MARCONI IN EAST KENT

Some notes by Fred Knight. G4GAN.

Background information for International Marconi Day on the nearest Saturday to the 25 April each year.

There have been many debates about who invented wireless (radio) over the years. It was Maxwell in 1864, who proved by a great feat of mathematics the existence of electric waves of wireless and calculated the approximate speed at which these waves would travel. I.e. the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, or 300,000 kilometres per second. It was not until 1887 that Hertz's experiments found these electric waves of wireless. These waves were first called Hertzian waves, which we would call electromagnetic waves today. There were many other scientists experimenting with electricity and magnetism, and producing the components which would later be used by Marconi in his experiments, but none of the scientists at that time did anything about promoting a wireless communication system for general use. It was Marconi who set the ball rolling in the field of wireless communication.

Guglielmo Marconi was born 25 April 1874, at Bologna, Italy to an Italian landowner father and an Irish mother, Annie Jameson, a member of the well-known Irish whiskey family, who were married at Wimereux, France.

In 1894 Marconi found a scientific paper by Hertz concerning his electromagnetic radiation experiments. Upon reading this paper Marconi set up his own experiments in a spare room or 'laboratory' at Villa Grifone his parents country home.

During 1895 Marconi started to send signals from his laboratory to the garden, and later he managed to send signals over a mile (1.6km). Even at this stage Marconi's drive was to send signals further and further. The first radio amateur and DX'er!

The Italian government was not interested in Marconi's ideas of wireless communication when presented to them in 1896. Marconi thought he would have more success if he came to England where some of his relations resided. He filed his first patent for a system of telegraphy using Hertzian waves, his aerial and earth arrangement, shortly after arriving in England. He was introduced to Sir William Preece, Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office at whose request in July and August he gave his demonstrations to some Post Office officials. His equipment was set up on the rooftops of the Post Office building at St Martins-le-Grand and the Savings Bank Department in Queen Victoria Street in London. Marconi successfully demonstrated that he was able to communicate over a distance of a few hundred yards (metres). This impressed the Post Office so much that further tests were requested. These were

organised in September. In addition to the Post Office the War Office and the Admiralty were represented at the tests. His next demonstration was to the press and this was so successful and widely reported that Marconi instantly became a celebrity. For Marconi 1896 was a year of tests and demonstrations of his equipment, but had not been put to real use.

Marconi formed the world's first radio company in 1897, 'Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company' on 20th July, with the objective of developing the Marconi apparatus commercially. Marconi's cousin, Colonel H.Jameson Davis became its first Managing Director. The company was renamed the 'Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company' on the 23 February 1900, and in 1963, 'The Marconi Company'.

It appears that Marconi may first have come to East Kent to conduct or see some experiments at Fort Burgoyne on the heights above Dover, where Post Office engineers were conducting secret experiments and demonstrations of their own using Marconi apparatus. With the creation of Marconi's company the Post Office could see him as a potential competitor and challenge their monopoly in the realm of public telegraph services, but they were not very successful with their experiments at Dover. Marconi carried out further experiments of his own on Salisbury Plain during the year. A demonstration across the Bristol Channel of some 8.7 miles (14km) was conducted and proved successful. Marconi's first commercial stations were set up on the Isle of Wight at the Needles Hotel and one at the Haven Hotel, Poole.

1898 was again a busy year for Marconi with tests and demonstrations taking place in many parts of the country. In December a ship-to-shore demonstration took place for Trinity House between the East Goodwin Lightship and the South Foreland Lighthouse. Marconi’s assistant, George Kemp took out the equipment to the lightship in an open boat on the 19th Dec. and the station was installed in foul weather. The aerial (antenna) on board was 80 feet (24m) of wire fixed to a 60 foot (18m) metal mast and a 20 foot (6m) wooden mast and fed down the stays in the aft cabin. Marconi was located at the South Foreland Lighthouse where he was using a temporary aerial to start the trials. On the 24th Marconi called Kemp by sending V's and the first ship-to-shore communication commenced. The wireless apparatus proved to work satisfactory, despite the foul weather, but Kemp was taken ill on board after a few days. The crewmembers had to learn Morse in a short time on board, and they helped to send and receive the Morse messages during the very bad weather. Kemp spent 22 days on board the lightship and was running short of food. Marconi was trying to impress Trinity House with his wireless system but he failed to get a contract at this time. Even during the re-enactment of this event in December 1998 the principal operator was taken ill on board with seasickness. This added some realism to the occasion, albeit using modern equipment.

Kemp died in 1933 and left 21 volumes of a day-to-day journal while working for Marconi, and it is the existence of these that much of the detail of the early history of Marconi's exploits can be found.

Here a few extracts from Kemp's diary while he was on board the East Goodwin Lightship:

Dec. 20th. Northwest wind blowing sending seas over lightship. Fitted another earth wire to improve spark.

Dec. 23rd. Wind increased. Lightship began to toss about. At 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. it was almost unbearable.

Dec. 24th. Mr. Marconi called me up by ringing V's in code on my bell and we went on working at good speed until 9 p.m. I sent 'three cheers' for Mr. Marconi.

Dec. 25th. We managed to get over our Christmas dinner and then arose a South West gale and the ship began to plunge considerably. Very miserable on board especially at high water slacks when the ship was kept broadside on to the tide by the gale. Seas, which were very heavy then, came over her.

Dec. 26th. Weather still very bad. I was called up from SFL at 2.15 p.m. and worked until 6.15 p.m. under very great difficulties, the seas going right over the ship.

