Numfier 52 — June 1997

‘I'efegrapfi Set By gifEert, {Petty Trance, London

Ursum EDITORIALANDSUBSCRIPTION OFFICES:

. Morsum Magnificat. 9 Wetherby Close.

t Broadstone. Dorset BH18 813, England.lca Phone/FAX: Broadstone (01202) 658474;[SSN 0953.5426 International +44 1202 658474

MORSUM MAGNIFICAT wasfirst published as a quarterly magazine in Holland, in 1983, bythe late Rinus HellemonsPAOBFN. Now published six times a year in Britain, it aims to provideinternational coverage of all aspects ofMorse telegraphy, past present and future. MORSUMMAGNIFICAT is for all Morse enthusiasts. amateur or professional, active or retired. It bringstogether material which would otherwise be lost to posterity, providing an invaluable source of

interest, reference and record relating to the traditions and practice of Morse.

EDITOR Geoff Arnold GBGSR

CONSULTANT EDITOR Tony Smith G4FA1(13 Morley Road, Sheringham. Norfolk NR26 81E. England.

Phone: 01263 821936. e-mail address: tony©morsum.demon.co.uk)MM home page ~ http://www.morsum.demon.co.uk

© G C Arnold Partners 1997 Printed by Hertfordshire Display plc. Ware. Herts

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS:UK Europe Rest of the World

Airmail Airmail _1 Year: £13.00 £14.00 £17.00 % .‘fl.2 Year: £24.50 £26.50 £32.00Payment by Access, Eurocard, Master-card or Visa is also accepted; quote your cardnumber and expiry date, checking that you have written them clearly and correctly.

Overseas cheques. etc., must be payable in Sterling and drawn on a London Clearing Bank.We no longer accept payment via PostGiro or PostCash lntemational, or by

International Money Orders handled through the Girobank system.For security reasons, we cannot accept orders forsubscriptions,magazines, books, etc., via e-mail.

Make all cheques payable to ‘G C Arnold Partners’.

“When does my subscription expire ...?”This ranks as an FAQ — a ‘Frequentiy Asked Question’. generating many a phone call, fax or letter.The answer is to be found on the envelope that contained your latest MM, where the number on thetop line of the address label tells you the last issue you‘ve paid for.Also. we shall jog your memory with a renewal reminder included with that final issue.

ON OUR FRONT COVERBritish ‘KOB'. Galvanometer has label reading "Telegraph Set, Direct Working Intermittent(Baseboard S-C), Gilbert, Petty France London’. With PO sounder and key by ATM, dated1915. Label at front of board is located over wording burnt into the board ‘6 London Div‘.(We understand that 6 London Div was an Army Unit forming part of 111 Corps, togetherwith 12th, 20th, 29th, plus 2nd and 3rd Tank Brigade, which took part in the first day’s

attack on the Somme in WW1. info from John Francis/Wyn Davies.)Photo/Collection: Wyn Davies

CommentRadio Ofl‘icers — the resurrection

ECENT DEVELOPMENTS in the maritime sectorhave highlighted the increasing enthusiasm amongsome of the more enlightened shipowners andmarine agencies for the return of the radio officer.

At the recent GMDSS conference in Plymouth no fewerthan four speakers spoke out in favour of retaining the radioofficer even if the legal requirement to do so has disappearedwith the advent of GMDSS. Why should this wire face haveoccurred? Quite simply because they have now finally realisedwhat a valuable resource they have let slip through their fingers.Talk about ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater...!‘ Butthere’s more. False GMDSS alerts are costing ships’ mastershundreds of hours in wasted time.

At the same GMDSS conference, one master spokestrongly on the subject of poor planning when the wholeGMDSS process was inaugurated some nineteen years ago,resulting in much confusion today. (His point was dramaticallyconfirmed when a senior delegate askedjust howmany GMDSSGeneral Operator’s Certificates were required on board.The resulting confused dialogue proved conclusively that in—

terpretation of IMO regulations left much to be desired.) Todemonstrate how much time was wasted due to false GMDSSalerts, he unrolled just one day’s telex roll which measuredthe length of the conference hall. And his solution? Yes, thereturn of the radio officer.

On a recent trip to Russia and the Ukraine I was advisedby three leading shipping companies that the radio officerwould be retained even after GMDSS had been fitted. It seemsthat they have learned from the European experience that thisversatile officer should not be let go, for you might not get himor her back. Now there is a real shortage of Electronic RadioOfficers and Electronic Technical Officers in European ship-ping. Many R/Os who were made redundant have decided toremain ashore. For younger people there is a real future as aship’s Information Technology Officer. The worm turns!

Paul Durkin

Paul is Secretary of the Radio Officers’ AssociationofEurope (ROAE), and the above item is reproducedwith kindpermission from the April 1997 edition ofQSO, the Association ’s newsletter (see MM47, p.9).

Membership of ROAE has now spreadfarbeyond Europe. Current orpast seagoing radioofficers interested in joining shouldwrite forfurtherdetails to Paul Durkin, ROAE, 73 Maple Drive,Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset TA8 IDH, England.

MM52 — june 1997

Contents2 News10 MM Back Issues10 Radio Bygones11 MM Bookshelf12 Morse Learning Methods

Part 2 — 1911 to 194020 A Morse Link with the

Empire Commemorated24 Showcase26 Coherent CW, a Brief

Outline28 Readers’ ADS29 Behaviour of the Bug —

Hints on How to Tame It32 Short Break

Automatic MorseTransmitter

34 Which Alphabet was That?35 Short Break

This Man Has the Job36 The Paddlette — a review38 Info Please!40 Secret Signals42 Your Letters48 Shipboard Watchkeeping

filth/eras37 FISTS CW Club33 G4ZPY Paddle Keys

International10 G—QRP Club37 MEGS23 The QRP Component Co.

1

Mm;GMDSS Implementation Problems

The Global Maritime Distress and Safe—

ty System, which will replace Morse atsea, is due to be fully implemented by1 February 1999. (See MM38, p.8, for adetailed explanationof what is involved).The following is extracted from reportsposted on the Internet by GMDSS Train-ing Associates of Maryland, USA, whoprovide GMDSS training for individu-als, crews, and fleets in preparation forthe changeover.

‘The GMDSS was designed to pro-vide shore to ship communications dur—

ing an emergency. It requires at leasttwo paths of communication. The ad-vent of INMARSAT (International Mar—

itime Satellite) provided the ability tocommunicate by picking up a telephone.The use of the Marisat communicationshas resulted in a continuing move awayfrom Morse and into technologies whichreflect the computer age.

‘International laws now require thatall ships over 300 tons carry a GMDSSstation by 1999. This means that theremust be two licensed GMDSS radio op—

erators on board. The time is growingshort and the world’s limited capacity totrain over 200 000 officers in two yearswill place a significant burden on theofficers and the schools.’

In a report posted 4 May 1997, thecompany says: ‘The biggest problem isthat there is no way to meet the deadline

2

for all GMDSS ships. Too little trainingcapacity world—wide and not enoughequipment to instal in a timely manner.IMO (International Maritime Organisa-tion) is sticking to the date, but manycountries are balking at the date.

‘IMO has still taken the position that2182kHz and VHF Channel 16 (i.e., thepresent R/T distress frequencies. — Ed.)will be done away with. Other countriesare also balking at this because therewill not be any way for a non-GMDSSship and a GMDSS ship to communi—cate in an emergency. IMO are standingtheir ground, however they will haveto give in by extending exemptions oroptions. There is no other way to dealwith the problem.

‘Because of the problems being ex-perienced in communication in English,rumour has it that some shipping com—

panies have hired back their radio oper—

ators. Strange thing to do, but the wordis that they felt it was necessary until theproblems are ironed out.

‘US companies are beginning tomake the transition to GMDSS. Someare getting rid of the R0, and some arekeeping them. The ones that are keepingthem are doing it because the ROs canwork throughout the ship on electronicand electrical repairs, and can help themaster handle all the ISO/ISM day—

to-day paperwork. The companies whohave made the transition to full use of

MM52 —]une 1997

computer-based daily business and mes-saging seem to be retaining the techni—cally capable R0. The non—technical ROis a thing of the past and has no future.GMDSS has made all the shipping com-panies rethink the way they communi-cate.’

In an earlier posting, dated 14 De—

cember 1996, the company reported:‘Problems with distribution of distressalerts to RCCs (Rescue CoordinationCentres): The RCC closest to the dis-tress is responsible to coordinate the SAR(Search and Rescue). This is proving asignificant problem because several re—

sponsible RCCs are not attainable andthe personnel of a number of RCCs haveno knowledge of the English language.

‘There is an ongoing effort to solvethis problem, but the IMO must comeup with a policy to do this. To date, theIMO has not done this. The IMO mustdevelop specific criteria for RCCs whichhave to carry out the duties of the SARCoordinator.

‘This is a major, significant problemwhich could degrade the entire GMDSSsystem concept. Failure to solve this willleave major portions of the globe whereMorse code will be the best means ofalerting since a “Q” code is understoodin any language. Since we have to over-come a language problem, no short—termsolution is in sight at this time. We feelthat this problem will leave the English—speaking world covered under GMDSS,but those non-English speaking coun-tries will leave major holes in the fabric.This is especially true in undeveloped orthird world countries.’

On 5 December 1996, the companyreported: ‘The 406MHz EPIRBS (Emer-

MM52 — June 1997

gency Position-Indicating Radio Bea—

cons) are experiencing a 90 percent falsealarm rate. Most of these can be readilyexplained, but this level is unacceptable.The false alarm rate is the single biggestproblem for the GMDSS system... Thisis rather embarrassing in light of the factthat the old system, 500kHz Morse, hasless than a 1 percent false alarm rate. Itis easy to see that a lot of work has to bedone.

‘The 1999 date is under attack. Manyefforts are being made to have IMO rec—

ognise that 1999 will have to be movedin order for the training and equippingof ships to occur... A number of admin—istrations have indicated that they willbe keeping the Radio Officer and willalso participate in the GMDSS.’

(The homepage of GMDSS TrainingAssociates is http//www.qpage.com/host/gmdssshtml)

Morse 2000 ConferenceThe Morse 2000 World Conference willbe held on 25—26 October 1997, at theRadisson South Hotel, Bloomington,MN, USA. Sponsored by the UniversityofWisconsin—EauClaire; Trace Research& Development Center-Madison, WI;The Johns Hopkins University Centerfor Enabling Technology; and the Uni—

versity of Wisconsin—Extension, the tar—

get audience for this conference includesClinicians, Teachers, Researchers, Prod-uct Developers, Assistive TechnologyUsers and their families.

An early draft outline of the scope ofthe conference, published in MM34,states, in part:

‘Individuals of all ages who have se-vere motoric and/or sensory disabilities

3

are using newly-developed adapted-access software programs, hardwareperipherals, and learning methods thatallow them full use of microprocessordevices via Morse input from switchesexternal to the computer...

‘This alternative computer accessmethod can help bestow the power ofspeech output, writing, typing, dialling,graphics, music, and other modes ofexpression. Also, Morse code input toactivate mobility and environmentalcontrol devices may open worlds of ed-ucational, vocational, and recreationalopportunities to many persons previous—ly shut out of these pursuits...

‘More than 30 manufacturers/devel-opers of Morse-input hardware or software (for these applications) have beenidentified to date. However, beyondstandard Morse encoding patterns forletters, numbers, and basic punctuation,each manufacturer appears to be devel-oping their own non—standard ‘Morse-type’ patterns for keyboard functionsnot addressed in the original code. Someexamples of these functions includeShift, Alt, Delete, Enter, and othernon-alphanumeric commands/functionsfound on computers as well as cursorcontrol via mouse or keyboard arrowinputs.”

