VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 1 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

Corrections to Lee Hite Revised 8/5/2019 Page 1 of 22

Bethany Building Notes .................................................................................................. 2

Building Heat ................................................................................................................ 3

Transmitters................................................................................................................. 3

Antennas ..................................................................................................................... 7

Vapor Cooling ............................................................................................................. 14

Satellite Interconnect................................................................................................... 15

Audio Circuit .............................................................................................................. 15

Power Supply Vault ..................................................................................................... 16

Sample Operating Schedule .......................................................................................... 20

Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................... 21

Downloadable Documents ............................................................................................. 21

1962 modernized control room at Bethany Station, West Chester, Ohio

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 2 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Bethany Building Notes

VOA Bethany is 175' wide by 75' long. A

detailed design specific to VOA Bethany

was implemented for the front building

using traditional construction with

poured foundations and loadbearing

walls. Administrative offices occupy the

two-story building with a four-story

center section. The basement housed

boilers and a 50 gallon-per-hour water

still that pushed distilled water to 400-

gallon storage tanks in the guard tower,

pictured right. All transmitters took their cooling water from these

tanks.

At the time of construction for the rear building the transmitters

had not been designed so there was no floor plan. To accommodate

flexibility for the unknown layout Architect Carl E. Sinnige selected

an open architecture using cantilevered beams to support the

center roof. Eight piers rest on bedrock and hold four cantilevered beams. The piers were

precisely located to produce zero moment at beam center. As the floor plan developed non-

loadbearing poured walls could be added to suit the design. See drawing below

The

finished transmitter building used a

monitor style of construction with a 64’

wide high bay measuring 24' from floor

to roof slab and openings in the top for

ventilation. Ceiling height of the side

bays measured 17’.

A tunnel extends from the front

basement under the center of the high bay to the rear of the building. The Q channel steel

roofing material was deliberately selected by Crosley to hold the poured concrete floor in the

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 3 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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high bay because its natural channels provided a convenient conduit path. This corrugated steel

took its name from item Q in the catalog.

Bethany Layout Diagrams

Building Heat

About four million BTU was required to heat the building when the outside temperature dipped

below 32° F. Excess transmitter heat (1 million BTU) was adequate during mild weather but not

when the outside was below 32° F.

Fourteen comfort zones were heated by dual coal-fired water tube boilers from 1944 to 1950.

The weekly opening of the blowout valve at the bottom of the steam drum cleared calcium

debris buildup caused by using hard water.

By 1951 the two coal-fired boilers were replaced with a single oil-fired unit producing five million

BTU. The 5,000-gallon fuel oil tank under the front driveway was removed after conversion to

natural gas in 1991. The boiler remains today in the basement.

If you’re wondering about the amount of heat generated by the transmitters, they ran 84%

efficient, which means each of the six units produced 300 KW or a little over one million BTU.

250 KW or 850,000 BTU was sent to the antennas, leaving 50 KW or 170,000 BTU as waste

heat. Therefore, 170 K BTU X 6 transmitters = 1 million BTU of waste heat, which was woefully

inadequate as building heat when the outside temperature was below 32° F. Boiler comfort heat

was required from 1944 until closure in 1994.

The entire building is thoroughly grounded, a mat of wires extends on all sides from the outside

for 50’ and connect to the reinforcing-bars which are welded together within the concrete. This

was done to eliminate the possibility of cross modulation, and to provide a good ground matting

for the transmitters.

At the substation a 3,000-kVA transformer bank provided 3 phase, 2400 Volt service, divided

into six main circuits to the transmitters, each equipped with fused disconnect switches. Three of

these were for the high-voltage plate-supply transformers, and the other three were fed through

an induction regulator and supplied a 200 kVA, 1160/208 V, 3-phase transformer in each vault.

Transmitters

The three WWII VOA transmitter plants were owned by commercial broadcasting companies;

CBC Crosley Broadcasting Corp., NBC and CBS. Therefore, each transmitter was licensed and

had call letters. Crosley's three transmitters were WLWL, WLWR, WLWS. The federal government

took ownership in 1963 so the transmitters fell under the Department of Commerce and no

longer required licensing. At that time all VOA transmitters were given a 2 or 3 letter

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 4 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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designation, i.e. DL1, Delano transmitter #1; GB4, Greenville Plant B Transmitter #4. BY is

Bethany Station.

