Armstrong FM On-air Monday

[cash082]

Taken from here
Figured the radio geeks here at RadioReference would appreciate this, so I wanted to post it over here.

Armstrong FM station WA2XMN will be on the air again this Monday, June 17 starting at 11 am. You'll need a receiver cable of tuning in 42.8 MHz to pick up the broadcast. This is a wide band FM transmission using the original FM band. You can use a scanner or other utility receiver to hear WA2XMN. The audio may sound distorted since your scanner is made for narrowband reception and this is a wideband broadcast. Check out this leap back to the 1940s! It can be heard throughout the New York metro area. The official notice of the broadcast is copied below - kz

Radio Fans,

Radio Station WA2XMN - Armstrong FM - 42.8 MC - Alpine, NJ will be on the air Monday, 17 June 2013 to cover the dedication of a commemorative plaque near the site of Edwin Armstrong's boyhood home in Yonkers, NY, at 1 PM. We're hoping to begin broadcasting at approximately 11 AM. (Please bear with us, this is an experimental station.)

Details at: WA2XMN

 

[jg08857]

I remember hanging around the station building and tower complex about 20-30 years ago with my father. He belonged to MAMARC (Major Armstrong Memorial Amateur Radio Club) and I spent many weekends up in Alpine. I eventually started working for the company that owns the tower. Wish I could hear the transmission from Ocean County!

 

[cash082]

Better give it a shot! With a good radio and a great antenna I'm sure you will succeed if you are in northern ocean. I've received broadcasts from Alpine here in Wall Township before.

 

[radioman2001]

I guess a trip to Alpine is in order today, our equipment is in the same room as the WA2XMN transmitter. The detail that was done to restore the equipment is fantastic, and I hope Chuck is there this morning, I havn't spoke to him in a few years, and without his efforts this would not happen.
I will also take one of our 2670 service monitors and set it up to listen, But I doubt I would have any trouble since I an only 14 air miles and right on the Hudson River.

 

[jaymatt1978]

The signal is faint but readable in Woodcliff Lake, nothing what it was back in 2005 for their 70t h Anniversary!! However I was actually AT THE TOWER for that broadcast and got to see inside the station

 

[radioman2001]

Just returned from Alpine, basically a mobile radio studio set up in the North Yellow room, I have pictures will post later.

 

[kc2tek]

What are the specs of the transmitter power and antenna they were using today? Was it meant to replicate the configuration of the original station?

 

[radioman2001]

The station according to the broadcast engineer who was setting all the equipment up the transmitter is a period correct broadcast station, and beautifully restored I might add. I don't have the brand name at hand, and I don't know what power they were licensed for originally. The current FCC STA allows for 250 watts, which the station was doing with no problem, in fact the engineer had to keep adjusting one of the plates to keep it from drifting up in power. Coax was 7/8 hard line for the transmitter into according to the engineer a 5/8 wave antenna at the 400 ft level(top center of tower), and 1/2 heliax for the 450 mhz STA link to Yonkers.
BTW there is also another transmitter in that same room in the process of restoration made by General Electric. It's the size of a large refrigerator and reminds me of the old Pre-Progress line stations I used to work on when I first got into radio.

 

[kc2tek]

I now see from the station's website it appears to be a 250 watt Phasitron transmitter going into a modified Ringo Ranger antenna. Armstrong didn't originally use a Phasitron, they didn't come along until later. There's no mention on the site how much power Armstrong's original station ran.

Anyway I listened to some of it and liked the program material they used. The opera selections in the last hour sounded perfect for the era, it really did seem like a trip back in time (even if it was before my time). I'd love to see those guys put the station into continuous operation as a sort of tourist attraction for radio buffs, I'll bet they could even get volunteers to help recreate period programming. I believe there's something like that at Signal Hill in Newfoundland, Canada where Marconi received the first transatlantic radio transmission. They have a special events station and amateur HF station VO1AA on public display at the museum and in operation during the tourist season. Licensed amateurs are even invited to come in and and make contacts. I have yet to visit the Alpine museum but I think something like that would be a nice touch.

 

[ion_op]

Glad to see Armstrong getting his deserved recognition and the fact that Sarnoff stole his and Farnsworth's inventions.