The Dawn of Amateur Radio in the U.K. and Greece | Page 8

it is possible for unscrupulous persons to receive the messages and make an improper use of them. This form of 'scientific hooliganism' has, in fact, become somewhat notorious. When two or three transmitters are each sending out their electromagnetic waves, the result, naturally, is utter confusion." White added that the British Postal Administration was refusing to grant licences for more than one system in the same area, in spite of the fact that there had been some 'alleged' solutions of the problem. The phenomenon of resonance was known and Dr (later Sir Oliver) Lodge had taken out various patents between 1889 and 1898 in connection with receivers. Marconi and his assistants ultimately solved the problem by modifying Lodge's syntonic Leyden jar tuned circuit. They added a tapped inductance in the aerial circuit of the transmitter and used variable capacitors instead of fixed ones. This was probably the most significant modification made in the development of wireless telegraphy. (In Greek the word syntonismos 'to bring to equal tone' is used for 'tuning'.)
Apart from the patents taken out by Sir Oliver Lodge and Dr Alexander Muirhead, in 1897, patents were taken out in Germany by Professor Braun of Strasbourg, who was joined by Professor Slaby and Count D'Arco in 1903 to form the Telefunken company, and in the U.S.A. by Dr Lee De Forest of the American De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company who was the first to use a high A.C. voltage of 20,000 volts to obtain the necessary high-potential discharges, thus dispensing with the induction coil. Again in the U.S.A., Professor R.O.Fessenden was responsible for the design of new types of transmitting and receiving apparatus.
During this period Marconi had resisted all offers by financiers to acquire his patents. In July 1897 he entrusted his cousin Jameson Davis to form The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company Ltd which soon became Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co., and ultimately the Marconi Company.
William Preece of the Post Office detached one of his assistants, George S. Kemp, to help Marconi. Kemp was destined to become his right-hand man and served Marconi faithfully throughout his life. By today's standards, Marconi can be said to have been a highly successful entrepreneur. He had the great knack of selecting the right man for the job, and inspired deep loyalty in his staff. He regarded himself as an 'amateur' and often paid tribute to the work of radio experimenters.
(Most of the above passages are quoted from 'A History of the Marconi Company' by W.J.Baker, published by Methuen & Co Ltd. reprinted in 1979.)

CHAPTER THREE
THE RADIO AMATEUR MOVEMENT
From the turn of the century enthusiastic young men who built their own items of electrical and wireless apparatus were known as "Wireless Experimenters". Many of them were later granted licences for the use of "Wireless Telegraphy for experimental purposes" (in the United Kingdom) by the Postmaster General under the terms of the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act. In his report to Parliament for the years 1905-1906 the P.M.G. stated that it was his wish "to promote experimental investigations in this promising field".
In a book published in 1908 by R.P.Howgrave-Graham entitled "Wireless Telegraphy for Amateurs" the word amateur seems to have been used for the first time.
During the 1914-1918 war all wireless apparatus in the possession of licensed amateurs was closed down under the Defence of the Realm Act of 1914. Experimental transmission licences numbered 1,600.
After the end of the war an Inter-Departmental Committee was set up and in its report to the Postmaster General dated April 1919 it stated: "We are of the opinion that the number of stations existing in July 1914 was excessive from the point of view of government control in case of emergency and the necessity of preventing interference with government and commercial working; further there was no justification for it from the point of view of the encouragement of research or development of industry".
But there was a magnanimous relaxation in the Defence Regulations when the Post Office notified manufacturers of electrical apparatus that restriction on the sale of buzzers had been removed. Buzzers could now be sold without enquiry as to the use to which the purchaser proposed to put them!!!
During 1919 many issues of WIRELESS WORLD considered "the amateur position", and a leading article in the March issue began with a quotation attributed to Marconi:
"I consider that the existence of a body of independent and often enthusiastic amateurs constitutes a valuable asset towards the further development of wireless telegraphy."
In a subsequent letter to the Editor Marconi wrote:
"In my opinion it would be a mistaken policy to introduce legislation to prevent amateurs experimenting with wireless telegraphy (which the authorities were contemplating). Had it not been for amateurs, wireless telegraphy as a great world-fact might not have existed at all. A great deal of the development and progress of wireless telegraphy