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Telegraphist, telegraph operator

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Telegraphists used telegraphic equipment to communicate over the airwaves. There are few nowadays as telegraphs have been replaced by other methods including radio and satellite. One role was transmitting signals from ships, between locations on land, and in military conflicts. They were also employed in companies that sent telegraphs on demand from customers - these were ‘telegrams’. Members of the public could compose and send messages, charged per line as well as receive messages. Telegrams were a form of quick communication before personal phones, radio signals, the Internet, and other communication media.

The telegraphist needed to be able to listen to and interpret incoming messages, convert telegraph code into meaningful text to relay to the intended recipient. They also needed to encode and send messages out.

The standard language used by telegraphists was Morse Code, or in the military, cryptography to send messages securely. The telegraphist used a ‘telegraph key’ to send signals down a wired telegraph system or over a wireless radio network.
(Source: extracted and adapted from PracticalAdultInsights)

6B488831-C6B2-4DCA-898E-07569CB67618.jpegSource: British Newspaper Archive
 
-.-. --.- I remember before mobil phones (cell phone) if you was on a ship you could ask the radio room on the ship to send a link call,to a number on land this was sent from the ships radio to a land base station,the station would call the number you wanted and then patch it through to the ships radio. or you could contact a radio station and book a call to a ship.
britishsciencefestival.wordpress.com

All at sea: a history of maritime communications

Communication is something that has been around since the dawn of life. Animals and plants use many different methods of communicating with each other, using sounds, smells and other signals. Befor…
britishsciencefestival.wordpress.com britishsciencefestival.wordpress.com
1655973076470.png
 
Telegraphy lived on for a time in amateur radio. A Morse test (12 words per minute I think) was a requirement for a full license. An amateur radio operator who has sadly passed on is referred to as a 'silent key'. I had a friend who could key at over 30 words per minute while he was talking to you.
Andrew.
 
When a telegraph, or Morse key is mentioned, thoughts turn to a polished brass assembly, mounted on a wooden base. There were mechanical adjustments for springiness, amount of movement to close the contacts, and operators would adjust these to achieve best reliable sending speed. Even the shape of the knob and the way it was held was important. Must have done wonders for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Nowadays it is trivial for a computer to send perfectly formed Morse, and just a bit harder for a computer to receive it.
Morse code is usually portrayed as a nice clean sounding series of dots and dashes, but the huge advantages are how bad the signal can become, and the variety of sending methods, and still be read by humans. Even when it has become just an atmospheric hiss in the headphones, a skilled operator can still make out the changes in the hiss. Ships can flash lights to each other through bad weather. In an emergency, anything that will produce long and short human readable signals will do the job.
Andrew.
 
David White Ex-MI6 technician gives a conducted tour of Hut 1 Bletchley Park. He demonstrates cutting a punched paper tape and putting it through a transmission machine to get a high speed morse burst. Sadly the Diplomatic Wireless Service exhibit is no longer in Hut 1. (Though Bletchley is still very much worth a visit!) These days everything is done by computers. High speed morse is still used, as is regular morse by radio amateurs as pointed out above by Pete.
 
Stokkie said:
David White Ex-MI6 technician gives a conducted tour of Hut 1 Bletchley Park. He demonstrates cutting a punched paper tape and putting it through a transmission machine to get a high speed morse burst. Sadly the Diplomatic Wireless Service exhibit is no longer in Hut 1. (Though Bletchley is still very much worth a visit!) These days everything is done by computers. High speed morse is still used, as is regular morse by radio amateurs as pointed out above by Pete.
Click to expand...
Amazing that so much was done with so little!
 
And there’s a Birmingham connection in the development of the Atlantic telegraph wire in James Horsfall. James Horsfall was a wire drawer from Digbeth who invented high tensile steel wire. He moved to a disused blade and sword factory in Hay Mill using a water mill on the River Cole which was rebuilt as a steam-driven mill.

Viv.

EEC53D4B-449B-477F-BD3D-1A021CEAB44F.jpeg
Source: Birmingham Civic Society

0EDE30CB-0B1F-4DCE-B9DE-A995241BF41D.jpegSource: Webster and Horsfall website
 
well done that man.

Who was the first wireless telegraphist? Marconi

After Marconi sent wireless telegraphic signals across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901, the system began being used for regular communication including ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication. With this development, wireless telegraphy came to mean radiotelegraphy, Morse code transmitted by radio waves.
 
My Dad was in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in the First World War and was a signal man using both Morse Code and flags. When a young lad he taught me morse code and I spent hours, supposedly sending messages to various friends. Loved it. Now, just looked at the Wikipedia info mentioned by Pete and can only remember SOS with effort
 
Horsfall’s partner Baron Dickinson Webster appears in this thread…

Blue Plaque, What's That Secret Your Keepin'?

