[KYHAM] A Christmas Radio 'Miracle"

[Ron Dodson]

Marconi had already invented the wireless telegraph. Land
and 
sea communication networks were being established, and
DeForest
was attempting to perfect the �audion� (triode) tube.

A Canadian inventor by the name of Reginald Fessenden, with
the help of
his assistant Ernst Alexanderson, were working in
Fessenden�s Massachusetts
laboratory; and developed a mechanical device to �alternate�
a continuous
radio wave.

The strange device consisted of a huge disc a few feet in
diameter that
revolved at 20,000 rpm.  They connected it to a transmitter
and a
microphone, and discovered that they could �modulate� a
radio signal!

On Christmas Eve, as wireless operators on ships off the
Massachusetts
coast were listening for the familiar Morse traffic; they
couldn�t believe
their ears, when they suddenly heard voices in their
headphones!
They listened spellbound.  They heard a woman singing. 
Then, they heard
someone playing a violin!  It was Fessenden...playing the
sacred carol...
�O Holy Night�.

No longer would the airwaves be restricted to the �dits� and
�dahs� of
radiotelegraphy alone.

This happened on Christmas Eve...   Nineteen Hundred and
Six.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, 

Ron Dodson, KA4MAP
Ky Amateur Radio Emergency Service Section Coordinator