Milwaukee School of Engineering - EMF Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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 ma r A, w 0 ----- ; ... ■THE 1920 EMF Saiiio P w I The radio department of the School of Engineering was organized in October, 1919. At the present date the department is in its infancy not being as yet on a working basis. During the Great World War which was just recently brought to a close ‘Radio’ advanced with great rapidity. It played one of the most important parts especially with the Naval forces. Large convoys of troop ships as well as merchant vessels carrying food and supplies to Europe were held together by this instrument. Mine warnings, dangerous areas where the U-boat lurked and other important information was sent broadcast daily or ‘as often as necessary by wireless to the many vessels at sea. The radio direction finder also proved its worth. By means of this in- strument the exact position of any ship could be determined. Its greatest value to vessels is when there is heavy fogs. During these blankets of haze it is impossible for the navigators to take observations. The wireless however finds its way to the various stations and the stations equipped with the ‘finder’ are able to telegraph the vessels correct longitude and latitude. Large fleets of air vessels are directed by means of this apparatus and by this means the aeroplane’s value was increased greatly as gun ranges could be varied in very short order. Besides its value in wartime and as a commercial agent radio is a great entertainer. The wireless telephone has been advanced remarkably and by this means concerts can be given. After the signing of the armistice and the air was once more free to a certain extent, several vessels were enroute to France. One of these ships carried a telephone outfit. Every night dur- ing the voyage across a concert was rendered lasting about one hour. The victrola which the “schack” had. would be placed near the transmitter and a record started. The music thus radiated would be picked up with great clearness, the concert generally ending with a song by the operators. With the closing of the war a great shortage of operators is being experi • enced and the demand is ever increasing. The radio department hopes in the very near future to be able to turn out some operators for the American merchant marine. The department hopes to be able to help fill these vacancies. We hope that by next year the radio department will be able to give a better account of itself and that we will be able to point out to a great progress. No generation of mankind has ever seen more marvelous things happen than we have seen in this present dav. Following each other in rapid suc- cession there came wireless telegraphy, radium and the X-ray and from the practical standpoint the invention of ‘wireless’ is by far the more interesting. Had a man entered the general post office or a telegraph office less than a century ago4 handed in a message for a friend on board a steamer far out to sea. the man would probably have been taken into custody and the sanity of the man might have been doubted. However such a thing is today very common and wireless messages may be transmitted across the Pacific or At- lantic ocean in very few seconds. 1 Page Three Hundred Thirty.eight

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