Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term wireless telegraphy was also used for other experimental technologies for transmitting telegraph signals without wires. In radiotelegraphy, information is transmitted by pulses of radio waves of two different lengths called "dots" and "dashes", which spell out text messages, usually in Morse code. In a manual system, the sending operator taps on a switch called a telegraph key which turns the transmitter on and off, producing the pulses of radio waves. At the receiver the pulses are audible in the receiver's speaker as beeps, which are translated back to text by an operator who knows Morse code.
SOS is a Morse code distress signal, used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" are transmitted as an unbroken sequence of three dots / three dashes / three dots, with no spaces between the letters. In International Morse Code three dots form the letter "S" and three dashes make the letter "O", so "S O S" became a common way to remember the order of the dots and dashes.
CQD is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use. On 7 January 1904 the Marconi International Marine Communication Company issued "Circular 57", which specified that, for the company's installations, beginning 1 February 1904 "the call to be given by ships in distress or in any way requiring assistance shall be 'C Q D' ".
The Radio Act of 1912, formally known as "An Act to Regulate Radio Communication", is a United States federal law which was the first legislation to require licenses for radio stations. It was enacted before the introduction of broadcasting to the general public, and was eventually found to contain insufficient authority to effectively control this new service, so the Act was replaced and the government's regulatory powers increased by the passage of the Radio Act of 1927.
The Radio Act of 1927 was signed into law on February 23, 1927. It replaced the Radio Act of 1912, increasing the federal government's regulatory powers over radio communication, with oversight vested in a newly created body, the Federal Radio Commission. It also was the first legislation to mandate that stations had to show they were "in the public interest, convenience, or necessity" in order to receive a license. The Act was later replaced by the Communications Act of 1934.
John Stone Stone was an American mathematician, physicist and inventor. He initially worked in telephone research, followed by influential work developing early radio technology, where he was especially known for improvements in tuning. Despite his often advanced designs, the Stone Telegraph and Telephone Company failed in 1908, and he spent the remainder of his career as an engineering consultant.
The invention of radio communication was preceded by many decades of establishing theoretical underpinnings, discovery and experimental investigation of radio waves, and engineering and technical developments related to their transmission and detection. These developments allowed Guglielmo Marconi to turn radio waves into a wireless communication system.
The General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL) is a license granted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that is required to operate certain radio equipment. It is required for any person who adjusts, maintains, or internally repairs FCC licensed radiotelephone transmitters in the aviation, maritime, and international fixed public radio services. It is also required to operate any compulsorily equipped ship radiotelephone station with more than 1,500 watts of peak envelope power, a voluntarily equipped ship, or an aeronautical station with more than 1,000 watts of peak envelope power. The GROL is not required for engineering jobs in radio and television broadcasting. It is obtained by taking a test demonstrating an adequate knowledge of the technical and legal aspects of safe radio operation.
The second International Radiotelegraph Convention met in London, England in 1912. It adopted international maritime radio communication standards that updated the ones approved by the first International Radiotelegraph Convention held in Berlin in 1906. The new Convention was signed on July 5, 1912, and became effective on July 1, 1913.
The Deutschland incident of 1902 occurred in March of that year, and resulted from the refusal of Marconi Company coastal radio stations to provide services to shipboard stations that were operated by competing companies.
Harry Shoemaker was an American inventor and pioneer radio engineer, who received more than 40 U.S. patents in the radio field from 1901 to 1905. His transmitter and receiver designs set the standard for the U. S. commercial radio industry up to World War One.
The United Wireless Telegraph Company was the largest radio communications firm in the United States, from its late-1906 formation until its bankruptcy and takeover by Marconi interests in mid-1912. At the time of its demise, the company was operating around 70 land and 400 shipboard radiotelegraph installations — by far the most in the U.S. However, the firm's management had been substantially more interested in fraudulent stock promotion schemes than in ongoing operations or technical development. United Wireless' shutdown, following federal mail fraud prosecution, was hailed for eliminating one of the largest financial frauds of the period. However, its disappearance also left the U.S. radio industry largely under foreign influence, dominated by the British-controlled Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America.
Although they often faced obstacles and policy limitations, beginning in the early 1900s a few women were able to participate in the pioneering development of radio communication.
The history of broadcasting in Australia has been shaped for over a century by the problem of communication across long distances, coupled with a strong base in a wealthy society with a deep taste for aural communications in a silent landscape. Australia developed its own system, through its own engineers, manufacturers, retailers, newspapers, entertainment services, and news agencies. The government set up the first radio system, and business interests marginalized the hobbyists and amateurs. The Labor Party was especially interested in radio because it allowed them to bypass the newspapers, which were mostly controlled by the opposition. Both parties agreed on the need for a national system, and in 1932 set up the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as a government agency that was largely separate from political interference.
The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America was incorporated in 1899. It was established as a subsidiary of the British Marconi Company and held the U.S. and Cuban rights to Guglielmo Marconi's radio patents. American Marconi initially primarily operated high-powered land and transatlantic shipboard stations. In 1912, it acquired the extensive assets of the bankrupt United Wireless Telegraph Company, becoming the dominant radio communications provider in the United States.
Mabelle Kelso, was an American who in 1912 became one of the earliest female maritime radiotelegraph (wireless) operators. She was also the first woman to be issued a radio operator's certificate by the United States government under the provisions of the Wireless Ship Act of 1910. Under her married name of Mabelle Kelso Shaw, she became a Doctor of Chiropractic beginning in 1924.
The Preliminary Conference on Wireless Telegraphy, held in Berlin, Germany, in August 1903, reviewed radio communication issues, in preparation for the first International Radiotelegraph Convention held three years later. This was the first multinational gathering for discussing the development of worldwide radio standards.
The first International Radiotelegraph Convention was held in Berlin, Germany, in 1906. It reviewed radio communication issues, and was the first major convention to set international standards for ship-to-shore communication. One notable provision was the adoption of Germany's "SOS" distress signal as an international standard.
Graynella Packer was an American author and attorney, best known for being the first female radiotelegraph (wireless) operator to make overnight voyages on an ocean-going vessel, when she served aboard the steamship Mohawk along the Atlantic seaboard from November 1910 to April 1911. She later authored a training manual for Morse code telegraphy, and became a lawyer qualified to practice in four states and before the US Supreme Court.
