Wireless Work in Wartime. — IL 



Learning the operating thoroughly and 

 setting up a buzzer telegraph line 



By John L. Hogan, Jr. 



LINE WIRE 



IN the increased demand for wireless 

 operators which has been created by the 

 conditions arising from the declaration 

 of war, the idea seems to prevail that a 

 competent and useful telegrapher can be 

 trained in a course extending over a few 

 weeks of time. Nothing can be further from 

 the truth. The beginners, who are now 

 taking up radio telegraphy for the first 

 time, will have many months of study to 

 carry through before they will be really 

 competent. Until 

 they have become 

 thoroughly familiar 

 with the code and 

 the basic principles 

 of radio telegraphy 

 they will not be de- 

 pendable; without 

 dependability the 

 radio operator is 

 not only valueless 

 but dangerous. It 

 cannot be too 

 strongly urged that 

 the training of a 

 radio telegraph 

 must be complete and thorough and that it 

 is utter folly to attempt to cover so exten- 

 sive a subject so rapidly as to make its 

 complete absorption an impossibility. 



The Study of Radio Operating 



Although the several branches of radio 

 telegraphy involve a good deal of study, the 

 work of learning it is probably one of the 

 most interesting occupations that a person of 

 scientific inclinations can find. There is a 

 good future for well trained radio operators, 

 both in wartime and in the days of peace. 

 The number needed because. of the present 

 crisis is larger than normal, and more will be 

 required from month to month. The 

 trained operators who are now available 

 will take care of the immediate needs, and 

 those who are at present studying in the 

 various telegraph and radio schools through- 

 out the country will be utilized in the near 

 future. The newest students will have 

 their opportunities as soon as they secure 

 their training, but until they are thoroughly 



A buzzer-set with its connections for sending 

 messages from one room or place to another in 

 learning to operate a key in wireless telegraphy 



prepared it is unwise to place them in 

 responsible positions. It is also unwise for 

 the students to attempt to speed up their 

 courses of training by extreme abridgment, 

 in an attempt to learn "only the funda- 

 mentals." Thoroughness should be the 

 watchword of every beginner; a little time 

 spent in study of the important details will 

 be more than repaid by the greater progress 

 which will result as soon as the practical 

 work is begun. 



This series of articles, which was begun 

 in the August issue 

 /~\ of the Popular 



O O — \ Science Monthly, 

 t is designed to point 

 out methods of 

 study of radio- 

 telegraphy which 

 will result in thor- 

 ough training in 

 the shortest desir- 

 able time. Only 

 the most elemen- 

 tary knowledge of 

 electricity has been 

 assumed, but even 



the skilled radio experimenter is likely to 

 find some points discussed which are 

 unfamiliar to him. The first article took 

 up the commencement of the study of 

 the Morse code, as a preliminary to 

 telegraphy itself. The simplest subdivi- 

 sions of the Morse alphabet, for aiding in 

 memorizing the dot-and-dash symbols, 

 were explained, and a description of key 

 and buzzer practice was given. As soon as 

 the student has learned to form the first 

 three groups of letters correctly, as set 

 forth last month, he should commence 

 signaling practice with a companion who 

 has progressed to about the same point in 

 the study of telegraphy. 



Setting Up a Buzzer Telegraph Line 



The first step in communication is to set 

 up a buzzer telegraph line between two 

 points which are so far apart that the 

 telegraph itself is the only means of com- 

 munication. If you put one end of the line 

 in one room, and the other close by in 



447 



