Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN In Detroit

[Truck451]

Does anyone have any information about Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN in Detroit, which had seemingly come about in the 1930's?

[SolarMax]

Does anyone have any information about Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN in Detroit, which had seemingly come about in the 1930's?

My 1922 Consolidated Radio Call Book shows callsign 8XN being held at that time (1922) by the Carnegie Institute of Technology Radio Club, Pittsburgh, PA.
Curious about this, I searched further, found an April 1990 issue of "Popular Communications" magazine, telling how, in late 1930, a W8XN (on 17143 kHz)in Oakland, CA successfully transmitted the front page of a San Francisco newspaper to the General Electric Company in Schenectady,NY.

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-S ... e-0016.pdf

This was an early demonstration of of long-distance facsimile (FAX) transmission via radio.
Nothing found (by me) linking the W8XN call to Detroit.

[Kennelly Heaviside]

Does anyone have any information about Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN in Detroit, which had seemingly come about in the 1930's?

My 1922 Consolidated Radio Call Book shows callsign 8XN being held at that time (1922) by the Carnegie Institute of Technology Radio Club, Pittsburgh, PA.
Curious about this, I searched further, found an April 1990 issue of "Popular Communications" magazine, in which a W8XN (on 17143 kHz)in Oakland, CA successfully transmitted the front page of a San Francisco newspaper to the General Electric Company in Schenectady,NY.

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-S ... e-0016.pdf

This was an early demonstration of of long-distance facsimile (FAX) transmission via radio.
Nothing found (by me) linking the W8XN call to Detroit.

That is a really funny story about the people writing letters insisting that FAX was a new invention, just because they never got the right information. I run into this a lot, when I tell people things, prove them, and they still insist that it's wrong. One is a bunch of stories buried on the FCC Station History Cards, that people don't believe happened.

My favorite, that people insist never happened, is that Ernie Durham was the inspiration for and 25% owner of WAMM Radio in Flint. He worked at WBBC, with one of the managers named Richard Carter, who kicked in 25%, and local businessmen the Binder Brothers, 25% each. However, Ernie was the extremely popular rhyming evening DJ at WBBC in the 1950s (THE John Sinclair actually made tapes of his shows), and they were faced with Ernie leaving for WAMM. In order to get him to stay, to give him enough of a raise, they had him drive between shifts at WBBC and WJLB with only a ridiculously short drive time between shifts. Because of the time stress of the commutes, he became known as "Frantic Ernie". But the FCC ruled that WAMM couldn't sign on unless he resigned from WBBC. He was making so much money at Booth Broadcasting that he couldn't give it up, so he sold his 25% to the other partners, ending his quest to become the one of the first African Americans to own a radio station. Look it up for yourself. He probably would have soon bought the other partners out like Vern Merritt did at WDZZ soon after it signed on. Look it up.

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/c ... r_id=52606

[innate-in-you]

Does anyone have any information about Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN in Detroit, which had seemingly come about in the 1930's?

My 1922 Consolidated Radio Call Book shows callsign 8XN being held at that time (1922) by the Carnegie Institute of Technology Radio Club, Pittsburgh, PA.
Curious about this, I searched further, found an April 1990 issue of "Popular Communications" magazine, in which a W8XN (on 17143 kHz)in Oakland, CA successfully transmitted the front page of a San Francisco newspaper to the General Electric Company in Schenectady,NY.

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-S ... e-0016.pdf

This was an early demonstration of of long-distance facsimile (FAX) transmission via radio.
Nothing found (by me) linking the W8XN call to Detroit.

I wonder if the callsign was a typo. I would have expected the callsign W2XN.

[SolarMax]

I wonder if the callsign was a typo. I would have expected the callsign W2XN.

Again referring to that 1922 Call Book,
The Eighth radio district at that time (boundaries changed some time later) included Michigan (lower peninsula), New York state (west of NYC, the Hudson corridor and its cities (including Schenectady)), Pennsylvania (excluding the eastern area including Philadelphia), West Virginia and Ohio.
So 8XN would have been appropriate for that one.
KDKA Pittsburgh originally signed as 8XK, later W8XK

GE Schenectady did have 2xx and W2xx experimental callsigns.
2XN was assigned to City College of New York in NYC.
So, don't know why the Oakland > Schenectady X stations had that W8 prefix

[Deleted User 14896]

Does anyone have any information about Experimental Shortwave Radio Station W8XN in Detroit, which had seemingly come about in the 1930's?

Here's a link to the 1922 book that SolarMax may be talking about.

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-E ... 22-Nov.pdf

[SolarMax]

Here's a link to the 1922 book that SolarMax may be talking about.

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-E ... 22-Nov.pdf

My volume is the "Consolidated Radio Call Book," dated May, 1922. The cover is kind of similar, and published out of New York City. Much of the content and advertising of the "Citizens" book is similar and arranged much like the "Consolidated." I imagine there were competitors for the radio guide business, as the public became more fascinated with radio listening. These books listed not only early broadcasters, but also amateurs, weather, press, coastal and ship stations. The "Consolidated" also has color maps showing station locations and calls. Neat stuff. I should send mine over to the worldradiohistory archive to have it scanned in. I sent him some old Broadcast Engineering, BM/E and 73 Magazines a few years ago, He'll return them once they're put online.

[Chris Edmonds]

You may be thinking of W8XWJ, an Apex station that was a forerunner to FM service. It was owned by the Detroit news and went on the air in 1936. It, along with a number of other stations across the country, operated at the then-breathtakingly high frequency band of 25-44 MHz with remarkable high-fidelity considering it was still AM. All the licenses were experimental and they were all shut down in 1941 in favor of FM. W8XWJ became the first FM station in Michigan W45D at 44.5 MHz, eventually moving to 97.1 when FM service was moved to 88-108. The Detroit News was a real pioneer in radio around here. This is a promotional piece from 1936.

W8XWJ, The Detroit News ultra high frequency transmitter, is located atop the 47-story Penobscot Building in the center of downtown Detroit. It consists of an RCA 100-watt transmitter operating on a frequency of 31.6 megacycles or 9.48 meters. It operates on a regular daily schedule and serves also as a contact point for The Detroit News airplane, the Early Bird, and the Radio and Photographic Field Car. When television becomes a practical reality, W8XWJ with its location and frequency will be ideally equipped for visual transmission. Experiments in the transmission of facsimile pictures are now being conducted.