The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New YorkState
 

In the 1920's a radio station in Schenectady, NY built a powerful
transmitter. In those days before FCC regulations, not knowing just
how big to make a transmitter in order for the signal to be received
some distance away, the station set up to broadcast at 500,000 watts.
It requires about one watt to be received four blocks away. A cell
phone is three watts. This station broadcast at such tremendous power
that they could be heard around the world. People in New York didn't
even need radios. They could sometimes hear voices in their furnaces
and coming off chain-link fences. Light bulbs lit up in people's
houses even if they were switched off. - from www.clip-text.com

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

"javawizard" wrote in message
...
In the 1920's a radio station in Schenectady, NY built a powerful
transmitter. In those days before FCC regulations, not knowing just
how big to make a transmitter in order for the signal to be received
some distance away, the station set up to broadcast at 500,000 watts.
It requires about one watt to be received four blocks away. A cell
phone is three watts. This station broadcast at such tremendous power
that they could be heard around the world. People in New York didn't
even need radios. They could sometimes hear voices in their furnaces
and coming off chain-link fences. Light bulbs lit up in people's
houses even if they were switched off. - from www.clip-text.com

--------------

Can you imagine the cost of their electric bill?

I used to pick up AM radio stations in my head. The theory back then was
that it was due to dental work acting as a rectifier, etc.

I could tell you exactly which song was playing and where they were at in
the song. All one had to do was turn on a radio and I would be singing in
sync with it. The really weird part was that all I could hear was the music
and the time announcements.

This was in the late 50's and early 60's when I lived in Carneys Point, NJ.
The radio station that I heard the best was WAMS (1380kc) in Wilmington, DE.
The second best was WFIL in Philadelphia, PA. The latter I heard after WAMS
went off the air for the day.

Ed, NM2K

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New...
 

There was a guy in Texas who had a wooden leg.He hollowed out a place in
his wooden leg and he mounted a little radio in there.I read about that
in either Popular Mechanics or Popular Science magazine back in the late
1950s.
cuhulin

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in NewYork State
 

On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:05:32 -0400, Ed Cregger wrote:

"javawizard" wrote in message
news:149f9f0e-86d6-40bb-971a-
...
In the 1920's a radio station in Schenectady, NY built a powerful
transmitter. In those days before FCC regulations, not knowing just how
big to make a transmitter in order for the signal to be received some
distance away, the station set up to broadcast at 500,000 watts. It
requires about one watt to be received four blocks away. A cell phone
is three watts. This station broadcast at such tremendous power that
they could be heard around the world. People in New York didn't even
need radios. They could sometimes hear voices in their furnaces and
coming off chain-link fences. Light bulbs lit up in people's houses
even if they were switched off. - from www.clip-text.com

--------------

Can you imagine the cost of their electric bill?

I used to pick up AM radio stations in my head. The theory back then was
that it was due to dental work acting as a rectifier, etc.

I could tell you exactly which song was playing and where they were at
in the song. All one had to do was turn on a radio and I would be
singing in sync with it. The really weird part was that all I could hear
was the music and the time announcements.

This was in the late 50's and early 60's when I lived in Carneys Point,
NJ. The radio station that I heard the best was WAMS (1380kc) in
Wilmington, DE. The second best was WFIL in Philadelphia, PA. The latter
I heard after WAMS went off the air for the day.

Ed, NM2K

Lucille Ball picked up radio transmissions during the WWII. There was a
German spy network working close to her home at the time. Apparently she
had some dental work done and when she laid her arm against the metal
bedpost at night she picked up the covert signals. She assisted the
government in tracking and apprehending the miscreants.

In my wild and misspent youth when I was using 11 meters, I used a VERY
large amp which would cause some neighbors to hear my voice coming from
electric sockets, refrigerators, light bulbs, radios, TVs and such. I
would also voice over anyone close who was recording on tape.

My electric bill was rather large as I had to unplug the stove to use the
220 socket.

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

"christopher" wrote in message
peed...
On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:05:32 -0400, Ed Cregger wrote:

.................................................. ....................
In my wild and misspent youth when I was using 11 meters, I used a VERY
large amp which would cause some neighbors to hear my voice coming from
electric sockets, refrigerators, light bulbs, radios, TVs and such. I
would also voice over anyone close who was recording on tape.

My electric bill was rather large as I had to unplug the stove to use the
220 socket.
.................................................. ............................

