August 1989

The original German shortwave station came to be known as "Zeesen" for the town near Berlin where its antennas were located. It began organized broadcasting in 1933, using directional antennas in place of the usual dipoles of the time.

The top card depicts the large Zeesen antenna farm. Power was 5 kw at first, but soon increased to 20 kw. Each frequency had distinct call letters (call letters were widely used by all stations in the early days of shortwave broadcasting). From an editorial note in the July 1934 issue of Short Wave Craft magazine: "Even now the Zeesen station is laying down a surprisingly powerful signal in the eastern part of the U.S. . . . The 'loudspeaker' music was so loud on a 7-tube shortwave superhet that the volume control had to be turned way down. Even then it could be heard all over the house."

Sound a little like another German station that you might have heard?