BY-1, BY-2, BY-3, Asea Brown Boveri ABB model SK53-C3, 250 kW, 6-22 MHz (1991-1994)

BY-4, BY-5 and BY-6, Collins Radio Company transmitter model 821A-1, 250 kW, 6-26.5 MHz

(1989-1994)

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 5 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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BY-6 transmitter layout Control room looking North

BY-7 Collins AN/FRT-5, 15 KW

Originally amplitude modulated and the

Bethany techs converted this transmitter to

linear operation with a 15 KW ISB rating.

Independent sideband (ISB) is an AM single

sideband mode.

Without passing through the switching matrix

the transmitter was directly connected to a

dipole antenna. A spare exciter located in BY-

10 became its driver. Heard in Africa but

rarely used except for a few minutes when

BY-9 or BY-10 needed a quick repair.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 6 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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BY-8 Collins 231-D, AM then ISB, 3 KW, 2-18

MHz

BY-8 was probably surplus and too low

powered to cross an ocean, and probably

should not have been installed.

BY-9 and BY-10

Continental 617-A, SSB, 50

kW PEP, 2-30 MHz

These transmitters were

used exclusively to transmit

program material to relay

stations.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 7 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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BY-9 Antennas

The Bethany Relay Station used 22 directional antennas pointing in 24 directions. Fourteen were

reentrant rhombic type in groups of 2 or 3, and eight were curtain type antennas. Two of the

rhombic antennas were reversable.

Curtain Antennas - 250 KW Beam Center Area Covered

S1, S2, S3, S4 57.5 Degrees Southern Europe, North Africa

T1, T2, T3, T4 74.5 Degrees West and Central Africa

Rhombic Antennas - 250 kW

A1, A2 100 Degrees South Africa

B1, B2 87 Degrees West and Central Africa

C1, C2, C3 62 Degrees Spain and North Africa

H1, H2, J1, J2, J3 168 Degrees Caribbean and South America

K6, L6 66 Degrees Spain and North Africa

K6, L6 (Reversed) 246 Degrees North Mexico, New Zealand

BY-9 connected to Antenna C1 only, BY-10 connected to Antenna A2 only.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 8 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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VOA Bethany antenna layout diagram

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 9 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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The antenna switching matrix (6 X 22) consists of 232 manually operated switches that allow

connection of any of the six broadcast transmitters to any of the 24 antennas and test dummy

load. Two of the rhombic antennas had to be switched manually at the antenna.

There were more than 1000 wood poles ranging in height up to 150 feet, supporting antennas

and transmission lines. The 150-foot wood poles used two 80 foot poles spliced together using a

metal cylinder.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 10 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Note the small building to the

left-hand side of the picture

between the poles. That is the

Clift House (named after Len

Clift who suggested building

it) that housed two hot sticks.

Occasionally an insulator on

the end of a pushrod would

break. The switch could be

manually moved with the hot

stick. In the winter technicians

had a propane torch lashed to

the end of a hot stick that

could melt ice on a switch

contact, so the switch could be

closed during an ice storm.

Good old Ohio weather! For

many years the small building had a half-moon painted on the door.

Shown is the original four-wire 300 Ohm balanced transmission line

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 11 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Original four-Wire 300 Ohm balanced Line Two Copper pipe lines, 300 Ohm balanced Line

Original VOA Bethany Crosley transmitters

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 12 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 13 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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The three Crosley master transmitters operated from 1944-1989 and were replaced by Asea

Brown Boveri (ABB) transmitters. Changing frequencies for the Crosley units required three

people to spend a total of seven minutes changing loading capacitors and coils, along with

adjusting the antenna switching matrix.

Exciter used a temperature controlled 6V6 crystal-oscillator stage with two 6V6 multiplier-buffer

stages and a buffer 807 amplifier for a 15W output.

