Aspidistra (transmitter)
Coordinates: 51°2′33.70″N 0°6′15.15″E / 51.0426944°N 0.1042083°E
Aspidistra was a British medium wave radio transmitter used for black propaganda and military deception purposes against Nazi Germany during World War II. At one time, it was the most powerful broadcast transmitter in the world. (The contemporary German Goliath transmitter was more powerful, but used only for radiotelegraphy.) Its name - after the popular foliage houseplant - was inspired by the comic song The Biggest Aspidistra in the World, best known as sung by Gracie Fields.
The transmitter was installed in 1942 at a purpose-built site near Crowborough in southeast England. This was equipped with other medium wave and short wave transmitters, which also used the Aspidistra name, being known as ASPI 2, ASPI 3, ASPI 4, etc. However, when the name Aspidistra was used on its own it always referred to the original medium wave transmitter (ASPI 1).
After the war, Aspidistra and other transmitters at Crowborough were used for BBC External Service broadcasts to Europe. The station closed in 1982.
Aspidistra broadcast on medium wave AM with 600 kW of power. The transmitter (originally 500 kW) had been built by RCA for WJZ radio in Newark, New Jersey. But at the prompting of Congress spurred on by competition, the Federal Communications Commission later imposed a 50-kW power limit on all US stations. RCA was therefore glad to sell it overseas and the British Secret Service bought it for £165,000.
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