SU N DAY, 19 APRIL 2026 balance during bad weather and brushed against a high tension cable. Following this accident he left Elettra and did not return to work with Marconi. Marconi's reflections on the advantages of a seaborne laboratory Without Elettra it would have been impossible to carry out my experiments in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic; I would not have been able to continue and develop my research into short wave transmissions. With my seaborne laboratory – unique in the world – I have been able to realise my dreams. For example, how to beam (direct) a radio signal and to use radio for navigational purposes. This yacht has not only made me independent, but also freed me from distractions and the curiosity of others. I have been able to work at any time of the night and day and move around in a way that would have been quite impossible on dry land. [19] Wireless experiments from the vessel Of particular importance were the experiments conducted from Elettra in the Gulf of Tigullio – communication being established with a coast station in one of the Gualine towers on the Sestri Levante peninsula. In honour of this, the Gulf of Tigullio was renamed the Gulf of Marconi on the o ffi cial Italian navy chart. [20]
Marconi continued to experiment, concentrating his e ff orts on the short wave spectrum. In April 1923, he sailed from Falmouth to the Cape Verde Islands and monitored signals from the station at Poldhu in England, which was operating on a wavelength of 97 metres with a power of 1 Kw. It was noted that the signals disappeared at a distance of 2594 km (1400 nmi.) but at night- time they could be heard at 4632 km (2500 nmi.). [21] In 1924 thanks to an improved aerial at Poldhu, two-way communication
from the yacht was established from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic on a wavelength of 32 metres. The same experiment also proved successful, with solid signals throughout the day, when Elettra was in port at Beirut. Another successful contact was made from the yacht (in the Mediterranean) to Sydney enabling Marconi to speak to the managing director of the Amalgamated Wireless Company. [22] These experiments using beamed transmissions convinced the British government of the viability of shortwave (as opposed to the current use of longwave) and resulted in a contract with Marconi's company for a communications network, the Imperial Wireless Chain, linking stations in the British Empire with London. In 1926 a two-way communications link was o ffi cially inaugurated between Britain and Canada. [ Elettra was in British waters in September 1925 when, during a run from Dover to Southampton, Marconi demonstrated the use of wireless for direction finding. On a wavelength of 6.09 metres, bearings were taken on a transmitter on the lighthouse at South Foreland. The receiving aerial on the yacht was a 2-foot length of wire suspended at one end of the bridge and reception was possible at a distance of up to 100 miles. [ In 1929 the wireless equipment aboard Elettra , which had been fitted in 1923, was replaced by technicians from Marconi's company with an updated and improved installation. [ Early in 1930 wireless telephony contact was made with AWA in Sydney and on 26 March of that year, Marconi achieved publicity worldwide when, by pressing a Morse key on his yacht in Genoa harbour, he remotely switched on the lights in Sydney for the opening of the World Exhibition. [26]
Maggie Marriott
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