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Theme
-
00:00
“Birthday Serenade” -
Willi Glahe
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Opening Announcement - 00:
Welcome to “Wavescan”,
international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Researched and written in
Indianapolis, produced in studios of shortwave WRMI
Program outline
1.
The Philippine Radio Story - 11: Press Wireless Returns to the Philippines - 2
2.
World’s
Smallest Radio Station
3. SQOTW23
Special QSL of the Week Benin: Hard to hear and difficult to QSL
4. Philippine DX Report
*
The Philippine Radio Story: Press Wireless Returns to the Philippines -
2
In our continuing story about the
return of Press Wireless to the Philippines towards the end of the Pacific War
in the middle of last century, we begin with the PWI events in Hawaii a decade
or two earlier. Press Wireless was
founded in the United States in 1929, and they began to develop their own
worldwide network of shortwave stations for the two-way flow of news
information and reports.
It is stated that PWI was serving 62
countries worldwide in the 1930s; and at the peak of their international development
they operated 100 transmitters in their own shortwave stations located in North
& South America and in the Philippines.
Some news transmissions were by high speed Boehme in Morse Code, and
others were voice reports for rebroadcast on network radio stations in the
United States.
An official government listing for
June 30, 1930, shows that a total of 13 shortwave frequencies were registered
for a new PWI station located near Honolulu in Hawaii. This new shortwave station was designed for
communication with PWI at Belmont, south of San Francisco in California; it was
constructed in 1932; and it was allocated the callsign KDG.
Soon after station KDG was
inaugurated, PWI lodged a complaint with government authorities in Washington
DC stating that a European station, FYR located at Lyon in France, was causing
interference to the reception in California from their Honolulu station. Station KDG was transmitting on its allocated
frequency of 11640 kHz, and the station in France was allocated the neighboring
channel 11650 kHz, though it was putting out an unstable signal a little lower
in frequency.
There are no known monitoring
reports of the shortwave station in Honolulu KDG, probably due to its apparent
low powered operation, and also to the fact that its news transmissions must
have all been in high speed Morse Code.
At the end of ten years of on air service, that is early in the year
1941, Press Wireless abandoned its Hawaiian shortwave station, due no doubt to
the availability of other stations that were in use for the transmission of
news information.
However some three years later
again, on April 14 1944, PWI filed an application with the FCC for a new
shortwave station in Hawaii. The
transmitter for this station was planned for installation at Ewa, on the south
coast of the capital city island Oahu, on the western edge of Honolulu. There is no further information regarding
this projected shortwave station, and it is presumed that it was never
installed, due to wartime shortages of equipment and personnel. Perhaps also, PWI was aware that difficult
financial times were ahead of them.
Around this same time, another PWI
project was on the ascendancy, and this was the wartime venture of a training
project in Hicksville in association with their large superstation and the
nearby electronics factory. The massive
shortwave station was located on Cantiague Raod Hicksville, and the manufactory
was located a quarter mile distant in two large buildings on the other side of
the roadway.
The High Power Transmitter School
was conducted by PWI at Hicksville in co-operation with the American Signal
Corps at Fort Monmouth in neighboring New Jersey. Training exercises were conducted on a 40 kW
PWI shortwave transmitter. Among those
who underwent training on this transmitter was Terry Sandford who wrote a book
on his wartime experience with the American/Australian radio ship “Apache”; and others
also, who served with PWI in Europe and the Pacific.
In 1944, under the direction of
General Douglas MacArthur, a team of PWI personnel was assembled at Hollandia
on the north coast of New Guinea, just across the border on the Dutch side of
the island. Two sub-teams were formed:
one team with a 400 watt high speed shortwave transmitter PZ established their
facility at Tacloban on Leyte Island, and the other team with a 10 kW voice
transmitter PY established their station in Manila.
After MacArthur’s forces
entered the Philippine national capital city, the PWI personnel established a
radio studio in the Soriano Building in downtown Manila, and the transmitter
was installed several miles out in the country.