The other day I was operating on 40 m SSB with 1KW+ output. Antenna is an
inverted V at 50 feet. My mother told me she could hear my voice coming out
of somewhere on the second floor. There was nothing with a speaker in it
that was turned on, not even a PC. I will have to repeat that with a ham
friend present.

Tam/WB2TT

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in NewYork State
 

On Aug 6, 1:10*pm, "Tam" wrote:
"christopher" wrote in message

peed... On Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:05:32 -0400, Ed Cregger wrote:

.................................................. ....................
In my wild and misspent youth when I was using 11 meters, I used a VERY
large amp which would cause some neighbors to hear my voice coming from
electric sockets, refrigerators, light bulbs, radios, TVs and such. I
would also voice over anyone close who was recording on tape.

My electric bill was rather large as I had to unplug the stove to use the
220 socket.
.................................................. ..........................*...

The other day I was operating on 40 m SSB with 1KW+ output. Antenna is an
inverted V at 50 feet. My mother told me she could hear my voice coming out
of somewhere on the second floor. There was nothing with a speaker in it
that was turned on, not even a PC. I will have to repeat that with a ham
friend present.

Tam/WB2TT

The UK back in the 1950s, post WWII.
They were investigating some complaints that a licensed amateur radio
transmitter was causing interference to some of the new fangled TV
sets (45 megahertz, AM sound, 405 line black and white system). The
fault was mainly the inabilities of the TV sets to reject strong
nearby signals in another band!
One elderly lady was asked if she was "Hearing anything" and replied.
"Oh yes. I hear him all the time" and was asked to show the
investigators her TV set.
"Oh no", she said, "I don't have a TV at all but I can hear him on my
electric heater whenever I switch it on or plug it in!".
Turned out that the heating coil of the heater was providing
inductance, there was a sufficiently high resistance (possibly where
the replaceable heating coil connected at each end) to act as
rectifier under the conditions present and the metal frame of the
heater provided a sound box.
The lady was not particularly concerned about having the heater fixed,
saying "She found his talking quite interesting!".
You never know do you?
Nowadays sort of wondering about cell phones and those bits of metal
that some people wear in their noses, faces and ears etc.

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

"Tam" wrote in message
. ..

The other day I was operating on 40 m SSB with 1KW+ output. Antenna is an
inverted V at 50 feet. My mother told me she could hear my voice coming
out of somewhere on the second floor. There was nothing with a speaker in
it that was turned on, not even a PC. I will have to repeat that with a
ham friend present.

Tam/WB2TT


I've had old solid state console stereos at the place I worked spew forth
the local CB'er w/linear even when not plugged in. We figured that the
output transistors were detecting the signal and feeding it to the speakers.

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

Had the same phenomenon when the illegal, high-powered, CB transmitter next
door cut in--I picked it up through the magnetic cartridge on my turntable,

"Brenda Ann" wrote in message
...

"Tam" wrote in message
. ..

The other day I was operating on 40 m SSB with 1KW+ output. Antenna is an
inverted V at 50 feet. My mother told me she could hear my voice coming
out of somewhere on the second floor. There was nothing with a speaker in
it that was turned on, not even a PC. I will have to repeat that with a
ham friend present.

Tam/WB2TT


I've had old solid state console stereos at the place I worked spew forth
the local CB'er w/linear even when not plugged in. We figured that the
output transistors were detecting the signal and feeding it to the
speakers.

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

Back at about the same time the BBC had (and still has) a powerful
transmitter on 200khz (now198) a local farmer who lived close to the station
built a large tuning coil in the loft and lit his house using fluorescent
tubes.

He was successfully prosecuted for stealing electricity or something
similar.

Alec


"javawizard" wrote in message
...
In the 1920's a radio station in Schenectady, NY built a powerful
transmitter. In those days before FCC regulations, not knowing just
how big to make a transmitter in order for the signal to be received
some distance away, the station set up to broadcast at 500,000 watts.
It requires about one watt to be received four blocks away. A cell
phone is three watts. This station broadcast at such tremendous power
that they could be heard around the world. People in New York didn't
even need radios. They could sometimes hear voices in their furnaces
and coming off chain-link fences. Light bulbs lit up in people's
houses even if they were switched off. - from www.clip-text.com

The Strange True Story of a Radio Station's Transmitter in New York State
 

"Ed Cregger" wrote in message
...

I used to pick up AM radio stations in my head. The theory back then was
that it was due to dental work acting as a rectifier, etc.

How on earth could you sleep. You'd need to make your bedroom into a
Faraday cage.