‘A unified, global effort to promoteuse of, research in, and standardisationof Morse code in rehabilitation contexts,as well as in other specialised communi—

cation settings appears essential at thistime. Morse 2000 will begin to addressthese needs.”

Further information about the Morse2000 Conference can be obtained fromDebra R. King, M.Ed., Morse 2000 Out—

4

reach Director, University of Wiscon—sin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54702—

4004, USA. Tel: (715) 836—3990, ore-mail: kingdr@uwec.edu

The Morse 2000 homepage on theworld wide web is at URL hitp2//www.uwec.edu/Academic/Outreach/MorseZOOO/morseZOOOhtml

New RSGB Morse PracticeCo-ordinator

MM reader George M. Allan, GM4HYF,has been appointed by the Radio Socie—

ty of Great Britain as its Morse PracticeService Co-ordinator. His responsibili—ties include organising and directingthe Service which puts out slow Morsetransmissions daily across the UnitedKingdom under the callsign GB2CW;appointing volunteer operators for theService; and providing headquarters withup—to—date schedules of the transmissionsfor inclusion in the Society’s journalRadio Communication,its Call Book andits GBZRS News Service.

Congratulating George on his ap—

pointment the Dundee Amateur RadioClub’s Newsletter, March 1997, reportson his Morse background as follows:‘George’s love affair with Morse beganas a BB (Boys’ Brigade) boy, and by1940 he was teaching it. As a youngman of 18 he was off to sea as a Mer-chant Navy Radio Officer, having at-tained his Certificate of Proficiency inRadio Telegraphy, Second Class. . ., andanother certificate for Visual Signalling,(and he) served on at least six shipsduring the war...

‘Having decided not to make marineoperating a life—long career... he “swal—

continued on page 6

MM52 —]une 1997

The Lord Provost of Dundee andmembers of MEGS raise their glassesto celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Samuel F.B. Morse

MEGS SFBM Celebration SuccessMorse code enthusiasts from all overScotland boarded the Royal ResearchShip Discovery at Dundee, on April27, to celebrate the 206th anniversa-ry of the birth of the code’s creator,SamuelMorse. The enthusiasts, fromas far afield as Banff and Dalkeith,were joined by Dundee’s Lord Prov—

ost, Mervyn Rolfe.His greetings message to mayors

of cities twinned with Dundee weresent out in Morse code from the wire-less cabin on the Discovery... In the1920s, Discovery was fitted withMarconi wireless sets which wereoperated by Royal Navy telegraphistsusing Morse code. There are plans tomake a contemporary restoration ofthe wireless cabin in the near future.(Report from The Dundee Courier,28 Apri11997).

Donald Black, GMOPIV, Public-ity Officer for the Morse EnthusiastsGroup Scotland, reports that the par—ty was very successful. 120 contactswere made, with Japan, Canada,USA, and all over Europe. The LordProvost cut the cake and toasted‘Samuel F.B. Morse’. Jack Nichol—son GMOMFE, MEGS chairman,proposed the toast, ‘Dundee — Cityof Discovery’, and Stewart SpenceGM3YCGpresented a MEGS plaqueto RRS Discovery by way of thanksfor hosting the party.

Stirling and District Amateur Ra-dio Club will host next year’s party,on April 27, 1998, in their shack atMenstrie, mid-Scotland. All CW op—

erators are made welcome at this an-nual MEGS get—together.

Ell/[M52 — june 1997

lowed the anchor” in 1947. Since thenhe has coached many hundreds of ama-teurs through their Morse tests, has beenactively involved for many years in theRSGB Morse Practice Programme andwas appointed a Morse Examiner 11

years ago. Nearly everyone who comesto the MEGS stand at rallies seems toknow George. Most likely he trainedthem, and he can name them all.

‘In January 1991, he called a meet-ing of four fellow amateurs especiallyinterested in Morse at his home in Ru—

therglen, and they founded the MorseEnthusiasts Group Scotland (MEGS)which now has more than 350 members.The founder members, Stewart SpenceGM3YCG, Bob Rankin GMONPS,Peter Gibson GMOGYN, and GeorgeGM4HYF, were the first recipients of(the Dundee) club’s “Joe Kelly Memo-rial Award”, “for fostering Morse”.’

The RSGB slow Morse transmissionsare an invaluable aid to those preparingfor the amateur Morse test, and theamateur service is indebted to all thosevolunteers who provide this facility, nowheaded by George Allan. MM offers itscongratulationsto George on his appoint-ment to this important post.

Arabic Morse Still UsedFollowing the request by MM for infor-mation about the current status of vari—

ous non—English versions of the Morsecode (MM51, page 34), the same re-quest was posted on the MM home pageon the Internet. We subsequently re—

ceived the following e-mail report fromHarry Brooks, N lPG.

‘Just read the www article asking ifArabic code was still used. I am happy

6

to report that it is. I am a Radio Officeron a US merchant vessel, ss Robert E.Lee/KCRD. Our regular run is fromNew Orleans to Alexandria, Port Suez,Aqaba, then down the Red Sea, into thePersian Gulf, and on to India and South—

east Asia.‘I regularly hear JeddahRadio/HZH

working Saudi ships (c/s HZ##) andSudanese ships (c/s ST##) using theArabic code for chatter and msg tfc.Occasionally, PortSudanRadio/STP willmake a short beast in Arabic Morse butthe frequency of this is decreasing.

‘Morse is still frequently used in thisarea. For instance, I copy wx for thenorthern Arabian Sea from KarachiNaval Radio, c/s AQT. I also hear Paki-stani and Indian Naval vessels usingMorse with their shore stations. Indiahas a very active network of MP shorestations with relatively heavy activity.

‘These are: Kandla/VWK; Bombay/VWB; Goa/VWG; Mangalore/VWL;Cochin/VWN; Tuticorin/VWT; Madras/VWM; Vishakapatnam/VWV; Calcutta]VWC', Port Blair, Andaman Islands/VWP; Okha/VWO; Porbander/VWY.The latter two stations are daylight—only.Chittagong/83D and several Malaysianand Indonesian stations are also active.

73, Harry Brooks, NlPG’

Well Done Jessica!On 26 March 1997, 13-year-old JessicaHyde who is profoundly deaf obtainedher Guides Communications Badge bytaking the practical element in Morse,reading the code at 5—6 w.p.m. from thevibrations of a loudspeaker.

Her instructors, Mike Soars G4TCIand his wife Alison GOALI, operated a

MM52 —june 1997

Special Event callsign, GBOJES, inKingswinford, West Midlands, to ena—ble Jessica to meet the badge require-ment of communicating on-the—air, undersupervision, on such a station.

Using the code, she had a full sched—uled ‘QSO’, including callsigns and

Jessica Hyde

procedural signals, with David ‘Duke’Barlow GSPLE, operating from thePoldhu Amateur Radio Club Station,GB2GM, 250 miles away in West Com-wall. She made no mistakes and wasthrilled to communicate with someoneat such a distance without the need forlip reading or visible sign language.

While ‘listening’ to a later contactbetween Mike and Alison’s son IainG3HGI, and RSGB Chief Morse Exam-iner Roy Clayton G4SSH (who had alsomonitored her contact with G3PLE),

MM52 —]une 1997

Jessica was upset when Iain plugged inhis headphones, automatically discon-necting the speaker. It was quickly re-connected so that she could continue to‘hear’ the signals.

Jessica previously obtained herBrownie Communications Badge usingpacket radio. It is thought that she wasthe first Brownie ever to gain that badge,and that this is probably the first timeanyone has met the requirements for theGuide Communications Badge usingCW.

In April there was a press confer-ence at Jessica’s school where she wasfilmed showing her friends what she haddone and how she did it. Local Radio,TV and press picked up the story in theWest Midlands and David Barlow wasinterviewed about it on Radio Cornwall.

The Radio Cornwall announcer saidat the end that he ‘had heard recentlythat Morse was to end as an emergencycommunications method but this storyshowed that it was not finished’.(Report by David ‘Duke’ Barlow,G3PLE)

No-Code InternationalNo—Code International is a new tempo—rary organisation dedicated to the aboli—tion of the Morse code requirement forall classes of Amateur Radio licence. Ithas a web site on the Internet sponsoredby ARRL member Bruce Perens K6BPwho is searching for people who arecommitted to the idea of abolishing thecode requirement and would like to helporganise No-Code International.

He says it is not an anti—ARRLgroup.Instead, it is one dedicated to gettingARRL’s members and leaders to change

7

their minds on the code issue. (Asreported in MMSO, the ARRL Board ofDirectors, at their annual meeting 17—18

January 1997, responding to surveyresults, decided that the ARRL will notsupport changing the existing treatyrequirement regarding Morse code - anissue on the WRC-99 agenda.)

Perens says it is intended to disbandthe organisation as soon as the MorseCode requirement has been eliminatedin all English—speaking countries.

W2AX Attempts to FillShipboard CW Gap

While aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2for an around—the—world cruise earlierthis year, Larry Amodeo, W2AX, ofManhasset, New York, found his CWability suddenly in demand. On Febru—

ary 5, while operating /mm from theship’s ham radio shack — which is locat—

ed in the QEZ’s radio room — the ship’sradio operator called him over to see ifAmodeo could copy what he thoughtwas a distress call on SOOkHz — the old[sic] maritime emergency frequency.Amodeo said the ship’s operator toldhim he did not copy CW much above 10

w.p.m., and there was not a telegraphkey in sight (although Amodeo said helater found out there’s one hidden awayin case it’s needed).

‘We were about two days out of Fiji,’Amodeo said. ‘At the time, I was work—ing JAs on 20 — a pileup.’ By the timehe got to the ship's radio, the signal wasgone. Amodeo went back to 20 metres,but the ship’s operator called him overagain after a few minutes when the dis-tress signal reappeared. ‘lt quit by thetime I got there,’ he said. But the third

8

time around, Amodeo managed to copy‘4X’ out of the noise. He surmisedthe vessel might be of Israeli registry,but he was not able to copy anythingfurther.

The next day, however, he learnedhis hunch was correct. An Israeli freight-er had run aground off Fiji. Another shipintercepted the call and, fortunately, therewere no casualties.

Amodeo has been a ham for 45 yearsand was a merchant marine shipboardradio operator himself in the late 19405and early 1950s, but he’d never heard adistress call before. ‘When I sat down atthat receiver, I was hit by a wave ofnostalgia,’ he said.(From The ARRL Letter Online, 25April1997, published by the American RadioRelay League)

Morse Code to the RescueThe Vera (Russian—registry 17SO-dwt drycargo ship) was disabled recently whena bridge window broke during badweather. Water that entered through thehole shut down electrical equipment onthe bridge, and the ship drifted towardsTerschelling Island, the Netherlands.

The only communication equipmentworkingwas a SOOkHz broadcastingunit,which the crew used to send a CW(Morse Code) distress signal. A stationin Ostend, Belgium, received the signaland the ship was assisted by tugs.(Internet World Maritime News, 18April 1997)

N2DAN, SKWe regret to report the death of SteveNurkiewicz, NZDAN, on 20 May 1997.He was the maker of the highly

Mill/{52—]une 1997

acclaimed N2DAN Mercury Paddle,reviewed last year in MM44, p.8.(Reported on the Internet Keyclicks listserver)

CW BeaconLong Beach California operates a 24-hour CW beacon, WA6APQ, running50 watts on 28.245MHZ,signalling ‘DEWA6APQ/BQNLONGBEACH,CA...’It is located on the highest hill nearby,Signal Hill, 350ft above sea level.(Information from James Harlan Smith,Long Beach, California, USA)

‘THE MILL’Free to Morse Instructors

In MM51 (p7), we reported that JimFarrior’s intriguing computer program,which teaches both International (CW)and American Morse and contains manyother interesting features, is now avail-able as shareware. We omitted to men—tion that ‘The Mill’ is available to MorseInstructors free of charge.