In advance, the American army had selected a building for the PWI
transmitter, but it was soon discovered that the retreating Japanese had
destroyed it. Another building two miles
further out was chosen, and equipment was unloaded into it. However, due to Japanese infiltration, PWI
decided on a third location and this became the semi-permanent home for their
shortwave transmitter.
Press Wireless International PY in
Manila made its inaugural transmission to the United States on February 25,
1945. Three days later, station PZ in
Tacloban was closed, and soon afterwards it was
reinstalled with PY in Manila.
Then, during the following month March, PWI Manila took over the
transmission of news back to the United States that was previously sent from
the radio ship “Apache”.
On many occasions, PWI Manila was
heard by international radio monitors in the United States, New Zealand and
Australia. Callsigns were announced on
air and they ran in a series from PY1 to PY19, according to whichever frequency
was in use. The Manila station
communicated with the somewhat mysterious new PWI shortwave station that had
just been built on the edge of Los Angeles in California.
As with other PWI stations, Manila
sent out transmissions of news in high speed Morse Code as well as voiced
messages for retransmission over the American radio networks. As part of their identification announcement,
Press Wireless, PWI was often identified on air as PreWi (PREE-WHY).
Early in the new year 1946,
shortwave PWI in Manila was noted with occasional relays from the Armed Forces
Radio Station WXOI. This mediumwave
station WXOI was on the air under an apparently official American AFRS
callsign, though little else is known about
this entertainment radio broadcasting station.
Due to the fact that no other
shortwave communication station was on the air in Manila immediately after the
end of the war, the President of the Philippines, Sergio Osmena, issued an
Executive Order, granting approval for PWI Manila to transmit all forms of
radio information back to the United States, not only just media news
information for use on radio and in newspapers, but also business and personal
communications.
This Executive Order, No 104,
expired on June 24 (1946), after which PWI Manila quietly disappeared.
*
World’s Smallest Radio Station
Back around ¾ of a century
ago, two radio men constructed what they called the World’s Smallest
Radio Station. This total working model
was housed in an ornate wooden cabinet about the size of a small refrigerator,
and it contained a model studio and a working transmitter with intermittently
flashing red lights on the little antenna towers.
This small radio station was
designed and constructed by a man known as the Mystery Announcer who was a
popular announcer at the mediumwave station WPEN, on 1500 kHz in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania back in 1931. The technical
equipment in the little model was constructed by Radio Engineer John
Boyle. It took this two-man team team of
co-operating radio personnel 10 months to construct their miniature radio
station.
The transmitter in this mini radio
station emitted 4/100th of a watt and the propagation coverage area was
over a radius of just 200 feet. At least
two operating frequencies are shown for station WEE, both 900 kHz and 1300 kHz,
and this would seem to indicate that the active on air frequency could be tuned
to another channel if there was interference from another station.
At one stage, it is stated that the
owners were considering installing a mini shortwave transmitter in their little
radio station for a wider coverage area.
This little radio broadcasting
station was owned, it is said, by the Tiny Broadcasting Company and it was on
display initially in the foyer of the Mastbaum Theatre in Philadelphia. It was subsequently taken on a tour of
regional cities in Pennsylvania, and for example it was on display in Feinberg’s Store at the
corner of 5th & Egmont Streets in Chester, a few miles along the
river, west from Philadelphia. Visitors were invited to speak over this model
radio station. This neat little model was also on display during the same year,
1933, at Easton, between Philadelphia and New York City.
When this radio model was four years
old, it was taken over by the giant super power mediumwave station WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio, where it made a remarkable contrast; mini-WEE and mighty
WLW. During the year 1936, it is reported,
mini WEE was on display at an Electronics Exhibition in Baltimore
Maryland. And that is the last that we
have heard about this fascinating little radio broadcasting station, the world’s smallest.
*
SQOTW23 Special QSL of the Week: Benin, Hard to hear and Difficult to QSL
Some time ago, Claes Olsson in
Norrkoping Sweden, informed us that he received a QSL card from Radio Benin,
which he describes as a station that is hard to hear and difficult to QSL. He heard ORTB in the African country of Benin
on September 20, 1985. The colorful QSL
card shows six mini-pictures on the picture side; a silhouette map of Africa,
the station emblem, and African representations.
