America's First Radio Tour

The year 1922 was the year of America's First Radio Tour. In June the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Automobile Club and the Lincoln Highway Association sponsored a traveling radio event. Two cars were supplied by the Rickenbacker Motor Company. The Tour left Detroit on June 1, 1922 and arrived in Los Angeles July 13th, 43 days later. More here. But this was no broadcasting bonanza, it was a listening tour. On July 10th in San Francisco Mrs Blood was quoted:

"Every night we would tune in, no matter where we were along the Lincoln Highway. One night, when we were nearing Omaha, we listened to Eddie Cantor and Fanny Brice, who are with the Follies in New York. We had a vaudeville star for an entertainer nearly every evening."

The two men in charge were Wallace Blood and O. William Heinz, both Detroit business men and radio aficionados. They were accompanied by their wives. They were showcasing new radio equipped cars following scheduled concerts along their route. William Blood was (probably) the ad man, a partner at Campbell, Blood & Trump. It was a promotional tour.. plain and simple. But in 1922 reception was not a given. In parts of Nebraska and Ely, NV they couldn't receive anything either due to conditions.

The lead car was outfitted with an exceptionally sensitive seven-tube radio receiver built by Tesla Labs. It came with two powerful antennas and a Magnavox "Magnaloud" speaker. The first antenna was a 200 foot loop on the roof, and the second (a back up antenna) was just a 200-foot aerial mounted on the running board. The second was also a supply car to carry stocked with replacement parts to keep the radio working. More here.

Contemporary articles claim they drove 2,800 miles. But even in 1922 that drive wouldn't take 43 days. That's only 65 miles per day. On the other side of Carson City is Lake Tahoe. I suspect they made a lengthy stop there. Route 80 didn't exist yet so it's probable that they took the Lincoln Highway as per their sponsors. But clearly they took breaks, stopped often and didn't exactly hurry. While in Nevada alone they stopped in Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Carson City.

The First Radio Station

The story of Charles "Doc" Herrold and the station SJN from Professor Mike Adams:

First Broadcast from a Train (Part 2)

Back in 2009 I posted a claim that the first broadcast from a moving train was staged in 1932. That post is here. A commenter rightly pointed out that trains did have wireless communication for decades before that. So allow me to walk back my post, and explain why I went with the 1932 date. Factually speaking, the Lackawanna Limited train tests of 1913 and 1914 were transmitted from a moving train. So I'll concede that point. Certainly any radio man with the right gear could have listened in.  But I'll split hairs on one point: This was not a broadcast per se, there was no program of entertainment; these were all intended to be person-to-person transmissions.

The Lackawanna Limited train left New York City on November 21st, 1913. It was the first train in the world equipped with wireless telegraph. Tests were conducted that day and on several later occasions, probably at 1600 meters. On the same Lackawanna train on May 1st, 1914, similar tests were conducted by De Forest radio telephone.

On April 5th, Lackawanna conducted its a public radio phone test on a train called the Cornell Special, that ran between Ithaca, NY and New York, NY. It departed at 12:35 PM and arrived in NYC at 7:10 PM. What was public" about this test was that they had installed speakers in the buffet car, so that passengers could listen to concerts broadcast by the various radio transmitting stations. It was an unheard of luxury at the time. They also had a small transmitting set on board for the purpose of testing the transmission of messages to and from the moving train to amateur radio stations along the route. I'll quote at length from Railway Signaling And Communications, of April 1922:

"The set used was operated by two young radio experts, David W. Richardson of Princeton University, and G. Donald Murray, both of whom were in charge of radio station 3DH of Princeton University. The Lackawanna installed wireless telegraph service at Hoboken, N. J., Scranton, PA, and Binghamton, NY, during the fall and winter of 1913. The installations consisted of standard Marconi apparatus. Five kw. was used at Hoboken and 2 kw. at Scranton and Binghamton, using multiple plate quenched gap and the induced voltage was 20,000 at 500 cycles; wave length 1,600 meters. No difficulty was experienced in maintaining continuous communication and a large amount of traffic was handled. Early in 1914 telegraph sets were installed on the Lackawanna Limited. Motor generators were especially built by the Crocker Wheeler Company, to operate on the 30-volt car lighting service."

The antennae were removed at the beginning of WWI, though it was later re-installed. Wireless radio signaling quickly became indispensable there and everywhere.

The first stations in each state

I didn't do the research on this, but I did check their list twice. And rearranged it into chronological order. It's a list of the first licensed radio stationin each state. Well all know KDKA, and WQAM, and WBZ but the rest are surprises. Also surprising is how long some states took to get it together. It's very interesting, and the rest of the National Radio Club website is also well worth the browsing.http://www.nrcdxas.org/

