VOA Site Restoration a Major Ham Radio Project

West Chester ARA hams take a break for a group photo during one of the 15 work sessions it took to remove two of the Voice of America transmitters and reposition the third for display. Front row (left to right) is Tom Baas, KD8C, who directed the clean up; Charlie Stinger, W8GFA, former VOA supervisor who provided technical data and Gary West, K8DEV. Back row (left to right) Herb Nichols, W3EOA; Warren Reihs, WB6QKA; Jim Miller, N8ECI; Jim Kimmel, W8FEJ; and Mark Pyles, W8XLW; and Karl Howat, N8MIQ. [West Chester Amateur Radio Association Photo]

FAIRFIELD, OH, Feb 5, 2003--Ham Radio operators north of Cincinnati, Ohio, are playing a key role in preserving a landmark element in the development in radio communications--the main transmitter relay station for The Voice of America (VOA). For 52 years, until it was decommissioned in 1994, the major VOA relay station was located in Bethany (now West Chester Township). Hams traveling Interstate 75 to the Dayton Hamvention often found themselves distracted by the site's vast antenna farm as they passed by. Plans are under way for the transmitter building, now owned by the township, to become a major radio technology museum that will key on the VOA's mission to broadcast the truth to those living in countries that tried to suppress it.

"The VOA Bethany station represents a key time in the advancement of radio technology," said Gary West, K8DEV, of the West Chester Amateur Radio Association. "We believe we are in a unique position to support the building restoration as well as the technical expertise to create museum displays."

A Bethany VOA 50th anniversary commemorative QSL card from 1992.

Plans call for more than $6 million in restoration and development--funds now being raised through the work of township officials, ham radio club members, historical societies and veterans' organizations. In the meantime, Amateur Radio operators are making use of the building and the station there to promote ham radio and to spread the word about the project.

The club's membership is regularly on the air from WC8VOA ("West Chester Eight Voice of America"), an HF station at the site. "We need to rag chew about the VOA--to talk up the facility and answer questions," said West. "This helps direct people to the West Chester VOA Web site and other information on the Internet."

A control room at the VOA Bethany station following decommissioning of the VOA relay in 1994.

Its regular use of the former VOA location has evolved into a major ham radio recruiting tool for the club. Recently, five Cub Scouts and their parents visited the VOA site where they received a brief background of the installation and a presentation on the future museum, built crystal sets and made QSOs from WC8VOA.

"It was a great recruiting experience," said West Chester ARA President Warren Reihs, WB6QKA. More Scout visits are in the works.

The amateurs involved in the project also have put their technical skills and expertise to use to save the restoration project a huge amount of money. Under the leadership of Tom Baas, KD8C, two of the three remaining transmitters were removed and the remaining unit repositioned and restored for eventual display in the museum.

An antenna system at the VOA Bethany relay station, circa 1952. The VOA antenna farm has been dismantled. [Charlie Stinger, W8GFA, Photo]

"These hams have invested hundreds of volunteer hours in restoring the transmitter," said Charlie Stinger, W8GFA, former VOA plant supervisor who was carrying out cables, amps, and power transformers as a member of the cleanup crew. "They are committed to the project and came each day prepared to work hard." Club officials estimated that doing the work themselves has saved the project almost $600,000 that now can be spent elsewhere in the museum's development.

"The remaining transmitter will not function, but museum visitors will have an idea of what these looked like and how the transmitters operated when we first opened the Bethany station in 1944," said Stinger. And it is a history worth the restoration effort. "When I was serving in Italy at the beginning of World War II, I would listen to the VOA broadcasts," Stinger added. "When I returned home it meant a great deal to be asked to work at the Bethany station. I knew many of my buddies were still listening to and relying on the broadcasts overseas."

For more information, visit the West Chester Amateur Radio Association Web site.--Joe Phillips, K8QOE

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