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2 mm prif1994
Danish Liberation Celebrations hoc Morse committee, or its members,
The Danish Freedom Fighter Museum are asked to contact MM immediately.
station OZSMAY (see MM31, p.7) plans
to be on the air on May 4, on 14.038, ZR0 Test
14.043 and 14.046MHz (i) to celebrate The ZRO Memorial Technical Achieve-
the Danish liberation message. ment Program, otherwise known as the
UK stations are particularly asked ZR0 Test, may be of interest to read-
to standby for this station, for normal ers of MM. Basically, it is a series of
QSOs and chat, because many WWII CW numeric code groups transmitted at
resistance people come to the museum 10 wpm through the AMSATOSCAR-
that day and like to see the station l3 amateur satellite with each succes-
working. sive group transmitted at a lower power
Torben Dahl, OZSABN, writes than the previous group.
please be patient when calling us as The participating listener monitors
we are sometimes speaking to the visi- the downlink signals from the satellite
tors and it is not possible to key at the until the numbers can no longer be cop-
same time. There are also two short cer- ied. Those who can hear the beacon can
emonies in the evening, at 1930 and qualify for the basic award by copying
2030, when we may have to shut down the code group heard at that level (des-
for 1015 minutes. ignated ZO).
The challenge is to improve home-
IARU Morse Committee station reception performance to a point
A meeting of the Administrative Coun- where the lower-level downlink signals
cil of the International Amateur Radio can also be copied. Endorsements, in
Union was held in Brussels, Belgium, the form of attractive stickers to afx to
on 2627 September 1993. During this the basic certicate, record each succes
meeting, its chairman, IARU President sive level heard and accurately copied.
Richard L. Baldwin WlRU, announced At the beginning of the run, uplink
his intention to appoint several new power from the control station is set to
ad hoc committees, including one to be match the general beacon downlink
concerned with Morse code: the issues, strength. This is level ZO. After send-
and a proposed position. ing and repeating the rst random ve
There is no further information at digit number at this level, the control
this time, but the recommendations of operator lowers his uplink power by 3dB
this committee could, potentially, have (half power) and repeats the procedure
a considerable impact on the large with a new random number (level 21 ).
numbers of radio amateurs who still This continues through successive
use Morse code around the world. stages to level Z9, 27dB below the
MM will report any further news as beacon level, and a new level, A, is
it becomes available. At the same time, 30dB. At the time of writing, only one
readers having any knowledge or infor station (Darrell Emerson AA7FV) has
mation about the work of the IARU ad successfully copied level A.
9119163 #7111994
The 27dB decrease from ZO to Z9 QRP Convention & FUNRUN 1994
is the result of cutting output power in In conjunction with its 10th QRP
half nine times. At the control station Convention, to be held on Sunday, May
for Mode B tests (two-metre down 8 (see page 5), the Yeovil Amateur Ra
Magmcat Bygones
The Language of Maritime WfT In the April/May 1994 issue. out now!
More Transmitting Plates The Theremin 0 The Bigrid Valve
Home-Brew The Mighty RGD 1050C
plus all the regulars! Bendix MN-26 Radio Compass
BACK ISSUES Limited stocks of issues Photo-feature: Eastern Bloc Military Radio
Nos. 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31 & 32 ONLY
now available,
G C ArnoldPartners, 9 Wetherby Close,
at 2.20 each to UK addresses, Broadstone, Dorset BH18 8J8, England
2.25 overseas (surface mail) Phone/FAX: 0202 658474
maa apn'I1994
NE BIG ADVANTAGE for their telegraphic communications.
to a non-alphabetized writ- US Navy operators who were attached
ten symbol language is that to SACO (Sino-American Cooperative
irrespective of the limitations of widely Organisation) during WWII recall that
different spoken dialects, communication the Chinese used the foregoing system
is quite effective. A Chinese whose spo- over telephone circuits (wire and radio)
ken language is only Mandarin may not by vocally spelling out the dictionary
be able to orally numbers in dits
communicate with and dahs.
another Chinese
who speaks only Chinese Dit-Dahs Even though
two speakers with
Cantonese. But if different dialects
by Don deNeuf WA 1SPM (SK)
both are literate they could not under-
can communicate stand each other, the
with ease through voiced dits and
the written Chinese characters which are dahs required them only to have one of
really the equivalent of pictures. the dictionaries at hand and to know the
When the Danish Great Northern International Morse code for the numer-
Company introduced the Telegraph in als zero through nine (didi-di-di-dah
China at the turn of the century it was being the numeral 4, etc.).
