Bolinas High Power, CA
In his wonderful book "My San Francisco Story" Cmdr. Richard Johnstone talks about the radio stations and radiomen of the San Francisco Bay Area. When speaking of the former Marconi, then RCA, point-to-point transmitting station in Bolinas he always refers to is as "Bolinas high power", a resonant title if there ever was one.
The station began with a 230kw rotary gap in 1914 using the call KET. The receive site in Marshall on the east shore of Tomales Bay. After WWI, when the assets of the American Marconi Co. were absorbed by RCA, the spark transmitter was replaced by two Alexanderson alternators, each capable of 200kW. The Bolinas alternators continued to use the call KET on a frequency of 22.9kc (13,100 meters).
Later, after the discovery of the short waves, tube transmitters were installed, connected to stacked rhombic, curtain and fishbone antennas.
By 1930 there were 24 HF circuits originating at Bolinas, each with its own three letter call. Here are some examples:
KEB - 6825.5kc
KEL - 6860.0kc (see below for photos of the original KEL transmitter)
KEI - 10620.0kc
KKQ - 11950kc (see below for a QSL letter from KKQ)
KEM - 15490.0kc
KQG - 18000.0kc
The transition to short wave for commercial point to point work meant that the Marconi receiving station in Marshall was no longer suitable as there was not enough flat ground for the multiple antennas short wave required. RCA send Dr. Harold Beverage to California to find a new location for the point to point receive site. He selected an area of ranch land on the Point Reyes peninsula with room the multiple high gain antennas. The station used triple diversity for receiving with three antennas for each circuit replicated in the A, B and C antenna fields. The Point Reyes point to point receive site was put into service in 1929 while the KPH receive site remained at Marshall. Both services used transmitters at Bolinas. The KPH receive site was moved to Point Reyes when the station re-opened after WWII.
The original KPH operating room at Point Reyes was in the former lunch room toward the front of the building on the first floor. The rear of the first floor was occupied by the batteries and charging system for the point to point receivers upstairs. When the point to point receivers were changed to AC operation the battery room became available and KPH moved into the newly vacated area.
The RCA point-to-point service at Bolinas and Point Reyes remained in service until 1973 when the last circuit - to Tahiti - was terminated.
