Category Archives: History

Dates of Importance to NZ MW DXers

There have been a number of significant dates affecting MW stations and therefore DXers, in New Zealand.

1919: the first experimental radio station started broadcasting in Dunedin, New Zealand when founder “Toots” Mitchell was presented with a triode amplifying tube by his engineer friend Edward Meining. The opening song was “Robin Adair,” sung by Mitchell’s girlfriend at the microphone while Meining pedalled his bike the three kilometres from the sending station to his house where he had built a receiver. The station later became 4XD. They broadcast intermittently until 1921, then started regular scheduled programming two days a week. Those broadcasts led to the start of the Otago Radio Association. 4XD is still broadcasting, now on 1305 kHz and 99.2MHz often using the slogan “We were here first.”

WLW Cincinatti 500,000 Watts

 

wlw_700_frontsm

That’s not a mis-print… WLW had a 500kW transmitter on the MW band in 1934.

For many of us, WLW was the first Ohio station we ever heard. Here, thanks to K7AGE, is a Youtube presentation on the history of this iconic US broadcaster.

The following comment comes Barry W9UCW from the Topband reflector:

Arthur Cushen Audio Tribute

ATCushen

I have been combing through the Media Network archive at Radio Netherlands, trying to rescue as much as possible before a lot of the station history is thrown out.

You’ll be pleased to know that I found the studio copy of our tribute programme to Arthur Cushen broadcast on Sept 25 1997, 15 years ago. I’ve put it back on the web for others to listen to.

Media Network Vintage Vault 

Access to the archives is free. I believe that the stories that we shared in the 80’s and 90’s are definitely relevant in broadcasting circles today, even though the distribution channels have changed.

Happy Birthday WWVB

 

Then: Engineer David Andrews and technician Robert Oase are shown by the WWVB transmitter in 1963. Oase is relaying instructions to an engineer in a different location tuning the antenna.
Credit: NIST

Every day, electronic gear across the world locks on to a radio signal  beamed from Fort Collins, Coloradio at the base of the Rocky Mountains in the USA. The signal contains  a message that keeps the devices on time, helping to make sure their owners  keep to their schedules and aren’t late for work the next day. 

The Curious Case of the Jamming of Uncle Scrim

Colin “Uncle Scrim” Scrimgeour

When we think of the jamming of broadcasts we would normally associate such practices with cold-war politics and despot nations. So it may surprise you to know that politically-motivated jamming has occurred in New Zealand.

The year is 1935, Colin “Uncle Scrim” Scrimgeour a well-known broadcaster and Methodist minister implored the masses to vote for the opposition Labour party in the upcoming election.  The jamming was carried out at the behest of the then Minister of Broadcasting in the governing National Party and rumour has it an amateur radio operator and civil servant provided the necessary skill to do so.