well aware that a Morse code to accom- This was far better than trying to
modate some six thousand ideographs was stumble through some foreign language
simply impractical. To overcome this, the translation full of difcult accents. I re-
so-called Chinese Telegraph Dictionary member one triple conversion test we ran
was devised which provided a system using the phrase Out of sight Out of
involving a series of four digit Arabic mind. It came back as Blind Idiot.MM
numerals assigned to the 0073 0044 0040 0024 0022 0021 0021 0000
various ideographs.
5907 1704 8764 1937 7874 0073
Although somewhat
time consuming to nd the 9!
12 a?
5922
$ E if? E
00210000
61%
workable and the Chinese 5923
7:3 0043 0023 1593 5035 1690 001
immediately adopted it g B if 5 3: g
a a_
1150 0075 1593 6366 0339 4547
5:305 0071
ff.
1% as 2 is -
W
i
Excerpt fromapage of the 5946 0072 0794 7529 7621 43:39
E
0044 0029
Chinese Telegraph Dictionary [if P3? 51 5%
Lorain
facing defeat. The French patriots are Americans and Leclercs column that
ghting an unequal battle against the had been chosen for political reasons to
Germans in Paris, and the allied forces head the advance on Paris.
endeavouring to link up with them are There was a further reason; many of
still some miles from the city... The the Germans had become deeply attached
French ghters are in terrible danger... to the city they had occupied in comfort.
The Germans have material superior They were more than willing to ignore
ity... history on a tremendous scale is Hitlers orders to hold on to the city at
being made in those few square miles of all costs.
France, as The Times put it. Did the Resistance liberate Paris from
Seldom, even in wartime, had the within? The answer must be both yes,
press been made to change its words so and no. A secret Armistice was signed
quickly. late on Friday.
10 mm aprit 1994
UMI
ll-
AERIAL BUL
World
Wireless
lnl IUI
Courtesy
REGENERATION (REACTION)
The underground, the swelling Radio contact had nally been made
French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and on the Sunday but too late. The senior
those who had genuinely worked for the NCO was soon ordered back to Norman-
Intelligence reseaux and the escape dy. GM3AVA, more happily, going for-
lines, were soon to be swamped by the ward to Brussels, then on into Holland.
September resistors. In Paris, several MkIIIs, and a 150-
My two colleagues, I discovered, had watt MkX (813pa) transmitter, together
nally got into Paris on the Saturday with a clutch of HRO receivers were
and were immediately caught up in the installed in our comfortable home in
celebrations. the plushy XVIth arrondissement and
Who thinks of radio skeds at such a links with Whaddon, Juaye and then
time? THEY did not know of the mes- Brussels were soon busy handling ci-
sage for de Gaulle that was causing so pher trafc.
much embarrassment in Juaye! One of
them, incidentally, (Watson Peat CBE, Assassination Attempts
GM3AVA) was a Governor of the BBC That rst Saturday, de Gaulle
in the 19803! marched steadfastly through Paris, his
The other, a former rum-runner tall angular frame remaining erect when
radioman from the American prohibi- rie re rang out opposite the Louvre
tion era, nished the war in a military and again as he strode up the steps of
glasshouse for black-marketing in Notre Dame.
Brussels. A fortnight later, on September 10,
M9133 apriI1994 11
another attempt was made to assassinate self what a military sham I was a
him while speaking at the Trocadero special duties toy soldier who had never
when an unknown marksman red on red his Sten in anger, had not even
him from the Eiffel Tower. received basic military training, and
That afternoon, nding the tower re was being paid adequately.
opened for the very rst time, and un- In the racket we had done what the
daunted by the non marche pas of the French often accuse the British of doing
lifts, I was painstakingly climbing the ghting bravely to the last Frenchman
narrow spiral iron staircase towards the working the clandestine radios!
we attempted to buy tickets. For four port of tough veterans of the Spanish
years the Grey Mice had not used tick- Civil War who had escaped into France
ets. Parisians were determined that the in 1939. Whereas London frequently
Allied troops should fare no worse. urged the Resistance to prepare, but wait,
for the opening of the Second Front,
The FTP Moscow called upon its supporters
Most people associate French everywhere to engage in active resist-
Resistance with the Free French sup- ance, regardless of the consequences.
porters of General de Gaulle and the The FTP mistrusted and in turn
agents sent in by F section of the were mistrusted by both de Gaulle
Special Operations Executive. Without and the British.