Driver one was 813s with an output 100 W

Driver two was water cooled 1194s with an output of 12-15 KW

Final Amplifier Tube: Water cooled Federal Telegraph Co. F-125-A

Plate voltage up to 14,250 Vdc

Plate current = 20 A

Filament = 3 phase 10 Vac at 300 A

DC input power = 252 KW

Output = 175 KW

A separate matching section connected the 300 Ohm switch to the 500 Ohm antenna feed line.

The 500 Ohm feed line was four wire construction consisting of two pairs of number 2 copper

weld wire, each pair spaced 3/4" as one conductor, with 20" spacing between pairs. All four

wires were in the same horizontal plane 15 feet above ground level.

They also used a 300 Ohm line consisting of a four-wire construction, using two pairs of 1/0

copper weld (each pair as one conductor) spaced 2-1/8 inches one above the other, and seven

inches between pairs. This is the same spacing used in the 300 Ohm switch structure, where two

one-inch copper pipes are used for each line. To maintain spacing between wires on each side of

the line, cast clamps were used at intervals of about 10'.

When the plant was upgraded to the Collins transmitters the output feedline to the antenna

switch remained a balanced 300 Ohm feed line but used two-inch copper pipe spaced at 13

inches.

Modulator

Three push-pull voltage-amplifier stages fed multilabel F-125-A tubes in a push-pull

arrangement for a class B power stage capable of delivering 180 KW of audio power.

Cooling

The final PA and modulator tubes were water vapor cooled and the rest of the transmitter was

forced air cooled. All waste heat was captured and augmented building heat in the winter and

wasted to the atmosphere in the summer. A 50 gallon per hour still in the boiler room filled two

400-gallon storage tanks in the guard tower providing a common gravity feed to all systems for

supply deionized cooling water. Gravity feed was selected over a pump feed to prevent cooling

issues if a pump failed. Eventually the still was replaced with a deionizing unit.

The original WWII Crosley transmitters used water cooling which was the technology of the day.

About 30 gallons/minute of non-conducting water was circulated past the anodes of the tubes for

heat removal.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 14 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Vapor Cooling

The Collins Radio and ABB

transmitters used vapor-phase

cooling. When the anodes of the

tubes reached 100 degrees C, the

water would boil and the phase

change from liquid to vapor

absorbed waste heat. The

vapor was condensed back to

liquid by a vapor-to-liquid loop

condenser fan coil mounted

above the transmitters for the

Collins and ABB transmitters. Shown to the right-hand side is the ABB PA vapor boiler and

further to the right is the vapor-cooled modulator tubes.

Each 1944 Crosley transmitter had 10 water-cooled tubes (out of 17).

Each Collins transmitter had 4 vapor-cooled tubes (out of 10) and each

ABB transmitter had 3 vapor-cooled tubes (out of 6). The rest were air-

cooled. Water cooling removes twice the amount of air cooling and

vapor cooling removes three times as much.

Shown to the right is the Collins PA double boiler with the Pi-line

coupling capacitor.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 15 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Satellite Interconnect provided 12 audio channels from Washington studios. In September

1988, engineers at VOA inaugurated a Satellite Interconnect System (SIS) linking headquarters

in Washington, D.C. to VOA relay stations in Greenville, North Carolina and Delano, California.

Eventually, VOA expanded this satellite network to include every relay station in the United

States and around the world including Bethany Station.

Audio Circuit: Audio circuits originate in the control room where the signal is taken from 12

incoming AT&T long lines or local electronic transcriptions. See picture below.

A transmitter circuit includes a limiting line amplifier to amplify the audio voltage and compress

high level peak; peak clipper to chop both positive and negative peaks at a preset level, usually

equivalent to 100% transmitter modulation; and the usual level controls and volume indicators

from the control room. Audio voltage was fed at zero level to the modulator unit of the

transmitter.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 16 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Note the audio tape playback deck below.

Audio processing equipment

Power Supply Vault

Only during war time, a dual power feed was maintained from Cincinnati and Dayton to the

Bethany power supply substation at 4,160 V 3-phase and 208 V. All 240 V power contactors for

filaments and low voltage supplies were in a 240 V breaker and distribution panel in the wall

cabinet behind the transmitter. All equipment dangerous to personnel was completely

interlocked both electrically and mechanically.

