Radio Central Station

According to Telegraph and Telephone Age, November 16, 1921, Radio Central Station is designed for world-wide communication which includes Europe, South America and the Far East. This Super-Station is situated at Rocky Point (seven miles east of Port Jefferson) on the northern shore of Long Island, seventy miles from New York City. The station site covers 6,400 acres or 10 square miles.

The construction began in July, 1920, and the first test signals were sent in October, 1921, a little more than a year later, a record in itself when one considers the great amount of work accomplished. 1,800 tons of structural steel were used to erect the first twelve towers, each employing approximately 150 tons.

Each tower is 410  feet in overall height and the cross arm or bridge supporting the antenna wires at the top is 150 feet long. 8,200 tons of concrete were employed for the foundations of the twelve towers, the  base of each tower leg being sunk nine feet below the ground with a total base area of 360 square feet. The distance between two adjacent towers is 1,200 feet or nearly three miles from first to the twelfth tower.

Each antenna consists of sixteen silicon bronze cables 3/8 inches in diameter stretching horizontally from tower to tower. In all, fifty miles of this cable has been used for the first two antenna systems. The ground system for both antenna consists of 450 miles of copper wire buried in the ground in starfish and grid-iron fashion.

The first power-house section covers a space of 130 feet by 60 feet and accommodates two 200 K.W. high frequency transmitting alternators with auxiliaries and equipment. A sending speed of 100 words per minute is possible with the use of each transmitting unit at Radio Central. This means a combined sending speed of 200 words per minute for the two completed units. The present wave length in use is 16,500 meters.

The erection of additional antenna units forming the spokes of the huge wheel and further improvements which are being made will correspondingly increase the transmitting capacity of the big station.