Dec. 27th. Weather worse. Waves washing over the ship and went down hatchways. Everything between decks as wet as on deck but I still gave South Foreland Lighthouse a 1 cm spark.

Dec. 28th. Weather still bad. Told South Foreland Lighthouse I was feeling ill but managed to send 3-cm spark. Cold, wet, miserable, had very little sleep.

Dec. 29th. Weather the same. Could not get on deck. Could get no sleep all night. Pains spreading from back, of my neck to shoulders and spine.

Dec. 30th. Weather again the same. Transmitted with 3-cm spark and with splendid results, the signals received being the best so far. Told Mr. Marconi I was not well enough to remain on board any longer and he must send for me when the wind dropped.

On the 17th March 1899 the first distress signal was sent by the crew of the East Goodwin Lightship to South Foreland station when the 'Elbe' ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in dense fog, and the Ramsgate lifeboat was sent out to her assistance.

In September 1898 the Marconi Company asked the French Government for permission to erect a wireless station on their side of the Channel, but not until 2nd March 1899 was the request officially approved.

At once the Boulogne area was surveyed and a site chosen at Wimereux. By 26th March the station had been built and was ready to go on the air in an attempt to communicate with the SF station, 32 miles away.

On the following day Marconi arrived at Wimereux to meet a Commission appointed by the French government, representatives of the French Army, Navy and the Telegraph Service. A special correspondent of 'The Times’ newspaper was also present. With Marconi at the transmitting key the first wireless message ever to cross the English Channel was successfully picked up by the South Foreland station.

A celebratory message was sent to Professor Branly, professor of physics at the Catholic University of Paris, who had made a major effort in developing the coherer.

An amusing sequel to the cross-Channel tests occurred when Lord Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, visited the Wimereux station to witness a demonstration of receiving signals from England but at the appointed time and despite continuous calling, no signals were forthcoming. After checking everything and in sheer desperation even installing another receiver, there were still no signals. Baden Powell realised that it was probably just a breakdown in the equipment but to Marconi himself it was a shattered faith. Suddenly however, in a shed behind the station where they waited, a bell rang and Marconi jumped like a scalded cat. 'South Foreland', yelled a mechanic and South Foreland it was with the following message: 'Just back from supper, anything happened your end'?

On 28th April the East Goodwin Lightship was rammed in dense fog by the S.S. R.F.Matthews and the wireless installation on board saved the lives of the crew when they sent the first distress call from a strickened vessel. The Ramsgate lifeboat was sent to her assistance. The lightship was damaged in the incident, but fortunately no one was hurt. The R.F. Matthews proceed down Channel having herself sustained damage.

By this time many stations were becoming operational and the commercial potential of wireless telegraphy looked healthy, radiation’s from their spark transmitters spread over a very considerable band of frequencies and was starting to cause chaos to each other. Further practical tests were carried out in April between EGL, SFL and Wimereux to over come this problem. Good progress was made such that Wimereux could not receive a single dot when SFL was communicating with the EGL. Demonstrations were given to the French Government which placed at the Company’s disposal, first the gunboat Ibis and later the store ship Vienne. On June 17th with Marconi and a French commission on board the Vienne. It steamed into English Channel and a series of tests was made with the SF station proving to all board that the improvement in selectivity was no idle claim.

After all these demonstrations, test and trials the Company’s order book was deplorably empty. The British military, Trinity House, neither the Post Office nor any commercial shipping interests, had placed contracts. France and America had shown great interest in the trails, but no contracts were forthcoming. It was not until the 4th July 1900 that the Admiralty placed its first large contract.

The annual meeting of the British Association was to take place in Dover Town Hall. The address was to be given by Dr. Fleming, Professor of Electrical Technology, University College, London. He suggested that a demonstration of wireless telegraphy would complement his lecture, entitled A Centenary of the Electrical Current.

The original idea was just to communicate with the SL station, to demonstrate that the Castle and cliffs would not obstruct wireless waves. During preparatory tests the Wimereux station’s signals were being received at Dover. It so happened, the Association Scietifique Francaise was meeting at Boulogne at the same time as the B.A. at Dover, and an Electrical Congress was in progress at Como, Italy.

Marconi hit upon the idea of attempting a fraternal exchange of messages between the three scientific organisations. On September 18th the B.A. began its meeting during which messages were passed via Wimereux to the French and Italian organisations. The Boulogne to Como transmission was made by landline. The Press gave much valuable publicity of the event to the infant Marconi Company.

On September 23rd signals from the Wimereux station were received in Chelmsford, the location of the Marconi works, some 85 miles away. The Wimereux station had by now served its useful purpose, and was dismantled on the 24th September.

In 1900 Marconi took out the famous Patent No. 7777 (4 7’s). This describes the method of tuning both transmitter and receiver to a common frequency. He was accused of poaching and developing ideas of other scientists, and in particular Lodge.

On the 12th December 1901 the first Trans-Atlantic radio transmission took place from Poldhu to Newfoundland.

Marconi shared the Nobel Prize for physics with Braun in 1909. Braun invented the first CRT in 1897 and is still used in TV’s and computers etc., and he also carried out early work on rectifiers.

A snippet from Wireless World December 12th 1928: ‘Marconi Pioneers’ Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., was among the guests at a dinner given by Senatore Marconi on November 29th to those who had been connected with the Marconi companies for twenty-five or more years. Dr. Fleming has been in association with the companies almost from their inception. Another guest was Colonel H. Jameson Davis, founder of the original Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in 1897. - Jameson Davis was the Company’s first Managing Director and a cousin of Marconi.

Marconi died in 1937.

A big thank you to Fred G4GAN for this Artical Posted 10th April 2005