Daily Archives: 2/1/2010

The Wireless Amateur in Times of Disaster (1913)

The more things change, the more things stay the same:

MR. B. N. BURGLUND, whose description of the wireless station at the University of Michigan, appeared in our March number, writes us an interesting letter on the part played by wireless amateurs during the recent floods in the Middle West in March. He has much to say in praise of those who did good work and rendered efficient service; and he also condemns, in no uncertain terms, the meddler who, we are sorry to admit, appears to be always on the job and gets in his fine work at such times. One of these individuals, possessed of a powerful transmitter, and ignorant of the code except to the extent of being able to recognize a few well-known calls when he heard them, persisted in calling the station at the University of Michigan while the operator there was trying to handle messages from the flooded districts. He was told, repeatedly, to keep out, but being ignorant of what was said to him, and thinking his calls were simply being recognized, kept on calling. And he kept it up for over six hours. The wireless law provides a heavy penalty for offenses of this sort, but he did not sign an understandable call and will probably never be caught.

via The Wireless Amateur in Times of Disaster (1913).

Radio History: The book of wireless telegraph and telephone : being a clear description of wireless telgraph and telephone sets and how to make and operate them, together with a simple explanation of how wireless works

The early history of radio is quite fascinating, and luckily, lots of books from this early period are out of copyright and are available for free on the Internet. As an example, check out The book of wireless telegraph and telephone by A. F. Collins. This was radio in its infancy, when the use of vacuum tubes to create continuous oscillations was “the new wireless”, and the majority of stations were still using spark gaps. While you can’t legally operate spark anymore, it is still interesting to read these kinds of books, which offered pragmatic advice to the experimenters of the day on how they could construct and deploy their own wireless stations. Very nice.

The book of wireless telegraph and telephone : being a clear description of wireless telgraph and telephone sets and how to make and operate them, together with a simple explanation of how wireless works.