..
IBA Newsletter in 1984, to
by the Royal Navy on the French eet 'mark the 40th anniversary of
off Oran in July 1940 that resulted in the Liberation of Paris..
published
1845,
Vail,
Alfred
by
Telegraph
Magnetic
Electro
American
Vail wrote, The key or correspondent is used for writing upon the register
at the distant
table (i.e. baseboard). From
station, and both it and the register are usually upon the same
from
(i. e. sending
this description it appears that the term key', as an alternative to correspondent
hand key
have been used from the time this predecessor of the conventional
Illustrations
instrument), may
appeared in 1844
apart were extending along the railroad. of the conventions nominations for pres
Good progress was again being made, ident and vice-president were ashed to
with Morse telegraphing his assistants Washington an hour before the train bear-
and receiving replies within seconds. ing the news reached the city, giving an
The insulation of the overhead wires early demonstration of the potential of
where they were attached to the poles the new telegraph.
caused problems, but Cornell devised an
economic solution using readily availa- Things Went Well Today
ble glass doorknobs. On the day before the Whig conven
On May 1, the wires reached Annap- tion Morse wrote to Vail, Get every-
olis Junction, 22 miles from Washing- thing ready in the morning... When you
ton, in time to pick up news from the
learn the name of the candidate see if
you cannot give it to me... before
the
railway of the proceedings of the Whig
national convention at Baltimore. News (rail)cars leave you...
20 mm _ apnr 1994
Next day, he wrote, Things went Incredulous
well today. Your last writing (i.e., send- Two days after the demonstration,
ing. Ed.) was good. You did not cor- on May 26, the Democratic convention
rect your error of running your letters met in Baltimore and Morse was able to
together until some time. Better be de relay news direct from the convention to
liberate... I may have some of the Cabi Washington. Vail and Cornell had their
net tomorrow... Get from the passengers instruments at the railway station in Bal-
in the cars from Baltimore, or elsewhere, timore, while Morse was in a room be-
all the news you can transmit. low the Senate chamber in Washington.
There were still difculties with the There were nine ballots for the presi-
new hand keying technique and again he dential nomination, all reported instant-
wrote to Vail, Make a longer space be- ly by Vail. Excitement rose to a
tween each letter and a still longer space crescendo in Washington as the news
between each word. Finally, with eve came into Morses ofce and a little-
ryone working under great pressure, the known outsider, James K. Polk, nally
line from Washington to Baltimore was received the almost unanimous support
completed within the congressional al- of the convention for his candidature.
location and, on 24 May 1844, all was The same procedure followed the
ready for the rst ofcial demonstration vicepresidential nomination, but this
of Morses invention. time the nominee, Senator Silas Wright
was not at the convention, but in
What Hath God Wrought! Washington. Vail telegraphed details to
Invited observers gathered in the Morse who passed them to the senator.
chamber of the United States Supreme Wright declined the nomination and
Court. Morse kept his promise to Annie asked Morse to send his decision to an
Ellsworth, and she chose the rst words incredulous convention which received
to be transmitted, the phrase What hath his reply only minutes after nomination.
God wroughtl, taken from the Old
Testament, Numbers, ch23, v.23. First Conference by Wire
A contemporary account, in the Jour-
They telegraphed again, received the
nal of Commerce, records that Morse same reply and, unsure of the accuracy
transmitted the sentence, letter for let of the new telegraph, sent a delegation
ter in one minute, to Alfred Vail in by train to Washington to make sure
Baltimore, and the same sentence was they had received the message correctly.
again received from Baltimore in anoth- In Baltimore, having received con-
er minute... Nothing could have been rmation of the accuracy of the mes
more appropriate than this devout excla- sage, a committee of the conference sat
mation at such an event, when an inven- with Vail at his instrument while Wright
tion which creates such wonder, and joined Morse in Washington in private
about which there has been so much session. Via the new telegraph, the
scepticism, is taken from the land of committee told Wright the reasons why
visions, and becomes a reality... he should accept the vice~presidential
91191133
apnf 1994 21
nomination. In return he explained his Sort reaks
reasons for declining and this rst long-
distance telegraphic conference contin-
ued until the committee was nally Testing and Context
Under normal situations, unless the text
convinced that Wright would not accept.
is coded, the receiving operator expects
it to make sense. The expert operator
Lines Across America.
will normally correct minor spelling
With a practical Morse telegraph in
operation and carrying trafc daily, the errors, etc., as he goes. Sometimes in
testing for code prociency the tester
immediate plan was to extend the line to
resorts to purposeful miss-spellings, etc.
