WSL

ITT World Communications Inc.

Amagansett Radio

Southampton, LI, NY

1969

Use IE 3.0 or later and hear WSL CQ wheel.

In 1969 I temporarily left the sea to try a shoreside position. I applied for and was accepted for a job at ITT World Communications Inc. as a coast station operator. The station was located near Southhampton, Long Is., NY. Transmitters were located at Brentwood (HF) and Amagansett (medium frequency). The receiver site was the Southampton site. The transmitters were keyed via phone lines. Brentwood was 85 miles and Amagansett 40 miles away respectively.

These receivers were in use at the time I was employed at WSL they worked well on HF, but I believe we used something else on MF 400 -512 KHZ.

It was quite a thrill to sit at an operator position and be on the other end of the operations. We used mostly rhombic antennae connected to HRO500 receivers. The rhombic antennae could be selected with pushbutton switches. Ships in the Persian Gulf could be clearly copied when the correct antenna was pointed towards that area. My favorite band was 22Mhz in the daytime. That was the best DX and the ops on the other end seemed more appreciative since they were usually on the other side of the Atlantic or even in the Indian Ocean.

02/28/02 18:15