As a reminder, copies of ‘The Mill’can be obtained by e—mail from JimFarrior at w4fok@net-magic.net. If youhave a PC, but no e-mail capability, aska friend having this facility to obtain acopy for you.

Alternatively, send a formatted HDdisk together with a stamped addressedenvelope for its return to Jim Farrior at1232 Harrison Point Trail, FernandinaBeach, FL 32034, USA; or to TonySmith, 13 Morley Road, Sheringham,Norfolk NR26 8JE, England.

All who receive ‘The Mill’, from anysource, may distribute as many copiesas they wish. No shareware fee is paya—ble if the user distributes at least fivecopies of the program to others by disk

M91152 —June 1997

or e—mail. To make distribution easy,the program contains e-mail instructions,and a feature for cloning program instal-lation disks.

Spark Key Info WantedReader Russ Kleinman, WASY, is try-ing to assemble information for a com—

prehensive treatise on spark keys andmanufacturers. He writes, ‘What I needoptimally is complete information oneach spark key with manufacturer, mod-el, and any information on a label ifpresent.’

If any readers possess spark keys,Russ would be pleased to receive infor-mation about them. Please write to himat: 25 Oxbow Road, Silver City, NM88061, USA.

Welcome toMorsecodians President

We are very pleased to welcome the Pres-ident of the Morsecodians Fraternity,Gordon Hill, as a reader of MM. AllanMoore, VKlAL, tells us that Gordon,who is 84, retired as a Post Master over20 years ago, and still sends and re-ceives Morse like a youngster. Hejoinedthe team in Canberra this year for theMorsecodians” annual Alice Springs/Canberra telegraph demonstrations andhelped handle traffic on the Morse du—

plex sounder circuit. Allan is sure thatGordon will pass the good word aboutMM when he speaks to his Morsecodi-ans membership around Australia!

Entries for World HSTChampionships Grow

At the time of writing, the followingcountries have declared their intention

9

to participate in the World High SpeedChampionships to be held in Sofia, Bul-garia, 6—10 October 1997: YO, OK, UA,UT, 9A, LZ, EU, ER, YU, 23, HA, HL,JA, with final decisions to participateawaited from: DL, 1, VB, USA

A summary of the rules can be foundin MM51 (page 3). Readers interested inhigh speed telegraphy are reminded thatin the event of any country not enteringa national team, it is open to CW clubsor individuals to represent their country,at their own expense, subject to the ap—

proval of their IARU national society.Further information about the cham—

pionships can be obtained from nationalsocieties, also from members of theIARU Region 1 HST Working Group,as follows:ARI: Vito Vetrano IN3VST

BFRA: Kostadin Kishisev LZlFNDARC: Mathias Kolpe DL4MMFRR: Gheorghe Dragulescu YO3FUHRS: Goran Grkinic 9A3UFVSV: Dipl.ing. Hanno Jax OElJJBREF: Colombani-Gailleur Maurice J.L.F6IIERSM: Boro StojkoskiSRJ: Dusan Ceha YUlEASRR: Oleg Bezzoubov UA4FBPUBA: Oscar Verbanck ONSMEURE: RicardoMontollu BagantEAIQF.Co-ordinator:MRASZ: Laszlé Weisz HA3NU (PO.Box 169, H-7100 Szeksard, Hungary.Tel: +36 74 3l 1459. E-Mail:kvantum@mail.matav.hu)(Information from IARU HST Champi-onships Coordinator, Ldszlo WeiszHA3NU)

BACK *mei (-\Muts:

ISSUES09”?"

Limited stocks ofMflnyflcat

Issues Nos. 31, 32, 34—36 and 38—51 only arenow available from the Editorial offices.Priceinc. postage, £2.20 each to UK; £2.40 to Europe;£2. 75 elsewhere by airmail. Deduct 20% if

ordering 3 or more.Send your Sterling cheque or Mastercard/Visa card details to: G 0 ArnoldPartners,9 WetherbyClose, Broadstone,Dorset BH18 8J8, England, orphone/fax 01202 658474

l a l' The vintage wireless magazine

— —-— Including in the.BngneS current issue- The Pye ‘Export' series of receivers- Radios of the Rising Sun- Nuvistors. Compactrons & frame—grids0 Wallace Maton e pioneer of radio relayAnnual subscription (6 issues) £18.50 (UK)£19.50 rest of Europe. or £23.75 elsewhereby airmail. Or send £3.25 for a sample (opyG C Arnold Partners, 9 Wetherby CloseBroadstone,Dorset BH18 818, EnglandPhone/fax 01202 658474

G-QRP Club

498 Manchester Road, Rochdale,large s.a.e. or two IRCs

The G-QRP Club promotes and encourageson the amateur bands with activity periods, awards and trophies. Facilitiesinclude a quarterly magazine, Morse training tapes, kits, traders’ discountsand a QSL bureau. Novices and SWLs welcome.Enquiries to Rev. George Dobbs G3RJV, St Aidan’s Vicarage,

Lancs OL11

low-power operating

3HE. Send a

10 MMEZ —]une 1997

NE OF THE MOSTfamous Morse learningcourses was the Candler

system, originated by Walter H. Can—

dler, a professional telegrapher, in 191 1.

His ‘High Speed’ course was originallydesigned for operators who already knewAmerican Morse, but wanted to improvetheir speed. Later he added Internationalcode to it, and covered both codes.

His first course for beginners wascalled ‘The ScientificCode Course.’ Thiswas, in effect, the regular ‘High Speed’course with the addition of beginners’material, and was later renamed ‘TheJunior Code Course.’

Candler’s basic approach was to trainthe mind, to develop co—ordination, con—centration, confidence and responsive-ness. He died on 23 April 1940 but hiswife, who was an experienced telegra—

pher herself, continued to handle thecourse for a number of years. (It was lastadvertised in QST in 1959.) A 1942advertisement is reproduced opposite.

There is an article, ‘The Candler Sys—tem’, by Bill Pierpont NOHFF, in MMlO,p.l, describing the Candler approach tolearning code. A future issue of MMwill feature a revised article under thesame title, reprinted from Bill’s bookThe Art and Skill QfRadiU—Telegraphy.

‘Umty Iddy’, 0.1916This is the title of a Morse learning

system invented by MajorW.G. Craigen,RFA (T), while serving as an Army

12

Morse LearningMethods

Part 2 — 1911 to 1940

by Tony Smith

officer in WW1, details of which havebeen supplied by his grandson, StuartCraigen G4GTX, of Sunderland.

Again based on ‘Letter images’ (seePart 1, MM50), the system was intendedto assist in learning sounder operation,with the spoken ‘umty’ and ‘iddy’ rep—

resenting the sound of the instrument;and it claimed that the Morse alphabetcould be learned in ‘a few minutes’l

Published by A. Murray & Co.,Aberdeen, John Menzies & Co., Ltd,Edinburgh & Glasgow, and PercivalMarshall & Co., London, it evidentlyenjoyed some degree of success as ithad reached a fifth edition by 1916.Stuart wonders if any MM ‘old-timers’learned the code using his grandfather’ssystem?

A reproduction from the booklet de—

scribing the system appears overleaf.

MEM5’2 — June 1997

A ._ a N .. nB _... B o ...__ Ac _._. '5 p ._.... 27)

D _.. O!) Q _..._ AE . (100E) R .... TF .._. ”1 s SG __. 61mg) T _ (UMT)H 3% u .._ UI .. ‘9 v ..._. 19‘J ....._ 3 w ._.. WK ..._ R x _..._ 7.L ._.. 0C Y _._.. ‘1,M ..._ (Two LONG) Z __.. Z»

was the use of numbers to emphasise thetiming of the code. The symbols werecounted out (by tapping a finger) fromthe beginning and as the ratio remainedconstant correct spacing was retained atany speed. Examples of how the letterswere set out to memorise symbol, soundand timing are shown below.

Unusual though this system mayseem, a successful use ofa similar count-ing method has previously been noted inMM in a story from Indonesia. (‘An Old

Method in Modern Times”, MM8, p.36.)‘When correct timing has been

acquired by numbers’, says the author,‘signals may be practised without theiruse, but by occasionally reverting to thenumber system an automatic check ismaintained on irregular sending.’

On sending, he says, ‘If you possessa Morse key and Buzzer they will befound useful for later practices, but arenot recommended until you have firmlyimplanted the comparative time value

DE DAH DAHDAHE- T— M——1 123 123/123

MM52 —june 1997

DE DAH DEDAH DAHA . _ W .__1/123 1/123/123

15

of the DE, DAH and spacing into yourmind.’

Commenting on the learning proc-ess, he makes a few general points whichare as useful today as they were in 1922,i.e.; Do not expect to be able to receivecomplete words at first, even from theslowest sending. ‘If you do not know atonce the letter for any Morse signal sent,forget it immediately and you are readyt. :1 the next signal; if you puz—zle your brain over past sig-nals you will miss threeor four future oneswhich you might

TEACHESTO SEND

No.

“TELEPEX”

otherwise have been able to read. Byfollowing this simple rule alone you willbecome efficient in much less time thanusual, and will often be able to completea word by guessing the missing letters.”

‘Do not receive by buzzer practicefrom one who is just learning to send,because there will be no rhythm in thesignals, and irregular spasmodic trans—missionwill only tend to retard progress.’

The best method of speed-ing—up, he says, is ‘If you

already possess a Wire-less Installation listen

in until you can

TEACHESTO RECEIVE

F.

ta10207

The Telepex is an instrument designed for code instruction. It isa mechanically correct instrument which utilizes a spring motor todrive a spindle on which a drum is placed. By means of drawing aperforated tape across a spring Contact, dots and dashes are re-corded on either a sounder or a buzzer, as the case may be. A thirdbinding: post is supplied, which permits the learner to imitate thecharacters directly after the machine makes them. Sufficient space isallowed on the tape to permit this to be done.

Schedule BC. Price Each10207 Telepex, complete, less Batteries..................... $27.5010235 Additional Rolls of Tape ........................... 1.0010236 Special Tapes, made to order ....................... 2.00

The Teleplex from J.H. Bunnel & Co. ’5 1928 catalog. It is intriguing to note that the productname was mis-spelt in both the heading and the description. One wonders whether heads

rolled in the company’s publicitydepartment as a result!

16 MM52 — June 1997

Jdnnouncing A NEW MASTERTELEPLEX!

a A Revolutionary New' Instrument Brought to

You by TELEPLEX —The Name Synonymouswith Code Success.

N0 PERFORATIONS

N0 INK

A Marvel ofSimplicity.'

Master the Code withMASTER TELEPLEX

The Master Teleplex from Teleplex Company, advertised in 1942

fix on a station not sending too rapidly(Eiffel Tower, Paris, for instance). Nat-urally you will find it too rapid at firstfor complete reception, but if you man-age to catch a letter here and there youwill know it is not too rapid for speed—ing-up practice. Before you attempt thisreading, however, make sure that youhave thoroughly memorised the Code.’

