DX RX The Doctor of DX prescribes the answers to your problems, low and high, near and far. A how to of what for, by Mike(aka Billy)Graham, K7CTW

The Father of DX

This is precisely the dilemma Guglielmo Marconi faced in the spring and summer of 1901, as he prepared to take the gamble of his life. For six years Mr. Marconi had been improving upon his initial experiments with “wireless”. He had put himself heavily into debt, had formed the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, had begun selling his equipment to shipping lines, and was extending the distance over which radio signals could reliably be sent. Signals were now routinely being sent over distances of 35 miles. Yet he also knew, that in order to make his invention truly viable and to make him a wealthy man, he would have to significantly increase the distance over which his radio sets could communicate.

If he had listened to and accepted the widely held theories of the day that “wireless” communications would never extend much beyond line of sight, it would have been left to some other person to eventually discover that these theories were false. But somehow Marconi was convinced that radio waves were not hampered by the curvature of the earth, and that communications over vast distances was very doable. To prove his hunch, he set upon a course of action which would not only disprove the theories and set the scientific community back on its ear, but would completely change the course of history. He would bridge the mighty Atlantic Ocean with his radio signals!

During the spring and summer of 1901, he set about building a huge circular antenna array 60 meters high on the coast of Cornwall in Great Britain. Sir Ambrose Fleming, now a Marconi Wireless employee, was commissioned to fashion a very powerful wireless transmitter at the site. The game plan was to transmit radio signals from the Cornwall site to a location on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Transmitting equipment would not have to be set up in North America, but receiving equipment would need to be brought over and antennas erected on the chosen spot.

Just two weeks before he was to sail to America, Marconi’s transmitting antennas were blown down in a fierce gale which struck Cornwall. Undaunted, he erected a scaled-down version of the transmitting antennas, and set sail for the North America, albeit nervous about his prospects for success.

Storms had also ravaged his large receiving antenna arrays on Cape Cod, and he determined to proceed to Newfoundland to set up his receiving equipment and antennas. As Newfoundland is the most easterly point of the North American continent, he felt that this location would give him the best chance to succeed. Marconi brought specially made kites and receiving aerials. To add insult to injury, the ocean crossing was ten tempestuous days of storms. Once in Newfoundland, he endured another three days of storms which carried off his balloons and three of four kites before he was ready to attempt the experiment.

On the morning of December 12, 1901 Marconi finally managed to get a vertical wire up about 400 feet with the help of his last kite, and shortly after noon that day he began listening. The history books record that very shortly thereafter he hastily scribbled in his diary having received the single letter “S”. His journals also indicate that he successfully received signals at least 25 times that day. For the next several days he continued his vigil, recording the various times that signals were received. But it was not until December 16 that he finally announced to the waiting press the news that he had been successful, after coming to the conclusion that he was not going to be able to substantially increase signal strength. The press releases rocked the scientific world, disproving the line of sight theory.

And yet, despite all of this and the eye witness accounts of many disinterested parties, there were those within the scientific world who did not believe that Marconi had actually accomplished the feat. Most notable among these was Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, and perhaps the one person who, as a result of Marconi’s success, might suffer the greatest monetarily. He is reported to have told a news reporter “I doubt Marconi did that. It’s an impossibility.”

On the other hand, the great American genius and inventor Thomas A. Edison, every bit the equal of Mr. Bell and then some, far more generously stated “I am astonished. I would like to meet this young man who had the monumental audacity to attempt and succeed in jumping an electric wave clear across the Atlantic Ocean.” Another reporter asked Edison if he believed Marconi was telling the truth. Edison retorted “If Marconi says it’s true, it’s true!”

Despite this wonderful press, Marconi’s company continued to languish for another ten years, and Marconi’s financial difficulties did not disappear. By 1911 fewer than 400 vessels were equipped with wireless rooms. It took one of the most infamous sea disasters of all time to finally drive home to the world the great value of wireless. On the night of April 14, 1912 the passenger liner Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank just off the coast of Newfoundland. It was the wireless transmissions from the mortally wounded vessel which brought other ships to the scene. In the process, 711 people were saved from certain death. Had the vessel California’s sole radio operator still been on duty at the time of the SOS, most of the other 1500 people who perished in the disaster might have been saved. The California passed within eyesight of the stricken vessel and continued on its way, unaware of the plight of the great ship.

For the first time in history, the press was able to report on a major international news story about events happening far at sea, long before the rescue ships arrived back in port. Marconi became an instant hero and his company would never again suffer financial difficulties. As a result of the findings of the Board of Inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, all seagoing vessels were now required to have wireless sets aboard. While Marconi was grateful for the praise he received, he was not overjoyed by the incident which precipitated it. Throughout the remainder of his life, he and his co- workers continued work on improving radio communications, which we richly benefit from today. Upon his death in 1937, Guglielmo Marconi’s achievements and contributions to science and humanity were remembered by a two-minute world-wide radio silence.