%E Morse Magazine
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1'£um6er 23 - f£aster 1992 ... %e Morse. Magazine.. - MORSUM MAGNIFICAT was [lTst published in Holland, in 1983, by the late Rinus Helkmons PAOBFN. Now published in Britain, it aims to provide international coverage of all aspects of Morse telegraphy, past present and future. MORSUM MAGNIFICAT is for all Morse enthusiasts, amateur or professional, active or retired. It brings together 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. SUBSCRIPTIONS: For one year (four issues) United Kingdom: £8.50 per annwn, post-paid Europe, including Eire: £8.50 sterling Other countries: Surface mail- £9.00 sterling (or US $17.00 cash only) Ainnail- £11.00 sterling (or US $21.00 cash only) Cheques payable to 'G C Arnold Partners'. Payment by Access, Eurocard, Master card or Visa is also accepted; quote your card nwnber and expiry date. Please note that, owing to very high bank charges for currency exchange, we are unable to accept overseas cheques, drafts, money orders, etc., unless payable in sterling. Overseas cheques and drafts must be drawn on a London clearing bank. EDITORIAL AND SUBSCRIPTION OmCES: Morswn Magnificat. 9 Wetherby Close, Broadstone, Dorset BH18 8JB, England Telephone: Broadstone (0202) 658474; International +44 202658474 EDITOR Geoff Arnold G3GSR CONSULTANT EDITOR Tony Smith G4FAI, 1 Tash Place, London NIl IPA, England. Tel: 081-3684588 © G C Arnold Partners 1992 ISSN 0953-6426 Printed by Hertfordshire Display Company, Ware, Herts. ON OUR FRONT COVER A GNT Undulator in working condition. Photo by Dennis Goacher G3L1.Z Contents IRST OF ALL, AN APOLOOY to all of you 2 News F who were confused by the fact that they hadn't 6 Clandestine Radio - 2 had a ChrisbnaS issue of MM. I don't quite 12 Club ProfJ.le - 5: G-QRP know how it happened, but when I was laying out the front covez of MM22, I called it 'Spring 1992' 14 Readers' ADs instead of 'Christmas 1991 '. To get things back in 15 Obey the Rules step again, I've called this one 'Easter 1992', and the 16 American Telegraph next issue, due out at the end of July, will be called Instruments Makers - 1 'Summer'. 20 Reflections from In response to many requests from readers UncleBas-14 ovez the past year or so, I am pleased to be able to 22 Book Review tell you that binders for Morsum Magnificat will Bunnell's Last Catalog be available within the next couple of weeks. Each 23 Radio Bygones binder will hold two years-worth of MM - that's eight issues. For further details and prices, see the 24 Showcase annowx:ement on page 36 of this issue. 26 Marconi & the Isle of Wight The new 'MM Bookshelf service which was 32 Single Needle on launched in the last issue has proved to be vexy theLNER-I popular with readers. As I feared might happen, we 36 Binders for MM rapidly ran out of some titles, and I hope that those of 37 Bookshelf you who had to wait for books as a result enjoyed 38 My Days as an them when they did arrive. We now have stocks of aU Amateur Morse Examiner the books, and can fill your orders by return. 41 Your Letters In this issue, two new titles are added to the list - 48 Just Rambling ... neithex of them connected with telegraphy, I'm afraid, but for anyone whose interests extend into the wider 48 MM Back Issues & field of wireless history they will be fascinating. We In the Next Issue are expecting some new telegraphy titles from the pen of Tom French towards the end of 1992, and I'm sure that they will be of great interest We shall also be keeping an eye open for books on telegraphy from Yltivertisement any other sources. ltufe~ 19 G4ZPY Keys · MM23 1 New ISWL Publication exchange, and telephone cables did not THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT go transatlantic until 1956. WAVE LEAGUE has recently published Until the 1970s telegraphists were a useful 25 x A4 page reference booklet, trained to use Morse code and also to read Standard Frequency and Time Signal the Murray code, the five unit system Stations of the World. punched as holes in paper strips. These Chapters cover (a) an explanation of skills became obsolete in the 1980s as the various time systems; (b) transmission systems were replaced. All work is cur systems used; (c) standard frequency and rently undertaken on VDUs but now the time signal stati~ in frequency order from two remaining telegraph grades, Telegra 16kHz to 22.536MHz and from 95.00 to phist and Telegraph Executive 'C' are to 17l.13MHz; (d) ca11signs in alphabetical be abolished after agreement between order, including location and frequencies, British Telecom, the uew and the CMA. am (e) countries in alphabetical