Finally, to those experiencing whattoday we call a ‘plateau’, he says ‘A fewwords of encouragement will not be outof place to those who try to receivethe Morse code but get “stuck” at abouteight words a minute. This peculiarity isnatural with certain types of over—eagerbrains, and it has been repeatedly no-ticed that such people often attain won-derful speeds when once the stickingperiod has been passed. It may last in

EMM52 — June 1997

some instances from one to three weeksafter which time progress is very rapid.Should you therefore find yourself lim-ited to about eight words a minute for atime, do not give up practice, but perse—vere until you break the barrier down.It will be well worth the effort.’

The TeleplexJ.H. Bunnell’s catalog No.30 of 1928

carries an illustration (see opposite) ofthe ‘Teleplex’.Using perforated tape anda spring-driven motor, it looks rathersimilar to the later Instructograph de—

scribed below.The Radio Amateur’s Handbook,

1942, has an advertisement (see above)for ‘A New Master Teleplex’ with ‘NoPerforations, No Ink’, offered by theTeleplex Company of Jersey City, NJ,

17

which I believe had a chemically treatedtape. If anyone knows how this worked,please contact me.

The Instructographc.1940The Instructograph illustrated below

was produced by the Instructograph Co.,Chicago, Illinois, possibly in the 1940s,but the make apparently dates back to1920. It followed the same principle asthe Audible Alphabet Transmitter of1902 described earlier, using perforatedtapes to run through a contact breaker,the main differences being that it wasmotorised and the tapes were wound onspools instead of lying loose on the floor.

Speed was adjustable from 3 to 40words per minute, and a variety of tapeswere available in both Internationaland American Morse. These included:elementary; words; messages; plainlanguage and coded groups; also an‘Airways’ series for those interested inaviation.

Advertisements said ‘It is a well—

known fact that practice and practicealone constitutes ninety percent of theentire effort to necessary to “Acquirethe Code”... The Instructograph suppliesthis ninety percent... It will send slowlyat first, and gradually faster and faster,until one is just naturally copyingthe fastest sending without consciouseffort...

‘The Instructograph’s Book of In-structions... supplies the remaining tenpercent necessary to acquire the code. Itdirects one how to practice to the bestadvantage, and how to take advantageof the few “short cuts” known to experi-enced operators, that so materially assistin acquiring the code in the quickestpossible time.’

The machine was available inseveral versions, equipped with either allO—volt, 60—cycle, electric motor or aphonograph type wind—up spring motor.One model had an internal valve (tube)oscillator for study of Wireless (i.e.,International) code. Another had no

Instructograph with internal oscillator, hooked up with key and headphonesfor study of Continental (i.e. International) Morse

MM52 — june 199718

UST OUTSIDE THE VILLAGEof Tetney, at 6 o’clock in the morn—ing on April 8, seventy years ago,

Lincolnshire achieved the distinction ofbeing the location of the radio stationswhich provided the first radio servicebetween the United Kingdom andAustralia.

This was, at the time, an astonishingachievement. Traffic was by means ofhigh speed Morse, the transmitter beingkeyed directly via landline from the Cen—

tral Telegraph Office in London, wherethe received Morse signals, arriving bylandline from the receivers at Skegness,were transcribed manually from papertape.

Many eminent wireless communica-tions experts, supporters of the intendedlong wave ‘Imperial Chain’ scheme, hadbelieved the proposals, put forward bythe Marconi Company in 1924, to beimpractical in the state of knowledge atthe time. However, as a result of thepioneering research into the possibili-ties for short wave radio communicationby Marconi and his very able teamof engineers, particularly C.S. Franklinand GA. Mathieu, the so-called beamstations proved to be an outstandingsuccess.

Ultimate AchievementIn their time, they were the ultimate

achievement in wireless telegraphy. TheTetney station, six miles south of Grims—by, was initially operated by the Post

20

A Morse Link withthe Empire

Commemoratedby Ken Jones G3RRN

Office. A similar ‘Empiradio‘ beamstation at Ianivet, near Bodmin inCornwall, provided telegraphic commu—nication with Canada and South Africa,and these stations changed the whole‘technique of long distance wirelesscommunication throughout the world.

Other beam transmitters, owned ini-tially by the Marconi Company, werelocated at Dorchester for transmissions‘via Marconi’ to the USA, Argentina,Brazil, Egypt, and the Far East, with thecorresponding receiving site at Somer-ton. The beam transmitting and receiv—

ing stations in Australia were located atBallan and Rockbank respectively, be-tween Melbourne and Ballarat, Victoria.

In the words of RN. Vyvyan, theMarconi engineer responsible for carry-ing out the ‘Imperial Contract’, ‘... theMarconi Company found itself in a po—

MSM52 —— june 1997

.42

n..-m‘.wm~

a...»

Tetney Beam Station, lookingnorth, c.1927, showing the station buildings and four of the

1N

MM»

2*.

t

‘,.

'1‘

lug»

eight towers. The three towers beyond the buildings were used for the Australia beam.The area under the nearest of these towers was the site of the Lincoln SW Club’s rhombic

aerial aligned with the originalbeam (on Melbourne), using the base of this tower,excavated by the author from the now dense undergrowth

sition where it was essential to take enor—

mous risks and give guarantees of per-forrnance for the effective working of anew system that had as yet never beenused on any commercial circuit.’ No aer-ials on the Franklin principle had everbeen erected, little was known about thewavelengths proposed, and no plans ordesigns had been prepared for a com—mercial short wave station!

ImportantPlace in HistoryThe building of the Tetney Beam

Wireless Station must have come as asurprise to the villagers of Tetney, andMM52 —]une 1997

indeed to the inhabitants of Winthorpe,near Skegness, where the equally largeaerials for the Skegness receiving sta-tion were erected. Radio was very new,and wireless broadcasting was only fiveyears old. Eight towers, between 275and 287 feet high, strode across the coun—tryside for nearly a mile at both loca-tions. These events ensured for Tetneyan important place forever in the historyof world—wide telecommunications.

Although the Lincolnshire stationswere closed and dismantled more than50 years ago, plentiful evidence remainstoday at Tetney in the form of the Beam

21

Photographs

courtesy

GEO-Marconi

Interiorof the Tetney Transmitter Building, c.1927

Station buildings, now commercialpremises, and the bases and stay anchor-ages of the Franklin beam towers. Threelarge square plantations just to the northof the village mark the bases and stayanchorages of the most southerly of thefive towers which provided the BeamService to India, opened in Septemberof the same year. They give someimpression of the visual impact thesestations had on the rural environment.

Commemorative StationIn an effort to ensure that Lincoln-

shire’s place in these momentous eventsis not forgotten, the Lincoln ShortWaveClub operated an amateur radio stationover the period 5 to 14 April 1997, tocommemorate the inauguration of theEmpire Beam service to Australia. The

22

Radiocommunications Agency issuedthe ‘special’ special event callsignGB7GBH, GBH being the callsign allo—

cated in 1927 to the Australia beam trans-mitter.

For the event, a rhombic aerial,aligned with the original beam, waserected over part of the site of the Fran-klin Australia beam aerial. Many DXSSB and CW QSOs were made. How—

ever, without doubt, the really excitinghighlight of our efforts came at approxi—mately 0600 GMT on April 8, the anni-versary date and time, when greetingswere exchanged on IOMHZ (IOMC/s in1927 terms) with VK3AUC and VK3ZC,Melbourne. The original beam transmit—

ter frequency was 1 1.66Mc/s. The QSOwas, of course, in Morse!

© G3RRN 1997

MM52 — June 1997

ADVERTISEMENT

(Zita 8Z0 Cent’ze! ©

This issue, I present the remarkable keys of anotherGerman Master Craftsman, Kurt Zuehlke. Now in hiseighties, Kurt has drawn on a lifetime’s experience to

produce distinctive product which, eschewing the use ofconventional bearings, offer a soft and light keying

action. This advertisement appears as a matter of recordonly. Very few of these exclusive keys will be made.

Forfurther information on availability, call me.I also stock keys by Bencher, DKlWE. Jones, Kent. Schurr

and Swedish Pump.Used keys bought and sold. Send SAE/IRC for lists and literature

G3TUX EThe QRP Component CompanyPO Box 88, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2RFTel: 01428 661501 Fax: 01428 661794

E—mail: g3tux@compuserve.com

MM52 — june 1997 23

Photo/Collection:

John

Francis

63L

WI

Dummykey, made by J.H. Steward, 406 Strand, London

Photo/Collection:

Fons

Vanden

Berghen

Britlslt Post Office brass key7

Featuring keys and other collectors’ items oftelegraphic imp/est.lfanyone can add to the information given please contact

Tony Smith, 13 Morley Road. Sheringltum, Norfolk NR26 8JE

24 MM52 — june 1997

Photo:

Robert

W.

Betts

N1KPH

Lighter/Buzzer KOB (Keyon Box). A gift shop version of a Bunnell or J38 key.Press the knob and the ‘0' cell in the base heats the tungsten coil in the traveladjustment knob andyou can light your cigarette. Slide the closing lever to theshortedposition, manipulate the lever and a buzzeris heard. The owner of thisnovelty, Robert W. Betts N1KPFl, says ‘It sounds like a milk cow with an ill

voice box. Maybe a warning for people who use the lighter function too muchl’

Photo:

Robert

W.

Betts

N1KPH

DTDC (Desk Top Dust Collector). Looks like a fancy Western Union 15 Pole Changer.This is really a stapler, which works, and has no electrical function

MM52 — June 1997 25

OHERENT CW first madeits appearance in 1975 inQSTin an article written by

Ray Petit W7GHM, although he hadpublished other articles in lesser knownjournals before.

The idea caused quite a stir when thesystem offered a ZOdB improvement insignal—to-noise ratio and used a band-width of only 9H2. There were compli—cations however which led to its demise.In order to operate the system all oscil—

lators had to be stable to within 2H2 andthis had to be maintained with keying.

In addition a somewhat complicatedsample and dump filter had to be builtwhich also required the same frequencyaccuracy. Some contacts were made andone of the most notable ones was a con—

tact between W6NEY and JRlZZR ontwenty metres when the Japanese sta—

tion was using IOOmW.I have a copy of the recording of that

contact and signals are fully readableand absolutely accurate. Attempts tocopy the signal without the Petit filterproved futile — the signal could not evenbe heard! There were other contacts (Iactually worked four countries) but thecomplications of the system proved toomuch and little was heard of CCW formany years.

NewslettersAbout ten years ago I started issuing

newsletters to stations I knew were in—

terested and a few contacts were made

26

Coherent CWA Brief Outline

by Peter Lumb G3IRM

but, once again, the complicationsprovedtoo much.

A hint to VEZIQ (Bill de Carle) thata computer program for CCW may be agood idea produced a complete programwithin two weeks. The program calledCOHERENT used an IBM computer tosend and receive code without the Petitfilter but using an analogue to digitalconverter in its place.

Once again there was an increase ininterest but very few contacts resulted.Perhaps the earlier fears of frequencystability and the fact that the converterhad to be built were still (on mtlch.

Improved ProgramNow AvailableEarly in 1974 Ernst Schroder DJ7I—IS

wrote to me saying that he would like toimprove on the COHERENT programand did I think VEZIQ would object.

MM52 —]une 1997

Bill very kindly gave his permissionand a new program called PCW becameavailable. COHERENT did not allowdecoding to the screen, PCW did.

Some other improvementsweremadebut the VEZIQ interface was still need-ed. Now version 2.0 of the program isavailable as shareware and your editorhas asked me to compile these few notes.

