WA2XMN is an experimental FM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

which broadcasts sporadically from the

Armstrong Tower The Armstrong Tower, also known as Alpine Tower, is a distinctive (425 foot) tall lattice tower featuring three large cross-arms, located atop the Alpine, New Jersey palisades overlooking the Hudson River a few kilometers north of New York City ...

in Alpine, New Jersey. The station commemorates the pioneering broadcasts of the world's first FM radio station,

W2XMN W2XMN was an experimental FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey. It was constructed beginning in 1936 by Edwin Howard Armstrong in order to promote his invention of wide-band FM broadcasting. W2XMN was the first FM station to begin regula ...

, built by Edwin Howard Armstrong, which began experimental broadcasts from this tower in June 1938 followed by full power broadcasting beginning on July 18, 1939. Armstrong's station signed off as

KE2XCC KE2XCC, first authorized in 1945 with the call sign W2XEA, was an experimental FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey and operated by inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong. It was located at the same site as Armstrong's original FM station, W2X ...

on March 6, 1954. WA2XMN broadcasts at 42.8 MHz, one of the frequencies used by Armstrong's station on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band. Transmitting from near the top of the 425-foot tall

, which sits on top of the 500-foot-tall Pallisades (for a total height of over 900 feet

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

), WA2XMN has a listening range of roughly 60–100 miles. The building at the base of the tower still has the W2XMN

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

engraved above the entrance. The station signed on using a restored Phasitron transmitter built by Steve Hemphill, with technical assistance from

WFDU WFDU (89.1 MHz branded as ''89.1 WFDU'') is a non-commercial, college radio station licensed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Founded in 1971, WFDU's studios are on campus, with its transmitter on the Armstrong Tower in ...

89.1, which has broadcast from the tower since its first sign on in 1971. The WA2XMN broadcasts have been simulcast on WFDU's FM signal and internet stream, allowing listeners who lack a VHF receiver that can tune to 42.8 MHz to listen to the broadcasts.

References

External links

*
FCC Experimental License for WA2XMN
{{Coord, 40, 57, 39, N, 73, 55, 21, W, type:landmark, display=title Radio stations established in 2005 Alpine, New Jersey