However, this highly prized QSL card
does not specify just which location nor which shortwave channel was heard by
Claes Olsson in Sweden.
At
the time, Radio Benin was on the air on three shortwave channels:-
Capital City Cotonou 5025 kHz & 7190 kHz with 20 kW each
Regional Parakou 4870 kHz 30 kW
*
Philippine DX Report
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Music of the World
*
Closing Announcement -
Thanks for listening to “Wavescan”,
international DX program from Adventist World Radio
Researched and written in
Indianapolis
Next week:-
1.
Focus on the South Pacific: We return to the French island for Part 2 in the
radio story on New Caledonia
2.
Underwater Radio
3.
International Radio News
Several QSL cards available. Send your AWR & KSDA reception reports
for Wavescan to the AWR address in Indianapolis; and
also to the station your radio is tuned to: WRMI or WWCR
or KVOH, or to the AWR relay stations that carry Wavescan. Remember too, you can send a reception report to each
of the DX reporters when their segment is on the air here in
Wavescan: Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Australia & India. They will verify
with a colorful QSL card. Return postage
and an address label are always appreciated.
Wavescan address:-
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229 USA
Wavescan @ AWR.org
Jeff White, shortwave WRMI
*
Music Outrun -
*
Program Ends - 28:55
==============================================================================
1. Press Wireless Radio Stations &
Transmitters
Alphabetic Order of Country
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Country Location Topic Year to Year NWS X
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 Alaska Anchorage PWI 194x 76
02 Australia
QL Hemmant MacArthur Radio 1943 - 1946 6 76
03 Canada Halifax APC Dartmouth temporary 1921
- 1923 305
04 Canada Halifax APC St. Margaret’s
Bay 1923 - 1932 305
05 England Kent 3103
Signal Service Battalion 1944 76
06 Ethiopia Asmara PWI 1942 76
07 France Paris SHAEF CZ2T 1945
- 1946 6 76
08 Germany Frankfurt PWI 194x 76
09 Hawaii Honolulu PWI Station KDG 1930
- 1941 307
10 Hawaii Ewa Projected
PWI Station 1944
- 1945 307
11 Italy Naples PWI 1944 76
12 Philippines Manila PWI
(Globe-Mackay) 1933
- 1941 305
13 Philippines Tacloban Station
PZ 1944
- 1945 305
14 Philippines Manila Station
PY 1944
- 1946 307
15 Uruguay Montevideo Press Wireless 19xx
67
16 USA
MA Needham WJK, PWI 1st station 1930 - 1932 305
17 USA
MA West Newton Factory 193x
- 1952 305
18 USA
LI NY Hicksville Temporary VOA Relay Station 1935 - 1957 67
19 USA
LI NY Hicksville Factory 194x
- 1952 305 307
20 USA
LI NY Hicksville HP Transmitter School WW2 307
Mobile Units
Pentagon ==============================================================================
2. The Philippine Radio Story - 11
Press
Wireless International
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year Date Information Reference
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Wireless
Backgrounds
1929 Press
Wireless Corp founded PWH
1930s Serving
62 countries
WW2 Established
new factory Long Island City
WW2 Sent
several mobile stations to Europe
1945 Nov 7 PWI
Los Angeles sold into escrow for Don Wallace W6AM
1946 Aug Strike
against Press Wireless, diminishing services & income
1947 Aug 15 PWI
filed for bankruptcy
1965 PWI
acquired by ITT
19xx At
peak, PWI operated 100 transmitters at own locations
New
York, San Francisco, Manila, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo
