Fessenden Centenary finishes.

[Dunc]

The idea of this project was to highlight the name of Fessenden and the site at Machrihanish and to this end we completed the following.

Took part in 3 BBC programmes both Radio and TV in UK. Took place in live interviews on several stations in USA in Boston area and one in Montreal Canada. The latest being on Xmas Eve with myself and Nancie Smith to a station in Marshfield holding a live all day event.
We also supplied material for 30 Canadian stations from New Foundland to New Westminster in BC to air their special centenary broadcasts. The group was also featured together with others in USA on the "Good Morning America" programme covering all of USA.
Newspaper coverage was also massive in USA including the NY Times and Boston Globe together with several small local editions in the Mass. area.Almost all of those had web editions available.
During the year much unknown material surfaced about Fessenden some including the Machrihanish site was new to everyone.Much of this was unearthed in the various librarys in USA including the Smithsonian Institute.
Several 1905/6 glass plate negatives were found which had never been seen before, many of those still to be developed as yet.Locally several unseen plates from the MacGrory collection were found which were never on the video produced. Those were of high quality, even showing workmen on site in 1905.All this material has been passed to USA and Canada.
Several independant radio programmes were made in the UK and especially the one made by Sean Street stands out as exceptional. Paisley Uni. also produced it's own radio programmes.
Locally we visited three schools and gave the children a talk on the local history involved and Drumlemble school started up a correspondence with a kindergarten school in Marchfield This was a great sucess and was commented upon in various USA forums.This also resulted in many photos and e-mails between the schools. Indeed a rather attractive brochure exists in USA showing photos of the local Drumlemble kids at Machrihanish. Those brochures are as rare as hens teeth locally......but I,ve got one!!!
The Dalriada Radio Club put on two special radio stations at the Fessenden site one in January 2006 and the latest at the request of USA at the end of December. Those resulted in hundreds of contacts being made world-wide and also some facinating "you tube" video.....Several e-mails were obtained from the "White House" with further action promised.

Special postcards were produced by Russell Carroll and those were in great demand both in Canada and USA.The States really went wild on the Fessenden thing as indeed did Canada much more than Campbeltown... but this again is Campbeltown.We also produced various artiicles for magazines and newspapers..even the Courier.

I know for a fact that many of the people involved overseas intend visiting this area to see the site.
Hopefully we will have something on the site to show them soon.
Finally a big thank-you to all who helped us along the way.Stirling Uni. who let us use their premises at Machrihanish and Donald Kelly for producing the website which had thousands of hits.

So hopefully if Reginald Fessenden's up there somewhere he's happy as we gave it our best shot for him, his achievements, Machrihanish and the Kintyre area.Personally I wont miss having to wake-up each day to sometimes 25 e-mails all wanting answers.

All of the material we have locally, photos and "bits and bobs" found at the site will be placed in the Museum whenever it re-opens..
For those interested the year also produced a Great Grandson of the gentleman Adam Stein whose voice was the first ever heard across the pond at Machrihanish to pop up. Also a William Fessenden a near relative also made an appearance in USA.

So Bye from us all till the 125th anniversary and also apologies to all I forgot to mention and thank.
Dunc

[Dave Riley]

Gudday from the Colonies...

Dave Riley here @ Brant Rock in Massachusetts at the 'Western Tower', the other end of the first two way radio link across any ocean. Around 1969 I met a man named Brad Blackman who owned the Summer Camp at Brant Rock. He told me of a man named Fessenden who made the world's first radio voice broadcast back in 1906. I was always interested in radio and history but had never heard of this.
Soon I was reading " Fessenden, Builder of Tomorrows " which his wife wrote and also " Radio's First Voice " by Orman Raby in Canada. Indeed I was on the trail of a most unique person who did more for my business and hobby than I had ever thought. He was born in Canada and came to the US to seek his chance at business. Along the way he met and worked for Thomas Edison, and was finally backed to do that which we take for granted today.
I actually got to meet and talk with people who knew him or knew of him or worked for him. The best break was when I met his chief engineer's son, Adam Stein IIIrd who really started the ball rolling as to gathering the history of this forgotten genius. It was not long after than that I went to Pittsburgh, Pa. to rebuild the the country's first radio station, KDKA, where information and more roots were discovered. As it turns out, Westinghouse Broadcasting Company was actually an outgrowth of the defunct National Electric Signalling Company. Reginald Fessenden was also a running mate of George Westinghouse and I was the last hiree at WBZ in Boston by it's original chielf engineer.

