Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Record Details:

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OoMK oi.i) nistt'd coils ol t\\ isted \\ in-, O broken pieces of concrete, and a concrete slab that jnts ont o\er the eroded l)ank toward the ocean at South W'elllleet, Cape Cod, are all tliat re- main oi the first wireless station to l)i' erected in tlie L'nitetl .States. Aetu.illv . in a sense, these relics are a nionmnent to the andacit^• of Gnglielnio Nhnconi, who dared to think that he might span the .Atlantic with radio signals. I'or the benefit of "old-timers," in whose memory the station is est.ih- lished forexer, it should be recalled that at first, in the early 1900"s, it was called "CC." changed to "MCC" in 191{), when all Marconi stations were given the prefix "M," and to "WCC: later on when international regulations required .\merican stations to use the prefix "W" or "K." In 1901, Marconi had two powertiil radio transmitting and receiving sta- tions erected, one at Poldhu. England, and the other at South W'ellfleet. He also set up recei\ing equipment in Xewfoundland, where, in the same year, he received the historic first sig- nal (the letter "S") from across the ocean. A storm wTecked the fiist sta- tion at South Wellfleet, and it had to be reliuilt. It was formally opened on January 19, 190.3. .\fter years of serv- ice, it was dismantled by a force from the First Naval District in 1919. MCC was especially noted for its dispatches of press every evening, the news of the day being prepared at the AP office in New York, wired to MCC, and thence "broadcast" by wireless. As the news came in on the Cape Cod wire it was punched on tape for auto- matic transmission, and then rim through the reproducer at 10 p.m. at very slow speed. To any old-time oper- ator or amateur who e\er listened to that low-pitch, yet rich-sounding spark, the memory will ne\er depart. But none of them will equal the thrill ot the old lady on shipboard, who was priv- ileged to listen in to the signal and who was told all about the modus operandi of the tape transmission. She said that she could rmderstand all that \'er\ clearh', but what she could not see was how the paper tape could reach from shore to ship without getting wet! Could she have seen the actual trans- "CC'I "MCC7 "WCC" By George Clark mission shi' wciuld lia\ e been e\en more enthused. At the relay in the transmit- ter room streams of fire a foot long were thrown off by the powerful aii blowers. The spark could be heard (hiiiiigh the air for several miles, and the light cast b\' it could be seen even as far as fifteen miles. Cape Cod was a station for stern men. It was one of the outposts of civ- ilization. So heaV'V were the blasts of sand blow^n up by the wind that it often brought blood to the operators' faces. I'he station was quite a distance from "ci\ili/ation." and tin- men luid to anuise themsehes by the methods ot the day. Eminent among these was the phonograpli; auNone using profane language was fined in "records," and anyone going to Boston on lea\e had to bring back si.x records as "expiation." Nor was it without its dangers. The clu-t was struck by lightning in the kitclien, though not fatally, on one oc- casion, and his life thereafter was made miserable by the engineers who ollcrcd to give him a shock of .50.000 xolts .my time he wanted it. SOCTU WKI.UFLEET ST\ri.)\ 1\ 1904. KELIC OK S.\ME ST.ATION IN 1942. RADIO AGE 31