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[[Image:WSY logo.png|right|150px]] | [[Image:WSY logo.png|right|150px]] | ||
'''WSY''' was a 500-Watt AM radio station operated by [[Alabama Power]] in the early 1920s. | '''WSY''' was a 500-Watt AM radio station operated by [[Alabama Power]] in the early 1920s. It was [[Alabama]]'s first licensed radio station, and the 127th in the United States. | ||
[[Donald Beatty]] constructed an unlicensed experimental voice station, called '''WIAG''', on the 2nd floor of [[Matthews Electric]] on the 200 block of [[1st Avenue North]] in [[1921]]. He used the station to broadcast weather reports to receiver-equipped aviators and had his girlfriend, [[Mary Alice Beatty|Mary Alice Gatling]], play piano over the air. Her Chopin etude wasn't loud enough to be picked up, but her more powerful rendition of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was loud enough to blow out much of the amplification equipment. | [[Donald Beatty]] constructed an unlicensed experimental voice station, called '''WIAG''', on the 2nd floor of [[Matthews Electric]] on the 200 block of [[1st Avenue North]] in [[1921]]. He used the station to broadcast weather reports to receiver-equipped aviators and had his girlfriend, [[Mary Alice Beatty|Mary Alice Gatling]], play piano over the air. Her Chopin etude wasn't loud enough to be picked up, but her more powerful rendition of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was loud enough to blow out much of the amplification equipment. | ||
Alabama Power purchased Beatty's equipment and launched WSY as | Alabama Power purchased Beatty's equipment and launched WSY as on [[April 24]], [[1922]]. They utilized a "wired wireless" means of transmitting their signal via high-tension power lines in order to communicate to isolated steam plants and rural work crews. Not long after, the company began receiving letters from residents across the state thanking them for broadcasting things like weather reports and making programming suggestions. The utility responded by adding interviews, stock quotes, an orchestra composed of Alabama Power employees, a show featuring a Tuskegee Institute quartet, and five [[Birmingham]] church services to their programming. As one of the country's earliest radio stations, WSY had the ability to reach people as far away as Canada and Cuba. | ||
In January [[1923]], the station's studio was moved to the radio department in the top floor of Loveman's | WSY's first studio was located at 1921 [[Powell Avenue]]. In January [[1923]], the station's studio was moved to the radio department in the top floor of the[[Loveman's|Loveman, Joseph & Loeb Department Store]]. By the fall of that year, the station was so successful Alabama Power faced having to hire employees dedicated solely to running the station. The company opted instead to get out of the radio business. The station's equipment was donated to [[Auburn University|Alabama Polytechnic Institute]], which would later become Auburn University, and used to launch [[WAPI-AM]] in [[1925]]. | ||
== References == | == References == | ||
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[[Category:19th Street North]] | [[Category:19th Street North]] | ||
[[Category:1921 establishments]] | [[Category:1921 establishments]] | ||
[[Category:1922 establishments]] | |||
Revision as of 13:18, 20 March 2010
WSY was a 500-Watt AM radio station operated by Alabama Power in the early 1920s. It was Alabama's first licensed radio station, and the 127th in the United States.
Donald Beatty constructed an unlicensed experimental voice station, called WIAG, on the 2nd floor of Matthews Electric on the 200 block of 1st Avenue North in 1921. He used the station to broadcast weather reports to receiver-equipped aviators and had his girlfriend, Mary Alice Gatling, play piano over the air. Her Chopin etude wasn't loud enough to be picked up, but her more powerful rendition of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was loud enough to blow out much of the amplification equipment.
Alabama Power purchased Beatty's equipment and launched WSY as on April 24, 1922. They utilized a "wired wireless" means of transmitting their signal via high-tension power lines in order to communicate to isolated steam plants and rural work crews. Not long after, the company began receiving letters from residents across the state thanking them for broadcasting things like weather reports and making programming suggestions. The utility responded by adding interviews, stock quotes, an orchestra composed of Alabama Power employees, a show featuring a Tuskegee Institute quartet, and five Birmingham church services to their programming. As one of the country's earliest radio stations, WSY had the ability to reach people as far away as Canada and Cuba.
WSY's first studio was located at 1921 Powell Avenue. In January 1923, the station's studio was moved to the radio department in the top floor of theLoveman, Joseph & Loeb Department Store. By the fall of that year, the station was so successful Alabama Power faced having to hire employees dedicated solely to running the station. The company opted instead to get out of the radio business. The station's equipment was donated to Alabama Polytechnic Institute, which would later become Auburn University, and used to launch WAPI-AM in 1925.
References
- Carmichael, Mary Alice Beatty (1998) Donald Croom Beatty: Alabama's Aviator, Explorer, and Inventor' self-published
- Spencer, Thomas. (February 6, 2007). "Early days of radio on display." The Birmingham News.
- "WSY: 1922–1992". PDF (1992).
- "History of WAPI." (n.d.) WAPI-AM. Accessed February 7, 2007.