VINTAGE HAM RADIO QSL CARDS 1925 BROADCAST RECEPTION RPT SCHENECTADY, NY

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VINTAGE HAM RADIO QSL CARDS 1925 BROADCAST RECEPTION RPT SCHENECTADY, NY :
$13.26

VINTAGE HAM RADIO QSL CARDS

An early 1925 Broadcast Reception Report sent from Schenectady,NY to radio WEAO

By 1922, the experimental 8XI was replaced with official call letters from federal radio authorities — WEAO. The transmitter power of the AM station increased to 100 watts, making it the first radio station in Columbus and one of the earliest educational radio stations in America. A few years later, a contest by the station branded the meaning of the call letters as “Willing, Energetic, Athletic, Ohio.”

University President William Oxley Thompson commented in his inaugural address on the now “official” radio station:“We are starting tonight the first of a series of programs of entertainment and instruction for the citizens of Central Ohio. These programs will be of the highest type, including music, science, and other subjects of popular interest. Happily, Columbus’ first radio program is being broadcasted from Ohio State University.”

In its first year of existence, WEAO began working closely with OSU Athletics to broadcast football games from the newly christened Ohio Stadium. In these early years, the station also aired market reports, weather forecasts and news of interest every afternoon with Thursday evenings reserved for live musical entertainment and educational lectures. All programming was local, live and limited. The station was on the air about 20 hours weekly because it was sharing its frequency with a commercial station.

The transmitter and antenna upgrades did mean a greatly enhanced signal and the staff was excited to hear from listeners in Toronto, Vermont, Florida and even Waco, Texas. Most wrote the station to complement its coverage of Buckeye football. When WEAO aired several Buckeye basketball games for the first time in 1924, the station received a new flood of cards from fans from Winnipeg, Chicago, New York City, Boston, and Dallas.

Old QSL Cards are often displayed using tacks and hang around on a Radio Shack wall for years. This can have a negative

effect on the paper and the cards presentation. Moisture and humidity can also cause damage to the surface of the card.