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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.

Wavescan - Early Years with the American Shortwave Stations, 1922-1925

The American Shortwave Scene in 1922 (WS N652, Aug 22, 2021)

Back in the year 1922, there were just two shortwave broadcasting stations on the air in the United States. These two stations were operated by Westinghouse and they were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio.

The shortwave station 8XS was installed in a wooden shack alongside mediumwave KDKA on the flat roof of the eight story Building K at the Westinghouse factory in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This 1 kW shortwave transmitter was inaugurated in August 1922 with a slave program relay from the well-known mediumwave station KDKA.

During the following month, September (1922), the small mediumwave/shortwave station KDPM/8XG was inaugurated in an attic above the second floor of the Westinghouse foundry in Cleveland, Ohio with an off air program relay from shortwave 8XS (KDKA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cleveland station was installed simply as an experimental facility in an endeavor to ascertain the usefulness of a program relay by shortwave.

The American Shortwave Scene in 1923 (WS N652, Aug 22, 2021)

During the next year 1923, there were just three shortwave broadcasting stations on the air in the United States, all operated by Westinghouse, though their experimental mediumwave shortwave facility KDPM/8XG in Cleveland was closed during the month of January. The program relay on shortwave from KDKA-8XS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to KDPM-8XO in Cleveland, Ohio was declared successful despite two major shortcomings; the vagaries of shortwave propagation, and atmospheric static.

A similar shortwave service from KDKA-8XS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to KFKX-9XW in Hastings, Nebraska was not implemented until November (1923). Thus the only continuous radio programming on shortwave throughout the whole year 1923 was from KDKA-8XS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The American Shortwave Scene in 1924 (WS N654, Sep 5, 2021)

During the year 1924, there was a total of five shortwave radio broadcasting stations on the air in the United States. However, only two of these transmitters were active throughout the entire year, and both were operated by Westinghouse.

The KDKA 10 kW shortwave transmitter 8XK at Forest Hills in Pennsylvania was in use as a program feed to mediumwave KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska throughout the year 1924. The shortwave counterpart in Hastings, 9XW, carried an onward program relay to mediumwave KGO in Oakland, California. In addition, the KDKA-8XK programs were often relayed by local radio stations in other distant countries, such as England, South Africa and Australia.

During the year 1924, General Electric in Schenectady, New York was on the air via three shortwave transmitters, though each was in use only part of the year. The 10 kW transmitter 2XI in the G.E. Building 40 on what had been Van Slyck Island was in use during the first half of the year with experimental transmissions. However, mid-year, the 2XI transmitter was removed from Van Slyck Island and reinstalled for RCA at Tuckerton, New Jersey for use in Morse Code traffic under the new callsign WGH.

However, at the same time as 2XI was removed and reinstalled elsewhere, General Electric was constructing a new transmitter building at South Schenectady in which two shortwave transmitters were installed, 25 kW W2XAD and 40 kW W2XAF. Both of these transmitters were inaugurated in mid-1924, and they carried a tandem relay of programming from mediumwave WGY, which was heard virtually worldwide back during that era.

The first Crosley shortwave station was installed in a two story country farm house near Harrison, Ohio under the callsign 8XAL, though it was still under construction during the year 1924.

Major American Shortwave Stations in 1925 (WS N670, Dec 26, 2021)

During the year 1925, there were just 5 shortwave stations on the air in the United States with a regular broadcasting schedule. These pioneer stations were operated by 4 different radio companies

The Westinghouse Company, with its shortwave transmitter 8XK in the new transmitter building at Greensburg Pike in Forest Hills, was on the air regularly with programming from mediumwave KDKA. Their new shortwave transmitter was rated at 30 kW, the shortwave antenna was a hollow copper tube, and the radiating channel was frequently 63 meters.

During the year 1925, Westinghouse broadcast a series of special programs beamed to other countries, including England, France, Germany and several countries in South America. Birthday wishes were transmitted to the Prince of Wales in England on June 22 (1925). During July, they entertained the American Naval Fleet of 56 ships with musical programming and news while they were cruising in Australian waters.

