From the report:

"Cooling Radio Station was constructed to house the ‘Multiple Unit Steerable Antenna’ (MUSA) system developed by Friis and Feldman in the 1930s. The MUSA array was the last major technological development in the shortwave era and represented the ultimate shortwave receiving system. It is believed that only two other stations using the MUSA system were built in the world: the experimental array constructed near Holmdel, New Jersey, and one other full array at Manahawkin, New Jersey.

Unlike the mechanical operating system employed at Manahawkin, Cooling Radio Station was unique as it was controlled by an electrical phase-shifting system. In total, the receiving equipment at Cooling utilised 1,079 valves making it both complicated and expensive. The MUSA system was probably the most complex radio ever built and gave valuable service between the 1940s and 1960s. During the last stage of shortwave transatlantic communication prior to the rise of satellites, an experimental shortwave receiving system was constructed at Cooling. The ‘Multiple Direction Universally Steerable Aerial System’ (MEDUSA) had the potential to be the next major development in global shortwave communication.

During the early years of the Second World War, Cooling was also the site of an Admiralty direction finding (D/F) station." (1)

The full history of the site, the technology and the development of the experimental apparatus has been detailed. (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2010, Cooling Radio Station, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: An Introduction (Unpublished document). SKE16235.

<2> English Heritage, 2010, Cooling Radio Station, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: An archaeological investigation of a short-wave receiving station (Monograph). SKE25193.