Plate transformer was 750 kVA, three-phase unit with a special high-speed motor-operated

tap switch, connected to its secondary winding, which operates under load. The transformer

windings and taps provided variable DC voltages at the load from 5,500 to 15,000 V in 32 steps.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 17 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 18 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Power supply and modulation vault for the ABB transmitters on the East side of the building.

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 19 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 20 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Sample Operating Schedule

Transmitter Frequency Antenna/Angle Language Time/EDST

___________________________________________________________________________

BY-1 11930 kHz H2/168 R. MARTI 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

BY-1 6055 kHz H2/168 R. MARTI 10:00 PM - 12:00 MN

BY-1 6055 kHz J3/168 R. MARTI 12:00 MN - 2:00 AM

BY-1 11815 kHz H2/168 R. MARTI 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

BY-2 17800 kHz A1/100 ENGLISH 2:00 PM - 5:30 PM

BY-2 17800 kHz (Su-Fr) A1/100 ENGLISH 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM

BY-3 6030 kHz (Mo-Fr) J3/168 SPANISH 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

BY-3 9530 kHz A2/100 ENGLISH 2:00 AM - 2:30 AM

BY-3 9530 kHz (Sa-Su) A2/100 ENGLISH 2:30 AM - 3:00 AM

BY-4 9775 kHz J2/168 ENGLISH 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

BY-4 9775 kHz (Mo-Fr) J2/168 ENGLISH 10:00 PM - 10:30 PM

BY-4 7405 kHz L6/66 ENGLISH 11:00 PM - 2:30 AM

BY-4 7405 kHz (Sa-Su) L6/66 ENGLISH 2:30 AM - 3:00 AM

BY-4 5975 kHz (Mo-Fr) J3/168 BBC SPAN 7:00 AM - 7:30 AM

BY-4 9600 kHz J3/168 R. MARTI 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

BY-5 11730 kHz (Mo-Fr) J1/168 OAS ENGL 6:45 PM - 7:00 PM

BY-5 11730 kHz J1/168 OAS SPAN 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM

BY-5 11730 kHz (Sa-Su) J1/168 OAS PORT 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM

BY-5 13740 kHz (Mo-Fr) J1/168 SPANISH 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM

BY-5 9670 kHz (Mo-Fr) H1/168 BBC SPAN 7:00 AM - 7:30 AM

BY-6 9575 kHz T1/74 ENGLISH 11:00 PM - 1:00 AM

BY-6 9665 kHz T1/74 ENGLISH 1:00 AM - 2:30 AM

BY-6 9665 kHz (Sa-Su) T1/74 ENGLISH 2:30 AM - 3:00 AM

BY-6 7405 kHz J2/168 ENGLISH 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM

BY-6 15315 kHz (Mo-Fr) H1/168 BBC SPAN 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 21 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

Corrections to Lee Hite Revised 8/5/2019 Page 21 of 22

Acknowledgement: A special thank you to the last operating VOA Bethany Plant Manager,

Dave Snyder for much of this information and its accuracy. Photos courtesy the museum.

Downloadable Documents - Alphabetical Listing

50 Years of Broadcasting (VOA) by Dave Snyder, 1.8 Meg, PDF

200 kW HF transmitters at VOA Bethany Relay Station, 6.2 Meg, PDF

A Trip Through WLW

Alfred Carlton Gilbert: An Unsung Radio Pioneer by James O'Neal 500 Kb, PDF

Bits of Wireless History from The Gray History of Wireless Museum by Jack Gray 14.7 Meg, PDF

Boombox by Powel Crosley Jr. PDF

Cincinnati's Powel Crosley by J.M. Rice 55.5 Meg, PDF

Crosley Innovations List PDF

Crosley Long Term Employees

Crosley 30 Years - Feb 1952

Crosley Interview - Sept 1960

Directory of Broadcast Receivers 1921-1930 from Vintage Radio by Morgan E McMahon 3rd

