CANADA CELEBRATES MARCONI EXPERIMENTAL STATION XWA By Ghyslain Gagnon, Denis Couillard, David Bart On December 17, 2021 in Montréal, the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) – Université du Quebec together with Ultra-Montreal marked the completion of an important end-of-study project aimed at commemorating the centenary of the first commercial radio broadcasts in Canada. Matthieu Dugal, from the SRC/CBC radio show Moteur de recherche, hosted a panel discussion at ÉTS on the future of telecommunications. The panel was also broadcasted live on the radio and internet from a special event station XWA-1 as part of a graduation project aimed at replicating the technical feat achieved by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of Canada 100 years ago.
THE PROJECT ÉTS trains 25% of all Québec engineers and ranks second in Canada for the number of undergraduate degrees granted in engineering. In late 2019, Ultra and ÉTS initiated the student project together with Carleton University and support from Communications Research Center Canada (CRC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), La Société Radio-Canada (SRC i.e. the French language CBC). The ambitious project, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of radio broadcasting in Canada, mobilized six teams of senior engineering students over two years to design, build,
COMMEMORATIVE EVENT Denis Couillard from Ultra Communications (formerly known as the Canadian Marconi Company) and Ghyslain Gagnon from ÉTS Montreal coordinated activities. Parks Canada canceled their participation, including a guest appearance from a government minister, the night before the event due to rapidly rising COVID-Omicron cases across Canada in the first weeks of December. ÉTS, Ultra and their other partners regrouped that same night and went forward with the event. The group wanted to recognize completion of the student project that started two years earlier, and wanted to allow engineers and radio-enthusiasts to commemorate the December 1919 broadcast programs of XWA. Event activities were located just a few hundred feet from the actual site of the Marconi station’s December 1919 regular test broadcasts.
A 1918 Gramophone supplied by Musée des Ondes Emile Berliner played 1918-20 records to provide ambiance and also music for the XWA-1 RF and IP broadcast. (Courtesy ÉTS)
Special event temporary exhibit featuring posters and radio artifacts (operational vintage AM receivers from 1930s to 1970s and a military grade RF diplexer). (Courtesy ÉTS)
ÉTS Dean of research Ghyslain Gagnon presenting the Ultra-ÉTS student project with a short video clip featuring, among others, Ultra’s Director of Solution Development Denis Couillard. (Courtesy ÉTS)
SPRING 2022 PROCEEDINGS
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