Baron Dickinson Webster (1818–1860), In the thread "Beggars Bush" there is a mention of Penns Lane and Penns Mill. For me Penns Hall brings to mind Crossroads, and Benny going out for a spanner and coming back a year later. I knew very little about the history, and looking in Wikipedia [2] it...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
mw0njm. said:
well done that man.

Who was the first wireless telegraphist? Marconi

After Marconi sent wireless telegraphic signals across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901, the system began being used for regular communication including ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication. With this development, wireless telegraphy came to mean radiotelegraphy, Morse code transmitted by radio waves.
Click to expand...
In 1910, Crippen became one of the first criminals to be arrested as a result of radio telegraphy as he travelled by ship with his lover who was disguised as a boy. The captain telegraphed London and a detective went by faster liner to meet them.
 
I spent 8 years in the RAF as an aircrew wireless operator (telegraphist ?) 1948 - 56 a position long extinct due to improving communication technology. Learning morse code is like riding a bike, once learnt never forgotten. Pic is me in 1950 on an Avro Lancaster in West Africa aged 20 on 82(PR) Squadron, No flying suit, just a low level flight to test new cameras and it was very hot. 1154 transmitter on top 1155 receiver below morse key to the right Eric (sorry for blurred pic it is 72 years old). Eric
 

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Vivienne14 said:
And there’s a Birmingham connection in the development of the Atlantic telegraph wire in James Horsfall. James Horsfall was a wire drawer from Digbeth who invented high tensile steel wire. He moved to a disused blade and sword factory in Hay Mill using a water mill on the River Cole which was rebuilt as a steam-driven mill.

Viv.

View attachment 171190
Source: Birmingham Civic Society

View attachment 171191Source: Webster and Horsfall website
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The Birmingham Libraries Iron Room latest post details the preservation of the map of the first transatlantic cable. Really it could be classed the second cable as the first one failed.
theironroom.wordpress.com

Messages from the Ocean Floor – conserving the world’s first transatlantic cable chart

Transatlantic Cable Chart [MS 2689 (Acc 2017/079)] The Bid The Hay Mills Foundation Trust Crowdfunding bid to raise £4,000 to preserve the transatlantic chart and return it to its former glory, is …
theironroom.wordpress.com theironroom.wordpress.com
 
Bathtub key.
1656334434634.png1656334509960.png
This was the standard key used in British (and Canadian) bombers such as the Lancaster, Halifax and Wellington aircraft during WWII. It is enclosed for use in explosive environments.
The wire terminals are on top, and the adjustments are inside.
The clip holds the cover closed, and can also be slipped over the skirt of the knob to hold it down and so send out a continuous signal.
This allowed the radio operator to parachute out of a damaged plane while still sending a homing signal for rescue craft.

SOMEONES COLLECTION OF KEYS
www.pa3egh.nl

Morse Keys England

Morse Keys from England. Telegraph key. This page contains my Morse key collection and other objects that have a connection with the Morse Code. Any comments or information about the keys are welcome!
www.pa3egh.nl
 
morse code is stiil used:grinning:


An Asda delivery driver saved a 90-year-old who had broken their hip after recognising Morse code.
Home shopping driver Sam from the Queensferry store in Flintshire, north Wales, heard someone tap out what sounded like SOS in Morse code on their car horn.
When she went to investigate she found 90-year-old Keith who'd slipped on his driveway and had broken his hip, and had managed to drag himself to the car so he could sound the alarm. Widower Keith, who's now back home after spending three weeks in hospital, said: "Sam saved my life, she really did, and I can't thank her enough. I'd been laying there in the rain and cold for half an hour and if she hadn't come along when she did I don't think I'd have made it. She's a Godsend.:grinning:
 
mw0njm. said:
Bathtub key.
View attachment 171339View attachment 171340
This was the standard key used in British (and Canadian) bombers such as the Lancaster, Halifax and Wellington aircraft during WWII. It is enclosed for use in explosive environments.
The wire terminals are on top, and the adjustments are inside.
The clip holds the cover closed, and can also be slipped over the skirt of the knob to hold it down and so send out a continuous signal.
This allowed the radio operator to parachute out of a damaged plane while still sending a homing signal for rescue craft.

SOMEONES COLLECTION OF KEYS
www.pa3egh.nl

Morse Keys England

Morse Keys from England. Telegraph key. This page contains my Morse key collection and other objects that have a connection with the Morse Code. Any comments or information about the keys are welcome!
www.pa3egh.nl
Click to expand...
Just looked at the collection again. Such a wide variety of types/styles for different applications and uses and all a variation of the same theme over a relatively long period of time!
 
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