Press Wireless
Shortwave Station, Honolulu HI
1930 Jun 30 13
shortwave frequencies listed PWI KDG
1932 Stations
constructed in San Francisco & Honolulu KDG
1932 PWI
KDG 11640 kHz QRM as heard in Frisco from FYR Lyon 11650 kHz
FYR
variable frequency
1933 Station
KDG Press Wireless OSWL&CB 1933
1941 Early Press
Wireless abandoned Honolulu station FCC Report 1941 18
Projected Press
Wireless Station, Honolulu HI
1944 Apr 14 Press
Wireless filed RQ with FCC point to point press messages with LA
Station
to be located at Ewa Chicago Daily Tribune 15-4-44 3
Edge
of Honolulu, southern coast Oahu
194x Apparently
never constructed: War ending
Wartime shortage of equipment
Diminishing returns on the horizon
High Power
Transmitter School Hicksville
1944 Donald
Mehl received training
WW2 In
association with Forth Monmouth NJ & PWI Shortwave Station LI
Terry
Sanford received training Apache 8
Transmitter
station and factory 2 buildings, ¼ mile
apart Cantiague Road
Opposite
sides of road
PREWI Station PY
Manila Philippines
WW2 End One
PW unit in Philippines, assembled in Hollandia
400
w CW transmitter Boehme capability
10
kW transmitter voice capability
1944 Equipment
and personnel for PREWI Z & Y, photos PC 1-95 18-20
Assembled
at MacArthur HQ Hollandia, New Guinea
194 Station
established in Manila
Studios
in Soriano Building, downtown Manila
Combined building
destroyed in war
Transmitters
in building several miles out of town
Callsigns
PY1 - PY19 10 kW transmitter
Provided
coverage of Philippine campaigns KNX
1st transmitter
building selected by army had been destroyed by Japanese
Another
site selected, 2 miles distant, equipment unloaded
Japanese
infiltrated, moved again
3rd location became
permanent
Staff
of 13
1945 Feb 25 1st
transmission to USA from new PWI Manila Chicago Daily Tribune 26-2-45 2
1945 Feb 28 Station
PZ Tacloban closed and transferred to PY in Manila
PC 1-95 20
1945 Mar PWI
took over from Apache Apache 03.03 110
1945 Aug PY11
(pronounced Pree-Why) 11650 kHz relay news
reports DXS 1-9-45 12
1945 Aug PY13
13775 kHz in use only when PY11 is busy DXS 1-9-45 12
1945 Aug PWI
11640 calls KJE8 & 10080 calls Delhi, heard Australia
R&H 79.13 9-45 36
1945 Aug PWI
circuit from Tokyo Bay to USA 1945 Aug
1945 Sep 2 PWI
circuit from Tokyo Bay to USA
1945 Sep PY
9305 kHz heard in USA RN 6.129 10-45 88
1945 Sep PY11
11640 kHz relay to USA NNRC 10-45 12
1945 Oct PWI
relay to USA NNRC 1-11-45 14
1945 Oct PJY11
(?) Manila11550 kHz, heard mornings in English
RN 11-45 122
1945 Dec PY10
PWI Manila 18560 kHz contact KDE LA VRDX 10-12-45 5
1945 Dec PY
Manila 9305 12:30 am; PY11 11640 kHz am & pm, PY10 18560 6 pm DX 31-12-45 5
1946 Jan PY11
11640 kHz Calls KJE8 Playa del Rey LA NNRC 15-1-46 14
1946 Jan Press
Wireless 9300 kHz talks with San Francisco irregularly RN
2-46 146
1946 Jan PY5
9300 kHz heard well USA 8:00 am, contact KG57 (?) PWI LA RN 2-46 147
1946 Jan PY10
18560 kHz calls PWI KDE LA, good signal RN 2-46 150
1946 Jan 25 PY5
5360 kHz Morse 8:30 am Manila heard USA SWDX 25-2-46 4
1946 Mar PY5
9305 kHz occasional relay WXOI with AFRS programming RN 4-46 120
1946 Jun 24 Philippine
Press Wireless license extended to this date
No
other facility in Philippines
For
all services in addition to press releases
Executive
Order No 104, President of the Philippines, Sergio Osmena
1946 Jul 1 One
of circuits Project Able USA?
1946 Jul 24 One
of circuits Project Able USA?
==============================================================================
