[CW] Updated Wikipedia Entry on "CQ" giving citations for established facts

David J. Ring, Jr. n1ea at arrl.net
Tue Jan 16 20:07:59 EST 2024 

Subsequent to our informative discussion of the origins of CQ last year, 
I discovered an earlier instance, from Latimer Clark and Robert Sabine, 
"Electrical Tables and Formulæ: For Use of Telegraph Inspectors and 
Operators" published in London in 1871.

https://books.google.com/books?id=YgQ_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243 
<https://books.google.com/books?id=YgQ_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243>
'The call for "all stations" (C  Q) is the letter s ---   ---   --- &c, 
given during one minute.'

I have now added this to the Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#History_and_usage

However, CQ appears to date back even further. In the August 1st 1884 
issue of the trade paper The Telegraphist, an article by "Old Electric" 
on Ocean Telegraphy mentioned that the author joined the telegraph 
service in 1852, so was speaking from personal experience, and included 
this note as part of a description of the adoption of International 
Morse in Britain in 1851:

https://books.google.com/books?id=n65bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA110&dq=%22cq%22 
<https://books.google.com/books?id=n65bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA110&dq=%22cq%22>

"The alphabet for Bain's printing was not like the one now in use for 
Morse. When the Electric Telegraph Company agreed to adopt the 
international alphabet, notice was given to CQ (all stations) to prepare 
for the change, and from a fixed date to abandon the one and adopt the 
other."

Although this was published in 1884 and reflects memories from 32 years 
earlier, I have no reason to doubt its accuracy. Encyclopedia Britannica 
confirms that "the International Morse Code was adopted in 1851 for use 
on cables, for land telegraph lines except in North America, and later 
for wireless telegraphy.", but I have yet to find any publication from 
the early 1850s which specifically mentions CQ.

Although this is not rigorous enough for Wikipedia, the two-letter 
codes, almost certainly including CQ, were devised by Francis Whishaw, 
who managed the message department of the Electric Telegraph Company 
from 1845 to 1848.

In 1846 he created a matrix of codes, with the letters of the alphabet 
from top to bottom of the first column, and left to right of the top 
row.  At each intersection he placed a station name or operation code, 
so for example, the ETC's main premises at Lothbury in London had the 
code IK, and "End of Message" was PQ.  These are actual examples listed 
in articles about Whishaw's invention published at the time - 
tantalizingly, DQ is "Message Follows", PQ is "End of Message", and RQ 
is "Query # of Words" but CQ is not mentioned in a column of what are 
obviously service codes rather than station names.

Of the 26 x 26 matrix, which could have a possible 676 entries, only a 
very small number are given as examples. What is needed is Whishaw's 
original documentation from 1846, which would presumably have his 
complete list.

If you want to read more about the ETC and its codes, there is detailed 
information on my late friend and fellow-researcher Steve Roberts' 
Distant Writing website:
https://distantwriting.co.uk/howthecompaniesworked.html
(scroll down to Early Codes)

Bill B.

On 10-Sep-23 11:09 PM, David J. J. Ring, Jr. wrote:
>
> I've updated the Wikipedia Entry on "CQ" giving citations for long 
> established facts.
>
> I thank Bill Burns of https://atlantic-cable.com/ a longtime historian 
> and members of the Antique Wireless Association 
> <https://www.antiquewireless.org/>, Society of Wireless Pioneers 
> <http://sowp.org>, and Veteran Wireless Operators Association 
> <http://vwoa.org> for their continued assistance and supplied 
> resources to make these needed corrections.
>
> From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> For other uses, see CQ (disambiguation) 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(disambiguation)>.
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CQ_de_DG2RBH.ogg>0:05CQ call of 
> German amateur radio station DG2RBH on the 80 m band ("Hello CQ from 
> Delta Golf 2 Romeo Bravo Hotel")
>
> *CQ* is a station code used by wireless 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless> operators derived from long 
> established telegraphic practice on undersea cables and landlines, 
> particularly used by those communicating in Morse code 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code>, (  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ 
>   ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ), but also by voice operators, to make a general call 
> (called a /CQ call/). Transmitting the letters /CQ/ on a particular 
> radio <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio> frequency 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency> means that the transmission 
> is an broadcast or "General Call" to anyone listening, and when the 
> operator sends "K' or says "Go Ahead" it is an invitation for any 
> licensed amateur radio operators listening on that frequency to 
> respond. It is widely used in amateur radio 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio>.^[1] 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#cite_note-Sessions1974-1>
>
>
>     History and usage[edit
>     <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CQ_(call)&action=edit&section=1>]
>
> The CQ station code was^[2] 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#cite_note-OL-2>  originally 
> used by landline and undersea cable telegraphy operators in the United 
> Kingdom <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom>. The oldest 
> reference found to the station code CQ is contained in The 
> Telegraphist. Edited by W. Lynd, Volume 1 1886. ^[3] 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#cite_note-3>  which states on 
> p. 15 under "Alphabetical Codes and Abbreviations": "CQ All Stations". 
> Additionally, the telegraphic station code "CQ" was mentioned in "The 
> Telegraphist. Edited by W. Lynd, Volume 1 1886" ^[4] 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#cite_note-4>
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Massie_Wireless_Station_%22PJ%22_Spark_Sound.ogg>0:08Demonstration 
> of the spark-gap transmitter at Massie Wireless Station 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massie_Wireless_Station> sending Morse 
> code ("CQ DE PJ")
>
> CQ was adopted by the Marconi Company 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marconi_Company> in 1904 for use in 
> wireless telegraphy 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_telegraphy> by spark-gap 
> transmitter <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter>, and 
> was adopted internationally at the 1912 London International 
> Radiotelegraph Convention 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Radiotelegraph_Convention_(1912)>, 
> and is still used.^[5] 
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQ_(call)#cite_note-5>
>

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