{"id":42016,"date":"2020-02-16T11:24:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T15:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=42016"},"modified":"2020-02-16T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T15:26:55","slug":"former-kgei-transmitter-building-sports-its-callsign-once-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/former-kgei-transmitter-building-sports-its-callsign-once-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Former KGEI transmitter building sports callsign once more"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

1941: KGEI’s reinforced concrete transmitter building near Belmont. Built to withstand bomb or earthquake. (Source: TheRadioHistorian.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Tracy Wood (K7UO), for sharing the following article from The Daily Journal<\/a>. Tracy’s notes follow this excerpt:<\/p>\n

KGEI, a shortwave radio station in Redwood Shores that was the only voice from home for GIs in the Pacific during World War II, has its call letters back.<\/p>\n

The letters on the front of the building located off Radio Road were covered up decades ago by a church that took over the station\u2019s transmitter building, now part of Silicon Valley Clean Water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy to report that we have uncovered the letters on the building,\u201d said Teresa Herrera, manager of the wastewater treatment facility. \u201cI think it looks great!\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrera said she had no idea of the building\u2019s history until the Rear View Mirror brought it to SVCW\u2019s attention. No extra money was needed for the restoration because the building was due to be painted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letters were just as they were when the concrete forms had been originally removed in the 1930s,\u201d said construction manager William Tanner.<\/p>\n

Still, there is no plaque to remind the few visitors to the area that KGEI, the GEI standing for General Electric International, played an important role in World War II. Among other accomplishments, the station broadcast Gen. Douglas MacArthur\u2019s \u201cI have returned\u201d speech that fulfilled his promise to return with victorious American troops to the Philippines, occupied by Japanese forces since 1942.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe First 24 Hours of War in the Pacific,\u201d a book written by Donald Young, underlines the importance of KGEI. It also reminds readers how successful Japanese forces were during those 24 hours in attacking Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Wake Island and Guam, as well as Hawaii.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article at The Daily Journal.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tracy also shared the following notes:<\/p>\n

During my youth I often listened to KGEI, both in Oregon and Bolivia. I got to visit the station in the 80s. I remember their teletype spewing paper for the long-form newscasts… The old 50kw GE hummed away.<\/p>\n

The parasitic oscillations would actually form audio that you could hear in the studio\/transmitter room. The 250 kw unit was tucked away… kind of hard to see.<\/p>\n

KGEI was an important part of LATAM radio history.. the Cuban Missile Crisis, earthquake outreach to Nicaragua, etc.<\/p>\n

Cheap clock radios could receive KGEI in Oregon when the 250kw unit was blasting to Asia.<\/p>\n

“Mission Engineering” 250kw beamed to Asia on 5980 could often be heard with Chinese and Russian slow-dictation programming… trying to overcome the Cold War ban of Bibles in the Communist countries.<\/p>\n

If you can find a copy of the book “Sky Waves” that has a complete history of FEBC and some more details about “La Voz de la Amistad,” the Voice of Friendship KGEI.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you so much, Tracy, for your notes and insights!<\/p>\n

I just found a copy of the 1963 book Sky Waves<\/em> by Gleason H. Ledyard as a free download via the American Radio History website. Click here to download the PDF.<\/a><\/p>\n

I imagine other SWLing Post<\/em> readers remember KGEI as well. If so, please comment!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood (K7UO), for sharing the following article from The Daily Journal. Tracy’s notes follow this excerpt: KGEI, a shortwave radio station in Redwood Shores that was the only voice from home for GIs in the Pacific during World War II, has its call letters back. The letters on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,288,7566,43],"tags":[6435,8322,4091,1098,8321,7394],"class_list":["post-42016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","category-shortwave-radio","tag-kgei","tag-la-voz-de-la-amistad","tag-radio-history","tag-shortwave-radio-history","tag-sky-waves","tag-tracy-wood-k7uo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-aVG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27612,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/kgeis-role-in-wwii\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":0},"title":"KGEI’s role in WWII","author":"Thomas","date":"August 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: The Daily Journal via Richard Cuff) KGEI: A forgotten WWII radio story Sometimes history is hidden in plain sight or site \u2014 as is the case of a blockhouse-shaped building located, appropriately, on Radio Road in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City. There is no plaque to remind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Zenith-Dial-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Zenith-Dial-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Zenith-Dial-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42027,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/dan-shares-memories-of-kgei\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":1},"title":"Dan shares memories of work at KGEI","author":"Thomas","date":"February 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Van Hoy (K7DAN), who shares the following comment in reply to our recent KGEI post.\u00a0 Dan writes: It was my privilege to work at KGEI as a broadcast engineer and antenna rigger with FEBC from 1981-85. After that we went off to serve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/KGEI-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/KGEI-QSL.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/KGEI-QSL.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/KGEI-QSL.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48967,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/passing-by-the-delano-transmitting-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":2},"title":"Passing by the Delano Transmitting Station","author":"Thomas","date":"May 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who snapped the photo above as he passed by this former IBB facility. Tracy noted: The antenna field is still intact. As a kid, the signals would leak into cheap AM radio sets in Oregon. I could only imagine they would!\u00a0 Thanks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOA-Delano-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOA-Delano-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOA-Delano-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOA-Delano-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOA-Delano-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17799,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/radio-world-schenectady-shortwave-transmitters-1941\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":3},"title":"Radio World: Schenectady Shortwave Transmitters, 1941","author":"Thomas","date":"March 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, for sharing a link to the following article in Radio World: The General Electric Co. was truly among America\u2019s premier broadcasting companies. In addition to developing much of early broadcast technology and building a trio of high-power AM stations in the early\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"philco38-4_dial_1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60161,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/three-photos-of-the-voa-delano-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":4},"title":"Three photos of the VOA Delano site","author":"Thomas","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who writes: Photos of former VOA Delano. All the towers are gone now... How sad. Note that the smoke is from all of those California fires.","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/VOA-Delano-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/VOA-Delano-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/VOA-Delano-1-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/VOA-Delano-1-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/VOA-Delano-1-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60083,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/rtve-approves-additional-shortwave-transmitter-and-secures-the-future-of-the-public-shortwave-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":42016,"position":5},"title":"RTVE approves additional shortwave transmitter and “secures the future of the public shortwave service”","author":"Thomas","date":"June 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Paul Jamet and Tracy Wood for sharing the following article (translated into English) from RTVE: RTVE secures the future of the public shortwave service of Radio Exterior de Espa\u00f1a The RTVE Board of Directors has unanimously approved the purchase, installation, and implementation of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/S-8800-Dial-Volume.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/S-8800-Dial-Volume.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/S-8800-Dial-Volume.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/S-8800-Dial-Volume.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}