New York and Boston, using a single
A serious question is in order here;
wire and earth return instead of the me
tallic circuit (double line) used so far. is this a legitimate test? The less skilled
Morse wanted the government to take are likely to be thrown by the irregu-
control of the system and its future de larity, while the skilled will overlook it;
velopment, believing it far too impor- so if the tester is using it as a criterion of
tant to be left in the hands of private prociency he may be making a serious
companies. mistake. If he wants to check accuracy
Negotiations took place along these of character identication a far superior
lines, but nally all that Congress would way is to send mixed text.
Wm G. Pierpont NOHFF
do was vote a further $8000 to support
the line already built. Morse, Gale and
A Round Trip with a Key
Vail placed their business affairs in
In the summer of 1943 I was a trainee
the hands of Amos Kendall, former
Postmaster-General, and in 1845, vari- Telegraphist/Air Gunner in the Fleet Air
ous private companies came into being
Arm. During a reconnaissance exercise
in a Lysander, and prompted by Stone-
with plans to erect Morse lines across
America. henge coming into view, I composed
Soon the wires and facilities of the and started to transmit a dummy sight-
Morse telegraph would spread across ing report of an aircraftcarrier surround-
ed by a protective eet.
North America and then around the
world, overtaking or replacing nearly all However, at the same time, my pilot
other contemporary systems. Annie decided to salute the circle below by
Ellsworths choice of words was indeed loopingthe-loop above. So it was against
MM the varying forces of G that I arm-
appropriate.
wrestled the key to deliver my message.
I do not recall if the response includ-
ed the advice to try sending with the
This, article is enlarged and
other foot but I probably deserved it.
adapted from material which
originally appeared if? .-MM_19,_ But, who would believe that a Westland
Spring1991
'
Maa _ 541341994
22
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mm npnf 1994 25
Shozucase
Featuring keys and other collectors items of telegraphic interest.
If anyone can add to the information given please contact TS
4X1MH
Vi/ensky
4X1MH
Vilensky
24
Maviaa aprit 1994
G3LLZ
Photo:
OEB
F1
Boumart
Dominique
Photo:
The latest creation from Francis Marinesco F6EOC. The lever is held down
on two pivot pins by the tension of the spring and the adjustable stop near
the anatomical/y shaped knob. Francis asks if readers of MM know of other
keys made to a similar design?
M9133 prif 1994
25
IR DOUGLAS MAWSONs On 17 January 1912, the day Captain
Australasian Antarctic Expedi- Scotts ill-fated expedition reached the
tion left Hobart on 11 Decem- South Pole, the rst wireless tests were
ber 191 1, to explore hitherto unsurveyed made on Macquarie and signals were
areas of the Antarctic coastline. They satisfactorily received in another part of
established Telefunken 1.5kW wireless the island. On February 2, Wellington,
stations on Macquarie Island in the South New Zealand was heard calling Suva, in
Pacic, some 850 Fiji, and three days
miles from Hobart, later, as a taste of
things to come, a
and in Adelie Land
in Antarctica. A
Polar Radio, howling gale
brought the newly
further station on
the Shackleton Ice
1912 Style erected aerial crash-
Shelf, 1500 miles ing down.
by Tony Smith After another
to the west, was to
be equipped for re two days, the wind
ceiving only. abated and it be-
These were probably the earliest ex came possible to climb the mast, reerect
the aerial and tighten the stay wires.
periments in polar radio communi
cations, and the story of the installation On the 13th, contact was made with
of these stations in a hostile environ- the SS Ulimaroa. The following night
ment, and the struggle to establish and Sydney was worked together with three
maintain communications, provides a more ships one of which, HMS Drake,
fascinating picture of the state of radio sent useful time signals.
in those times.