The two major shortwave transmitters operated by General Electric at Schenectady in New York State had been installed in a new building at their large 54 acre site in South Schenectady that was constructed specifically to house these two units. Station 2XAD with 25 kW was constructed for use in program broadcasting in the region of 14 MHz, and 2XAF with 40 kW was constructed for program broadcasting in the region of 10 MHz.

However, as monitoring results back then indicated, the shortwave frequencies for both 2XAD and 2XAF (and all of their experimental transmitters) were somewhat flexible, and power levels could also be adjusted. The program production and on air studios were installed on the 4th Floor of Building 36 at the GE factory site in South Schenectady.

Usually their programming was a twin relay from mediumwave WGY, though on some occasions the shortwave programming was a separate production. With both shortwave transmitters on air simultaneously, their programming was often heard at a good level in Europe, South America, South Africa and the South Pacific. There were many occasions when a local mediumwave station in a distant country would share the American shortwave programming on relay to their own local listeners.

During the year 1925, General Electric at Schenectady was operating, surprisingly, a total of 9 different radio transmitters, with as many as 7 on the air at the same time. The output from each transmitter was fed into a separate antenna.

That cluster of experimental radio transmitters was in use for program broadcasting, for Morse Code communication, and for experimental radio and TV transmissions. Here is the list of the 9 radio transmitters that General Electric operated in Schenectady during the year 1925:

The Crosley shortwave station 8XAL at Harrison in Ohio, near the state line with Indiana, was on the air during the year 1925, with 100 watts on 5690 kHz. At that stage, programming from 8XAL was always, and only, a tandem relay with the new 5 kW mediumwave WLW, which had been installed simultaneously in the same farm house building. The studios for WLW-8XAL were located in the downtown Crosley radio factory.

Towards the end of that same year, 1925, RCA inaugurated its first shortwave broadcast transmitter, 3XAL, at its new transmitter facility on 54 acres of land near Bound Brook in New Jersey. Programming for this new shortwave service was also
a tandem relay from mediumwave WJZ in New York City. The 25 kW 3XAL was noted in its international service to Europe and South America initially on 5000 kHz.

American Shortwave Stations on the Air in 1926 (WS N724, January 8, 2023)

During the year 1926, a total of five American shortwave broadcasting stations were on the air, though generally with relay programming from the mediumwave parent station, as was the case back then. These transmitters were located at Forest Hills, Pennsylvania (Westinghouse 8XK with 30 kW), Schenectady, New York (General Electric 2XAD & 2XAF with 25 kW and 40 kW), Harrison, Ohio (Crosley 8XAL with 100 watts), and Bound Brook, New Jersey (RCA WJZ with 25 kW).

In addition to the relay of regular programming from KDKA, shortwave 8XK made a series of shortwave broadcasts to Australia during the month of October. These broadcasts were arranged by the Melbourne based radio magazine Listener In, and they were rebroadcast live by amateur station 3SW on 250 m. (1200 kHz mediumwave).

During the year 1926, General Electric was operating 9 transmitters, 8 shortwave at South Schenectady and 1 mediumwave near the downtown studios of WGY. There were occasions when all shortwave transmitters were on the air simultaneously. In January, a special shortwave broadcast on 7160 kHz carried a relay of programming from mediumwave WOC in Davenport. Iowa. That was even before young Ronald Reagan (subsequently President of the United States) was an announcer on station WOC.

Other successful relays of WGY shortwave programming were carried by the BBC network of mediumwave stations in England.

As a radio magazine stated in 1926: “At the present time the following stations may be heard on the air with broadcast programs from the studio of WGY: 2XAG 379.5 meters (290 kHz); 2XK 109 meters (2752 kHz): 2XAF 41.55 meters (7220 kHz). Telegraph or continuous wave signals are put out from 2XAZ 214 meters (1400 kHz); 2XAC 80 meters (3750 kHz); 2XAD 21 meters (14285 kHz); 2XAW 15 meters (20000 kHz). 2XAH operating on 1560 meters (192 kHz) was undergoing changes in design but has been on the air.”

