QST, Vol. I, №6, May, 1916, p. 95-98
April 17th, 1916.
The manager takes pleasure in reporting that the lining up of Trunk Lines "C" and "D" is progressing very satisfactorily.
Trunk Line "C." Messages are now being relayed between Boston and Philadelphia, usually in one relay. It is, however, the intention to have relay stations every 25 miles so that during "QRN" uninterrupted communication can be carried on. Whenever possible the messages for distant points will be handled by "Star" Stations, those being able to work at least 100 miles or more. So far, Trunk Line "C" has been arranged as follows, the gaps we desire to fill appearing under a question mark:
Boston, Mass.
Mansfield, Mass.
Providence, R. I.
Westerly, R. I.
New London, Conn.
Middletown, Conn.
Hartford, Conn.
Waterbury, Conn.
Ansonia, Conn.
?
?
Port Chester, N. Y.
Port Washington, N. Y.
Yonkers, N. Y.
[Leonia, N. J.]
[Lakeview, N. J.]
[Nutley, N. J.]
Newark, N. J.
Elizabeth. N. J.
[Roselle Park, N. J.]
[Westfield, N. J.]
New Brunswick. N. J.
Trenton, N. J.
[Abington, Penna.]
[Philadelphia. Pa.]
[St. David's. Pa.]
Vineland, N. J.
Wilmington. Del.
Baltimore, Md.
?
Washington, D. C.
?
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
?
Richmond. Va.
?
?
Portsmouth, Virginia.
?
?
?
Raleigh, N. C.
?
?
Wilmington. N. C.
?
?
Summerville, South Carolina.
Charleston, S. C.
?
Savannah, Georgia.
?
?
Jacksonville, Florida.
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Miami, Fla.
Any one whether or not a member of the League, knowing of Amateurs in Cities not appearing above, who could fill in the gaps represented by question marks, will confer a great favor on the Manager by writing him a letter with the information.
It is the purpose to print in the June number of "QST" the different station appointments under their respective Cities, giving the Call Letters, and name of the owners.
The cities appearing in brackets, are within a short distance of each other, with good sets, and will act as relief to each other in the relay work.
Trunk Line "D". So far not much work has been done in connection with Line "D" for the reason that there are too many long distance gaps which we are trying to bridge over. From the present outlook New York City; will be the junction point of Line "D," although not much relay work will be done by the stations in this city on account of "QRM," same being taken care of by the stations at Leonia, N. J., and Lakeview, N. J. on account of their desirable situations. It is to be hoped that with the next issue of "QST," the names of the Cities on this Trunk as well as the Stations, will appear, but information is desired on how to bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Nashville, Term. via Louisville, Ky. as no record can be found of any station in Kentucky.
One test message was sent on Trunk Line "C," Monday, April 10th, being addressed to Headquarters at Hartford, Ct., and was received direct by one of the relay stations 102 miles away. During the week regular work was carried on by "2ZE" (Leonia, N. J.) with "1LE" (Boston, Mass.) a distance of over 200 miles. Special mention is made of "2ZE," his record for one night last week was the clearing of 56 messages. It is the intention of the Manager of this District to send out a test message every Monday and Thursday nights, at 11 o'clock, addressed to some distant relay station, to be sent farther by this station in accordance with instructions contained in the message. A prompt acknowledgement by the receiving station should be made. This test message will be sent on a wave length of 450 meters. Cooperation is asked, and suggestions will be cheerfully received.
A. A. HEBERT.
Radio Station 9IK,
1316 Carmen Ave.,
Chicago, Ill.April 15, 1916.
Mr. H. P. Maxim.
Pres. A.R.R. L.
Dear Sir:
After my appointment as District Manager of routes A and E, I wrote a number of circular letters, which I sent to all the long distance stations that I had heard or worked with, along those routes. In these letters I stated the purpose of the test message, and asked for cooperation with me in their organization. I was more than gratified at the answers which I received.
