Posted on by Jeff G

Franklin Institute W3TKQ Amateur Radio Station Updated in 1962 (With Sound!!)

You may recall a previous post HERE where I show an original QST card from the original W3TKQ ham radio station, located in the Franklin Institute in 1958.

Well as all things go with technology, the station needed an update after a few years, and in May 1962, Dr. Wynn Laurence LePage, W3QCV, then president of the Franklin Institute, introduced a new, updated W3TKQ station…

The new station was outfitted with a glass enclosure, and utilized equipment donated from Collins Radio, the phone company, and other vendors.

The new station also ushered in a partnership with the Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club, who would help run and demonstrate the station for years to come, with a third version in the early 1990s, until 2002, when the Franklin Institute shut down the radio station. The Phil-Mont club is still an active ham radio club in the Philadelphia area and surrounding suburbs.

Thanks to Phil-Mont, I have an actual sound clip of the actual 1962 dedication of the updated radio station here! You can hear the entire thing by joining the Phil Mont club, which includes a historical DVD of the club’s activities over the years. Lots of cool stuff on it!

Approx 10 minute Audio Clip from the 1962 Dedicatation of the new W3TKQ station at the Franklin Institute

You can read the full history of the W3TKQ station on Phil-Mont’s web page here: http://www.phil-mont.org/tfi-hist.html. Stay tuned for another post about W3TKQ, showing it’s final 1990s station.

If you have a story or memory about the W3TKQ station, please leave a comment below!

3 Replies to “Franklin Institute W3TKQ Amateur Radio Station Updated in 1962 (With Sound!!)”

  1. How I remember so well visiting W3TKQ. This station represented the best of the best, a flagship for amateur radio. I took a class to become an amateur radio operator at the institute in 1963-64. When we passed our test, we were permitted into the inner sanctum of W3TKQ, and for a young operatior, it was like a dream come true. I still have my W3TKQ QSL.

  2. When I was 6 or 8 years old I remember my Father Joe K3HIJ (SK) taking me to see the station when it was on the first floor of the Franklin Institute. Dad was given a chance to operate the station that day. After his death in 2010, I decided to the my Ham License and now I have it and I have his old call sign.

  3. As the last Trustee of W3TKQ NOW W3AA I have very fond memories of operating the station. I was saddened at the closure in 2002 and have not returned to the Museum. I remember with great fondness standing on the roof near the Sattelite antennas with Jake AK2I running them thru the next mornings track for the Shuttle contact and having then point at a neighboring skyscraper in the path. I turned to Jake and in all seriousness told him he had till morning to have that building removed. He never cracked a smile and said he would do what he could. The rest was history for Phil-Mont. Thanks for all the great Memories.

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