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| Woofferton Transmitting Station |
Woofferton Shortwave Station: Fourth Era
Because of the Cold War standoff between Russia and the West, and the accompanying Berlin Blockade with the building of the Berlin Wall, the Woofferton station once again assumed its importance in the shortwave radio world. Suddenly, on September 13, 1961, the Woofferton Shortwave Station was again on the air full time 24 hours a day with a program relay from both the BBC in London and the Voice of America in Washington DC.
However, the old original 50 kW RCA transmitters were now ailing, their usefulness was ended, and they needed to be replaced. In addition, much higher power was now needed in order to cover the desired target areas with an adequate shortwave signal.
The Voice of America funded the installation of 6 new Marconi transmitters at 250 kW each, Model No BD272, and they scrapped all of the old RCA transmitters, though two were retained for spare parts, S85 and S86. The first of the new 250 kW transmitters was taken into service on September 30, 1963, and all 6 were in regular service just 18 months later, with now an antenna field of 35 antenna systems, mostly curtains. However, by that stage, the BBC had withdrawn its programming from the station, thus leaving once again just the VOA on the air from the Woofferton Shortwave Station.
Interestingly, a 100 kW Marconi transmitter Model B6123 was temporarily installed at Woofferton, in the space previously occupied by the silent 50 kW RCA S85. This new transmitter, listed as Sender 107, was destined for installation at the BBC Relay Station near Tebrau in Malaysia and it underwent an era of testing at Woofferton beginning on March 29, 1971. Programming for these unpublicized test transmissions was a relay of the BBC World Service in English.
Programming from VOA in Washington DC continued on air from Woofferton during this Fourth Era, up until the year 1980, when VOA implemented another modernization plan. That was the conclusion of the Fourth Era at the BBC-VOA shortwave station at Woofferton.
5. Woofferton Shortwave Station: Fifth Era
The Fifth Era at the Woofferton Shortwave station began in the year 1980, with another spate of development and modernization by the Voice of America. Final remains of the original 50 kW RCA transmitters were removed, leaving just the 6 Marconi made 250 kW units, Model BD272 in place.
In this 1980 renovation and upgrade, four additional new Senders were installed at Woofferton by VOA, and these were Marconi transmitters rated at 300 kW each, Model B6124. In addition, the three power generators were also removed. Full power was applied to all four new transmitters in December 1980, and they were taken into regular broadcast service in September of the following year (1981).
Give nearly 16 more years, and the Woofferton Shortwave station was sold off to a management company, Merlin, in April 1997. That was the conclusion of the Fifth Era at the BBC-VOA shortwave station at Woofferton.
6. BBC Shortwave Transmitting Station Woofferton: Sixth Era
The Sixth and current Era at the Woofferton Shortwave Station began in April 1997 when Merlin took over the station as a private commercial enterprise; the station was no longer owned and operated as a BBC shortwave station nor as a VOA shortwave station. Two remarkable endeavors were implemented at the Woofferton Shortwave Station under the ownership and management of Merlin (and the subsequent owner organizations) during this past quarter century of privatization.
These two endeavors were another upgrade of shortwave transmitters, and the surprising number of other broadcasting entities that sought international shortwave coverage from this large station.
During the years 2006 - 2008, four new high power shortwave transmitters were installed at Woofferton, all made by RIZ in Zagreb Croatia. These analog transmitters are also DRM compatible and they are rated at 250 kW and 500 kW.
The current deployment of transmitters at the Woofferton Shortwave Station is as follows:-
Marconi 2 250 kW 1963 Marconi 4 300 kW 1980
RIZ DRM also 1 500 kW 2006
RIZ DRM also 3 250 kW 2007-2008
During the past quarter century, more than 25 different radio organizations have been on the air from the Woofferton Shortwave Station, in addition to the BBC itself and also the Voice of America. Christian religious organizations have included HCJB Quito Ecuador, IBRA Radio, TWR Africa and Family Radio in Oakland California.
Among the various government operated shortwave stations, the following have provided the programming for broadcast from the Woofferton Shortwave Station: Radio Australia, Deutsche Welle Germany, Radio Taiwan International, KBS South Korea, Radio Polonia Warsaw Poland, Voice of Vietnam, NHK Tokyo, Radio Canada International and Radio Wales.
Unknown at the time, Radio Netherlands in Holland has on occasions transferred its shortwave programming from its home based shortwave stations to Woofferton during times of maintenance and development; and likewise the United Arab Emirates has also transferred its schedule of international programming to Woofferton in times of outages at its large shortwave station at Al Dhabbaya.
Although the BBC has never regularly issued specific QSL cards for its broadcasts from Woofferton, most of the other stations have done so, including Deutsche Welle, Radio Australia, Radio Canada International, and a host of other stations.
That has been the two part story of the Woofferton Shortwave station, the Station that Refused to Die.
(AWR/Wavescan-NWS 535/27 May 2019)
(photo/BDXC 2017)