Farms: WLW's 500,000 Watt Transmitter
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Tour of the historic WLW AM monster broadcast transmitter facility located in Mason Ohio. WLW has kept a major piece of broadcasting history alive by keeping much of the old high power transmitter intact. Recorded while at Hamvention, Dayton OH, in 2013 Back in 1932 WLW increased their power from 50,000 watts to 500,000 watts. They were the only AM broadcasting station in America ever to operate at 500,000 watts. Much of the old transmitter still exists. It is really a high power amplifier with a high level modulator (360,000 watts). The amplifier was driven from their existing 50,000 watt Western Electric transmitter. The system used 20 100,000 watts tubes ($1,600 each in 1932) that required water cooling that used a cooling pond located outside the station. Tons, and tons, of hardware was required to achieve the 10 dB gain. According to WIKI: But Crosley still wasn't satisfied. In 1933 he obtained a construction permit from the Federal Radio Commission for a 500 kilowatt superstation, and he spent some $500,000 (at least $17 million in 2010 dollars using a CPI conversion factor of 0.13[9]) building the transmitter and antenna. Before the 500 KW went on the air, WLW installed a Blaw Knox vertical radiator, or as we say today a vertical antenna. Back in those days a horizontal wire flat top antenna supported by two towers was common. Photos in the video show the impressive antenna farm at WLW. The engineering was state of the art pushing the 1930s technology to achieve 500,000 watts. Operating the transmitter required a team of many engineers to bring it to life and control it while it was on the air. A simple ON-OFF switch did not exist! Enjoy the tour of the facility and the history of this high power station. Thanks to Jay, Geoff, and Ted of WLW for hosting the tour. I will soon post another video the covers the collection of 50,000 watt transmitters that are also in the same building. To learn more about this transmitter's history, please visit these sites. Randy RADIOWORLD article about this video http://www.radioworld.com/article/wlw-and-the-youtube-ham-/220485 WLW Archive Files http://www.arizona-am.net/WLW/index.html Jim Hawkin's WLW page: http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw.shtml History of WLW, Cincinnati: http://jeff560.tripod.com/wlw.html WLW's Big Arse Transmitter: http://www.ominous-valve.com/wlw.html Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLW WLW - A "Super" Station Tour: http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/cinc/wlwpix.htm Not Just a Sound: the Story of WLW: http://www.broadcasting101.ws/wlw-1.htm
Comments
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Would be amazing if this station equipment could be restored back to 500,000W!
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5000,000 Watts of Government Propaganda... nice ! .... all Masonic Garbage : (
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Thanks Randy, very interesting. When I drove 18 wheeler over the road I would listen
to WLW often. Still get them at night here on the south east shore of Lake Michigan in
Indiana. Listen on I Hart radio. Bill Cunningham was ,is my favorite program on WLW. -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVoovlO-Lfc here is another link for the Hungarian tower that still stands and has really good visuals by drone of the top of the tower. Incredible shots !
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hey, I just learned that the Hungarians were the first to make these type of towers in a diamond shape. I found 3 videos today on YouTube and they are still in use today.
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Wow, very impressive and very well done!!!
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What is so impressive that a young team made that? It would impress me much more if aomse old guys could do it. cause they often dont even know the newest way to solve the problems, maybe arent that health and strongminded anymore ect
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Fascinating. I wonder how much the electric bill would had been back then and how it was metered since it basically fed off the HV of a substation? And if a storm knocked power out momentary how much work and time it took to bring it back on the air.
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August 4 1966
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Do current 50000 watt radio stations have solid state transmitters or are they similar to this 500,000 watt transmitter?
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How did the water cool if it was insulated by glass? Or did the water actually come in contact with the voltage plates? As for distilled water, they would need an ongoing process to keep it distilled around that concrete pool., What a costly endeavor!!
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Does WLW still broadcast?
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wow 500,000 watts? that is a LOT of rf power lol. we are weak stations in all that noise as we're only allowed a third of that power at 1500 watts lol.
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Wow! That thing is awesome. Half of my family worked for Westinghouse Electric Co, So I always have an interest in their contribution to our modern world!
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Hier is the Antenna brothers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJTji877COQ -
Astounding.
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I wish I would have stuck to my dream for radio engineering when I was 14 YO. I guess I'll just have to be happy w/ my status as an Amateur w/ 500 watts (when needed)...
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XERF of Mexico transmitting station came with 500,000 watts
of power from Ciudad Acuna Coahuila in Mexico . This station
still exists and is a clear channel station like many that
existed in Mexico and the US.
At night in Mexico could hear in A.M. the very powerful filling
stations quadrant in Spanish and English .... as has changed everything.
Seems it was more complete in 1985, the presenter seems to suggest it was pushed to 1,000,000 Watts in the 1930's a couple of times, is this true?