Around that same time in October 1926, when Westinghouse was on the air with special programming for Australia, the two General Electric main transmitters in Schenectady also broadcast a similar series of shortwave programming to Australia. The GE programming from WGY and 2XAD & 2XAF was rebroadcast live by the first commercial mediumwave station in South Australia, 5DN in Adelaide. In addition, the mediumwave experimental station 6WF, 1500 miles distant in Perth, Western Australia, also picked up the same programming live off air.

The Crosley transmitter station at Harrison, Ohio carried the usual regular programming from the Cincinnati mediumwave studios of WLW. During the year 1926, Powell Crosley announced the purchase of mediumwave station WARC in Medford Hills near Boston in Massachusetts with the intended plan to program the distant station with a shortwave feed from WLW-8XAL. However, that projected shortwave relay was never implemented.

Towards the end of World War I, RCA took over the usage of the German constructed communication station WGG at Tuckerton in New Jersey. During the year 1923, RCA co-installed a 20 kW Morse Code transmitter at Tuckerton for use in experimental transmissions on shortwave under the callsign WGH. The Tuckerton experimental transmissions were on the air for nearly three years.

However, in 1925, RCA commissioned a new transmitter site at Bound Brook, also in New Jersey. Initially two duplicate transmitters were installed, apparently rated at 25 kW each, though they could also be operated at a lower power level. In addition, the second of these two transmitters was modified so that it could also operate on shortwave, though apparently also at a lower power level.

The RCA shortwave transmissions were not intended for general listener reception, but rather as a program relay to England and elsewhere for local mediumwave relay. The shortwave relay from WJZ mediumwave began officially on January 1, 1926.

Because that program relay was made from the modified second mediumwave transmitter at Bound Brook, RCA did not register an additional callsign for the shortwave transmissions; that transmitter was already licensed under the callsign WJZ. For eighteen months, in 1926 and into 1927, the WJZ callsign only was in use for all of the RCA broadcasts on shortwave.

American Shortwave Stations in 1928 (WS N740, April 30, 2023)

We quote: “Before the end of the year, we shall hear broadcasting (on shortwave) from all parts of the world just as easily as we are now accustomed to hearing our own (local mediumwave) stations.” That glowing report was printed in the Australian radio magazine “Listener In” dated February 22, 1928. And we might add that the almost one hundred year old prophetic statement was indeed adequately fulfilled.

At the beginning of the year 1928, there were six international shortwave stations on the air in the United States:

Then during the year 1928, two new shortwave stations were installed, one on Long Island, New York, and the other was co-installed at the newly established transmitter station at Bound Brook in New Jersey:

The Long Island, New York station 2XE carried a program relay from what was the original WABC mediumwave station in New York City; and the new RCA station W3XAL at Bound Brook, New Jersey carried a relay from mediumwave station WJZ.

However, in addition to the two new shortwave transmitters for the year 1928, it is also noted that all of the international shortwave stations in the United States significantly increased the relay of radio programming to and from other countries, such as Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Australia and South America.

The Westinghouse station 8XK (KDKA) in Pittsburgh, PA and the two General Electric stations 2XAD and 2XAF (WGY) in Schenectady, New York entered into agreements with the Canadian National Railway system in Canada and the BBC in London for the exchange of radio programming; and likewise the two RCA stations in Bound Brook, NJ, 3XL and W3XAL (WJZ), also made arrangements for program exchanges with the BBC in London.

On October 1, 1928, a new international radio regulation was implemented in the United States. It was then required that the letter W should be added at the beginning of each callsign for all of the experimental shortwave broadcasting stations. Thus, for example, 8XK became W8XK, 2XAD became W2XAD, and 2XAL became W2XAL.