News of Amundsen
First Tests On March 10, a two-way contact was
The Macquarie Island station was made with Suva, 2400 miles away, and
located on a 300fthigh at-topped hill the next day news was received over the
with an open northerly aspect (towards air of Amundsens successful expedi-
Australia) plus, it was hoped, a good tion to the South Pole. Many ships to
set-off south to Antarctica. The peaty the east of Australia were now calling
wet ground was expected to provide a at night, but with continuing gales the
good earth, and the height of the hill aerial on Macquarie was in constant
allowed a shorter mast (90ft) than would danger of collapse, requiring frequent
otherwise be required. The only appar- checking and adjustment of stay-lines.
ent disadvantage was the need to man On April 1, it came down again and
handle the masts, petrol engine, induction a chain was substituted for the rope
generator, dynamo and other equipment which had previously secured it to the
up the steep hill from the beach. mast. The average humidity was 93 per
Australia
of this the only progress made was
the discovery that, during transmission,
I
alone, his two companions having every night from 8 pm. to am. Notes
1
28 M9133 21221111994
The station on Macquarie Island
M9133 lplif1994
29
were made of the strength of the signals umbrella aerial with lead-in wires at
received, the presence of atmospheric the centre. In its place, two masts now
static, and intermittent discharges from supported an inverted L directional
snow particles (St Elmos re), together aerial which, in August, as the rst signs
with fading caused by auroral activity. of the Antarctic Spring appeared, re
Listening alone was a demanding established contact with Macquarie 1.
task. It was difcult to hear signals
through the electrical interference; there Message from the Queen
was the constant howling of the wind, News was then received that the
plus the noise of the expeditions dogs Queen had agreed the naming of the
sheltering just outside the hut! tract of Antarctic coast discovered by
Jeffryes spent entire evenings trying the expeditions western party, Queen
to transmit or receive a single message. Mary Land. On August 6, Macquarie
A week of auroral displays would result signalled enigmatically, Food done, but
in a complete blackout, then freak con- otherwise all right. Five days later
ditions would occur and trafc would be came the reassuring news that a New
exceptional. He sometimes heard stations Zealand government steamer was on its
in Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne and way with much needed supplies; and
Hobart, and on one occasion worked di- when it arrived remarks made over the
rectly with the latter. air indicated that the islanders were
He sent weather reports nightly to having a night of revelry!
Macquarie, which were often received In September, when the sea was
when no communication was possible frozen, communication was maintained
in the reverse direction. These reports with difculty. In October, when the ice
comprised three meteorological code disappeared, wireless signals peaked at
words, for barometric reading, velocity, twilight, nally fading when daylight
and direction of wind. The velocities re- became continuous in November.
corded were so high (103 mph on one That month, experiments were made
occasion), that no codes then existed for with a small receiver mounted on a
them and new ones had to he invented. sledge, using a length of copper wire
run out on the surface of the ice as an
Aerial Experiments aerial. Signals were received over short
In June, part of the main mast came distances, but not beyond 5 miles.
down and experiments were made with
kite aerials in a steady 70 mph wind. Home at Last
After three falls to the ice a box kite was It was time for the expedition to re
beyond further use, and two other de~ turn home, almost a year later than had
signs shared the same fate. In July the been anticipated. The Aurora arrived at
broken aerial was repaired. Macquarie in November and at Adelie
As rebuilt earlier, it had a centre Land on December 13, and everyone
mast at 90ft, and two smaller ones of was back in Australia by 26 February
30ft, between which was stretched an 1914. The station on Macquarie Island
30 M9435 54137111994
The station on Adelie Land. Operator, Walter Hannam
9mm apzi[1994 33
Info Those!
Readers require further information on the following keys, etc.
Please write to Tony Smith, c/o the Editorial Oice (see inside front cover),
if you can help.
All useful information received will be published in MM in a later issue
Collection/Photo:
MH
14X
Davies
Wyn
ridged lever
7((llilllllll "Imaentudt
LQM\\
.N
at
View of switchbox with front cover
~
..
At Sea
Another important need for identi-
cation was when approaching a con
voy at sea. Here, the letters of the day
would be ashed. A challenge; and
hopefully a correct reply. Sometimes
coloured Very lights were red with
the colours of the day. However, these
could be mistaken for anti-aircraft re,
which sometimes it was!
Likewise, when approaching a
friendly coast AA re might come snak-
ing up. Then the lower identication
Mil/(33 54pm? 37
lights would be keyed to send the letters 10F/ 1047561. Communication between
of the day. Again, hopefully, someone aircraft and ships by Aldis was never
down there in charge of the guns could part of the training syllabus not for
read Morse and would stop the ring. aircrew or for the navy. But thats an
other story!
