Abstract :
A new radio transmitting station has recently been built by the Post Office on a 700-acre site adjacent to the original Rugby station. The 28 transmitters installed are suitable for independent-sideband operation in the frequency range 4¿27.5 Mc/s, provide 30kW peak envelope power and can carry both multi-channel telephone and multi-channel telegraph signals. Upwards of 70 aerials (mainly rhombics) will be provided and will cover transmissions beamed on all the main traffic routes. In the design of the station attention has been focused particularly on flexibility, whereby the maximum use can be made of the plant with the minimum staff. This has been achieved by careful attention to the design of the building; by the maximum standardization of equipment; by the segregation of low-and high-power equipment; by the provision of remotely controlled frequency-changing and aerial-switching; and by the inclusion of a central control position from which the station is operated. Staff at this position can start and stop any transmitter, switch to any one of six predetermined frequencies and to the required aerial, fully monitor its performance and quickly locate a fault. The new station was brought into service in October, 1954, and formally opened on the 28th July, 1955; experience of its operation has fully justified the basic design considerations employed in its planning.