order, with From The CTO Veteran. official frequencies, transmission times, address organ of the Central Telegraph Office es, systems used and QSL card policies. Veterans Association. Priced at £1.75 or 3 x IRCs post-paid, this well set out and helpful publication World QRP Day is available from ISWL HQ, 10 Clyde JUNE 17 IS DESIGNATED annually by Crescent, Wharton, Winsford, Cheshire the International Amateur Radio Union CW7 3LA, England. as World QRP Day. It is not a contest The idea is simply to try working with low Telegraph Grade Abolished power. THE 1ELEGRAPH GRADE in British Many QRP stations will be heard on Telecom was finally abolished at the end the amateur bands using typical power of March 1991, 151 years after the provi levels from 5 watts output down to milli sion of the first commercial telegraph watts. High power stations are asked to circuit Delving into the history of the avoid interference to these QRP stations Telegraph Service shows how important or, better still, to reduce power themselves a role it played in the development of and join in the fun! telecommunications. The first commercial circuit in 1839 Europe for QRP Success preceded the first telephone exchange by THE FIRST Europe for QRP Weekend, 40 years exactly. In fact the first trans organised by the G and OK QRP Clubs atlantic telegraph cable was laid 23 years (UK and Czechoslovakia), held last before the opening of the first telephone September was a great success. No fewer 2 MM23 than 50 logs were received from 14 spelt out punctuation, at speeds of 15, European and 3 DX countries and all 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 wpm, with each leading stations received certificates from speed transmission lasting three minutes. the G-QRP Club. After a repetition, at 15 wpm, of the Many useful comments were received salient points of the preamble an RNARS from entrants and these, together with news bulletin is transmitted, again at 15 the massive political changes in eastern wpm, which also provides useful practice Europe, have led to the rules being at the lowest qualifying speed. re-drafted for the next event which will One hundred percent copy at 15 or take place on 2-4 October 1992, when 20 wpm qualifies for the RNARS Code it is hoped there will be even greater par Proficiency Certificate and stickers are ticipation from low power stations both awarded for higher speeds up to 40 wpm. within and outside Europe. The certificate must be gained at 20 wpm Report from Gus Taylor, G8PG, on before stickers can be issued. behalfofG-QRP Club and OK QRP Club. A charge of £1.00 sterling, or the (For further information about the G-QRP equivalent in IRCs, is made to cover the Club, see Club Profile in this issue. - Ed.) cost of certificate, postage and packing. The speed stickers cost just the price of a RNARS QRQ Transmissions self-addressed envelope. TIlE ROYAL NAVAL Amateur Radio Since 1963, nearly 1600 certificates Society's Morse proficiency transmissions and many speed stickers have been gained were originally established in 1963 with by readers throughout the United King Creed and GNT Morse auto heads keying dom and in nearby parts of ElD'Ope. The a KW Viceroy transmitter into a trapped RNARS QRQ Manager, Mike Matthews dipole, and monthly QRQ runs have con G3JFF, looks forward to many more ap tinued almost without failure up to the plicants taking part in this popular service present day. which is available to all radio amateurs, Nowadays, the Morse autos have been whether members of RNARS or not replaced by a BBC Master computer with Informationfrom G3JFF on behalf of software speCially developed for RNARS RNARS. by GMOLEG, keying a Kenwood TS-830 plus Heatherlite linear into the trapped Morse Day at loaIst Grove dipole. TIllS YEAR'S MORSE DAY EVENT Transmissions take place on the first arranged by Poughkeepsie Amateur Tuesday of each month on or near Radio Club will be held as usual at 3.520MHz at 2000 UK local time. A pre Samuel F.B. Morse's country home, amble transmitted at 15 wpm gives all Locust Grove, (Young-Morse Historic information required to enable would-be Site) in Poughkeepsie, NY, on May readers to send in their entries and 23-24. Look out for station K2KN operat (hopefully) qualify for their certificates. ing mainly CW over most bands on both The second part of the transmission con days. In addition to the multi-dipoles sists of plain language text, including normally used, the station this year will 3 have a three-element Yagi tri-bander Specially adapted accommodation (vis beaming east in the hope of attaining more itors will find this next to the Gibraltar DX QSOs than in the past.