Jim's Radio Room - WPAT,
WGRR, WJRZ, WHOM, WNJR
and WMLK

WGRR AND WSTR

Star Tower of WSTR TV64 and WGRR 103.5 in Cincinnati, OH.
One of the prettiest radio towers I've ever seen. It is the Star Tower located north of Cincinnati, OH,
built by television station WSTR TV64. It is located at the corner of North Bend and Winton Roads.
It was built in the late '80's or early '90's. Thanks to Ken Yoder for supplying additional information.

WJRZ, Newark, NJ

5 KW

WJRZ Collins Model 21A, 5KW Transmitter.
In the center panel you can see six, 872 mercury
vapor rectifiers for full wave, 3 phase rectification.
You could see the blue glow of the tubes flicker
with the modulation. My guess is that the modulator
was a pair of 892-R (left cabinet) and final was a
single 892-R (right cabinet).

WJRZ Collins Standby Transmitter. I can't recall
the details of this one, except that it contained 3
cabinets, each with 2 pairs of 833 tubes.


Leftmost Unit is antenna phasing control unit.


The left rack (from top to bottom):
Collins Monitor amplifier
Collins limiting amplifier
Collins limiting amplifier (probably a spare as they were problematic)
General Radio frequency meter

The right rack (from top to bottom):
RCA VU meter panel (most likely, looking at the outputs of the limiting amplifiers)
Homebrew metering panel (probably remote RF ammeters)
Gates modulation monitor with audio monitor output
General Radio modulation monitor
General Radio modulation monitor (much older than the one above it)


Thanks to Frank Berry for the equipment details!

The Collins transmitter used at WJRZ appeared in an ad in "The radio amateur's handbook" 1946 Edition, page 50 of ad section. I bought the edition at a hamfest because I was born in 1946!


WHOM New York, NY - 1965

5 KW

 

View of WHOM Western Electric 5KW Transmitter. What a MONSTER! (WWRL used the same model, unfortunately I did not bring my camera for the WWRL visit).

WE-405A2 5KW
Western Electric Transmitter.

1KW Western Electric model 443A-1 standby
transmitter with door open to show multitude
of tube shelves. It uses four type 357A
tubes for the modulator and RF final.

Transmitter Console

Four Tower Array


The WHOM transmitting facility was located in a metal Quonset hut in Ridgefield Park, NJ
at the northern end of the NJ Turnpike. At the time, the station was Spanish speaking.

WNJR Newark, NJ - 1965
5 KW

5KW RCA BTA-5F Transmitter.

View of WNJR studio through window from control room.

The facility was located near the UNION toll plaza on the right side of the Garden State Parkway southbound. The antenna consisted of two pole-like structures rather than towers. The facility is gone, but there is a new facility on the other side of the Parkway.

WMLK Bethel, PA 9465 MHZ
International Shortwave

Locator map

WMLK Sign as seen from I-78 W
near exit 3

WMLK Log Periodic 1998

WMLK Log Periodic 1998


As we were traveling west on I-78 in PA on our way to Cincinnati, I spotted an interesting
antenna array and pulled over. The first picture was taken on our way westbound. The
second two pictures, I took on the way back, by leaving the highway at the Bethel, PA exit
and driving to the site to get some good shots. The sky was much nicer also.

According to "Shortwave Listener's Handbook 3rd Edition," The transmitter
building is a converted filling station.

WMLK Replaced the Log Periodic with
a type of curtain antenna 10/30/1999.


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I took these photos, except where otherwise credited, through the years in my visits to various radio transmitter sites. Jim Hawkins - WA2WHV.

All images are Copyrighted and are provided for your personal enjoyment. Use of these images for commercial purposes including their distribution on CD-ROM or any other media without my permission is prohibited. Contact: Jim Hawkins