The callsign W2XMN is etched in cement atop the doorway of the small brick transmitter building in New Jersey, not far from the radio tower where history's first FM broadcasts began in 1938. Those steady transmissions became a reality only three years after engineer and inventor Edwin Armstrong had given a public demonstration at an engineering conference, showing that frequency modulation radio could deliver static-free sound, graced with a remarkable fidelity that was previously unheard of.
FM broadcasting will return temporarily to W2XMN's original VHF low-band frequency, 42.8 MHz, beginning at noon on Thursday the 19th of June. The northern New Jersey tower once used by W2XMN will broadcast a repeat of programming first aired in 2005 to commemorate Armstrong's successful FM demonstration in 1935. The content includes interviews wth Armstrong's niece, Jeanne Hammond, and with Tom Lewis, author of the book, "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio."
According to a report on the RadioWorld.com website, a restored Phasitron transmitter will be running 250 watts of power into a vertical antenna.
The structure known as the Alpine Tower is still in use today. Radio station WFDU, the public radio station licensed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, is on the air at 89.1 -- FM, of course.