During the year 1901, the ether fairly
crackled with multitudes of electronic wireless communications in many
countries of Europe, as well as in North America, and the Central & South
Pacific. Most of these wireless
communications in Morse Code carried meaningful messages, though there was still
ample experimentation taking place. Much
of the wireless traffic was quite local in its coverage, though there were some
spectacular long distance transmissions as well.
Over
in European waters at the very beginning of the year, on New Year’s Day to be
exact, the “Medora” got waterlogged on Ratel Bank in the English Channel. The “Princesse Clementine” happened to be
passing nearby, and a message was Morsed back to La Panne in Belgium for
assistance. Strangely, the “Princesse
Celementine” itself inadvertently ran ashore 18 days later, and this message
was Morsed to Ostend, also in Belgium.
The
Marconi Company completed construction & installation at their 2 new
wireless stations, one at Poldhu and the other nearby at the Lizard. In addition, Marconi installed wireless
equipment at several other new land stations; in England, Wales, Ireland and at
Niton on the Isle of Wight. Several
ships were also fitted with wireless, including the “Lake Champlain” as the 1st
cargo ship, and the “Lucania” as the 1st Cunard passenger
liner.
Additionally
in 1901, a total of 51 wireless sets were installed on navy vessels using
equipment manufactured under the direction of Captain Jackson at Devonport on
the south coast of England. Other English navy ships received wireless
equipment manufactured according to the Pilsoudski system.
Over
in Germany early in the year, Professor Slaby & Count von Arco developed a
tuned wireless system in which it was possible to receive 2 transmissions on 2
different receivers at the one location at the same time without causing mutual
interference. At the end of the year,
this system was demonstrated before the Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm 2, when
transmissions were received simultaneously from 2 stations, located at a
distance of 2½ miles & 7 miles.
As
a matter of record, Professor Otto Nussbaumer in Vienna yodeled an Austrian
folk song into a wireless microphone, and this melody was heard on a primitive
receiver in an adjoining room. This
event, the transmission of voice & music, is held high in Austria as a
world first.
Two
new Marconi wireless stations were installed on the east coast in the United
States, and these were located at Wellfleet, Cape Cod, and at Siasconset on
Nantucket Island, both in the state of Massachusetts. The original callsign at Cape Cod was CC,
which was later amended to MCC & then to WCC; and the callsign at
Siasconset was SC, which was later amended to MSC.
This
latter station, located at Siasconset, was originally constructed on behalf of
the American newspaper, the “New York Herald”, though a couple of years later
it was sold to the Marconi company. The massive aerial system at Wellfleet,
as well as the one at Poldhu on the Cornwall coast in England, were demolished
during heavy winter storms later in the year 1901.
The
Marconi company participated in the biennial America’s Yacht race off the coast
of New Jersey with wireless equipment on board the “Mindora”, and at a coastal
station at the Navesink Twin Lights Lighthouse.
Two other wireless companies, under Lee de Forest and Dr. Gustav Gehring
also participated, and at one stage some form of intentional jamming began to
take place.
The
Canadian born Reginald Fessenden transferred his Weather Bureau wireless
stations from Cobb Island in the Potomac River to 3 different coastal locations
in Virginia.
Right
at the end of the year, Marconi and his assistant George Kemp installed
wireless equipment in the old hospital building near Cabot Tower at St John’s
in Newfoundland. The young 12 year old
Irving Vermilya travelled with the family clergyman, Pastor Charles Tyndell, to
meet Marconi, and the Italian born inventor gave the young lad a piece of
wireless equipment. When the young lad
returned to his home in Mt Vernon New York, he constructed his first wireless
station. Vermilya later became famous as
the 1st amateur wireless operator licensed in the United
States.
In
the Central Pacific, 5 new wireless stations, under the Marconi system, were
installed on 5 different islands in the Hawaiian group. This new communication network was inaugurated
on March 1. These 5 new wireless
stations, with island location and callsign, were as follows:-
Oahu HU Kauai NW Molaki AM Maui LA Hawaii KA
Down
in Victoria, Australia, the government wireless supervisor, Mr. H. W. Jenvey,
installed a wireless station at Queenscliffe Lighthouse and he made Morse
contact with the royal visitors from England on May 18. The Duke & Duchess of York, who later
became King George 5 & Queen Mary, were traveling on the ship “Ophir”, and
Jenvey made contact with the accompanying navy vessel, HMS “St George”.
Two
months later, a similar wireless welcome was accorded the royal couple when
they visited Hobart, capital of the island of Tasmania. This Morse Code contact was made by Mr. W. P.
Hallam, with his equipment installed in the Long Beach Lighthouse, located on
the edge of the Derwent Estuary.
However,
the triumph of the year has to belong to Guglielmo Marconi himself. At the end of the year, in mid winter,
Marconi and his assistants, George Kemp & Percy Paget arrived by steamer at
St John’s, the capital of the Newfoundland colony, as the island was at the
time. Three days later, they assembled
their equipment in the old hospital building near Cabot Tower on the top of Signal
Hill.
On
December 11, they launched a huge balloon with an antenna attached, but the mid
winter storm blew the balloon adrift.
Next day, Thursday December 12, the 1st kite was also blown
adrift. However, with another kite and the antenna wire attached, Marconi
heard, on an untuned wireless receiver for the 1st time, the letter
S in Morse Code as it was transmitted from Poldhu, on the other side of the
Atlantic.
Actually,
the aerial system at Poldhu was a temporary 150 feet high vertical fan, due to
the fact that an early winter storm had destroyed the original massive aerial
system. According to the various
historians, the wireless signal from Poldhu was radiated on 100 kHz, or 166
kHz, or 500 kHz, or 800 kHz, or 820 kHz, so it is probable that we will never
know exactly which was the fundamental channel, though all of the harmonics
would have been tradiated as well. It is
stated that the power output was 75 kW.
Marconi
had been warned in advance that it was impossible for a wireless signal to
travel across the Atlantic, due to the fact that the curvature of the Earth
presented a pyramidal cone of water 100 miles high. However the bouncing effect of the ionized
layers in the sky was not known at the time.
The
letter S was chosen for transmission from Poldhu, due to the fact that it was
simple and easy to identify, and also because any Morse Code letter containing
a dash could cause an equipment malfunction and put the transmitter off the
air. The 1st reception of the
letter S at St. John’s was detected at 12:30 pm on Thursday December 12,
Newfoundland time, and again at 1:10 pm & 2:20 pm. Both Marconi & Kemp heard the
transmissions a total of 25 times, to which their diary entries at the time
attest.
The
distance between Poldhu & St. John’s is given in various figures, but
Google Earth gives it as 2140 miles, a long distance wireless record at the
time.
A
few days later, right around Christmas 1901, the Canadian government offered
Marconi the opportunity of erecting a large permanent wireless station on Cape
Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Next
month, Ancient DX Report 1902.
(AWR/Wavescan/NWS 194 via Adran Peterso)
