In the storied history of amateur radio, few dates are more significant than December 11-13, 1921. That’s when members of the Radio Club of America (RCA) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) successfully transmitted Morse code signals that reached from Connecticut to Androssan, Scotland, on 230 meters (1.3 MHz), marking the first time amateur operators had spanned the Atlantic Ocean from the U.S. to Europe. The historic signals were also heard in England; Germany; Puerto Rico; Vancouver, BC; California; and the state of Washington.
Using a transmitter that had an input power of 990 watts and a T cage antenna (100 feet long and 70 feet high with a radial counterpoise), the Transatlantic Test Project proved that the average ham could reach great distances without the need for expensive setups, such as a Marconi wireless system. It fired the imagination of amateur radio inventers who have been experimenting with ways to improve wireless communications for the last century, leading to technologies that couldn’t have been imagined by the amateurs sending dits and dahs from station 1BCG in Greenwich, CT—
a 10 foot x 14 foot wooden hut located in a farmer’s field.
How You Can Honor These Ham Radio Pioneers
The Radio Club of America is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Transatlantic Test by hosting a 16-hour CW and SSB QSO Party from 1200Z, November 13 to 0400Z, November 14. The event is open to both hams and shortwave listeners on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, with 10 bonus points awarded (per band and mode) for contacting Radio Club of America’s station, W2RCA. You can find all the rules and more information about additional events commemorating the Transatlantic Test’s centennial here.
Tim Duffy, K3LR, DX Engineering CEO, discussed the event during his Facebook Live show. Click to watch the video.
