Home-Training for Wireless Heroes 



A phonograph and book of rules will help 

 to qualify you for a radio operator's post 



THE wireless operator of the future 

 who may, during the din of battle, 

 receive a message that will result 

 in victory for his country, or, from the 

 deck of a ship, pick up an appeal that 

 will save hundreds of lives, can prepare 

 himself for such heroic acts by sitting in 

 his home and listening to the records of 

 a phonograph. And if he's a faithful 

 student, he may be able to prepare him- 

 self for these pulse-stirring roles in from 

 three to four months. 



At the beginning of the course the 

 student merely listens to the dots and 

 dashes as they issue from the machine 

 and compares them with letters and 

 figures in a booklet, ^n the first record 

 each letter and figure is first announced 

 orally and then signalled three times. In 

 the second lesson he is initiated into the 

 difficulties of punctuation and special 

 signs, while the next step finds him 

 struggling with sentences like 

 this: "The quick brown fox 

 jumped right over the lazy 

 dog." And from this 

 reminder of his early 

 school days the pros- 

 pective operator is 



called on to 

 translate 



the dots and 



dashes of a 



"press" dis- 

 patch-sent 



just as it 



would come 



from the key 



of a veteran 



radio man at 



Arlington 



or Poldhu. 



Static, inter- 

 ference from 



other sta- 

 tions and the 



reception of 



code words 



are taken 



up in other 



records. 



The upper picture shows the correct way of working 

 the key. In the lower picture the student practices 

 sending while listening to a message from phonograph 



1)10 



An ordinary telegraph key was used in 

 making the records. After the student has 

 become familiar enough with the letters to 

 recognize them as he hears the dots and 

 dashes, he is advised to manipulate the 

 phonograph so that they will reach his 

 ears in irregular sequence, in order that 

 his sliill in receiving may be tested. 



The phonograph is employed for in- 

 struction in sending as well as receiving. 

 As soon as the prospective operator has 

 become able instantly to translate the 

 letters as they are produced by the 

 phonograph, he is ready to begin practice 

 with the telegraph "key. The booklet 

 accompanying the machine gives him 

 information regarding the position of 

 the hand and calls attention to common 

 faults in transmitting. Simultaneous 

 operation of the key and listening to 

 records will develop evenness, accuracy 

 and speed. 



Thus the student learns the 

 preliminary essentials of how 

 to become a wireless oper- 

 ator. What use he will 

 make of the instruction 

 will be shown when he 

 is placed in emergencies 

 in which men 

 of the radio 

 key f r e - 

 quently find 

 themselves. 

 In the course 

 of time his 

 ear will be- 

 c o m e as 

 familiar with 

 the dots and 

 dashes of the 

 language of 

 the air as 

 with ordi- 

 nary speech, 

 and his 

 fingers will 

 manipulate 

 the keys 

 almost me- 

 chanically. 



