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Marconi 75th Anniversary January 1978 - KM1CC
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In January 1978 we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Marconi's First Wireless Signal transmitted between Cape Cod and Poldhu, England. We operated from the old WWII Camp Wellfleet Army barracks near the present day Seashore administration building. Messages were sent from then President Jimy Carter, President Leone of Italy and Marconi's daughter Gioia Marconi. Over 8000 QSOs were made during the event. Both QST and 73 Magazines covered the event, clicks pages below to read the articles.
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1978 QSL Card
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Marconi's daughter Gioa Marconi Braga helped us in many ways during the 75th Anniversary. She contacted the White House and Italian Prime Minister Leone and secured messages from both to be transmitted on January 18, 1978. She also provided her own personal message. Sadly Gioia passed away several years ago. The messages were sent on CW using perforated teletype paper tape which activated a polar relay which in turn keyed the transmitters.
Gioia Marconi Braga ****Hear the voice of Gioia Marconi on her father's relationship with Radio Amateurs****
The original tone of the 1903 Marconi Spark gap was 240 hz. This distinctive sound was created by the RPM of the rotating spark gap and the number of studs on the disk. We were able to reproduce the sound of the original spark by using a 555 IC chip tuned to an output of 240 hz and keying this for CW into the microphone input of the transmitters on either upper or lower sideband. We received special authorization from the FCC to use A2 on the amateur bands for the KM1CC special event.
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***Hear the 1978 Simulated Spark***
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100th Anniversary of Poldhu England to St. John's Newfoundland
The Historic " S S S " - December 12, 2001 - W1AA/CC
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The Marconi Radio Club and The Falmouth Amateur Radio Association Amateur Radio operators celebrated this Marconi world historical event with a special event station operating from December 11 through the 19th, 2001. Operation was from the fomer U.S. Coast Guard Station in Eastham on Cape Cod from within the National Seashore.

Radio pioneer, Guglielmo Marconi, sat listening at Cabot Tower on Signal Hill in St. John's, Newfoundland. His antenna dangled from a kite in the sky, and through that hanging wire, he heard the anticipated signal from across the ocean, "dit dit dit". The letter, "S", in Morse code. Marconi, son of an Irish mother and an Italian father, had been playing with electricity since he was a child. A rebellious student, he hated lessons but loved to experiment and invent. By the time he was nineteen, he had resolved to be the first man to give the world a system of communication based on electromagnetic waves. By trial and error, relying on his own intuition and audacity, Marconi conducted a series of experiments indicating that long-distance wireless communication was possible. His goal was accomplished and crossed the world over the threshold of radio as we know it today.

To celebrate this 100 year milestone, Amateur Radio operators around the country launched kite-lifted antennas and demonstrating the marvel of radio to folks in their local communities. Marconi Radio Club Amateur Radio Operators flew a kite antenna at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Using CW(Code) over 100 contacts per hour worldwide were made using a kite similar in design to which Marconi used in 1903. Many other amateur operators worldwide also contacted other hams the world over, using the similar technology as Marconi did 100 years before. Some operators used Morse Code, while others will used voice transmissions. These commemorative demonstrations took place during the week of Tuesday, December 11th through Sunday, December 16th 2001. Local school classes, scouts, church groups and news-crews were invited to come out and participate in this historic Marconi anniversary. The Marconi Radio Club members launched a kite-lifted long wire antenna on December 12th between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM at the Coast Guard Building in Eastham and demonstrated radio contacts just as Marconi did in 1901. During the 6 days over 3200 contacts were made with over 90 countries logged. Other operators demonstrated the operation of voice and code transmitters to the visitors. There were five on going Amateur Radio stations capable of worldwide communications operating in the Coast Guard building. The operation was open to the public. There were displays of antique radio equipment and a demonstration of an operating 1902 replica spark gap transmitting and coherer receiving station which was an exact replica of Marconi's first station. The spark gap station was built by Dave AA1A. Videos of Amateur Radio operation and of Marconi's life and his accomplishment on Cape Cod were shown.
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