WCC is now owned by Globe Wireless pending FCC approval of the license transfer.
Globe is soliciting reception reports from SWLs and amateur radio operators and will QSL. Check out the Globe Wireless SWL Corner.
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 09:00:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Christopher A. Bowne" <radiobwn@q.continuum.net>
To: The boatanchors list
Subject: WCC- Ghost Ship on High Seas Radio
Recent postings have inquired about WCC - Cape Cod's venerable high seas radio station. I dropped by the North Chatham receiving and control site yesterday while on a day trip to the Cape with my wife. What follows is a brief report on the state of affairs at old WCC:
Diane and I haven't been on the Cape together since our honeymoon, 20 years ago! ( I only recently returned - see my previous post on the KL7JT Marconi Site VHF Contest operation). I was originally hoping to visit the transmitter site on Forest Beach Road, in South Chatham, but we missed the turn off Rt. 28, and traffic made it hard to go back once we realized we were too far east. I was disappointed, but a short time later, a large tower loomed over the road, supporting multiple wire antennae. Then I remembered - the receiving site was on the other side of town, overlooking Pleasent Bay.
Several old red brick buildings under a myriad of rhombics,. a large LP beam, and a sign confirmed that we had arrived at MCI's WCC World Wide Radio Station. MCI? What happened to RCA? My interest was piqued. I made a quick left into the site entrance. The place looked deserted. Was it still in operation? I passed a sign - "No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted."
Diane started to get nervous. "Not to worry", I reassured her. "I'll just say I didn't see the sign, and besides, this is sort of offical business, anyway. Inquiring Boatanchorites want to know about this place."
We parked in front of a low building that was fed by many antenna leads, both coax and open wire. The only other vehicle on the site was parked in front. As I headed for the front door, someone approached us, asking "May I help you?"
We introduced ourselves to Phil Davison, KK1Q. He said he was the only employee on site at the time, and offered to give us a quick tour.
As we entered the building, any fantasies of seeing row upon row of AR-88s and a cacaphony of CW, clattering teleypes and typewriters quickly vanished. The place was quiet as a tomb. Rows of numbered operator cubicles were just empty desks. Phil explained what has happened to WCC, which, unfortunately, is another story of downsizing, re-engineering, and changing technology in the 90s:
MCI took over the operation following the demise of RCA in the late eighties. Since 1993, the operators of the station are actually several thousand miles away, at MCI's sister station KPH in San Fransisco. Only a few local personnel act as technicians, and as back-up operators, if control from KPH is lost. The receiving station today consists of multiple racks of Watkins-Johnson and Kenwood R-5000 sandbox receivers, all controlled remotely. Received audio from each CW circuit receiver is digitized, and reconverted to audio at KPH. A dedicated T-1 line handles all CW and SITOR data channels, along with receiver control, antenna selection, and transmitter control for the South Chatham transmitter site.
WCC presently handles about 100 pieces of traffic a day, virtually all from foreign flag vessels. This is a mere trickle from the over 1000 per day that was handled when Phil started as an operator in the early 80s. At that time, HRO-500s were in use, and the old mills were being replaced by computer data terminals.
How long will WCC hang on? It depends largely on how long CW remains in use on the high seas. High seas CW's demise has been scheduled, and postponed several times, but continued use by foreign flag ships suggests that it may survive until the turn of the century.
I asked Phil if there was any documented history of the station. He wasn't aware of any, but he knew that many of the Navy operators from WW2 held reunions in Chatham from time to time. Phil doesn't operate much HF on the ham bands, but he was inerested in hearing about the Boatanchors list operation and the CW calling frequencies which I provided him with. Perhaps we will hear him on there sometime soon.
Murphy was lurking, and sucked the last electrons out of our camera battery, so unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures of the site. I intend to check out the South Chatham transmitter site on our next day trip, and will also check out the Chatham Historical Society to see if they have any info on old WCC. Any list members out there who can contribute any info?
73,
Chris Bowne, AJ1G
Stonington, CT
<radiobwn@q.continuum.net>
AMI No. 211 (VT-4C)
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