Re: [IRCA] Fwd: Topband: WLW

[Mike Sanburn <mikesanburn@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great story! I'd love to visit WLW someday....Mike Sanburn

> Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:02:04 +0000
> To: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: nhp@xxxxxxxx
> Subject: [IRCA] Fwd: Topband:  WLW
> 
> 
> There's been some discussion of WLW on the Topband list over the last 
> few days.   Try this on for size:  (make that supersize, hi)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >One Sunday at the close of the Dayton Hamvention about 40 years  ago, some
> >Cincinnati friends arranged for a tour of Gray's Radio  Museum, The Voice of
> >America installation and WLW, all in or near Mason,  Ohio. A bunch of us
> >got back to Illinois late that evening with  unforgettable memories... and
> >about 100 pictures.
> >
> >I have told the stories of that wonderful day many times.  The wildest
> >stories were from the WLW-RCA 500 KW station. Our guide  was an expert on the
> >subject. The original control console was moved over to a  side wall, but it
> >was still powered up... likely for the entertainment of  visitors. The two
> >experimental calls issued to Crosley were emblazoned on some  controls. They
> >were W8XO & W8XAL as I remember. BTW, my long time friend  Dave, one of those
> >guys from Cincinnati now holds one of those calls. Ask  him about "when
> >Skip was in."
> >
> >As we walked along the elevated walkway in front of the stages of  the
> >transmitter, we were awed by the 6 foot diameter pi wound 
> >coupling  coils with
> >Faraday shields and we noticed that there were as many water guages  and
> >valves as there were meters and controls. Each of the three final  stages was
> >water cooled and a fountain in the center of a small lake outside  cooled the
> >water.
> >
> >Each final stage was about 8 feet wide and had a metal door you  could walk
> >through. Our guide stopped at that point in the tour as we gazed at a  huge
> >ammeter with a 150 amp full scale. "What's this," someone  asked.
> >
> >He told us it was put in for Crosley who got a bug in his butt to  see what
> >the rig would really do. The meter showed the total current on the  three
> >finals. One night he cranked it up as far as it would go. Keep in mind,  the
> >voltage on the finals was 17,500 volts, as I remember. He got that meter up
> >to 100 amps. Do the math. He burnt up some local fences that  night.
> >
> >Of course, 13 transmitters (with plug-in coils) each  running 220,000 watts
> >simultaneously on several bands down the road at  VOA was astonishing, but
> >that 1,700,000 watts at WLW was stuck in our minds  all the way home that
> >night.  We were TopBand guys,  afterall!
> >
> >73, Best DX, Barry, W9UCW
> >
> >
> >_________________
> >Topband Reflector
> 
> 
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