Using these stations as a basis, I then plotted out the routes; and the present arrangement of the stations is as follows:
East from Chicago — 9IK, 8NH, 8ZI, 8JZ, 8JX and 8QB, 2AGJ, 2IB.
West from Chicago — 9IK, 9BD, 9XN and 9YG, 7BD, 7ZH.
9IK, 9GY, 9NN and 9JT, 5XO, 5ZC. No stations farther west.
I appointed 9EF of Chicago as my assistant. These stations are not an absolutely fixed appointment, as, if on trial, this arrangement does not work satisfactorily, more stations will have to be filled in between those already appointed.
On Thursday, April 13, the first test message was sent over the routes as above. At 8:30, 9:16, 9:30 and 9:46, 9EF and 9IK both sent the following message as a QST to local amateurs.
QST to all amateurs! Copy! Copy! Copy!
Please suspend all operations promptly at ten P. M. on account of testing of new American Radio Relay Routes.
Signed
R. H. G. MATHEWS.
This QST was very effective, as at ten there was not a single local station sending, and there are nearly 500 in Chicago. By this time it was raining hard here and my audion detector was almost constantly polarized. The temperature in Chicago was 80 degrees, and altogether, the weather conditions were the worst possible. At ten ten I sent a test for purposes of tuning, and promptly at ten fifteen I started the test message, calling 8NH, 9GY, and 9BD in order. The mesaage was as follows:—
To relay stations of the A. R. R. L.
Congratulations on handling first msg over new routes.
Signed 9IK.
8NH and 9GY immediately answered me, the former saying that she had received most of the msg. and requesting me to repeat it once more. By this time the static was awful, and my audion was almost useless. 9KU of Winnetka, Ill. came to my rescue, and since he uses a galena detector, he was able to help me out on those parts which I missed. I repeated to 8NH and got her OK and heard her repeating the message to 8JZ, at Cleveland.
9NN at Cape Girardeau, Mo., then called me and said he was unable to get msg from 9GY. I then sent it direct to him, but he was only able to get part of it through the increasing static. I have subsequently learned that 8JX, 9NN, and 9JT all got parts of the message in a letter which I received from 8NH, she says that she could easily read me through the worst static through which she ever attempted to work, and which made it uncomfortable for her to keep hur phones on.
While the message was not a success, as to reaching the ends of the routes, it was highly successful, in that it showed that the amateurs had a real and live interest in a relay system, and were willing to sacrifice for it. We will continue to send out our test messages every Monday and Thusday at ten-fifteen Central time, until we can easily transmit a message from the Atlantic to the Pacific in one evening. The gaps at present, are between 9NN and 5ZC, (5XO is not in operation very often) and from 5ZC west.
There is also a rather long working distance between 9XN or 9YG and 7BD and between 7BD and 7ZH, but I hope to fill up these holes soon.
The response of the amateurs to this relay system has left no doubt in my mind as to the ultimate success of such a system, if the interest is kept alive. We must not allow ourselves, however, to be discouraged by a few comparative failures.
I wish to especially thank Mrs. Chas. Candler, of St. Mary's, O., Mr. Lyon H. Mac-Candless, of Rochester, Pa., and Mr. G. W. Carter, of Ft. Wayne, Ind. for the work which they did through all the weather difficulties possible. I also thank the amateurs of Chicago for their compliance with my request as to sending after ten o'clock.
Hoping that this report may meet with your approval, I am
Yours sincerely,
R. H. G. MATHEWS, "9IK,"
District Manager.
In a subsequent letter to headquarters Mr. Mathews reported the following information: "I am today (April seventeenth) in receipt of a letter from 2AGJ, of Albany, N. Y., saying that he picked up the message from 9PC, Ft. Wayne, Ind., while the latter was trying to get it to 8JK, Rochester, Pa., and forwarded it to 1ZI at Great Barrington, Mass. The message, therefore, reached the end of the eastern route, and was an entire success in that direction. In addition to those already thanked in my previous report, I wish to express my thanks to 2AGJ for his wonderful work."