Number 79— fefiruary 2002 “la/[amid teat£2 75 firitisfi {Post Office Key I I I The InternationalJournal of IMorse I — I Telegraphy _ EDITORIAL AND SUBSCRIPTIONOFFICES: Morsum Magnificat.The Poplars. Wistanswick. Market Drayton. Shropshire TF9 28A. England. Phone: +4410) 1630 638306 FAX: +44 (0) I630 63805l MORSUM MAGNIF lCATwasfirst publishedas a quarterlymaga:ine in Holland. in 1983. by the late Rinus Hellemons PAOBFN. It has been prmlucedytour. then six times a year in Britain since 1986. and up to January 199‘) was published and edited b_\‘ Tony Smith. G4FAl and Geoff Arnold. G3GSR. It aims to provide international coverage ofall aspects of Morse telegraph): past present and future. MORSUM MAGNIFICAT is for all Morse enthusiasts. amateur or professional. active or retired. It brings together material which would otherwise he lost to poslerity. providing an invaluable source ofinterest. reference and record relating to the traditions and practice of Morse. EDITOR: Zyg Nilski. G3OKD e-mail: [email protected] MM home page — www.MorseMag.com © The Nilski Partnership MMI Printed by Hertfordshire Display plc. Ware. Hens All drawings. photographs and articles are copyright and no part ol this publication may be reproduced. stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any torrn or by any means without express permission ol the publishers, The Nilski Partnership. Copyright may also be the property of contributors. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (six issues): UK£IS.00 Europe £l7.00 Rest ofthe World £20.00 (US $30 approx) All overseas copies are despatched by Airmail ' Prices in US dollars may vary slightly with currency exchange rates and oornrnission charges Make all cheques payable to ‘MorsumMagnificat' “When does my subscription expire ...?" This is printed on the top line of the address label. Also. we shall jog your memory with a renewal reminder included with that final issue. MM Back Issues Issues Nos. 34.35 and 38-78 available from the Editorial offices (see top of page). Price including postage £2.75 each to UK: £2.95 to Europe; £3.25 (US $5) Rest of the World by airmail. Deduct 20% if ordering 3 or more. FRONT COVER Unusual British Post Office key. Photo/Collection: Fons Vanden Berghen - Halle. Belgium Comment April 12‘“ this year will be the 90‘'1 anniversary ofthe tragic sinking of the Titanic. Loss of life would have been much worse if it had not been for wireless and the dedication of Jack Phillips, the Marconi ‘radio officer' is well remembered. Special events have been organised by the Titanic Wireless Commemorative Group, in Jack Phillips' home town, Godalming, Surrey (see News). Also included in this issue is an in-depth article by Dr Ken Jones on the communication system used on the Titanic and other ships at the time. Zyg Nilski, G30KD Contents News Showcase Isl—\le.) Who Remembers RAEM and UPOL compiled by Tony Smith l—‘IQ Heliograph Demonstration Held for lMAs at F011 Huachuca. Arizona by Jim Riddle More on 'Maggie' and the Titanic by Dr Ken Jones, G3RRN Info Please! An Electronic Keyer Paddle from “Scrap-Box" Parts by Drew Diamond, VK3XU The Barclay Box—Relay by Dave Pennes A Century of Dots and Dashes — Looking Back from 1954 extracted and condensed by Tony Smith MM Bookshelf Your Letters Readers Ads flan/ens 6 MEGS 7 Radio Bygones 41 G-QRP Club 22 The Radio Officers Association 37 FISTS CW Club MM79 — february2002 News Voices from the Past iceberg. His heroism savedover700lives. Mr Barrett will makea presentation Titanic Survivors on Tape on the early use of radio to summon aid and it was the Titanic Historical Society Special Event Station of America which provided him with the tape of the interviews. made for the The voices of people who were saved Society‘s archive at a convention in the when the Titanic struck an iceberg on her 1950‘ 5. “They give an astonishing insight maiden voyage in April 1912 with the into the events which followed after the loss of over 1500 lives will be heard for liner struck the iceberg”, says Mr Barrett. the first time in Britain when Ralph His presentation will launch an Barrett, Broadcasting Consultant. talks international radio link-up, in Godalming. Surrey,on Friday 12 April. complementing an exhibition on Jack His talk is part of the programme Phillips and the Titanic, which will run at commemorating the 90th anniversary of Godalming Museum from Tuesday 12 the loss of the liner and honouring 25- March to Saturday 25 May. year-old Godalming born and bred Jack The link—up is being organised on Phillips, the Chief Wireless Telegraphist Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April 2002 who stayed at his post sendingout distress by the Titanic Wireless Commemorative signals to alert other ships before losing ; Group. 