Fast forward many years and miles to 2005 when I finally make a lucky call on the telephone and spoke with Duncan MacMillan who was also very interested in the history of our mutually built first radio stations. We talked for hours on the phone and I was then fortunate enough to meet up with Duncan MacArthur near Macrihanish. We really hit it off straight away and talked many hours on the phone as well as reinstating radio communicaitons between our towns, probably the first radiotelegraph two way communications between our areas for 100 years.
Duncan became the prime mover and shaker of things at the Eastern Tower, and along came his friend Nancie Smith, who communicated with the schools in this area who were soon swapping e-mails and internet web pages.

The rest is history and it came so fast. After 36 years of chasing down leads and promptly giving them away to anyone who would take them, things really came to fruition for the 100th anniversary with many intercommunications and efforts of all who could be contacted for their interest in this project.
Our local radio station soon became involved, WATD and Radio Kintyre were producing actual programs and re-production of that first broadcast which had originally taken place on Christmas Eve of 1906. Duncan MacArthur I consider the lead player @ the Easter tower with his many successful efforts and connections, especially with the BBC who actually came over here to take interviews and lay sound tracks. Scott Wheeler's excellent radio productions added a professional dimention on several occasions during the centenial year. Ed Perry of WATD did yeoman's service for PR, and the ham radio community put the word out over the air for much of the month of December.

This has been a labor of love and I have gathered many archives which will soon be at our local library.
I am also loading a web file transfer site which anyone who likes can log on anonymously @ ftp.radiocom.net/public_ftp to browse and download whatever they like. There are many megabytes of pictures and I am now collecting the Macrihanish prints and placing them into their own folder.

The friends and contacts I have made are priceless and the memories unforgettable. I will no doubt think of more after this and return to made addendum.

Your Fessenden web site at http://groups.msn.com/fessenden/_whatsnew.msnw is premiere and our effort over here is www.radiocom.net/Fessenden which remains dedicated to adding information as we receive it.

PBS, BBC, WATD were our biggest boosters and we thank them all. Georgie Robinson and Richard Hollingham from BBC were extra special as was Matt Largee from here @ PBS.

Also special kudos to Orn Arnason and Jack Belrose, our prime Canadian connections for this loosly run but very efficient effort.
Those who were truly interested certainly rose to the oaccasion and presented their own work independantly but together. Who could have managed or afforded such august and sublime events but the many hands who made light work of it all.

Hope to see you at the 125th, but it will take some effort to equal what seems to have recently gone by so fast.
The 75th was really something, but 2006 took the cake. The summer wine was also fine...

Warmest Regards from the Western Tower,

Dave Riley @ Radio Station 'Bravo Ocean'

or, AA1A on your ham radio dial...

[Annie]

Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!

[Malky]

Duncan received this earlier and wanted it displayed on the forum.



Well done guys

Malky

[dgraves]

Extraordinary accomplishment!

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Who is Zu Zl

Very nice.

[Dunc]

Quite a signature eh?
We knew in Jan 2006 when we started that Sen. Ed Kennedy who is "the man" for Brant Rock area was interested in what we were trying to do...but the letter was a surprise.I thought it was a wind-up from one of my contacts but soon found out it was the real thing when the phone calls and E-mail's started arriving from USA again.

Cheers

Dunc (and my pal George )

[Dave Riley]

Maybe it is ZUE, a Z signal for 'affirmative'??

Big kudos and a Bravo Zulu from Bravo Ocean to Dunc man @ TNT...

[Malky]

This is a link to the topic on the Marshfield forum.

http://s163334130.onlinehome.us/viewtopic.php?t=504

Malky

[Ship called Dignity]

Well done to all involved!