Pennsylvania KDKA Pittsburgh Oct 27 1920
California KQL Los Angeles Oct 13 1921
Connecticut WCJ New Haven Sep 29 1921
Florida WQAM Miami Feb 1921
Illinois WDZ Tuscola Mar 17 1921
Indiana WGAZ South Bend Sep 25 1921
Mass. WBZ Springfield Sep 15 1921
Michigan WWJ Detroit Oct 13 1921
Missouri WEW St. Louis Apr 26 1921
Nebraska WOU Omaha Dec 29 1921
New Jersey WJZ Newark Jun 1 1921
New York WJX New York Oct 13 1921
Ohio WLW Cincinnati Mar 3 1921
Oklahoma WKY Oklahoma City Apr 21 1921
Texas WRR Dallas Feb 1921
Washington KFC Seattle Dec 8 1921
Alabama WGH Montgomery Feb 3 1922
Arizona KFAD Phoenix Jun 21 1922
Arkansas WOK Pine Bluff Feb 10 1922
Colorado KLZ Denver Mar 10 1922
Delaware WHAV Wilmington Jul 30 1922
Georgia WSB Atlanta Mar 15 1922
Hawaii KGU Honolulu May 1922
Idaho KFXD Logan Utah 1922
Iowa WOC Davenport Feb 18 1922
Kansas WEY Wichita Mar 23 1922
Kentucky WHAS Louisville Jul 18 1922
Louisiana WWL New Orleans Mar 31 1922
Maryland WKC Baltimore Mar 23 1922
Minnesota WLB Minneapolis Jan 13 1922
Montana KFBB Great Falls Jul 11 1922
New Hampshire WKAV Laconia Aug 1922
New Mexico KOB Albuquerque May 1922
North Carolina WBT Charlotte Apr 10 1922
North Dakota WDAY Fargo May 23 1922
Oregon KGG Portland Mar 15 1922
Rhode Island WEAN Providence Jun 5 1922
South Dakota WCAT Rapid City May 9 1922
Tennessee WKN Memphis Mar 23 1922
Utah KZN Salt lake City Apr 21 1922
Vermont WCAX Burlington June 1922
West Virginia WHD Morgantown Mar 16 1922
Wisconsin WHA Madison Jan 13 1922
Virginia WTAR Norfolk Sep 21 1923
Alaska KFQD Anchorage Apr 1924
Maine WCSH Portland Jul 24 1925
Mississippi WDBT Hattiesburg May 1 1925
Nevada KOH Reno Oct 25 1928
South Carolaina WSPA Spartanburg Nov 1929
Wyoming KDFN Casper Jan 2 1930

The first stations in each state

I didn't do the research on this, but I did check their list twice. I also re-sorted it into chronological order. This is a list of the first licensed radio stations in each U.S. state. Well all know KDKA, and WQAM, and WBZ but the rest are surprises. Also surprising is how long some states took to get it together. It's very interesting, and the rest of the National Radio Club website is also well worth the browsing. http://www.nrcdxas.org/

I've tried to space it out to be more readable in Blogger but I've been thwarted by it's "smart corrections" at each attempt. I recommend you click the header to see their work in it's original and more readable glory.

1. KDKA Pittsburgh, PA Oct 27, 1920
2. KQL Los Angeles, CA Oct 13, 1921
3. WCJ New Haven, CT Sep 29, 1921
4. WQAM Miami, FL Feb 1921
5. WDZ Tuscola, IL Mar 17, 1921
6. WGAZ South Bend, IN Sep 25, 1921
7. WBZ Springfield, MO Sep 15, 1921
8. WWJ Detroit, MI Oct 13, 1921 
9. WEW St. Louis, MO Apr 26, 1921
10. WOU Omaha, NE Dec 29, 1921
11. WJZ Newark, NJ Jun 1, 1921
12. WJX New York, NY Oct 13, 1921
13. WLW Cincinnati, OH Mar 3, 1921
14. WKY Oklahoma, OK City Apr 21, 1921
15. WRR Dallas, TX Feb, 1921
16. KFC Seattle, WA Dec 8 1921
17. KFXZ Logan, UT 1922, (moved to ID)
18. WGH Montgomery, AL Feb 3, 1922
19. KFAD Phoenix, AZ Jun 21, 1922
20. WOK Pine Bluff, AR Feb 10, 1922
21. KLZ Denver, CO Mar 10, 1922
22. WHAV Wilmington, DE Jul 30, 1922
23. WSB Atlanta, GA Mar 15, 1922
24. KGU Honolulu, HI May, 1922
25. KFXD Logan, UT 1922
26. WOC Davenport, IA Feb 18, 1922 
27. WEY Wichita, KS Mar 23, 1922
28. WHAS Louisville, KY Jul 18, 1922
29. WWL New Orleans, LA Mar 31, 1922
30. WKC Baltimore, MD Mar 23, 1922
31. WLB Minneapolis, MN Jan 13, 1922
32. KFBB Great Falls, MT Jul 11, 1922
33. WKAV Laconia, NH Aug, 1922
34. KOB Albuquerque, NM May, 1922
35. WBT Charlotte, NC Apr 10, 1922
36. WDAY Fargo, ND May 23, 1922
37. KGG Portland, OR Mar 15, 1922
38. WEAN Providence, RI Jun 5, 1922
39. WCAT Rapid City, SD May 9, 1922
40. WKN Memphis, TN Mar 23, 1922 
41. WCAX Burlington, VT June, 1922 
42. WHD Morgantown, WV Mar 16, 1922 
43. WHA Madison, WI Jan 13, 1922
44. WTAR Norfolk, VA Sep 21, 1923
45. KFQD Anchorage, AK Apr, 1924 
46. WCSH Portland, OR Jul 24, 1925
47. WDBT Hattiesburg, MS May 1, 1925
48. KOH Reno, NV Oct 25, 1928
49. WSPA Spartanburg, SC Nov, 1929
50. KDFN Casper, WY Jan 2, 1930