RequirementsThe shareware copy can be obtained

from me for £1 ($2 US outside the UK)to cover cost of disk, Jiffy bag and firstclass/airmail postage. To use the pro—

gram you need an IBM compatible com—

puter fitted with a Sound Blaster card.You also have to provide an inter-

face between the RS232 output keyingpin and the transmitter key socket. Usu-ally all that is needed is a single transis-tor or a relay. It is recommended that afairly modern transceiver is used whichis as stable as possible, though frequen—

cy correction for drift is included in theprogram.

I would like stationswithout the mostup-to-date equipment to give the pro-gram a try to see how well the programcompensates, so don’t hesitate to ask fora disk if you do not have the very latesttransceiver.

All loading and operating instructionsare provided with the program and it isjust as easy to use CCW as it is to useCW. There is no need to go into detailsof how to use the program —just ask fora disk and you will soon find out.

Phase and FrequencySynchronisedCoherent CW is based on the idea

that the more you know about what you

MM52 — june 1997

are looking for the easier it is to find.This applies to radio receivers just as itdoes to humans.

Both stations are first synchronisedby sending a string of dots which ena-bles the program to make the stationsphase-coherent, so that if one stationsends a dot or dash the other knowsexactly when it should start and stop.

Sending at both ends is at exactlythe same speed with the basic elementtaking 100 milliseconds. All marksand spaces are exact multiples of thisbasic unit. The original CCW timing (12w.p.m.) has now had extra speeds addedwith a maximum of 24 w.p.m. but theprincipal idea that the slower the codethe better the system works still applies.

The speed of 12 w.p.m. has beenfound to be a good compromise. It isthen able to integrate the signal which isdecoded as either a dot or dash. Phaseand frequency are automatically synchro—nised during the contact so that, if thereis a pause, the receiving station stillknows when the next mark can beexpected and is ready to receive it.

Operating Times Co-ordinationNeeded

As a result of a note in ‘TechnicalTopics’ (in the RSGB journal RadioCommunication) I have so far had re—

quests from eight UK stations for copiesof the program and have a list of aboutfifty stations in the UK, the USA andEurope of stations who are interested.

The problem is the lack of co-ordi-nation of operating times. It is mostunlikely that a CQ call will produce acontact although I often get calls fromCW stations who do not know about

27

CCW. It is still possible to work thesestations but not coherently. CW andCCW are exactly the same except thatCCW is always perfect Morse at aconstant speed with correct spacing.

Most InterferenceNulled OutOne final thought — if every station

in the world used CCW and usedchannel spacing of IOHZ (the CCW

standard), there would be little mutualinterference and we would pack thou—

sands of stations into the amateur CWbands.

This assertion is based on the princi—ples used by CCW where there are nullsevery 10Hz on both sides of the receiverfilter centre frequency so interferingstations are largely nulled out.

MM

Readers 74219FOR SALE

Photocopies of ‘out-of-print’backissues of MM available. Price per copy,by airmail (US dollars, cash only):Europe $7.00; Africa/America $8.00;Oceania $10.00.Jeronimo Orellana R, EA3DOS,Av Roma 10, 08015 Barcelona, Spain.[See page 10 of this issuefor details ofsome original copies ofthe magazinewhich are still availablefrom theEditorial ofi‘ices]Two collectors’ keys: MarconiTransmitting Key, Type No 365B,Serial No. 12570, and an EddystoneSemi—automatic Key, Model S689,Serial No. G20514. Offers to: Peter 1.

Park GM3PIP, 23 Longside Road,Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire AB42 5E],’phone 01771 623654.18-page illustrated list all kinds oftelegraph related items surplus to myneeds. $3.00 plus equivalent of4 USstamps ($5.00 refund on $25 purchase).Dr. Joseph Jacobs, 5 Yorktown Place,Fort Salonga, NY 11768.

28

Phone 516-261—1576. Fax 516—754-4616. E—mail: joekey@aol.com

WANTEDFor reproduction purposes: picturesor drawings of a Masse Key and aMagnetic Blow—out Key, as used at thetime of the sinking of the Titanic, orinformation on where I might see suchillustrations, or the keys themselves.ALSO, can anyone give me the oppor—tunity to examine a Walters adjustablefulcrum key please? Dennis GoacherG3LLZ, 27 Glevum Road, Swindon,Wilts SN3 4AA, England.To buy or exchange, very old tele—

graphic items; also early Marconiequipment. Interesting items availablefor exchange (telegraphy, telephony,

1 radio, physics...) Fons VandenBerghen, Lenniksesteenweg 462/22,B-1500 Halle, Belgium.Phone day +32. 16.38.27.21, evening:+32.2.356.05.56.Fax +32. I 6.38.24.38.E-mail fovabe@telindus.be

EMM52 — june 1997

T IS YET TO BE DISCOVEREDwhy on earth a clever mechani—cal device like a semi-automatic

key should have come to be used sooften for incoherent fast—sending fren-zies when it was invented to give com-fort by saving unnecessary wrist-action.

The very nimbleness of the automaticdots it can produce makes continuousmonitoring imperative, and when this isdone a bug can, to the receiving end, beabsolutely indistinguishable from anystraight key. The causes of code mutila-tion must therefore be sought elsewhere_. in correct handling and adjustment.

An examination of the handlingquestion can be commenced by honestlyadmitting that a bug can actually be usedas intended by its makers for slow, com-fortable sending with the weight perma-nently set far forward towards the tip ofthe shaft.

McElroy’s AdviceAn extract from one of McElroy’s

old articles in Radio may bring out somefurther points about bug handling. Hesays, ‘Take your present automatic andslide a book under it. Get those paddlesabout 2'/: t0 3 inches (64—76mm) abovethe table where they belong. Take a lookat your wrist. You’ll see it runs smooth—ly straight. There is only one correctmethod of sending on an automatic.You’ve got to slap the paddle with yourthumb, actuated by your whole arm, tomake dots. And you’ve got to slap it

Mill/[52 —- June 1997

Behaviour ofthe Bug

Hints on How to Tame It

by N. P. Spooner GZNS

In MM50 (p.51), Colin Watersrecommended newcomers tohug operating to look for a flat-shaft Vibroplex bug with a littleextra weight (such as thatprovided by the Slo-Bug he wasreviewing) to slow it down. Healso recommended them to readthe advice given in an articlefrom the February 1954 issue ofShort WaveMagazine whichdescribes the setting up andoperation of such a bug. Wereprint here part of the articlewhich Colin mentioned.As it covered several othermatters as well, MM hasextracted only that part dealingwith bug adjustment andoperation.

over to the dash side with your wholearm, with the wrist straight up and downand the index finger and large fingerhitting the paddle with a full arm move-ment. Try it!

29

Photo/Collection;

Colin

Waters

GSTSS

Vibroplex ‘Champion' flat shaft bug. The various adjusting screws mentionedin the article can be clearly seen

‘Put that automatic on the desk in i Keep your wrist off the table. You sendfront of you where it belongs, about . with your whole arm.where a letter would be if you were . ‘Do what I’m telling you. Just try it.gonna sign it. It’ll be somewhere around It won’t cost anything. If you could only12 inches (305mm) in on the desk di— . realise how easy it is to be really good atrectly in front of you. Your arm diag—

: this code racket, you’d go wild over it.’onally across the desk with the fingers

‘

Well, that’s how Ted MCElroy, worldresting on the paddle and the elbow just champion telegraphist, puts it!off the desk. And the hand up and down. i

Number/ step \( Pivo: bearing 55/0:t ed h cad

Damperf weight U- shapedDash tension A

(70!. spring é/ /F/n%¢r(dash)

1007pad le

5/: I:t; —+l E?Moving 8 fixed />/ dot coniact;

She/L weight

/Pillar -/

Thumb dot DASHpeed/J ) 5’05Shall G‘- dong:- tension

Moi/mg6 fixeddash contacts

Detail sketch of a Vibroplex flat-shaft bug, showing adjustments. The correct way ofsetting up this and any similar type of key is discussedin the article

30 MM52 —june 1997

Easy Adjustment DrillAlthough the sketch accompanying

this article illustrates a Vibroplex (flatshaft model) semi—automatic key, thesame general layout will be found inmost other bugs to which the followingsuggested sequence of adjustment willapply:

1. Loosen the lock-nuts and fully un—

screw the fixed dot contact, the number1 and 2 stops and the fixed dash contact.

2. Gently lift the tip of the shaft forvertical play. If any, take it up by loos-ening the lock—nut of the pivot bearing,turning the slotted head slightly and re—

locking. When looked at from the sideor immediately above, the shaft shouldappear straight and its tip should be rest-ing lightly against the damper weight. Ifthe shaft does not lie in this position,increasing the tension of the dot springwill force the shaft over against thedamper weight. When in action it is thisspring that is responsible for returningthe shaft smartly to its resting positionagainst the damper weight after thethumb paddle has been released.

3. Proceed next to adjust the number1 stop by screwing it inwards until itpushes the shaft over towards the dotside and the tip of the shaft parts fromthe damper weight. (This is only beingdone to make the actual adjustment thatfollows more clearly visible). The proc-ess is then reversed by unscrewing thestop until the tip of the shaft returns andjust lightly rests once more against thedamper weight.

To check the correctness of this ad-justment, the thumb paddle should beslowly pressed over towards the dot sidewithout allowing the shaft to vibrate,

MM52 —]une 1997

and as the movement is commenced itshould be seen that the flat spring join—ing the front portion of the shaft (hold-ing the weight and the U—shaped movingdot—contact spring) to the rear portion ofthe shaft (holding pivot, moving dashcontact and paddles) does not bend be-fore the shaft tip parts from the damperweight. If it does bend, the stop shouldbe readjusted until this disappears andthe two portions of the shaft both moveas if made of one solid bar when thethumb paddle is pressed as directed.

4. To determine the total swing ofthe shaft over to the dot side, the number2 stop (visible in the drawing immedi—ately below the dot—tension spring screw)should be adjusted. To do this, the thumbpaddle is pressed slowly over towardsthe dot side without the shaft vibratingand the position is held when a gap ofabout one eighth of an inch (3mm) ap—

pears between the shaft tip and the damp—er weight. Still holding this position, thestop is screwed in until it meets the shaft.If an eighth of an inch is found to be toowide for individual preference it can bereduced slightly before re-locking.

5. To adjust the dot contacts, thethumb paddle is pressed slowly overtowards the dot side without the shaftvibrating, and when it meets the stop(number 2) it is there held stationarywhile the fixed dot contact is screwedinwards until its face just meets that ofthe moving dot contact, which at themoment is of course stationary. A piece

‘

of paper placed on the key base, imme—3 diately below these contacts, will clear—ly show up their faces, which should beclean and meeting squarely.

If out of alignment, the faces can be

31

altered by either turning the fixed dotcontact pillar slightly or by alteringthe horizontal backwards—and-forwardspositioning of the moving contact byloosening the screw that holds the U—

shaped spring to which the moving dotcontact is fixed. It will be found thatthe pivot bearing adjustment affects thevertical positioning of the moving dotcontact when this is necessary.

When adjusting the dot contacts bymaking their faces meet this is done light—

ly without forcing or bending the mov—

ing dot—contact U-spring. A final touchof the fixed dot-contact should, whenmonitored, give complete firmness ofdots devoid of scratchiness in sound andgood following of even an ordinary tele—

phone type of surplus relay if one isused for keying.