20 local radio amateurs who. his life when the ship went down two 1 operating from a replica of the Titanic‘s hours and forty minutes after striking the wirelessroom,will contactradioamateurs W79 fefiruary 2002 the Wireless SOS, at the Borough Hall, Godalming, 7.30 pm. Tickets at £3 available from Godalming Museum. (Tel: 01483 426510). Saturday 13 to Sunday 14 April: Radio Station GB90MGY special event station at the Wilfrid Noyce Centre, Godalming. Open 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 pm. Admission Free. For further information, contact the Titanic Wireless Commemorative Group: Michael Shortland: Tel +44 (0) 1483574996; e-mail: [email protected] or visit www.gdrs.net/titanic or the JackPhi/lips:Titanic’5 Chief Wireless Telegraphist Godalming Museum: Derek Watson, Publicity Officer- Home worldwide, using a special call sign for l Tel +44 (0) 1483414673,or Museum: Tel the event - GB90MGY (Titanic‘s call +44 (0)1483426510; sign was MGY). They will be active on [email protected]. CWonly on all amateur shortwavebands, 80-10 metres (including WARC bands) from 10.30 a.m. Saturday 13 April until 06.47 a.m. - the precisetime in the UKthat the Titanic sank - on Monday 15 April. Contacts and reports will be confirmed 100% via the QSL bureau. Touch Sounder Project Experts will be on hand to explain to visitors what is happening and they Martin Mueller has developed a circuit will be able to use a Morse key. that brings old telegraph sounders to life. It consists of a capacitive touch switch Summary ofEvents and a custom integrated circuit that sends Tuesday 12 March to Saturday 25 May: a Morse code message on the sounder Exhibition on Jack Phillips and the whenever anyone touches any part of the Titanic at Godalming Museum, 109A sounder body. When embedded in a nice High Street. Open Tuesday to Saturday wooden base, with the sounder mounted 10 a.m. to 4 pm. (until 25 March and 5 on top, it makes a great showpiece or pm. after that). Admission Free. paperweight. Friday 12 April: Talk by Ralph Barrett, With this circuit installed, the Broadcasting Consultant. on Titanic and sounder comes to life and starts sending W79 — fefimary2002 .3 everything installed inside and it comes out looking really nice. The intemet address is http:// webl.greatbasin.net/ ~muellerpage/ main.htm As Martin says, “If you lovetelegraph, I'm sure you‘ll love this project!” He can also be contactedby e-mail: [email protected] a message anytime anyone touches any ‘ ‘ GACW CW DX metal part of the sounder. It is quite a Contest surprise! The message he selected is Samuel Morse Party “What Hath God Wrought!” reportedly the first message sent by Samuel Morse on his telegraph. GACW, Argentine CW Group have This circuit is designed to bring ; announced their first international event virtually any telegraph sounder to life. - The Samuel Morse Party. which will Martin has a website with full plans take the third weekend of available free online and he also will sell place during April each The first takes place this the chip and circuit board at a low cost. year. which is the 25th anniversary of These instructions will guide you year, GACW. The event will take place through the assembly, testing, adjustment, and use of the animator on l9th/20th April 2002 and the circuit. Only a soldering iron and some objective is foramateurs aroundthe world small hand tools are needed to complete to contact other amateurs in as many CQ the project. zones and radio countries as possible on An example of one Martin built is all bands. shown in the photo. He purchased the base from a local trophy dealer and had Full Rules them make the brass nameplate at the Dates: Third week end of April each year same time. The base is hollowed outwith i.e. 20th/2 1 st. April 2002 ( l9th/20th April 4 M79 fefirumy 2002 2003 — 17th/l8th April 2004. etc) for 24 country contacted on each band. Stations hours from 12.00 UTC 12.00 Saturday to 1 are permitted to contact theirown country UTC Sunday. and zone for multiplier credit. The CQ Objective: For amateursaroundthe world WAZ definitions, DXCC and the GACW to contact other amateurs in as many CQ country list. WAE country list, and WAC zones and radio countries as possible. boundaries are the standards to be used. Bands: All bands. 3.5 MHz through 28 Maritime mobile stations will count only MHZ excluding WARC bands. for a zone multiplier. Single Operator Categories: Those Points: Contacts between stations on stations at which one all different person performs ‘ continents are worth three (3) of the operating, logging, and spotting points. Contacts between stations on the functions. The use of DX alerting 3 same continent but different countries, ‘ assistance of any kind places the station one ( 1) point.