Edition 4.3 Meg, PDF

How the Icyball Refrigerator Worked, 55K, PDF

How Spark Transmitters Work by Dave Snyder 28 Meg, PDF

How Time Balls Worked (See page 12 explaining how the

Nation Weather Service began in Cincinnati because of telegraphy) 3.6 Meg, PDF

Icyball Refrigerator Instructions 250K, PDF

Merle Antony Tuve Discovered the ionosphere and worked on the proximity Fuze

Narrative of History of VOA Bethany 132K, PDF

Pocket Fact Sheet VOA Bethany 1 Meg, PDF

Pictures, National VOA Museum of Broadcasting

Pictures, Gray History of Wireless Exhibit at the National VOA Museum of Broadcasting

Pictures, Media Heritage Exhibit at the National VOA Museum of Broadcasting

Radio aboard the RMS Titanic by Fred Archibals VE1FA 3.6 Meg, PDF

Radio Propagation Exhibit

Radio and How it Works by Lew Currier 1945 For the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation

(CBC) 6.8 Meg, PDF

R.J. Rockwell and His Cathanode Rig

Significant Dates for VOA Bethany Station by Dave Snyder 77K, PDF

The Crosley Story by Jack Gray 14.5 Meg, PDF

This is the Crosley Broadcasting Corp.

US Information Agency - VOA Bethany Relay Station 1998

USCGC Courier Story in poster form from the USCGC Courier Association 14.4 Meg, PDF

USCGC Courier (WTR-410) and The Voice of America by Sarah Lanzaro 5 Meg, PDF

USCGC Crew Member David H, K6JDH, Members page from QRZ (with permission)

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet 2.5 Meg, PDF

VOA Today - 2018 85 K, PDF

VOA Languages – Alphabetical

VOA Languages – Present to Past

WLW 500 KW History by Clyde Haehnle 7.3 meg, PDF

WLW History Article - April 1947

VOA Bethany Pocket Fact Sheet Page 22 of 22 September 24, 1944 to November 04, 1994

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Radio

National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting on Ham Talk Live Audio Only Sept.

2016 44:59

(Jay Adrick K8CJY, Joe Gruber WD8AZQ and Gary West K8DEV)

USCGC Courier and the VOA on Ham Talk Live Audio Only (Lee Hite) Sept. 13, 2018 46:14

AUDIO

VOA Bethany Final Crosley Transmitter Broadcast (November 1, 1989) 622 Meg, WAV

VIDEO

VOA Video Playlist

America's Voice 17:18

Crosley Built 8:30

Radio Proximity Fuze

VOA Legacy - An Era Begin 9:56

Narrated by Dave Snyder (last Bethany Plant Manager), Charles Stinger (former Bethany Plant

Manager) and Paul Wiseman ( Bethany Maintenance Supervisor).

Welcome to Bethany Relay Station by; Dave Snyder Part 1 & 2 16:08

Rusty McClure on Powel Crosley and WWII

Part 1 of 5 Tour of Voice of America Transmitter Plant, Greenville, NC, YouTube Nov. 2009 8:48

Voice of America Bethany (Mason) Ohio Relay Station tour by station manager (David Sites,

KC4QG) April 24, 1992 21:41

Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting By Jim Hawkins August 28, 2012; 39:30

Voice of America Museum Special tour , July 31, 2013 by Amateur Logic.tv Featuring (Dave

Snyder) 45:08

Voice of America by Mr. Audio Sound Images 2:09

WLW Super-Power Transmitter Tour from 1985 recorded on December 9, 1985 by Art Vuolo,

Jr. and Randy Michaels

WLW 500,000-Watt Transmitter tour by Jay Adrick K8CJY thru Randy Hall,

K7AGE, YouTube 31:43

WLW's 500,000-Watt Transmitter By K7AGE Randall Hall 31:48

WLW AM Transmitter Tour 1997, by Jim Hawkins - WA2WHV Chief Engineer: Paul Jellison

WC8VOA Amateur Radio Station about Ham Radio in disasters, WCPO Cincinnati (Joe Molter)

Sept 13, 2018 2:03