6. The dash contacts are next adjust—ed and should have the same gap as thedot contacts. This is done by pressingthe finger paddle over towards the dashside while screwing the fixed dash con-tact inwards. The gaps will be equal ifthe finger paddle travels as far over tothe dash side as the thumb paddle trav—

els over to the dot side. The two dash

contacts should have clean faces thatmeet squarely, the fixed contact pillarbeing turned slightly to effect this, orthe moving dash contact being movedhorizontallyor vertically as required.Thetension of the dash spring should suitindividual requirements and is usuallythe same as that of the dot spring.

7. While the longest string of dotsrequired will be eight, for an ‘Erasure’,operating will in general be found morecomfortable if the weight is set well for—ward towards the shaft tip to producethe greatest possible number of auto-matic dots before coming to rest afterthe thumb paddle has been smartly struckand held.

8. Finally, the key base should beheld down by screws or extra weightingif there is any tendency for it to slideabout when in action. This helps duringthe process of proving to the world that‘as a good tree is known by its fruit, sois an OP known by his favourite fist.’

(The article from which the aboveextracts are taken first appeared inShort Wave Magazine, February 1954;they are reprinted by kindpermission ofthe present Editor, Dick Ganderton.)

Short fireakDesigned for the automatic transmission of callsigns andcode numerals, the R.W. Mechanical Morse Transmittermeasures only 6 inches cube. It transmits at a speed equiv-alent to fifteen words per minute, and may also be obtainedwith keyboards suitable for sending latitude and longitudeor letters of the alphabet. It is obtainable throughR.A. Rothermel Ltd, Canterbury Road, London, NW6.

(From Wireless World, March 1940.)

AutomaticMorseTransmitter

MFA/[52 —june 1997

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MM52 — June 1997 33

HE USE OF MORSE as a com-munication medium has alwaysbeen praised for being able to get

a message through a great amount ofinterference and still be understood.

What ifthere is no interference, doesthis make things easier?

Not necessarily.During the summer of 1976, I was

Radio Officer on a 35 OOO—ton LPGcarrier en route from the Mediterraneanto Buenos Aires. The ship was only twoyears old, fitted with IMR equipment(IMR stands for International MarineRadio C0,, part ofthe ITTgroup. — Ed.).It had been quite a pleasant trip with fewproblems until the day the 2nd Engineercame into the Radio Room and asked ifhe could send a telegram to his solicitor.

A StraightforwardMessageHe was buying a house and his wife

needed a power of attorney from him.We both reckoned that a telegram au—

thorising this probably had no legalstanding, but I said I would send it any—way.

Now this might sound very straight—forward and, up to now, it is. In an effortto clear the message quickly, I decidedto send it via Barbados/8P0. In thosedays that station shared its HF frequen-cies with North Post/9YL. (I think itwas 9YL; my memory is not what itwas!) When one station finished its peri-od of watch on, say, 8MHz, the otherwould start up on the same frequency.

34

Which AlphabetWas That...?by Brian Faulkner

I decided on 8P0 because PortisheadRadio/GKB was giving out QRY40(Your turn is No. 40 — Ed.). and it wasalmost lunch—time (the bar was open).This somewhat cavalier attitude on mypart was my undoing.

Which Alphabet?The message was in legal jargon and

began: ‘To whom it may concern. I JoeBloggs...’

‘No problem’, I hear you say. Well,as someone once said, let me tell you alittle story.

I had no difficulty getting hold of8P0; he answered after my first call.After going up to a working frequency, Istarted to send the message. This waswhere the trouble started. I was onlyjustinto the text when he stopped me.

‘Word after coneern.’ he asked.‘Concern. I’ I replied.‘Sri om not understanding pse wa

concern.’‘Coneem. I = the ninth letter of the

alphabet.’

WEI/[52—]ane 1997

‘Which alphabet?”Now what would you think? Was I

being wound up, or what?‘The English alphabet.” I replied.‘Ok om pse repeat all txt.’And so I started again; and again he

stopped me after ‘concern.’‘Sri om I’m still not getting it.’Again I repeated the word. By now

we were getting very near the end of hishalf—hour slot on the frequency.

‘Sri om have to Close on this freqnow pse QRX l2MHz in half an hour.’

And with that he disappeared, and sodid my lunch.

Penny ’s DroppedHalf an hour later his band—call tape

appeared on 12MHz and I called him.He came straight back.

‘Om three of us have been trying tofigure this out but we’re none the wiser.pse send txt agn.’

So I started once more, and this timehe let me send the lot.

Again he came back, ‘wa concern.’By now I was racking my brains to

think of a way of getting through to him.I said, ‘the word after concern. is theninth letter in the English alphabet = AB C D E F G H I = k’

There was a pause, then ‘ok ompenny’s dropped QSL.’

I almost said ‘hallelujah’, butcontented myself with ‘Tks ere QRU.’

‘Only the strong survive’ came back.‘Too true,’ said 1.

Another Story!This whole episode took the best part

of an hour and a half, and I never didfind out whether the telegram had thedesired effect. That was probably themost peculiar problem I had as an R0 —

unless you count the time I had to send amessage to Kaohsiung describing, inphonetic Chinese, the size of dischargepipes we had and asking for reducingvalves. But that, as they say, is anotherstory. MM

5fi0rt BreakThis Man Has The Job by John Hann

This story has been going the rounds for along time, but maybe there are some whohave not heard it before.

In the old days of shipping companieshiring their own operators, and the line-upsin hiring halls, there is a report ofa crowd ofeager hopefuls waiting in the personnel offic—er’s ante—room for a job as operator on theUnited Fruit Company’s banana boats.

There was a speaker or two in the ceilingconnected to a live set tuned to an actualworking frequency in the personnel officer’soffice. This was ostensibly to occupy the

WEI/[52 —_7une 1997

time of anyone not smart enough to bringsomething to read during the presumed longwait for his turn to be interviewed.

Of the twenty or so men waiting, every—one seemed to be reading or talking to hisneighbour and no one noticed one man get—ting up and walking into the office withoutsaying anything to anyone. After a few min—

utes he came out again and standing in thedoorway behind him was the hiring officerwho said: “You fellows can all go homenow, this man has the job”.

Everyone looked at him in surprised won—der and he continued: “If you guys had beenpaying attention you would have heard metap out over the receiver traffic this message,‘The first guy to enter my office after read-ing this gets thejob’. This is the kind of manwe want for our company.”

35

NEW SET of keyer pad—dles made its commercialdebut at the Mike and Key

Club swap meet in Puyallup, Washing-ton, in March. ‘The Paddlette’ is manu—factured by Bob Hammond, KI7VY,under the name of The Paddlette Co. inEdmonds, Washington.

This is a miniature iambic paddlewith only two moving parts. It is partic—ularly adaptable to field use because ithas an adhesive backed magnetic basethat can be attached to almost anything.Two magnetic strips are included withthe Paddlette so it can be used at a sec—ond location.

Bob also produces a knee mount formobile use. The knee mount consists ofa 21/2—inch—widepiece of powder—coatedaluminium formed like a shallow invert-ed ‘U’. It rests on the leg just above theknee and the key is held firmly to thehorizontal section by a magnetic plateincluded with the mount. An adjustable,linch—wide,elasticisedbelt is permanent-96"d9Cont/(dot Cab/c, Timed End:A

621:MM50:»:l"/[32:51.5 Paddlette Unit

36

New Product

The PaddletteA Review

by Lynn Burlingame N7CFO

ly attached to one ‘wing’, wraps aroundthe leg, and secures to the other wingwith Velcro. With the key mounted, thetotal weight is only 2.7 ounces. Althoughlight in weight it is both sturdy and com—

fortable.The design of the key is very simple,

so there should be nothing to go wrong.

"Dealt"feed (0/5 Dre”)

9n»: CafcrCot/ad

Torque Mp9} 5amKubbaPaddle:

{MMSZ—]une 1997

The footprint is only lin x l-‘lain, and itweighs less than two ounces. The baseis a single piece machined out of dark(grey) type 1 pvc and the electrical partsare made of solid brass. The paddles areflexible metal strips that contact a centrepost, and the gap is adjustable using 56pitch screws.

The fineness of the adjustment screwallows for very precise adjustment. Thedesign of the set-screw for the adjust—ment is interesting — an Allen screw(shown as ‘Torque Adjust Screw’ in thedrawing) bears against a neoprene slugthat bears against a ball bearing thatrides on the adjustment screw. Thisserves as both an adjustment screw lockand ‘drag’, making the adjustments verysmooth and precise.

The ‘feel’ of this key is surprisinglydelicate. I quickly got used to it (haveyou ever used a set of paddles that youjust can’t ‘leam’?) and find it to be asgood as any of the numerous sets of

paddles in my collection. This seemsstrange when you consider the incredi-ble lengths that most paddle manufac-turers have gone to in their efforts tomake a paddle with a sensitive and lighttouch. I suspect that Bob spent a lot oftime working on the exact dimensionsof the Paddlette to make it this sensitive.

The Paddlette comes well packed ina Styrofoam box and includes connect—ing cables and an Allen wrench for ad—

justments. It can be ordered from: ThePaddlette Co., PO Box 6036, Edmonds,WA 98026, USA. Tel: (425)743-1429.The cost is $38.50 including US postageand handling. The knee mount is $9.95,including US postage and handling.Payment by check, or money order.

For foreign postage (other than toCanada) add $2 for key or the leg mount.If both are purchased together, add $3.Payment for foreign orders should be bycash or check in US dollars. Charge cardscannot be accepted. MM

THE MORSE ENTHUSIASTS GROUP SCOTLANDMEGS was formed in 1991 to encourage the use of Morse. especially bynewcomers. Regular skeds are held using our callsign ‘GMQRSE' each Mondayand Thursday from 7 until 9 pm. (local time) around 3.530MHZ.Among otherservices. we offer Morse practice tapes free of charge, other than postage. Thisoffer is now also available to MM readers. Membership is open worldwide, the‘Scotland' in our title simply shows place of origin. Lifetime membership £1.00.Details from Secretary: G.M. Allan GM4HYF, 22 Tynwald Avenue,Rutherglen, Glasgow G73 4RN, Scotland.

4%er r :-

\ J? J_ g l \l ‘/'n r/.\\ L, l _, I;3—, from traders.

FISTS CW Club — The International Morse Preservation SocietyFISTS exists to promote amateur CW activity. It welcomes members with

‘

‘L ~. all levels of Morse proficiency,and especially newcomers to the key.

W-. The club has awards, nets (including a beginners’ net), diata-skedfor

beginners, straight key activities, QSL bureau, newsletter, and discounts

\ C. LU B Further information can be obtained from Geo. Longden 63208, 119‘-'

7 Cemetery Road, Darwen, Lancs BB3 2L2. Send an s.a.e. or two IRCs.

MM52 —,7une 1997 37

InfoThose!

is; , . 4,. «

.. .4 \

Combined inker used on the Uruguayan railways, refurbished by Gustavo A.

