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| For telephony Fessenden's first attempts
to transmit voice employed a spark transmitter operating at something like
10,000 sparks/second. To 'modulate' his transmitter he inserted a carbon
microphone in series with the antenna lead.... He experienced
great difficulty in achieving intelligible sound.
...let us hear how this telephony transmission employing spark might have sounded like. On the 23 December 1900, Fessenden, after many unsuccessful tries, transmitted words without wires. The speech you hear is the voice of the author, using the transmitter as described above (the best transmission out of several recorded), but the words are those used by Fessenden the inventor. Click and Listen to
Fessenden saying: "Hello test, one, two, three, four. If it's snowing where you are, Mr. Thiessen. If it is, telegraph back and let me know." Mr Thiessen telegraphed back immediately. It was indeed snowing where he was. After all Mr Thiessen and Professor Fessenden were only 1 mile apart. But not withstanding, the short distance, and the poor quality of the transmission, this date heralded the beginning of radio telephony. |
