WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
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Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#2Home of the Reds. Been listening to it my whole life.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#3I'm from Cincinnati, and growing up my dad and grandfather would tell us how you could pick up WLW across the country on a good day. In the 90s we took a vacation to the Rockies, and were able to pick up WLW a few times, even though the power had been reduced by then. I can get it regularly and clearly in Chicago as well. That's the cool thing about AM radio; since it is transmitted at a lower frequency, it can travel longer distances, and even reflect off the atmosphere in the right conditions.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#4Was randomly recommended a video on YouTube a few weeks ago which was a recording of a tour of the WLW broadcast transmitter facility. You get to see the high power equipment in detail accompanied by lots of history about the facility. Was a fun watch.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#5> People living near the transmitter site often got better reception than they wanted; some lights would not turn off until WLW engineers helped rewire houses. Gutters rattled loose from buildings. A neon hotel sign near the transmitter never went dark. Farmers reported hearing WLW through their barbed-wire fences.
That is pretty amazing. I wonder if there were any health impacts from that level of ambient power just buzzing through the air. Still, quite a feat of engineering to think about.
I also took some interesting lessons from the story as an entrepreneur. Crosley's obsession with radio reminds me of my own obsessive periods with a particular technology. Then he took his existing business knowledge and manufacturing skills (and capital...) and acted on it. Such a great little story of being in the right place, at the right time, and having the right obsessions.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#6> People living near the transmitter site often got better reception than they wanted; some lights would not turn off until WLW engineers helped rewire houses. Gutters rattled loose from buildings. A neon hotel sign near the transmitter never went dark. Farmers reported hearing WLW through their barbed-wire fences. That is pretty amazing. I wonder if there were any health impacts from that level of ambient power just…
I wonder how that much power would affect someone with metal fillings in their teeth.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#7The station’s once groundbreaking transmitter is long retired but preserved, on-site, beside its modern counterpart.
I wonder if they ever offer tours. It would be neat to see some of this history the next time I'm passing through the Cincinnati area. On a related note, it looks like there's a "National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting" just down the street from the WLW site.
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#8> People living near the transmitter site often got better reception than they wanted; some lights would not turn off until WLW engineers helped rewire houses. Gutters rattled loose from buildings. A neon hotel sign near the transmitter never went dark. Farmers reported hearing WLW through their barbed-wire fences. That is pretty amazing. I wonder if there were any health impacts from that level of ambient power just…
I wonder how that much power would affect someone with metal fillings in their teeth.
Sounds like a short story I read as a kid ...
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#9I'm from Cincinnati, and growing up my dad and grandfather would tell us how you could pick up WLW across the country on a good day. In the 90s we took a vacation to the Rockies, and were able to pick up WLW a few times, even though the power had been reduced by then. I can get it regularly and clearly in Chicago as well. That's the cool thing about AM radio; since it is transmitted at a lower frequency, it can trave…
AM broadcast travels a long way not because it tends to reflect off the atmosphere (skywave propagation), but because it tends to hug the earth (groundwave propagation).
Re: WLW: America's 500,000 watt radio station (2015)
#10The station’s once groundbreaking transmitter is long retired but preserved, on-site, beside its modern counterpart. I wonder if they ever offer tours. It would be neat to see some of this history the next time I'm passing through the Cincinnati area. On a related note, it looks like there's a "National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting" just down the street from the WLW site.
I don't know if they offer tours at the WLW site itself, but I do know that in the VOA museum there is a lot of detailed info/history and items pertaining to WLW.