RADIO STATION BABICE
RADIO STATION
BABICE
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| Photo from the period of the Radio Station's operation, source: website trcn.pl/ |
Found on the website: Science in Poland
The following article appeared in Polish only;
here is the translation for all my English language readers.
Voice Across the Ocean - Echoes of Radio Station Babice
If it still existed today, it would rise above the observation deck of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw. It was the second largest radio station in the world. From 10 huge towers - 126 meters high - telegrams were broadcast across the Atlantic. The area bombed by the Germans is now covered with forest. Among the trees, you can still find elements of an impressive broadcasting station, thanks to which Poland established direct contact with America in the interwar period.
From 1923, half of Europe sent telegrams from Poland to America via the Transatlantic Radiotelegraphic Broadcasting Center. Dozens of engineers and technicians commuted to work along Radiowa Street. Later, they lived with their families in the new "Osiedle Łączności". The estate, expanded at today's Military University of Technology, was renamed Boernerowo in 1936 to commemorate Ignacy Boerner, the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs.
Poland earned good money in the 1920s and 1930s selling commercial telegraph services. Economic contacts cannot be overestimated. Doing business across the ocean paid off: if the message had traveled by ship, it would have arrived later than it had been carried on radio waves. Communication over huge distances for those times, accelerated unprecedentedly.
The transmitter had a very high power, thanks to which it was possible to connect with North and South America. The receivers were located in Argentina and the United States. The Warsaw station was one of the best technically equipped in the world. Two machine transmitters, 200 kW each, were powered by a 500 kW diesel-powered generator. The transmitting equipment located in the Headquarters ensured 24-hour communication with the USA. In summer, 30 words per minute were broadcast, and in winter twice as many, because the conditions for the spreading of the waves improved.
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| Photo from the period of the Radio Station's operation, source: website trcn.pl/ |
The Poles did not manage to destroy the installation before the enemy took it over in September 1939. The order of Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły was not carried out. The radio station allowed the Nazis to communicate with the U-boat fleet and with Japan. Long waves allowed them to contact freely with submarines sailing in the Atlantic. Therefore, the Germans blew up the radio station only just before the end of the war. The detonation wave caused to fall out the windows of the houses in the nearby village of Babice.
In Fort Radiowo, you can still find the remains of a great technical base: guard booths or metal construction elements. The splendor of this interwar radio station has been forgotten. A similar installation, slightly smaller, has survived in Sweden. Today it is no longer used, but it is a museum object and is entered on the UNESCO list.
Much later, the Military University of Technology was established nearby, and now in the spirit of communal cooperation, it supports the idea of establishing there the Science Center - Museum of the Transatlantic Radiotelegraphic Broadcasting Center in Babice. The Faculty of Electronics of the Military University of Technology is seeking the creation of an engineering studio at the university for enthusiasts and scientists involved in the reconstruction of the historic MEWA transmitter, which is to become an exhibit of the museum.
The technology came from America (Radio Corporation of America). The huge investment required adequate land. A plot of 1 km by 4 km was designated in the area north-west of Warsaw, between the villages of Wawrzyszew and Babice.
“They were very long waves. The antenna masts of the Alexanderson system were spaced almost 3.5 km, which allowed to reach frequencies of 16.4 kHz and 14.29 kHz. Two transmitters had an impressive power of 200 kW each. They worked individually, but it was possible to combine them and obtain a greater range "- explains Dr. Eng. Mateusz Pasternak from the Faculty of Electronics of the Military University of Technology in an interview with the Science in Poland website.
“At that time, the largest radio station in the world was in the USA. Ours was second. Only telegrams were transmitted. At that time, there was no known method that would allow the transmission of sound with this broadcasting system. It was only at the end of the 1930s that it was possible to broadcast radio programs for the Polish diaspora all over the world,” he adds.
The MEWA radio station is to broadcast short-wave programs commemorating the history of the transatlantic radio station. The museum is to cherish the memory of its engineers and builders and the epochal event in the history of Poland, which was the establishment of direct radio communication with the United States.
The MEWA radio station is to broadcast short-wave programs commemorating the history of the transatlantic radio station. The museum is to cherish the memory of its engineers and builders and the epochal event in the history of Poland, which was the establishment of direct radio communication with the United States.
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| Photo from the period of the Radio Station's operation, source: website trcn.pl/ |
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