            After World War 2, the power levels on medium wave continued to grow, until now half a century later, there is a multitude of medium wave transmitters on the air with a rated power of one and two megawatts.  For the transmission of superpower radio energy, usually two or more transmitters are coupled, sometimes into separate antenna systems on the same frequency, and sometimes with a combined power output into the one antenna system.

            For example, Saudi Arabia is on the air with medium wave transmitters listed at 2 MW, that is 2,000,000 watts output.  These super power two megawatt broadcasting systems in Saudi Arabia are heard on 594, 648 and 1521 kHz.  Hungary is also listed with 2 MW on 540 kHz, and Vietnam on 1242 kHz.  Both North Korea and South Korea radiate 1½ MW on 657 and 972 kHz.  Both Russia and China are on the air with 1.2 MW via a total of six medium wave channels.

            At 1 MW, that is with one million watts, at least 30 medium wave stations are on the air in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.  The countries in Asia with such high-power are India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Siberia, Bangladesh, China, Thailand and North Korea.  In addition, the Voice of America is on the air with 1 million watts on 1575 kHz in Thailand, and 1170 kHz at Poro in the Philippines.

            On a coming occasion here in Wavescan, we plan to present the story of superpower medium wave stations in North America.
(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 284 via Adrian Peterson, AWR)