{"id":63237,"date":"2025-06-20T06:58:50","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=63237"},"modified":"2025-06-20T06:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:58:50","slug":"wa2xmn-revives-armstrongs-legacy-with-90th-anniversary-broadcast-on-42-8-mhz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/wa2xmn-revives-armstrongs-legacy-with-90th-anniversary-broadcast-on-42-8-mhz\/","title":{"rendered":"WA2XMN Revives Armstrong\u2019s Legacy with 90th Anniversary Broadcast on 42.8 MHz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor Conrad Trautmann, who shares the following guest post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

42.8 MHz WA2XMN FM Goes On The Air!<\/h1>\n

6\/19\/2025<\/p>\n

By Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stephen Hemphill, WA3ZAE, the owner of Solid Electronics Laboratories, fired up a vintage FM tube Phasitron transmitter on 42.8 MHz to put WA2XMN on the air at exactly 12:30 pm EDT today from the famous Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey. \u201cW2XMN\u201d was the call sign of Edwin Howard Armstrong\u2019s experimental FM station that went on the air in 1936. \u201cWA2XMN\u201d is the official FCC call sign for the station Hemphill constructed with the cooperation of the tower site owners to commemorate Armstrong\u2019s contribution to radio, Frequency Modulation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

W2XMN building at the Alpine Tower site<\/p><\/div>\n

Hemphill explained that he attended a Society of Broadcast Engineers meeting that was celebrating Armstrong\u2019s accomplishments, which sparked the idea of going on the air again on that original frequency. He thought it would be perfect to aim for the 70th anniversary of the first public broadcast of wideband FM. That anniversary celebration and broadcast was held on June 11, 2005. Today\u2019s broadcast marks 90 years since that first FM Broadcast and 20 years since the commemorative event.<\/p>\n

Hemphill built a transmitter based on the design of a General Electric BT-1-B, but on the lower frequency than what we now know as the standard FM band. Once turned on, the transmitter made 250 watts with no problem with a little headroom to spare and after warming up and settling in, had less than one watt reflected into 400+ feet of 1 \u00bc\u201d transmission line into a vertical \u201cringo\u201d antenna on the top, Western facing arm of the famous tower.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Stephen Hemphill poses with his Phasitron FM transmitter tuned to 42.8 MHz<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dual Eimac 4-250a power amplifier tubes<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Armstrong Tower in Alpine, NJ (the vertical antenna is up there, trust me)<\/p><\/div>\n

The audio broadcast today was mostly replays of the 70th anniversary event recordings. A temporary studio was set up in the tower site office building. The event was also streamed live over the internet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

WA2XMN temporary studio and audio processing.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Stephen Hemphill at the controls<\/p><\/div>\n

The main audio mixing console used was a Gately Electronics Attache Case six channel mixer. Audio processing was done with a vintage Orban Optimod 8100A.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gately Electronics Attache Case Mixer (apologies to all audio engineers for the pinned meters)<\/p><\/div>\n

During the event, a web site address<\/a> for enthusiasts to provide reception reports was given out. While we don\u2019t have those reports yet, I contacted an amateur radio friend who was able to hear the station clearly 61 miles away in Ronkonkoma, NY on the eastern end of Long Island. That\u2019s pretty good coverage for 250 watts!<\/p>\n

Coupled with the special event broadcast was the annual picnic gathering of the New York Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Chapter 15. Roughly 45 people attended and in addition to seeing the WA2XMN transmitter, they also got a first hand look at a few of the old Empire State Building FM Master antenna elements. Here\u2019s a photo of your author standing next to one for perspective. I\u2019m 6\u2019 5\u201d.<\/p>\n

To read more about this antenna and its history, visit this page<\/a> researched and written by Paul Thurst, KH2R, owner of the \u201cEngineering Radio\u201d blog.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Conrad, N2YCH with an Alford antenna element from the Empire State Building<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Conrad Trautmann, who shares the following guest post: 42.8 MHz WA2XMN FM Goes On The Air! 6\/19\/2025 By Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH Stephen Hemphill, WA3ZAE, the owner of Solid Electronics Laboratories, fired up a vintage FM tube Phasitron transmitter on 42.8 MHz to put WA2XMN on the air at exactly […]<\/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":[3781,3194,3,288,4796],"tags":[10845,10847,10846],"class_list":["post-63237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fm","category-guest-posts","category-news","category-radio-history","category-vintage-radio","tag-conrad-trautmann","tag-stephen-hemphill-wa3zae","tag-wa2xmn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-grX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63040,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/armstrong-broadcast-returns-to-new-jersey-on-june-19-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":0},"title":"Armstrong Broadcast Returns to New Jersey on June 19, 2025","author":"Thomas","date":"May 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Alan and Conrad for sharing the news that the annual Armstrong Radio Broadcast event will return to Alpine, New Jersey, on Thursday, June 19, 2025, beginning at 12 p.m. ET. The commemorative broadcast will air on 42.8 MHz, the original low-band FM frequency used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1024px-USA_NJ_ArmstrongTower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1024px-USA_NJ_ArmstrongTower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1024px-USA_NJ_ArmstrongTower.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1024px-USA_NJ_ArmstrongTower.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38594,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/bills-njarc-swap-meet-deal-and-some-tailgate-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":1},"title":"Bill’s NJARC swap meet deal and some tailgate photos","author":"Thomas","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who writes: This morning (Saturday July 20), I went to the New Jersey Antique Radio Club (NJARC) Summer Swap Meet. They typically hold three Swap Meets each year at various locations This time it was at the InfoAge Science History Learning\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\/2019\/07\/Nova-Tech-Pilot-II.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Nova-Tech-Pilot-II.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Nova-Tech-Pilot-II.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58044,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/the-sony-icf-sw800-a-most-unusual-sony-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":2},"title":"The Sony ICF-SW800: A Most Unusual Sony Radio","author":"Thomas","date":"October 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD), who shares the following guest post: A Most Unusual Sony Radio By Bill Hemphill WD9EQD Over the years, I have owned many of the various Sony shortwave radios.\u00a0 From analog to digital, I would buy the latest and sell my current\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\/2023\/10\/image1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image1-300x200.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48972,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/radio-songs-by-silvia-swart\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":3},"title":"Radio Songs by Silvia Swart","author":"Thomas","date":"May 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill, who writes: I ran across a reference to Radio Delta International Shortwave, a Hollands station on 6020 kHz.\u00a0 The reference was to a song that was recorded for them by Silvia Swart en het Radio Delta lied.\u00a0 Which (according to Google) translates\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Silvia-Swart-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Silvia-Swart-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Silvia-Swart-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Silvia-Swart-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Silvia-Swart-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61040,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/channel-6-fm-radio-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":4},"title":"Channel 6 FM Radio Stations","author":"Thomas","date":"November 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: Channel 6 Radio Stations By Bob Colegrove Even after all these years, I still find occasional surprises while playing with radios.\u00a0 How did I miss this one?\u00a0 I recently did what I thought was a definitive audit of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fig-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fig-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fig-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fig-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Fig-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50464,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/guest-post-radio-schedules-in-a-simple-android-database\/","url_meta":{"origin":63237,"position":5},"title":"Guest Post: Radio Schedules in a Simple Android Database","author":"Thomas","date":"October 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill, who shares the following guest post: Radio Schedules in a Simple Android Database by Bill Hemphill I am a program listener. 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Over time, I have come up with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apps"","block_context":{"text":"Apps","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/apps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/P08-188x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63237","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=63237"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63250,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63237\/revisions\/63250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}