[ARC5] Seeking Extinct Wire

[mstangelo at comcast.net]

I, for one, find this an interesting conversation on historical radio technology.

Mike N2MS

> On 05/30/2025 10:20 AM EDT Mike Feher <n4fs at eozinc.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Dave – I do not know if most on here are interested, so, I’ll reply direct after I get some breakfast. 73 – Mike
> 
> Mike B. Feher, N4FS
> 89 Arnold Blvd.
> Howell NJ 07731
> 908-902-3831
> 
> From:arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf OfDavid Stinson
> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2025 10:16 AM
> To: Mike Feher <n4fs at eozinc.com>; 'ARC-5 List' <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Seeking Extinct Wire
> 
> Thanks for this valuable info, Mike. 
> I note from the photo that the iron wires of the band 
> appear to be twisted together into a cable configuration? 
> I had read that the wires were not wrapped around 
> each other, as the twist would caused the EM field in
> individual wires to phase-cancel (like a twisted pair)<
> but rather layered to act like transformer laminations 
> (thus the insulation) Have you tried yours for function? 
> 
> The one I have is a home-brew which came with 
> steel wires that were twisted together
> into a cable and painted with some kind of 
> gray paint. The coils and magnets are good, 
> as are the lo-Z headphones, but the unit 
> has no output, unless one stuffs volts of RF
> into it, so that what one hears is just 
> non-linear high-level leakage.
> The only thing I can see which looks "off"
> is the wires. This one is a "demonstrator"
> which has a hand crank on the side. 
> I mean to install a proper
> clockwork, but not until it is functional.
> 
> I had this crazy idea of trying to extrapolate 
> the real, practical sensitivity of the "Maggie" 
> used on the RMS Titanic, because I had 
> some doubts about some of the claims
> made for receiving the ship's distress 
> calls far inland, or even at modest 
> coastal stations.
> 
> But then I found the ship antenna technical 
> specifications: a center-fed 
> Marconi "T" 160 feet tall, with four "top hat" 
> capacitive-loading horizontal wires 400 feet
> long, the other capacitor plate 
> (ground plane) a zillion tons of steel 
> floating in thousands of miles of salt-water. 
> 
> So... OK. You probably could have heard 
> them had McBride sparked a 12-volt battery 
> across the antenna.
> But I still want to get this "Maggie" to work.
> 
> TNX OM ES 73 DE Dave AB5S
> On 5/30/2025 7:31 AM, Mike Feher wrote: