{"id":48511,"date":"2021-04-12T06:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=48511"},"modified":"2021-04-11T06:46:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T10:46:33","slug":"woofferton-control-desk-circa-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/woofferton-control-desk-circa-1965\/","title":{"rendered":"Woofferton Control Desk circa 1965"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX), who writes:<\/p>\n

Thought you might like to post this pic (above) just in from Phil Brooks who used to be an engineer at Woofferton.<\/p>\n

In front of the operator on the desk is what was described as “The External Services Operational Schedule”.<\/p>\n

The WOF version was chopped into three eight hour periods. Where there is print the senders are ON. There are eight vertical columns and they correspond to Sender 91 to Sender 96. There are two blank columns on the RHS corresponding to Sender 85 and Sender 86 that were available but not scheduled.<\/p>\n

Assuming that they chopped the schedule from midnight to 0800, 0800 to 1600 and 1600 to midnight then it appears that VoA services start up at 0100 and run through to 0630.<\/p>\n

Similarly for end of night shift there is BBC starting at 0730 to cover for the maintenance break at Daventry and off at 0900. VoA resumes at 1300 and carries on until 2330 throughout day and evening shift.<\/p>\n

WOF has a maintenance break 0900 to 1300.<\/p>\n

The six “white flags”are the “Crater keys” and are an interlock device such that if the key is removed then the sender associated with it can’t be powered so that antenna switching can take place.<\/p>\n

The view from the window shows part of Sender 92 in the actual sender hall.<\/p>\n

The six Peak Programme Meters PPM (UK version of VU – but much better) show the audio on the sender output or input if selected.<\/p>\n

This desk ran from 1963 to 1981. It was replaced when automation with a Control System (the WATCH) was installed. That ran from 1981 to 2008.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks so much for sharing this, Dave. We always appreciate the context you add with a career in transmitting informing you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX), who writes: Thought you might like to post this pic (above) just in from Phil Brooks who used to be an engineer at Woofferton. In front of the operator on the desk is what was described as “The External Services Operational Schedule”. The WOF version was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3,305,1936,288,7566,43],"tags":[1283,4716],"class_list":["post-48511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-photos","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bbc-woofferton","tag-dave-porter"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-cCr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57978,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/special-program-woofferton-transmitting-stations-80th-anniversary-on-october-17-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":0},"title":"Special Program: Woofferton Transmitting Station’s 80th Anniversary on October 17, 2023","author":"Thomas","date":"October 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who shares the following announcement: Woofferton Transmitting Station UK - 80th Anniversary - October 17, 2023 To mark this anniversary Encompass Digital Media at WOF will be running a special programme on HF : Tuesday 17th October 2023 from 1330 - 1430\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\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59538,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/patrizio-receives-detailed-information-about-the-woofferton-test-transmission-he-confirmed\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":1},"title":"Patrizio receives detailed information about the Woofferton test transmission he confirmed","author":"Thomas","date":"April 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Patrizio Cardelli, who shares the following background story (via our friend, Dave Porter) about a Woofferton test transmission received at his QTH in Italy: Hi Patrizio, Thank you for your report and I confirm the details for 9885 kHz are correct. These transmissions were\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\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17112,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/paul-receives-report-confirmation-from-bbc-test-transmission\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":2},"title":"Paul receives report confirmation from BBC test transmission","author":"Thomas","date":"January 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader,\u00a0Paul Walker, who writes: Remember the \"transmission tests\" from Babcock and Wooferton last summer? I finally\u00a0got 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SX-99-Dial-Nar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7343,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/dave-porters-video-tour-of-the-bbc-woofferton-transmitting-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":3},"title":"Dave Porter’s video tour of the BBC Woofferton transmitting site","author":"Thomas","date":"September 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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. Click here to start the playlist on YouTube, or simply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43224,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/example-of-a-manual-wavechange-at-bbc-skelton-a-transmitter\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":4},"title":"Example of a manual wavechange at BBC Skelton A Transmitter","author":"Thomas","date":"May 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX), who shares the following: Here's Steve Gale in the late 80's or early 90's starting a wavechange on a Marconi BD272 250 kW sender at SKA. There were eventually 11 of these senders at the BBC Skelton A site. The first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Skelton_Transmitting_Station_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_134785.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Skelton_Transmitting_Station_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_134785.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Skelton_Transmitting_Station_-_geograph.org_.uk_-_134785.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34529,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/woofferton-transmitting-station-75-years-of-continuous-operation\/","url_meta":{"origin":48511,"position":5},"title":"Woofferton Transmitting Station: 75 years of continuous operation","author":"Thomas","date":"October 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who notes: Pleased to let you know that Woofferton Transmitting Station celebrated 75 years of continuous operation yesterday 17th October 2018. It is now run by Encompass Digital Media to give it its full name! Woofferton has certainly experienced and propagated a\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\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Woofferton_transmitting_station_2011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511","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=48511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}