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Voice of America Bethany Relay Station | "We will tell you the truth." (with videos) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-06
How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself below in a comment. Today's Coffee Hour is brought to you by the Voice of America Bethany Relay Station.
The Voice of America (VOA) began broadcasting during World War II as a vital tool for countering Nazi propaganda and providing reliable news to occupied territories. Its first transmission aired on February 1, 1942, just weeks after the United States entered the war.
The Bethany Relay Station, located in Ohio, was one of VOA’s critical transmission facilities. Built in 1944, it was equipped with powerful shortwave transmitters to ensure the reach of broadcasts across Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. Its strategic location and cutting-edge equipment made it a centerpiece of U.S. efforts to penetrate Nazi-controlled regions with uncensored news and allied propaganda.
Pictured above is a contemporary picture of the transmitter building and the mechanical antenna switch behind it. When the station closed in 1994 the antennas were removed. The land surrounding the transmitter building and switch building was converted into a park and a shopping center. The transmitter building now houses a museum dedicated to the station and local radio history.
Jump the fold for a bit more on the Voice of America and a video visit to the museum.
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself below in a comment.
This article is continued after the fold and community links
Below is a model of the transmitter building, the switching array, and antennas that is used to explain the how the system works. I suspect the model below is not to scale. The original site occupied one square mile. I think the antennas were spread out a bit more than the model pictured below.
The museum docent explaining the antenna layout on a model of the original transmitter building, the switching matrix, and the multiple antenna arrays. <Click to enlarge image>
Below is the antenna mechanical switching system. There were different antennas carefully aligned to broadcast to specific areas at specific times. The transmitters program could be directed to different antennas using the switch.
The Bethany Antenna Switching Matrix at the station.
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Voice of America, Speaking the truth with 1.5 million watts of power
x YouTube Video
Below is transcript of 4:06 through 6:05 from the above video:
rhombic antennas. rhombic antennas takeoff angle is the point of the diamond. So they were pointed in every which direction. To give you an idea about the rhombic antennas this one looks a little bit bigger than the rest one of the biggest ones was Way South Way north of us from point to point it was 900 feet three football fields There were 24 of theseThetakeoff angle is the point of the diamond. So they were pointed in every which direction. To give you an idea about thethis one looks a little bit bigger than the rest one of the biggest ones was Way South Way north of us from point to point it was 900 feet three football fields And they were these were three wire aerobics because of the amount of power that they were throwing at them. So you can imagine how much cabling is in there and they were up somewhere around 100 up somewhere around 150 feet. What came later were the Sterba curtains these were the ones that were the the Power House. This one was pointed at 23 degrees on the asthma chart which took it right into the middle of Germany. This one was pointed at the middle Mediterranean which gave them North Africa and Greece and Italy in those areas this always comprised of four dipoles. and I'm told that they could put two transmitters on one section of this so now you're at a half a million Watts at 22 DB so everything in back here was all done overhead all the lines were copper lines that were strung on telephone poles. You and I are are kind of blessed that if we need some kind of matching Transformer we go to the catalog and buy something that takes us from this impedance this impedance. All of the matching done in these lines we have a couple pictures around the building they would take somebody took the time to figure out these two copper bars would come in get bent in get closer together and then get bent in again. And what came out the other end was 75 ohms with 150 ohms put in that's how they did all the magic. YouTube: Voice of America, Speaking the truth with 1.5 million watts of power
Volksempfänger VE301 — “people’s receiver” — was a range of low-cost radio receivers produced in Nazi Germany, developed by engineer Otto Griessing at the request of Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda.
As a prelude to WW2 Adolf Hitler made sure that the German public had access to a radio receiver. To the right is a picture of one of the “people’s receiver” that were made available to Germans at a low cost.
The Voice of America broadcasts were sent out at just the right frequency to compete with Hitler’s broadcasts. The first German broadcast of the VOA made the following promise to the German public.
The VOA's announcer, William Harlan Hale, said, “Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth”.
As you can read at the Cold War Radio Museum this noble promise was subservient to the psychological warfare program of the Office of War Information (OWI).
Below is an interesting excerpt from the OWI’s Manual of Information printed up for internal use.
Truth in Propaganda Truth is employed by the Overseas Branch in all its media because truth is on the side of the United Nations in this war and is our most effective propaganda weapon. Truth in military news creates confidence in all our output; truth about all phases of our democratic life (imperfect as it may be in some respects) proves the strength of democracy. However, information is not disseminated abroad merely because it is true —- it must be useful in the psychological warfare program of the OWI, which is designed to shorten the war and thus save lives. The whole story may not always be told, but the story which is told will always be true. United States. Office of War Information. News and Features Bureau. Training Desk. Manual of Information, News And Features Bureau, Office of War Information, Overseas Branch. (Washington: The Training Desk, 1944.) From: Cold War Radio Museum - Quote: “The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth.” — William Harlan Hale
To bring things up to date below is a quote from a recent NPR article about Trump appointing Kari Lake to direct the Voice of America.
President-elect Donald Trump says Kari Lake, a local television news anchor-turned-MAGA politician, will lead the federally funded broadcaster Voice of America. If successful, the move would put a loyalist at the helm of a news outlet that Trump sought to bring to heel under his appointee during the final year of his first term. Trump officials sought to strip the network and its parent agency of their independence during his first term, including actions later found to be illegal and in one case, unconstitutional. NPR: Trump says Kari Lake will lead Voice of America. He attacked it during his first term
Lastly, here are two more videos about the Bethany Relay Station.
Voice of America Museum Tour Part 1, Control Room and WLW 0
x YouTube Video
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Voice of America Museum Tour Part 2, Grounds History and Transmitter Room
x YouTube Video
Regards,
Jonathan (linkage)
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