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Does anyone remember

D

dxer720

I was cleaning out a file drawer in my "shack" & came across a cassette recording of a LW time station with the callsign of WGU-20. Among other programs written on the tape box's card, it just says WGU-20 & the reequency of 179 KHz. The station broadcast Naval Observitory time, which I believe to be EST. Judging by the tape itself & the radio the card says I used, it might be somewhere between 1981 & 1984. If anyone can tell be a bit more about this station, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks you.
 
A Wikipedia entry about this station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGU-20) indicates that it was a longwave station from the 1970's run by a predecessor of FEMA and was planned to be an outlet for emergency information in the case of an enemy attack. The plans never panned out and the plug was reportedly pulled after a few years. Well, at least there was once something on longwave over on this side of the pond!

Personally, I don't remember this station - but it's demise also seems to coincide with the advent of NOAA Weather Radio - another venue that is periodically discussed when the subject of "emergency government radio" is brought up.
 
I heard it from Florida (it ran a test loop) and QSLed it. They also sent a large format 4-color booklet, both of which I still have. The transmitter was mounted on these giant springs designed to absorb nuke shockwaves so that the cockroaches could still hear the station afterward.
 
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