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Spoiler Alert: As we approach the SWLing Post’s 10th Anniversarynext month, Dave is generously donating a little piece of Wooferton’s history that one lucky reader will win! Interested? Stay tuned!
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Paul Walker, who writes:
Remember the “transmission tests” from Babcock and Wooferton last summer? I finally got an email QSL…
My original email is first along with an audio sample of what I heard….
Original message sent on Tuesday, August 11, 2015:
I wanted to send you a reception report after hearing your broadcast.
“This Is A Test Transmission” on 15745khz heard at 1655UTC/11:55am Central today (08/10/2015) in Beaumont, Texas (far southeast corner of the state). This is 4 1/2 minutes, recorded until abrupt sign off in mid song.
I used a Sangean ATS909X with a PK’s Loop 6-18mhz tuneable Shortwave loop. The loop can be tuned to a certain frequency with a dial and can be rotated.
Tuning the loop to your exact frequency and orienting it in your general direction resulted in a pretty decent signal with good audio. The signal was about a 5 out of 10 with some fading, but generally pretty steady.
Do you offer QSL’s? I would very much appreciate a QSL card or letter via regular mail if that is possible.
Warmest Regards, Paul Walker
Fast forward to yesterday (Wednesday, January 27, 2016):
Thank you for your report and I confirm the details are correct. These transmissions were to fault-find on a 300 kW sender at the UK HF transmitter station at Woofferton.
The engineers needed a long test time as the fault was of an intermittent nature.
Babcock, Woofferton is the only remaining UK HF sender broadcast station and also is the only one with this transmission test audio and email address.
The audio is contained in a file playout system and incorporates non-copyright music and voice announcements from one of the employees at the transmitter site.
Check out this brilliant video tour of the BBC Woofferton Transmitting Station, presented by Senior Transmitter Engineer Dave Porter (G40YX). The video is divided in seven parts, thus I’ve created a playlist that will automatically load each video in order.
Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated radio historian and author, Jeff Cant, you can download and read an excellent history of the first fifty years of the BBC’s Woofferton transmission station. Cant began his history as an internal document to the station; he later finished it in his retirement. I wish every shortwave transmitter station had such a well-documented history providing a perspective on the station’s broadcasting. We owe Mr. Cant a profound debt of gratitude.