Coll. Informationrequired on maker (assumedto be British as Uruguayanrailways were of British origin). Has six terminals (marked C, Z, L, E, L, C)insteadof the usual five. The second 0 indicates, perhaps, the use of a splitbattery. Can anyone provide a circuitdiagram for this particular set, or other

information? All expenses reimbursed with pleasure.Write to Gustavo A. Coll, Casi/la 250, Montevideo, Uruguay

Readers require further information on the keys, eta, featured here.Please write to Tony Smith, 13 Morley Road, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8JE

ifyou can help.All useful information received will be published in MM in a later issue

38 Mill/[52 — June 1997

Photo:

Peter

Park

GM3PIP

Unknownmake semi-automatic key, with chromed brass base.Used at MarconiRadio School, Edinburgh. info requested

Photo/Collection:

Dave

Pennes

WA3LKN

Unknowninstrument on laminated mahogany base. Sounder? Relay? Magnetsuggestspolarisation. Close-up of knur/ing (see inset) suggests manufacture byTillotson, Greely or NewHaven. Dave Pennes says ‘A great deal of work and

craftsmanship went into this device. ’ Any informationwelcomed

MM52 — June 1997 39

PERSONAL WARTIMEvalue, precious at the time,can seem pitifully fragile

years later. Yet, still bright in memory,it can live on and never dim. Here’s onethat’s endured 50 years. Hundreds ofmilitary and commercial ship’s radiooperators — many of them hams — serv-ing on Allied cargo vessels duringWWIIoften illegally transmitted coded radiosignals.

They were harmless emissions,logged as procedural signals, and nowritten copies were ever made. Theyprobably puzzled enemy listening posts.Although there’s no telling how manymilitary and civilian Morse operatorswere involved, nor who they were, it’sno mystery what they sent or why theysent it.

In wartime, ships maintain ‘radiosilence’ at sea for fear of revealing theship’s position. In time, this builds upan occupational frustration in a radiooperator. Trained to communicate inMorse code, he’s now prevented fromtransmitting. All he can do is listen,listen, listen and copy, copy, copy.

BAMSDuring WWII, ships got their orders

from shore stations via daily codedradio broadcasts called BAMS, shortfor ‘Broadcasts t0 Allied MerchantShips’. BAMS used a numbers code:groups of five digits transmitted at sched-uled hours. And day after day, four to

40

Secret Signalsby Steve McCaIIum K4URX

eight hours a day, the shipboard opera—tor listened for messages addressed tohis vessel and copied meaningless num—

bers. The only permissible transmissionwas SOS or SSS.

The former is, of course, the intema-tional Morse code distress signal sentonly when a ship is in imminent dangerof sinking. SSS was a special wartimedistress signal sent by a ship under sub-marine attack. What radio operator everwanted to have to send either of those!

But ships eventually arrive some-where. When in port, a merchant ship’sradio operator was required to test histransmitter by requesting a signal reportfrom the port’s shore station. The war-time procedure for this kept the namesof vessels in port a secret.

DIDITDITA ship’s radio operator requested a

signal report by simply sending the let—

ters OE — two short letters in AmericanMorse code. An 0 in American Morse istwo dits with a slight space betweenthem. Actually, most operators used the

MM52 —]une 1997

International Morse letter I in lieu of‘

the American Morse O, which made thesignal DIDIT DIT instead of DIT—DITDIT.

Upon hearing this signal, the shoreoperator would reply with an Intema-tional Morse number from 1 to 5, indi—

cating the ship’s radio signal strength.He never knew what ship sent the DI—

TIT DIT. Usually he replied with a 5,DIDIDIDIDIT. And that was the end ofthe exchange — officially,

TUWell, the ship's radioman — let’s call

him Sparks, for that’s what his ship-mates called him — has been at seacopying BAMS in the Pacific AreaTheatre for who knows how long. Hecan’t possibly be satisfied with such atitbit of conversation.

Here he is, safe from submarinesin the port of Ennui, let us say, on thenorth coast of New Guinea, where inthis steamy rainy season there’s nothingashore but jungle and mud.

So, bored and frustrated, and know-ing that anything else he sends is illegal,Sparks must — for politeness’ sake atleast, he reasons — express his thanks forthe signal report. He takes the law inhand and sends TU, ‘Thank you’.

at sea and recognises Sparks’ frustra—tion. Illegally, he sends a signal in reply:DMI — short for ‘Don’tMention it.’ Thisis a much longer transmission, takesmaybe two seconds.

Delirious in the ecstasy of a long—awaited QSO, Sparks plunges aheadwithanother misdeed. He «--. nds PAM — a 50percent longer !: ansmission, about threeseconds, meaning ‘Pleasure all mine!‘

But pleasures soon end. The shoreoperator now tells Sparks, ‘Okay, goodto talk with you. I got your signals fine,but I must stop now.’ He says all thiswith the affable and cordial, albeit ex—

tremely brief, customary preliminary toending a CW QSO: DIT DIT, takingmaybe half a second.

‘Final Rapture

One final instant of rapture remainsfor lonesome Sparks aboard his ship. Hesimply must acknowledge the shore op—

erator’s DIT DIT with the shortest sig—

nal of all. He closes the ‘ragchew’ withthe usual DIT.

Now he’s ready to go back to sea.Sparks has talked with someone on theair — a pitiful ragchew of perhaps 10seconds.

Big Deal? Yes, it really was, at thetime. A spark of enjoyable comradeship.A rare bright moment in a war that to

DMI many of its veterans was only yesterday.The shore operator smiles. He’s been MM

If you enjoy reading MorsumMagnificat, pleasetell your friends about us,

and encourage them to take out subscriptions too!

MM52 — june 1997 41

YourLettersReaders’ letters on any Morse subjectare always welcome, but may be edited when space is limited.When more than one subjectis covered, letters may be divided into single subjects in order to bring

comments on various matters together for easy reference

Morse Scout NeckerchiefFurther to my letter in MM51 aboutCanadian Scout Signalling Badges in the’60s, readers may also be interested inthe neckerchief (scarf) I wore when Iwas a Scout. It has an ingenious plaid,giving it a ‘tartan’ look which spells outthe word CANADA in Morse in twodirections.

Chris Bisaillion’s National Canadian Scoutneckerchief from 1971, with design spellingout CANADA in Morse in two directions

Photo: Deborah Bisaillion

A spokesman at the National Head—quarters for Scouting in Ottawa told methat this was the National Canadianneck-erchicf in the 19703—805 (I was a Scoutin 1971), and Scout troops had the op—

tion of wearing their own neckerchief orthe national one. He believes it was avail—

able as Red on White or Green on White.It did not commemorate anythingor have

42

a special meaning or purpose. The de-sign of the National neckerchief waschanged in the 905.

Chris Bisaillion VE3CBKKanata, Ontario, Canada

Bendigo CommemorationI worked as a telegraphist with theAustralian Post Office, and its predeces—sors, at Bendigo from 1954 to 1969(after full-time training in Melbourneand a short stint at the Chief TelegraphOffice). I was only 17 when I came toBendigo — it was quite an experience.

The electric telegraph reached thegold fields of Bendigo on 6 January 1857.This year we had a two—day commemo-ration of the event in the beautiful oldformer Bendigo Post Office. We had anexcellent attendancefrom the public, alsomany former operators came fromthroughout the state.

I am on the Australian dial-up net—

work, through which we work soundersvia the public telephone system, using amodem and interface relay set. On thefirst Wednesday of each month, Morse—codians meet at the Lonsdalc TelephoneExchange in Melbourne and we com-municate via the dial-up network withoperators at the Science and Technolo—gy Centre in Canberra and at the formerAshfield Post Office in Sydney, as well

Mill/[52 —,7une 1997

as calling a number of operators on theirhome sets.

Moves are under way to try to get atelegraph office set up in the old Bendi—

go Post Office which is now occupiedby Bendigo Tourism. The chairman ofthat organisation is a former SeniorPostmaster at Bendigo, and a keenMorsecodian. We are endeavouring toget equipment from Telstra (Australia’sTelecom). They have closed their mu-seum and put their exhibits into store.

There is a good collection of gear atthe original 1857 Telegraph Station atCastlemaine, 40km south of Bendigo,and I have been down there on someoccasions to ‘fire it up’ for public dem—

onstrations.Although I went into Telecom man-

agement after 1969, and am now retired,I feel sure all my blood units are shapedlike dots and dashes! Love your maga-zine — make me a subscriber please.

Peter ShawEaglehawk, Victoria, Australia

Calls You Have LovedFurther to Doug Coe’s letter in MM50(p.56), about likeable rhythms withincalls, those who also like classical mu-sic will find several within the rhythmsof JS Bach, for example in his SuiteNo.1 in C major BWV 1066, and SuiteNo.2 in B minor BWV 1067.

Referring to the editor’s commenton the callsigns of coast stations, in myview he missed the best one, heard inthe Caribbean, the station of CiudadTrujillo (Santo Domingo) on 530 and425kHz, with the call HIA just repeatedtime after time!

There are stations on the usual 12, 8,

Mill/[52 — june 1997

6, 4, 2, and 16MHZ bands but they spoilit with HIA2 or 3. I wonder if they have

‘ ever been heard this side of the ocean?Allan L, Taylor G3JMO

Redcar, Cleveland

I have always been cursed with awk—

ward calls, e.g., G3ZXY. My 9J2PHwas not too bad, but a bit lengthy,

} ditto VK4COZ. A fellow member of‘ the Leeds University Amateur Radio So-ciety in the early 705 had G3ZSE whichsounds rather good.

This reminds me, I was providing. sending practice for a G8 member and‘ for some unknown reason we usedSpenser’s Faerie Queene as the textllA phrase including the word ‘beesnest’cropped up in it, which has a lovelyrhythm. The end of practice Q-signal

: became ‘Qbeesnest’l It’s almost a Morsepalindrome too.

Dr Peter Holtham VK4COZChapel Hill, Queensland, Australia

Too Slow?j Monika Pouw-Amold referred to herexperiences in working amateur begin—ners on 2m at slow speeds (MMS l, p.47).

1 Without doubt, the QSO which gave me‘ the greatest happiness was in VERY slowMorse.

Although it was several years ago, Istill recall the time I heard a particularlyweak and faltering signal calling CQ

‘ from the other side of the Atlantic. An—swering at the same, or even a slightlyslower speed, the operator turned out tobe a 13-yearold schoolgirl. She had onlyhad her licence a short while and wasabsolutelydelighted to make contact withsomeone over 2000 miles away.

43

' NKVY." A} ‘

ARMY.Hm a. memm}; comm, AND

A.} Tuumfic,

I,” «may;it? “”1399 1

Sending her QSL card direct, shewrote how really thrilled she had beento have me reply to her CQ call — andmore importantly, how glad she was I

sent code at such a slow speed. She couldactually read it. . .!

Douglas Byrne G3KPORyde, Isle of Wight

Unknown Key MM51I enclose a photo (see above) of a keysimilar to Jack Barker’s unknown keywith a box base shown in MM51, p.25.As can be seen I have the original pack-ing showing some limited informationwhich may be of value.

44

3,?

‘The Morse Key’‘fi 5‘,-

Photo: Tom Arris

I used this key on the air for sometime until my wife complained aboutthe loud tapping coming from the shack.She was right, because the key has itsown characteristic hollow sound.

Tom Arris G40SBNorth Hykeham, Lincoln

(Reference to the Home Guard onthe label suggests that this key wasinitially sold during the period 194071944. , Ed.)‘The nicely dovetailed wooden box’on which Jack Barker’s unknown keyis mounted (MM51, p.25) is/was anelectrician’s platten (or platen) on which

MM52 —]une 1997

sockets and switches were mounted indomestic premises between the wars andfor a short time after 1945.

I used them for Morse key bases onmany occasions, often filling the hollowbase with molten lead to give weightand stability.

