{"id":15983,"date":"2015-12-05T03:28:12","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T07:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=15983"},"modified":"2017-03-01T21:39:46","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T01:39:46","slug":"how-far-weve-come-looking-back-at-radiotelegraphy-1939-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/how-far-weve-come-looking-back-at-radiotelegraphy-1939-style\/","title":{"rendered":"How Far We&#8217;ve Come: Looking Back at Radiotelegraphy, 1939 Style"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s often insightful to look to the past to fully appreciate the current technology we take for granted.<\/p>\n<p>When we tap a favorite contact&#8217;s name in our mobile phone&#8211;even for someone on the other side of the world&#8211;we can be talking to them within seconds, with clarity that&#8217;s often the equal of visiting face-to-face.\u00a0Perhaps Skype or FaceTime is more your style? Yawn&#8230; just another two-way, real-time video session. The fact that the other person is thousands of miles away\u00a0no longer makes you pause at the wonder of it all.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/radio_room_1939.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15984 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/radio_room_1939-300x212.jpg\" alt=\"Radiotelegraphy room, New Zealand 1939\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/radio_room_1939-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/radio_room_1939.jpg 953w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>It&#8217;s good to reflect occasionally\u00a0that it hasn&#8217;t always been this way. <\/em>I was reminded of this fact when I came upon\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H-KUat5WEkU&amp;feature=youtu.be\">this fascinating short documentary<\/a>\u00a0produced in 1939 by the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department. This 11 minute film (posted to YouTube by Tomas Hood NW7US) takes the viewer on a journey from rural New Zealand and ultimately across the world to deliver birthday greetings via shortwave communications and CW (Morse code).<\/p>\n<p>How many SWLing Post readers are old enough to remember when <em>their<\/em> messages <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-admin\/admin.php?page=sharing\">Settings<\/a>circled the world with radiotelegraphy and relay stations? <em>Hmmm&#8230;<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H-KUat5WEkU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #808080\"><em>Guy Atkins is a Sr. Graphic Designer\u00a0for T-Mobile and lives near Seattle, Washington. \u00a0He&#8217;s a\u00a0<a style=\"color: #808080\" href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?s=Guy+Atkins\">regular contributor<\/a> to the SWLing Post.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s often insightful to look to the past to fully appreciate the current technology we take for granted. When we tap a favorite contact&#8217;s name in our mobile phone&#8211;even for someone on the other side of the world&#8211;we can be talking to them within seconds, with clarity that&#8217;s often the equal of visiting face-to-face.\u00a0Perhaps Skype [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[305,288,304],"tags":[3446,2824,4091,4478,4082,3291],"class_list":["post-15983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-videos","tag-guy-atkins","tag-new-zealand","tag-radio-history","tag-radiotelegraphy","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-video"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-49N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37952,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/lavina-shaw-history-of-a-canadian-railway-brass-pounder\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":0},"title":"Lavina Shaw: History of a Canadian railway brass pounder","author":"Thomas","date":"May 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric McFadden (WD8RIF) who shares the following post by James Wade (WB8SIW) from the QRZ.com forums: The CBC recently interviewed Lavina Shaw, Past International President of the Morse Telegraph Club. In this biographical documentary, Lavina talks about her experiences working as a railroad and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Brass-Pounder-Bug-Key.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Brass-Pounder-Bug-Key.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Brass-Pounder-Bug-Key.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Brass-Pounder-Bug-Key.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48647,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/guest-post-a-visit-to-museo-marconi-in-villa-griffone-pontecchio-bologna\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: A visit to Museo Marconi in Villa Griffone, Pontecchio, Bologna","author":"Thomas","date":"April 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ferruccio Manfieri (IZ1096SWL), who shares this report and excellent photo tour from a visit to the Museo Marconi in Bologna, Italy in 2018. Today is International Marconi Day, so this is a very welcome, and timely post: A visit to Museo Marconi in Villa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Guest Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Museo-Marconi-Ferruccio-Manfieri-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Museo-Marconi-Ferruccio-Manfieri-1-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Museo-Marconi-Ferruccio-Manfieri-1-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Museo-Marconi-Ferruccio-Manfieri-1-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18490,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/guest-post-tracking-high-seas-pirates-on-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":2},"title":"Guest Post: Tracking High Seas Pirates on Shortwave Radio","author":"Thomas","date":"April 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN) for the following guest post: Tracking High Seas Pirates on Shortwave Radio by\u00a0Mario Filippi (N2HUN) (All photos taken by author--click to enlarge) Ahoy! After spinning a radio dial for over a half-century, shortwave listening still provides a source of adventure and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital Modes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital Modes","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/digital-modes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Suspected pirates surrender to crew members of the CGC Boutwell. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Pirates-CoastGuard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Pirates-CoastGuard.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Pirates-CoastGuard.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64898,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/check-your-time-with-the-lm-chime\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":3},"title":"Check Your Time with the LM Chime","author":"Thomas","date":"December 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dan Greenall Shades of the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 Commercial AM radio (in English) the way it used to be. Heavy on nostalgic music from the 1960\u2019s to the 1990\u2019s, plenty of good old style jingles, and of course, the LM chime every hour. Decades ago, the \u201cLM\u201d used to stand for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radio-Clube-de-Mocambique-1973.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radio-Clube-de-Mocambique-1973.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radio-Clube-de-Mocambique-1973.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radio-Clube-de-Mocambique-1973.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radio-Clube-de-Mocambique-1973.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31738,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/wtpfs-former-site-a-time-capsule-from-the-1940s\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":4},"title":"WTPF&#8217;s former site: A &#8220;Time Capsule from the 1940&#8217;s&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"April 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: ABC11.com via Mike Hansgen) The distinct Art Deco style clearly defines the WPTF radio station as a 1940's classic. With rounded windows and curved edges, the building looks tiny on the outside, but cuts deep underground into a shelter that allowed announcers to broadcast through wars and hurricanes. Today,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/WPTFTransmitter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3857,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/radio-netherlands-says-farewell-in-style\/","url_meta":{"origin":15983,"position":5},"title":"Radio Netherlands says farewell in style","author":"Thomas","date":"July 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday night, by the light of an oil lamp, I tuned my trusty Sony portable shortwave to 6,165 kHz. At 2:00 UTC, I was rewarded with a rich, full signal from Radio Netherlands Worldwide\u2019s transmission site in Bonaire. Here in this off-grid cabin, on sixty rural acres, I bask in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/wpid-sony.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}