Kept to a Minimum Regarding the V signals described
For safety, signalling of any kind by Dick Johnson GZFFO (Letters,
was kept to a minimum. Without contra MM31, p.48), no pilot I ew with would
dicting that statement, however, I may have permitted unnecessary light from
add that there was much more visual the aircraft. Even the glow from the 8
signalling than was generally realised. volt laments of a VT25 (T. 1082 output
I spent more time on the Aldis trig- valve) seemed like an arc lamp and a
ger, for example, than I spent on the give-away to the enemy on a pitch
RAFs boat-shaped Key, Telegraph, black night. MM
his!
Hear! Hear!
On a letter from the USA comes this promo-
tional slogan with a difference turning the
opposition)n s catch-phrase on its head! SUPPORT THE KNOW-CODE LICENCE
38 Mama 91217111994
Infatuation Short reas
O mystic fascination, Steam Morse
O fate idealized, Mr Bailey, of Salford, proposes steam-
Im but a mass of molecules, whistles for signalling in fogs at sea by
Reversely polarized. means of the Morse alphabet. Whistles
Im vanquished by a sorcery have been expressly made at the Albion
No amulet can cure,
works, Manchester, suitable for the pur-
For Love, you are the magnet,
And I the armature. pose. Use is made of two valves, which
balance each other.
The more I circle round you,
In this way a 12-in whistle is opened
Loves current stronger grows,
Till leaping forth from heart to heart, with 100 lbs of steam as easily as one of
Loves are electric glows. 2m with 30 lbs of steam. In very dense
Against the ardor of that ame, fogs a l2-in whistle is heard 6 miles off,
Insurance wont insure, and a 6in whistle 3 miles off. With the
For, Love, you are the magnet, Morse alphabet 20 words a minute can
And I the armature. be telegraphed.
The messages un-numbered, F mm The Telegraphic Journal
Of fond endearment y, London, 15 June 1876
At once, in all directions,
The wireless they outvie. Sending and Spacing
A throbbing heart is at the key, A large percentage of the difculty in
Its dots and dashes sure,
reading code can be attributed to the
For, Love, you are the magnet,
And I the armature. irregularity in spacing between letters
and words by the one sending. This prac-
I dwell within your eld of force,
tice makes sending difcult and receiv-
In that blest region where,
Your strength is to the distance, ing a problem. This tendency to ignore
Inversely as the square. uniform spacing accounts for many stu-
No inuence external, dents becoming stalled at low speed. The
Can me from you allure, urge to push forward in their own send-
For, Love, you are the magnet, ing causes them to acquire a jumbled
And I the armature. mental image of all characters.
At last well cling together, Seldom does an operator send cor-
Apart no more to roam, rectly in excess of his own consistent
With hearts attuned harmonic, receiving speed and with proper regard
Well sing of Ohm, sweet Ohm. to spacing, although it is a common be-
One circuit never broken, lief amongst inexperiencedoperators that
While life and love endure, their sending is good at a much greater
Forever you the magnet,
speed than they are able to read from the
And I the armature.
other fellow.
(Park Benjamin, Wireless Age, 1915) Candler System Course, Lesson 7(1931)
Mill/33 lpn'f 1994 39
N MM16, p.17, THERE IS A need for a cut-out in the working surface
PHOTOGRAPH of this key to enable the coil assembly to hang be
which I mistakenly described as low the key. I have the key wired up to
a combined key and sounder, mainly receive prerecorded signals from a cas
because it does in fact work admirably sette recorder, and it is quite fascinating
as a sounder, and I had wired it up as to see, and hear, the key thumping up
such for demonstration purposes! and down on its own as if controlled by
H o w e v e r , an invisible hand!
thanks to Eric Wiring from the
Palmer G3FVC,
editor of QRV, Creed Trainer Key two coils, and from
the key itself, runs
journal of the RAF to a terminal block
Amateur Radio So- by Tony Smith G4FAI
at the bottom of the
ciety, and several assembly, and this
fellow members of is accessed through
RAFARS, I have now identied the key a cut-out in the black metal casing. The
as being part of the Creed Morse train- is
casing heavy and resonant and seems
ing system used in the RAF during to be intended to magnify the sound of
WWII. the key when receiving signals.
