Ebright Azimuth - Radio Tower History

Radio Tower History

The self-supporting radio tower just south of the benchmark was constructed in 1947 by Western Union as part of an historic C-band microwave radio relay system that linked New York City and Washington, D.C. This site was assigned the name "Brandywine" in recognition of Brandywine Creek located several kilometers to the west and was licensed with the call sign KGB29. Western Union's engineers specified a heavy-duty prefabricated fire tower structure, which allowed the microwave transmitters and receivers to be installed inside the cab. "Dish" antennas, mounted behind the window openings, were aimed towards the adjacent relay stations at Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, 33.8 miles (54.4 km) to the northeast, and Elk Neck near Elkton, Maryland, 30.5 miles (49.1 km) to the southwest.

Like most of their early microwave relay sites, Western Union decommissioned the Brandywine installation near Ebright Azimuth as more-reliable broadband fiber systems were developed. The structure now supports several VHF and UHF land mobile radio antennas.

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