LEGACIES OF THE 1921 TRANSATLANTIC TESTS By David and Julia Bart
B
y 1920, radio, or rather wireless telegraphy, was still fairly young, but the first generation of wireless explorers were now aging or passing away. That year, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers awarded Profesor Michael Pupin its Edison Medal for his work in math and physics associated with wireless communication, and, the Institute of Radio Engineers awarded Guglielmo Marconi its highest honor, a Gold Medal, for his work. These two highly prized annual recognitions continue to be awarded today as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers’ (IEEE) Medal of Honor and the IEEE’s Edison Medal. It had been nine years since Marconi received the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his early wireless research performed at the dawn of the 20th century. Professor A. Righi, Marconi’s teacher who inspired Marconi’s lifetime of research, died in 1920, and Dr. Alexander Muirhead, who was associated with Sir Oliver Lodge’s early wireless experiments, also passed away. The Titanic sank in 1912, and a terrible World War recently ended in 1918. These events and others all brought wireless telegraphy and the promise of radio into the public eye. The ensuing few years would set the stage for a century of radio development. That progress is directly linked to a set of momentous experiments conducted in 1921 by members of the Radio Club of America (RCofA)
and the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). This article explores some of the legacies of those 1921 Transatlantic Tests. (See related articles in this issue of the Proceedings for descriptions of the tests and biographies of the participants.)
RADIO IN THE EARLY 1920S The first regularly operated wireless stations in the U.S. were located at Siasconset (Nantucket), Massachusetts in and on the Nantucket Shoals Lightship No. 66 in 1901. Twenty years later, the U.S. government had licensed 5,972 wireless stations plus 135 government shore stations and 470 ship stations, and an estimated 10,800 amateur radio operators were participating in radio operations. Wireless telegraphy and broadcast radio in the years 1920-1923 underwent profound changes. After World War I concluded, thousands of military trained radio operators returned home to join the ranks of amateurs and professionals interested in wireless. Americans in particular launched into the roaring 1920s filled with energy and optimism. The world of wireless was romantically and excitedly described in the popular press with dewy-eyed editorials speculating on the potential of wireless to establish a permanent world peace. The exploits of amateur wireless operators featured prominently in those press accounts. Amateurs, inventors, institutions, the press, and the public all interacted to spin a new fabric of meanings, and implications, for a wireless future around the new medium. Yet, ever since the Radio Act of 1912, amateurs remained exiled to the shortwave end of the spectrum, while military and commercial interests; especially, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (American Marconi) and its successor, the newly formed Radio Corporation of America (R.C.A.), operated with their choice of frequencies. Broadcasting had become a privilege, not a right, and World War I left government, the military, and corporate interests in control.
Cover of Scientific American (April, 1922) depicting an incident in the Transatlantic Tests, from an oil painting by Howard H. Brown depicting the Ardrossan, Scotland station.
FALL 2021 PROCEEDINGS 68
In November 1919, wartime restrictions lifted, and amateur radio operators were back on the air. They soon enjoyed a freewheeling, dynamic renaissance after enduring years of silence during the war when operations were prohibited by law. Now, permitted to return to a world 200 meters of wavelength and down, experimentation, contests of skill, new discoveries, and collaboration, as well as competition, marked an exciting
www.radioclubofamerica.org
