USACE Station WUG2 - West Memphis, AR
Dustpan Dredge B. M. Harrod Sank in 1928 flood - WUG2 Towers on
Left - All Photos USACE
 The WUG2 Towers Flooded - Early 1920s? |
 The WUG2 Radio Room - Early 1920s? |
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 The WUG2 Radio Room - Around 1930 |
 The WUG2 Radio Room - Around 1930 |
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NOTICE: A 1928 government call letter list has revealed that when these pictures were taken in the late 1920s and early 1930s the station's call letters were WYCJ not WUG-2 as shown on this page.
It's fairly obvious that there are two different radio setups shown here. Both setups are CW, but there is a much more substantial building between the towers in the top photo than in the flood picture. The 1920s radio room has wooden walls while the 1930 one is of more substantial construction.
While it may not be obvious in the small image (click the picture for a larger version) the operator in the lower left picture is pounding away on the key - his hand is blurred, as is his head.
In the two lower pictures it appears that the transmitter antenna feed comes out of the top of the transmitter and goes to a dual knife switch in the very upper right corner. The oblong black thing below the knife switch is a handle on a pull cord attached to the switch - probably a quick disconnect for lightening protection.
This document Radio Telegraph and Radio Telephone Equipment provides more information on the early use of radio in the USACE Memphis District.
Repeated flooding of the West Memphis facility led to the 1960s move of the USACE Memphis District administrative offices to the Federal Building in Memphis the shipyard operations to the Memphis Harbor on the south side of the city. Here courtesy of N2JTX is a WUG-2 QSL card from a much later time period (1999).
