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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.
Wavescan N297, November 2, 2014
North of the Stone Wall: The Radio Scene in Scotland - 2
In part 2 of the radio scene in Scotland, North of the Stone Wall, we go back to the early 1920s, at the time when the first radio broadcasting stations were installed in Scotland. All four of these early BBC stations were Marconi units rated at 1.5 kW; three operated in the mediumwave band, and one in the longwave band.
Radio program broadcasting came to Scotland on March 6, 1923 with the inauguration of station 5SC in Glasgow with 1.5 kW on 717 kHz. The original studios were located in a confined area, in an attic in Rex House at 202 Bath Street, and the transmitter was installed in the Pinkston Power Station at Port Dundas, a mile north of Glasgow city. The number at the beginning of the callsign 5SC has no apparent real significance within the territories of the United Kingdom, though the letters SC would seem to indicate the first two letters in the territorial name, Scotland.
Subsequent stations that came on the air quite soon afterwards were Aberdeen 2BD 605 kHz, Edinburgh 2EH 328 kHz, and Dundee 2DE 906 kHz. The callsign for each of these three subsequent stations began with the number 2, and the letters in each callsign can be seen in the name of the city of license.
Thus the second radio broadcasting station in Scotland was 2BD (605 kHz) in Aberdeen, a relay station with studios at 17 Belmont Street and the transmitter almost adjoining at the Aberdeen Steam Laundry in Claremont Street. This station was officially inaugurated on October 10 of the same year 1923.
The third station was the lone longwave relay station 2EH (328 kHz) with studios in the back premises of a music shop at 79 George Street Edinburgh and the transmitter in a wooden hut in the quadrangle at the nearby university buildings at Teviot Place on the other side of the main railway station.
In addition to the relay of programs from the network key station 5SC in Glasgow, the Edinburgh 2EH was noted back in that era for the production of its own afternoon programming, and a Children's Hour on Friday evenings. This station was officially inaugurated on May 1 of the following year 1924.
The fourth early broadcasting station in Scotland was 2DE (906 kHz) in Dundee with studios at 1 Lochee Street and the transmitter at the Caldrum Jute Works on nearby St. Salvador Street. This station was inaugurated on November 12 of the same year 1924.
All four of the original mediumwave stations in Scotland were subsequently replaced by the BBC at updated locations with new equipment before the commencement of World War 2 in 1939.
North of the Stone Wall, in Scotland itself, the BBC is on the air these days with a multitude of radio and TV stations throughout the entire country. The BBC Scotland runs separate radio & TV channels in English and in the Gaelic language.
A map indicating all of the AFRS American Forces Radio Stations in the British Isles during World War 2 shows two stations in Scotland. These stations were located at American bases apparently near the two major cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Almost nothing is known about these two stations, except that they operated at very low power, usually 50 watts. It is known that one station was installed in the American Military Hospital at Cowglen, near Glasgow.
No regular shortwave broadcasting station has ever been erected in Scotland, though hobby pirates have been noted at various times. For example, QSL cards show:
However, there have been some program relays on shortwave from Scotland with the usage of relay stations in the northern hemisphere. A licensed internet radio station, Radio Six International in Glasgow, took out several short term relays via shortwave stations in Europe and the United States. The shortwave stations in Europe were located in Italy and Latvia, and the shortwave stations in the United States were WBCQ in Monticello, Maine and WWCR in Nashville, Tennessee. These shortwave relays from Radio Six International were on the air for a period of a little over five years, running from December 2003 to December 2008.