PW-15 Transmitter at Coast Station KSM

[jaysee69]

Wow!! I got goosebumps of excitement watching that big old transmitter keying up!! I'll never forget the time I was out bicycling around Rutgers University in New Brunswick NJ (1961) and I came upon the VOA Bound Brook transmitter site -- being an enthusiastic 18 year old ham, I boldly went up to the front door and knocked! The lone op on the site let me come in and showed me the INSIDE of the transmitter, where he was about to change frequencies and antenna and re-tune. What an experience!

[ttyradio]

Thanks for keeping this wonderful stuff alive. And the spirit of maritime radio. Alway had a fascination with marine radio. I hope to copy you guys on RTTY with my model 28 . Kind Regards

[RadioKSM]

Thanks for your note. We feel very lucky to be part of this project. Good luck with the Model 28. I hope you have seen our video of our two Model 28s in action.

[nokomarie1963]

That was awesome. My mother used to be in the WAVES and that was her job, translating morse code messages for the Navy in WWII. Thanks for the look.

[RadioKSM]

It's our pleasure. It's women like your mom that we try to commemorate and honor through our project. Might you be able to tell us more of her career for inclusion on our Web site?

- RD

[RadioKSM]

When Globe Wireless owned this transmitter they replaced many of the mercury vapor rectifiers with solid state devices (as seen in the video), removing the filament transformers and wiring in the process. Since this video was made Sr. Transmitter Engineer Steve Hawes has reversed that conversion, replacing the solid state devices with the original mercury vapor rectifiers. Now when the transmitter is on the air you can see the rectifiers flash through the windows in the front doors. - RD

[cadillacad]

Thanks for posting! May I know how the transmitter is coupled to the antenna? Is it thru coax cables? Is it gonna be on-air for long?

[RadioKSM]

As originally built by Press Wireless in the 1940s it had balanced output and fed its antenna via open wire line, the standard procedure for the time. In the 1970s Globe Wireless, the former owner, made many mods to all their PW-15 transmitters (12 were in service) to meet new, tighter FCC specifications. One of those mods was a conversion to unbalanced coaxial output. The transmitter is used on special occasions for the KSM 12Mc CW frequency. - RD

[ironjob]

Nice to see and old transmitter back on the air!!

[RadioKSM]

Thanks. We had the transmitter on the air for New Year's Eve on the KSM 12Mc frequency. It was a pleasure to key this classic once again.

- RD

[ironjob]

Nuts! I missed that! Oh well, I probably wasn't physically capable of tuning my rig in at the time you were on the air anyway. I was celebrating...you know... :))

[gmcjetpilot]

What is all the noise when you crank it up. It sounds like a conveyor belt or 1000 hamster cages going. Thanks

[RadioKSM]

Heh. Well, it's a 15kW (originally) air cooled transmitter with lots of tubes. So the noise is all the blowers needed to keep the tubes cool. When we run this transmitter plus all the other vintage air cooled RCA transmitters on the second floor the whole building vibrates. - RD

[gmcjetpilot]

Oh my gosh....how awsome! Love the tubes. Have to get me some tube gear. Whole building shakes......great! Thanks

[utuber001001]

good video

[Erzahler]

Now THAT was COOL! BAck when radio was real, awesome, and even a little dangerous. Nothing like seeing raw power in action. The best comparison would be like comparing a modern-day airliner to a classic Boeing 337 with its massive radial engines. I love old airplanes and I love old tube transmitters!

73 de NØJAA.

[send2meez]

Holy Moley ! ! ! N3YQV

[RadioKSM]

Please try to remain calm, OM.

- RD

[send2meez]

Trying to refrain from crying out "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" When you fired it up! LOL

[Biffbradford]

CQ Delta Xray ... :^]

[flash178]

I have one of these in my basement. We use it to heat up tv dinners.

[jvolstad]

How much power out?

[RadioKSM]

We run this transmitter at 4kW to 5kW output.

[CapnSONiC]

Wonderful video!!

[bratina501]

been trying to hear the KSM transmissions but don't know the frequencies I happen to be in Washington state and should be able to hear everything even the 500 KHz signals using a 1000 ft longwire which is a half wave around 450 KHz

de KD7YUF

[RadioKSM]

OM: Please see our Web site at radiomarine (dot) org for a full listing of KSM frequencies. Sorry for the odd URL format but YouTube does not allow the posting of full URLs. We look forward to getting your signal reports. VY 73 - RD

[Dennis34648]

OUTSTANDING

73 TU

W1PPJ

[radioramona]

nice QRP rig heh.

[RadioKSM]

Thanks, OM. Sr. Transmitter Engineer Steve Hawes has now replaced all the solid state rectifiers (added by Globe Wireless) with proper mercury vapor types. He had to replace all the filament and bias transformers to do this but it was worth it. Now we have two rows of 4 MV tubes plus two 866s to watch!

[Atomic101Heli]

sir what freq band does this transmit on?

[dwarfer777]

any1 know morse code

[RadioKSM]

Well... yes!

[teleros]

WOW!!

Great Video!

'73 de IZ1DLZ INORC#378 ARMI#212 ex IT Navy Communicator

[RadioKSM]

Thanks, OM!

[eximod]

What a beautiful piece of machinery! It looks like my Hammarlund HQ-129X's big big big brother.

[RadioKSM]

Heh...

[tonijn1969]

COOL

de PA10403 SWL Gerard

[deltalabmodhl2]

cool

[k8cpa]

Excellent! More like this! WOO HOO!

-Chuck K8CPA

[K7AGE]

Very nice, wish there was some narration to know what he is doing. Keep up the good work. Randy

[RadioKSM]

Thanks for the feedback about narration, OM. I'll keep that in mind for the next one. - RD

[VideoRanger]

Great video. Keep 'em coming!

[twoube]

Great job everyone. Sounded great here in NC last night.