SAVING THE VOA DELANO
821A-1 TRANSMITTER

I regularly listen to a very informative and entertaining bi-weekly podcast called the Ham Radio Workbench. It focuses mainly on technical aspects of electronics and developments in amateur radio. However, occasionally the show features special guest Dennis Kidder W6DQ talking about classic radios. In a recent episode, Dennis regaled listeners with a story about the legendary Collins 821A-1 broadcast transmitter.

In 1965, the Voice of America modernised their transmitters at Bethany, Delano and Dixon, installing three 250kW Collins 821A-1 transmitters and two Continental 617A transmitters at each site. The Collins gear turned out to be quite a unique engineering feat, the technical details of which you can read at the Broadcast Belgium website.

In 1988, Dixon was closed, followed by Bethany in 1994. Finally, in 2007 the Delano site was ordered to shut down and the entire facility was to be bulldozed and headed for the scrap heap. But a group of amateur radio operators and transmitter enthusiasts gathered together to save one of the Collins senders and relocate it. This proved to be no simple task - the thing is huge and weighs thousands of kilograms!

Dennis tells the story behind the salvage operation of this monster, plus some of the design elements and operation of the transmitter, and details on the Delano antennas. It's a really fascinating story and well worth a listen! Use the player below to hear this episode (HRWB115):

NOTE: You may not want to sit through the whole of the show (Ham Radio Workbench podcasts are notoriously long!). The VoA story starts at 1:12:18, so hit the PLAY button and scrub through to that section of the podcast - it runs for the remainder of the show.

Finally, thanks to the guys at Ham Radio Workbench for inviting Dennis on the show - he is always an interesting guest! You can find more Workbench podcasts and other information relating to the shows at https://www.hamradioworkbench.com

UPDATE! Shortly after I posted this, quite by accident, I came across this YouTube video below (posted just one week ago!). Here is Dennis presenting a talk to the Antique Wireless Association. Much of what he discusses in the podcast above is also covered here, but with some wonderful photos of the relocation project. If you are a lover of vintage gear, you will love this!