Time travel at BBC Droitwich 1934 to 2026

To register to attend please register here:

https://localevents.theiet.org/register.php?event=55690c

Plenty of spaces so please ignore the meetup limit of 10

Have you ever wondered what the tall masts at Wychbold, near Drotiwich are or were used for? They are visible for miles around, especially on clear nights when the red aircraft warning lights on them are clearly visible. If so, then come to hear about their history. As a little background, the site was a transmitting station for both medium and long wave radio for much of the last 100years. They provided coverage across a large area of the country so many generations of radio listeners would have depended on their broadcasts, prior to the use of VHF radio.

Speaker:
David Porter
Radio engineer
Dave Porter G4OYX joined the BBC Transmitter Dept as an 18 year old Technical Assistant in 1970 and after training at Evesham and Daventry continued there for a further two years transferring to Droitwich Transmitter in 1972.

After qualifying as an Engineer in 1974, the next station was Washford in Somerset followed by a spell in TV Transmitters at Holme Moss. Then in 1975 a return to radio at Westerglen in Scotland and then a permanent base at Daventry.

After marrying the Station Cook at Daventry we both went to Brookmans Park in Hertfordshire just 18 months before the MF frequency changes in November 1978.

As is often the case modernisation results in automation so a move to the BBC-operated "Voice of America HF Relay Station in the UK" at Woofferton was made in 1982.

30 years later I retired only to return some 11 years later in 2023 for 18 months to supervise the removal of a Marconi 250 kW HF sender from 1963 and installation of a Riz 250 kW sender from 2009 transferred in from the BBC Singapore HF relay upon its closure.

Our son Matt is now a Transmitter Engineer at what is now Encompass Woofferton having been an Installation Technician there in 2008 for 22 months after University.