RadioIntelligencer

I was fortunate enough to be treated to the DC chapter of the Society Broadcast Engineers annual picnic.   It was I must say most enjoyable listening to radio engineering war stories and getting to meet a few of the guys who keep the stations in the Washington DC area sounding great and on the air.  One engineer that was there I hadn’t seen since my college days in the early 80s when this gentleman was the engineer on call for the small college class D FM station that I used to hang around.  One of the  highlights included a tour of WMAL’s transmitter site and former studio in Bethesda, Maryland.  Going on the air in 1925, WMAL is one of the oldest stations in the area.   This location first went on the air in 1941 with 5000 watts and remains active today  with 10000 watts day and 5000 watts night.  The towers are original  and as you can see in the photos well maintained to WMAL’s credit.  The old studios are now used for storage and other things but the cigarette stained sound proofing on the walls, steel desks and a few remaining radio artifacts that remain remind you of the long history of service the station has had in the area.  Click here to see more  photos.