H.E. Smith G31VFKirk Langley, Derbyshire

The unknown key from Jack Barker, isone that was fitted to Morse practicetrainers, sold by Gamages, etc., in the19305 and possibly up to the 19505. Afew months ago, I was given one ofthese sets, with the buzzer and clip forthe battery missing. I cleaned the keyand reset it, installed a modem buzzer,and it worked well. When the key wasset with a nice gap I noticed that the armwas sitting low at the knob end. Thisjust shows in Jack’s photo. It doesn’tlook right, but it works OK. The base ofJack’s key is an old wooden pattressblock, normally wall—mounted to carrylighting switches.

Albert Heyes G3ZHEPenketh, Cheshire

High Speed MorseI would suggest that some Morse ex-perts who specialise in high speedMorseare missing a vital point. In bad QRNconditions it is normal to slow downbecause copy gets worse the higher thespeed in relation to the level of QRN/QRM. It is desirable in my opinion, tohave a variable speed because of theproblem stated.

Morse in any case, is like music andcan either be spurted out as fast aspossible, or given great expression and

M91152 —june 1997

musical entertainment by suitable artic-ulation. The same thing applies to fasttalking and elocution: communicationdepends not on speed but on being un-derstood. There is no point in sending at50 w.p.m. when one has to repeat andrepeat because the other chap didn’t copyit — parts having been smothered in QRNfor instance.

Roger Gould-King, ZS6QLJohannesburg, South Africa

Who Said This is the End ofMorse Code?

In common with many readers ofMM,I have sobbed quietly into my beer as Ilistened directly or via recordings to thefarewell Morse messages from manyfamous Coastal Radio stations. Mytears have dropped unashamedly ontothe printed pages as I read of the inde-cent haste with which the powers-that-be are ending the use of a mode ofcommunication which has served manygenerations so well, and which has savedso many lives at sea.

No sooner had I read in one news—

paper that the only UK maritime radiostation still using Morse code was Port-ishead, than a friend phoned me to saythat he had just read that GKU (and allits derivatives) had received confirma-tion of its date of execution.

However, I dried my tears when I

noticed that some media have been gen-erous enough to mention that very soonthe only organisation making significantuse of this quaint, antiquated mode ofcommunication would be the AmateurRadio Service.

Now, if that is the case surely theresult of all this passion for speed and

45

so—called ‘progress’, as far as Morseenthusiasts in the amateur service areconcerned, is that we are being given anopportunity to maintain this simple andreliable means of communication moreas an ART than a SCIENCE?

Already we are becoming custodiansof Samuel Morse’s code, and the waythat we handle this responsibility willdetermine how well the code survives,and indeed if it does survive at all.

By all means, let’s continue theseestablished skeds and natters with oldfriends at 20 and 30 wpm (even faster ifthe arthritis permits!) but remember it isalso our responsibility to ensure that new(and sometimes not so new) operatorslearn to get the same thrill from MorseQSOs that we still do.

How about an occasional ‘CQ’ at 12wpm, or even less? If we can’t get ourspeed down as low as that on our fa—

vourite keyer, let’s try the old straightkey which used to be our pride and joybut is now gathering dust in a drawersomewhere.

At least, let’s take it out, clean thecontacts and put it in parallel with thekeyer output so that when that veryimportant call comes, when we are askedto slow down, we can do so without fearof making a fool of ourselves. Whoknows, we may even recall another thrill,long forgotten, that of sending rhythmicMorse with our own indelible signatureon it.

Now there’s a real thrill to relive!And we may well make the day for an—

other up and coming Morse enthusiast.George Allan GM4HYFRutherglen, Scotland

46

The Kon-Tiki ExpeditionFifty years ago, the famous scientificadventurer Thor Heyerdahl set out onhis Kon-Tiki expedition to prove thepossibility of crossing the Pacific Oceanby balsa rafts — something considered tobe sheer madness by all experts at thattime. Among the six members of theexpedition, two were telegraphists, bothof whom had a background of WWIIclandestine radio operations in German—occupied Norway.

Torstein Raaby had been assigned asa secret agent, following the movementsand whereabouts of the large battleshipTirpitzwhich was constantly being hunt—ed by the British in northern Norway.He was landed in the Tirpirz area bysubmarine, and by means of his mobileCW radio station was able to send dailyreports to London. His reconnaissanceactivity together with that of others,eventually led to the sinking of Tirpitzby British bomber planes.

The other telegraphist, Knut Haug-land, had been operating a clandestineradio station in Oslo from the attic of awomen’s hospital. The Germans man—

aged to locate his radio transmitter, andone day while he was sitting at the key,a patrol of soldiers arrived at the atticdoor. He grabbed his pistol and shot hisway out through the patrol. With bulletswhining around his ears, he ran downthe stairs and escaped. He managed toflee to England, but later went back toNorway to participate in the legendaryheavy water sabotage action.

Those were ‘our’ people on the Kon—

Tiki expedition. The voyage lasted for107 days and ended with great success.Radio contact with the outside world

EMM52 —june 1997

was maintained by CW and voice. Sev-eral amateur radio stations around theworld had contact with the raft, and someof them might still be around to tell thestory — maybe some of them MM read—

ers? Undoubtedly, many people in theCW community were greatly inspiredby these adventures.

The raft and other objects from ThorHeyerdahl’s expeditions can be seen atthe Kon-Tiki museum in Oslo, close tothe Viking ship museum and Amund-sen’s ship Fram. It is well worth a visit.

Einar HogsethFyllingsdalen, Norway

Morse Poets SocietyWhen one takes Japanese poetry —

haiku, waka (tanka) and renga, and ex—

presses them in Morse, one opens up awhole new world of beauty. An haikuis a 5—7-5 syllable poem, famed for itsbeauty, extreme brevity and capacity forsaying the most with the least words.‘Less is More’. Combine this with care-fully chosenwords so that one gets rhyth-mic Code, and here you have beautifulcommunication.

A typical haiku —

Autumn leaves and IVagabonds ofyesteryearWaitingfor Winter— says it better than ‘I’m getting old

and unwanted”.So, why not start something new

in MM along the above lines? Readerscould send in their own haiku, the ideabeing to produce not only a poem ofbeauty but one with beautiful-soundingCode when it is sent. As we know, thereare particular combinations of letterswhich are musical, so the challenge is

MM52 — June 1997

to make musical sounding poetry inthe most disciplined and difficult wayavailable!

For me Code becomes extremelybeautiful on a cold Winter’s night, witha bright starry sky and the empty silenceof the country. And then, from far, faraway, comes the lonely sound of Morse,reaching out across the world, like thewind in the trees, bringing me news ofothers’ thoughts.

We reach out and touch each otherfor those moments of rare communica—tion in that very special way the Codebrings people together. It is not just theCode, but the words used, the allitera-tion, the brevity and need to communi—cate the most with the least.

This is just an idea to exercise thebrains and souls of those inclined to wantbeauty in their communications withothers, rather than just a blippety—blip‘contact’ in order to make a scribbledrecord in the log book.

Roger Gould-King ZS6QLJohannesburg, South Africa

Junker HistoryEarly this year, Tony Smith G4FAIsuggested to my husband, during aconversation that began about some-thing else, that he might be able to gath-er some information on German Morsekeys, about which little appeared to beknown. How I was delegated to the taskI’m still not sure. Was it good manage-ment on his part orjust guile?

With our relocation to Californiaimminent, and with all the traumas oftrying to look after our 4—month-oldSteven, selling our house in Hollandand commuting between there and

47

Oberkassel, what, after all, is just onemore stress! — So began something ofa marathon.

Our apartment in Germany was juston the other side of the Rhine from Bonn.Oberkassel is but a few minutes by Auto—

bahn (and my husband’s low-flyingrocket, sometimes called a car) fromBad Honnef... and the Junker factory.An interview with the owner was quick—ly arranged, and then anotheronly a weekbefore leaving Europe. A good deal ofinformation was unearthed and, as anoutsider, I began to appreciate the fasci-nation you all have for these intricatethings.

I have completed a short history of‘Junker’ in English, which includes de—

tails of how to date the devices; originalpatent details; many photographs of thecompany’s employees over the period,and of Joseph Junker himself. I alsohave photographs of some rarer Junker—made keys, previously unknown ormis-attributed to other manufacturers.

As soon as the German version ofthe manuscript is completed it must beapproved by Herr Falk, the current own-er and nephew of Joseph Junker. Then aprécis will be prepared for MM and,hopefully, a small history of this profes-sional key can be published.

Dr. Uschi Biedinger-Redfern(YF/G4CZR/PA3EUX)

Marina Del Rey, California, USA

SHIPBOARD WATCHKEEPINGReaders with a seagoing backgroundwillbe familiar with the arrangements laiddown in the diagram on the back coverof this issue ofMM. Others may be some-what puzzled by them. As a ship travelseastwards or westwards, clocks are ad—

justed (traditionally at 0200 hours, whenmost souls are asleep!) to keep ship’stime roughly in step with solar time. TheR/O on a single-operator H8 ship in UKwaters keeps watch for 2 hours on, 2hours off commencingat 0800GMT, andfinishing at 2200 GMT. Let’s assume thatthe ship is setting off for Jamaica.

By the time the vessel reaches Longi—tude 300W, the ship’s clocks will havebeen put back by 2 hours (each of theeight zones marked A, B, C, etc., on themap is 4 hours wide), and the R/O’s firstwatch will start at 0600 ship’s time. Onentering Zone F, the R/O’s first watch ofthe day now commences at 1200 GMT,

which is 1000 ships’ time, but as theclocks continue to be put back the ship’stime con‘esponding to 1200 GMT getsearlier and earlier, so that by arrival inKingston (5 hours behindGMT) he startshis working day at 0700 ship’s time. Thisprocedure continues as the ship travelsfurther around the globe, with the time ofthe R/O’s first watch changing by fourhours each time a new Zone is entered.

All this was not intended just to givethe RID an easier life, by the way! It wasdesigned to make him available to main-tain communications during the ship’sworking day. In the early 1970s, this sys-tem was replaced by a new one whichreflected, in part at least, the growingavailability of radiotelex and other auto-matic systems.

See the next MM for details of thenew watchkeeping hours.

G3GSR

48 MM52 —]une 1997

fpfiemem

No. ...l......................J.uee.._.l..§_, _______________ , 194l.,__..U. s. PACIFIC FLEET, CRUISERS, SCOUTING FORCE

THIS CERTIFIES THATHELMANDOLLGR,R.T...................... , Rate 31'2/0........

is qualified and authorized to use 3

SPEED KEYon Fleet radio circuits while operating in Cruisers. Scouting Force.

4fiss Chic-zo—222—6-1541—125

Wm . ~ ~ ~ ”'5"

‘Speed Key’ certificate issued to Roy Hellmandollarwhen sewing in theUS Navy in 1941. Roy recalls that Navy ops were not allowed to use a bugunless they passed a test to get this certificate. He thinks the test speed was25 w.p.m. Although the certificate refers to operating in ships, he says thatbugs were mainly used in share stations. This certificate, together with Roy’sown bug, a Vibroplex Original, Standard, which he used in the Navy, is now

in the possessionof John Elwood WW7P.The certificate states: 'Speedkeys will be used in accordancewith currentinstmctions issuedby Commander-in-Chiet, U. 8. Fleet.’ If any readerhas

them, MM wouldwelcome a copy of these instmctions.

Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.)M§§§§§§§¥—

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Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.)Diagram showing radio watchkeeping hours laid down for ships not keepingcontinuous watch. Ships of the SecondCategory (canying two operators) keptwatch for 16 hours a day (knownas H16), whilst those of the Third Category

(having a single operator) kept watch for 8 hours a day (H8)FromGPO Handaook for Radio Operators, ThirteenthEdition (0 Crown Capright 1968)