I have been licensed 4o years and almost 6 months now Barry. Just a kid and barely having a clue occasionally getting my dad to drive me over to the other side of town for a meeting of the Joliet JARS and Gypsies. I truly miss hearing you speak with the authority and passion that you did back in the day. I particularly remember the program you did a few years later on the then new "Minooka Special".My only wish is that I had come into the fold a little earlier in life. Thanks for being such a willing and eager steward and teacher of amateur radio. You and Joyce are very much remembered and missed. 73'
Clay Melhorn N9IO Bonfield, IL Webmaster: KARS - Kankakee Area Radio Society - W9AZ http://www.w9az.com/ > From: [email protected] > Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:05:12 -0400 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Topband: WLW > > 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 > Farraday 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 _________________ Topband Reflector
