Radschool Association Newsletter

Radschool Association Newsletter - Vol 10

Next reunion - 27 April 2003

10 April 2002

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If only we had sound! They reckon that it took a bunch of blokes 30 minutes to prize Kev Stapleton out of the forward gunner’s seat of the Catalina at the Museum at Amberley last March (2001). We hear he was stuck in there making all those ratta-tat-tat-tat sounds and shooting baddies out of the sky all around the hanger and just wouldn’t give it up. We also hear there is a big bunch of money being offered for the non-publication of this photo in Toowoomba....

Morse Code

Once upon a time it was the fastest, and in a lot of cases, the only way of getting a message from one place to another. Thousands and thousands of people learnt it, using it became a respected profession in both civvy street and in the military and there was a fierce pride amongst users at being the fastest to send/receive it. It was a job done by both blokes and blokettes and those good at it could identify a sender just from the way he tapped. Only as far back as 30 years ago it was still the primary comms link between Sydney airport and Lord Howe Island, but now it’s gone! But, how did it all come about???

It was developed by Samuel Finley Breese Morse who was born in the USA in 1791 and who lived until 1872. Morse initially studied art, graduating from Yale in 1810. He moved to London and gradually became well know for his portrait paintings and sculptures but his love was not in portraits but in painting historical pictures. He found that historical paintings did not sell, so disillusioned he returned to the USA.

Pilot Talk

Engine Failure
A condition which occurs when all fuel tanks mysteriously fill with air.
Range.
Usually 50klms beyond where all the fuel tanks mysteriously fill with air.
Roger.
Said when pilots are not sure what else to say.

About this time, British inventor William Sturgeon (1783-1850) invented a device that laid the foundations for large-scale electronic communications: the electromagnet. Sturgeon displayed its power by lifting nine pounds with a seven-ounce piece of iron wrapped with wires through which the current of a single cell battery was sent. Then, In 1830 an American, Joseph Henry (1797-1878), demonstrated the potential of Sturgeon's device for long distance communication by sending an electronic current over one mile of wire to activate an electromagnet which caused a bell to strike. Thus the electric telegraph was born.

Morse with his telegraph machine

Morse was quick to see the potential for these new gadgets, but being short of money couldn’t buy insulated wire to wind his magnets, so he made his own by insulating his wire with tar, pitch and rubber. He realized that the alphabet could be individually coded into a series of long and short rings of the bell, and by using this code a message could be rapidly sent over a long distance.After five years of work, he was ready to demonstrate his telegraph. He hoped the men who saw it would like it and invest, bringing in funds necessary for further development, however, as is often the case, they were only tyre kickers. Watching the demonstration was a university student named Alfred Vail. His father and brother had an iron and brass business and Vail promised to build a sturdier model of the telegraph, so Morse made him a partner. In 1838, Morse took the new telegraph to Washington to get some R&D money from Congress to test it but he was knocked back again. Undaunted, in 1842 he prepared a dramatic presentation. Using tar, pitch, and rubber, he waterproofed two miles of wire and strung the wire underwater. In front of a huge crowd, a ship snagged the line and cut it, ruining months and months of hard work. In 1843 he made one more attempt to interest Congress. This time they authorised a grant of $30,000 to test it, and a telegraph line was built between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. On the 24th May, 1844 Morse tapped out his famous message, "What hath God wrought."

Although proven, his invention was slow to catch on, as the public did not trust information which had arrived to them via cable. Newspapers, for example refused to print news which had arrived via cable as they doubted its veracity, relying instead on pigeon post and human delivery. Reuters was to change all this, and in 1858, 14 years after its successful demonstration, the London Times printed a speech of Napoleon’s which was received in London using Morse’s code sent via the Channel wire. Shortly after this, Morse and his telegraph were known throughout the United States and Europe. A new age in communications had arrived.

In Ireland, on the 1st February 1999, the last official message was transmitted by means of Morse code.

Chinese Proverb.
Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cat house.

Ever wondered why Morse chose dit dah to represent the letter A, and dah dit dit dit to represent the letter B and so on. Have a look at the picture below…. It’s quite easy to see how the code was developed for letters in the English alphabet, but ever wondered how other countries got on. We wonder what the code for "ßþæ?œ" would be .....

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