The base appears to bear the mark- Eric Palmer referred me to a reprint
ing AM REF No. 10F/525 (although this of an article from Aeroplane magazine
is rather indistinct and I cant be abso- of9 June 1944, which appeared in QRV,
lutely sure about it). The base is pol- Autumn 1989. This article described the
ished wood, 63/4 x 3m, and all the metal training of aircraft wireless operators
work is white metal. Protruding below at an unnamed RAF School of Radio
the key is a black metal casing covering (identied in 1989 by Eric as No 2
two solenoids hanging downwards. Radio School, Yatesbury), and includes
Rods extend from each end of the a description of the Creed Morse
keying arm down through the base into Trainer using students keys apparently
the centre of each coil. As the key is similar to my key.
depressed, the front rod goes down into
one coil and the back rod comes up out Instructors Idiosyncrasies
of the other coil. Conversely, as the coils According to the 1944 article, the
receive incoming signals alternately, the nal Morse examination of the course
magnetic actions of the solenoids move was at 18 wpm, and special methods
the keying arm up and down in sympa had been evolved to teach this some-
thy with the signals. what difcult subject in the shortest
possible time. In order to avoid the
No Hands! unavoidable idiosyncrasies of the in-.
When mounted on a desk, there is a structors, it says, pupils received
40 Maa lprif 1994
elementary Morse training from the Memories
Creed automatic machine. Following an appeal in QRV, several
Each learner had a Creed trainer in RAFARS members wrote to me with
front of him, while the instructor con memories of the Creed trainer. Ron
trolled a master unit. Punched tapes Brooks, G3YLL, trained as W/OP (AIR)
contained individual exercises, which at No. 4 Radio School, RAF Madley,
could be sent at any speed by the master near Hereford, in 1943. He recalls hav-
Smith
Tony
Photo:
Key AM HEF No. 10F/525, used with the Creed Morse Trainer.
A heavy resonating cover (not shown) fits over the solenoids
unit, to drive the solenoids tted under ing sending practice on the trainer from
each key, causing the keys to move up time to time. The instructor put on a
and down in accordance with the signals Creed tape at his desk and we students
sent had to hold the key in the approved
The exercises sent were printed on a fashion while our keys followed the
blackboard in advance and to hear the tape. He remembers that the Creed keys
correct Morse symbol via headphones were set with a very large gap, and the
the oscillating keys had to be actuated resultant clanking noise that ensued was
by the operators in exact synchronisa- quite something.
tion with the master unit. An alternative Les Avory, G2FQP, was in the rst
use of the Creed Trainer, said the article, Radio Class at Compton Bassett in 1940
was transmission practice, when a per- and recalls 50 of these keys being in-
manent record of the signals sent was stalled for training purposes. The idea,
obtainable from the punched tape. he says, was to teach operators the
Readers lls Back issues of MM, Nrs 1-6, 811, & 22. Boris
Real FSTFS, PO Box 49, 59730 Solesmes, France.
Key WT 8 Amp No.2, two bridges, with
simplied spring tensioner (compression spring).
WANTED Gerry Farrance G3KPT, 51 Amberley Green,
Great Barr, Birmingham B43 5T].
Copy ofMM Issue No 25. J. George Diggelmann,
Untere Bahnhofstr. 19, 9500 Wil/Switzerland, WANTED/EXCHANGE
phone +41 7322 7372. American key collector seeks purchase/trade for
Back issues of MM, Nrs 119, 2223 & 25. camelbacks, Chubbock, Melehan, Valiant and
Good quality photocopies acceptable. Raymond other unusual telegraph keys. Send photo, info,
Lee VRZUW, PO Box 62316, Kwun Tong Post etc, to Joel Wisotsky N2LAI, 31 Cow Lane,
Ofce, Hong Kong. Great Neck, NY 11024, USA.
G-QRP Club
The G-QRP Club promotes and encourages low-power operating on the amateurbands with
activity periods. awards and trophies.
Facilities include a quarterly magazine, Morse training tapes. kits, traders discounts and a
QSL bureau. Novices and SWLs welcome.
Enquiries to Rev. George Dobbs G3RJV, St Aidans Vicarage, 498 Manchester Road,
Rochdale, Lancs OL11 3HE. Send a large see. or two lRCs
NETHERLANDS
AMATEUR
RADIO
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