Besides the shortwave station LONO, there have been lower power Medium Wave (AM) stations, mostly broadcasting between islands, and almost all commercially operated.

One station began in a most unusual way, and run by a most unusual person.

August "Gusty" Greene, owner-operator of the Blue Falcon Inn on Casino Island, had applied for a AM radio station permit from the Radio Board of the Island Althing, but was denied, since he could not prove that his sole intention was to promote his entertainment business.

Undaunted, he studied the established broadcasting laws, and discovered a loophole. Unlicensed transmitters with an effective raditing power (ERP) of 0.5 watts or less could be operated, as long as the broadcast content did not violate any broadcasting laws. Greene contacted local missionary Reverend "Beefy" Binghamton, who had experimented with a low power transmitter to educate the local natives on the principles of radio and electronics. Since his transmitter was no longer being used, Green contacted Binghamton, and after a few phone calls, Binghamton exchanged the unused radio gear for a sizable (and tax-deductable) "donation" to his ministry.

On August 4, 1930, Greene's birthday, the 1/2 watt "Blue Falcon Radio" went on the air at 777 kc, with a live broadcast of the establishment's house band, the TradeWind Ramblers. Advertised locally via handbills, the station, despite the small signal, was a success, primarily due to the location of the antenna atop the inn's roof. Later, a sophisticated "4-bay" antenna was erected, sending the 1/2 watt signal in four different directions.

Having been bitten by the radio bug, Greene wanted to expand his station's reach. While he was limited to only one 1/2 watt transmitter, there was no law forbidding the rebroadcast of the signal with another transmitter, as long as they were not owned by the same person.

Hence, the formation of the "Casino Island Business Co-operative", the brainchild of Greene's talent for finding and exploiting legal loopholes. For a "partnership fee", participating businesses would be given a special radio receiver and a pre-tuned 1/2 watt transmitter to place in their business, In return, their business would be mentioned in the nightly broadcasts with the other co-op members, provided they carried the signal originating from the Blue Falcon Inn.

Businesses that were out of range of the Blue Falcon's signal would have the feed sent to them by direct wire via a "special arrangement" with the local utility company (Bribery was suspected, but never proven). Transmitters were set to frequencies that would not interfere with each other, and the "rebroadcasters" would communicate with each other via a special party line telephone number.

On December 31, 1930, "Casino Island Co-op Radio" broadcast the entire New Years Eve party from the Blue Falcon, and as promised, every time the band went for a break, the businesses were mentioned with a brief discription of the products and services they offered. The combined signal, on four different frequencies, covered the enitre island.

Several days later, Greene was brought before a tribunal meeting of the Radio Board of the Island Althing, charged with violating broadcast licensing laws. Uncharacteristically, he defended himself in the hearing, insisting before the board that the "network" was indeed a business co-op, and that the co-op itself operated as a non-profit venture. The board reluctantly ruled in Greene's favor, and the broadcasts continued every night.

When Greene announced that he was considering expanding his radio co-op onto Spontoon's main island (which, he hinted, might even include broadcasts from a "radio ship"), the Radio Board, fearing another "spider web" of micro-transmitters, finally gave in and granted Greene his Medium Wave radio license, provided that he include required news, weather and public affairs programming into his station's schedule.

On July 7, 1931, the final broadcast of "Casino Island Co-op Radio" featured the Trade Wind Ramblers playing live. On 11:30 PM, the final song, a local Spontoon melody entitled "Goodbye, But Not Farewell" was played, and the station's many transmitters fell silent. 31 minutes later, at 12:01 AM on July 8th, licensed station LON2C went on the air at 845 kc, with the Trade Wind Ramblers playing "Hold That Tiger".

LON2C, whose signal reached the entire archepelego and about 7 miles out to sea, was a commercial success, but the Co-op's many transmitters proved to be a nightmare to untangle. An anonymous technician from the United States, flown in to help dismantle the network, wrote in the margins of a technical log:

"This whole God-forsaken set-up is like a gigantic string of Chinese firecrackers! Signals were arranged to bounce off of buildings and reverberate at crazy angles with two-bay, three-bay, four-bay rigs, and even a crazy attempt at a five-bay antenna! The feed lines for the outer transmitters were so hap-hazardly linked together, often with signals designed to "leak" out of some feeds, that if lightning struck anywhere along the network, half the island would have probably burned down!"

True to his word, Greene exchanged "partnership fees" into the co-op for shares in radio station ownership, and bought back all the 1/2 watt transmitters and related radio gear. He later resold the equipment to "ham" radio operators overseas at a hefty profit.

Sources:

"Radio-Telegraph History of Spontoon"; Radio Board of the Island Althing (Official Archive Publication, 1940)

Technical Logbook Entries 1930-1931; Casino Island Co-op Radio

Technical Logbook Entries 1931-1932; LON2C, Casino Island, Spontoon

Tribunal Records, January 4, 1931; Radio Board of the Island Althing

"Blue Falcon Inn to Start Low-Power Radio Station"; Island Birdwatcher, July 20, 1930.

"Blue Falcon Owner to Blanket Casino Island With Low-Power Radio": Island Birdwatcher, October 20, 1930

"Gusty Greene Gets Go-Ahead, Co-op Radio to Be Replaced with Licensed Station"; Island Birdwatcher, June 31, 1931

Interviews with former members of the Casino Island Business Co-operative