America’s First Floating Broadcaster – A 78 Year Old Story

The American magazine, Radio News; for October 1924, tells the story of what is described as America’s first floating broadcaster. This is what the article from 78 years ago says: The USS Leviathan is the first floating broadcast station. It is not yet officially licensed to broadcast, but instead it is operating on an experimental … Read more

Ship Broadcasting in Australian Waters

In this episode on the annals of radio broadcasting from ships, we take a look at the scene in the South Pacific again, in the waters surrounding Australia. We turn the clock back to the year 1926 and we observe that the European vessel, Carinthia, is steaming through the waters of the Southern Ocean below … Read more

Ship Broadcasting in the Pacific, Part II

In our continuing series of topics on radio broadcasting from ships, we return to the exotic South Pacific in the era between the two wars. In this era of experimental radio broadcasting, a large number of ships plying the oceans of the world would transmit short special programs. The wireless equipment was available, and it … Read more

Ship Broadcasting in the Pacific, Part I

In our continuing series of topics on the subject of radio broadcasting from ships, we turn ourattention now to the exotic South Pacific. In July 1925, the United States Pacific Fleet left from its base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii for astate visit to Australia. The battleship, “West Virginia” acted as the radio control vessel … Read more

Radio Broadcasting from Ships 5 – Americas in Recent Years

On this occasion we pick up again the story of radio broadcasting from ships, and this time during the postwar era in the Americas. During this period of time it is known that at least seven ships were involved in some form of radio broadcasting. Back in the year 1961, the military fiasco known as … Read more

Radio Broadcasting from Ships – The Americas

We return to the matter of radio broadcasting from ships, and we choose the American scene in its earlier era. It is discovered that at least five different ships were on the air with broadcast programming in the Americas during the era between the two Great Wars. It was in the year 1919 that Woodrow … Read more

Radio Broadcasting from Ships: Europe and the Atlantic

Back during the era of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the custom of the day for ships passing each other in mid-Atlantic to salute each other by playing musical records over their communication radio transmitters. On many occasions this interesting phenomenon was noted, though usually the printed DX reports do not mention the name … Read more

The Great White Fleet

At the turn of the century 100 years ago, the United States had just emerged from a series of military excursions in the Caribbean & Central America as well as in the Pacific. In an endeavor to exert a wider international influence, it was decided to build up the navy and to send it on … Read more

Early Wireless

Radio broadcasting from ships goes back a long way, almost to the beginning of wireless experimentation itself. The early experimenters in Europe, including Marconi himself, demonstrated the value of wireless communication by installing primitive experimental apparatus in small boats and transmitting messages across the intervening ocean. This form of wireless communication was also demonstrated in … Read more

Rob Olthof

We are mourning Rob Olthof. *07.12.1945 †23.09.2013 Maandagmorgen 23 september om half 12 kwam er een einde aan een uitzonderlijke vriendschap die Rob Olthof en ik 48 jaar lang hebben gedeeld. De vriendschap is ontstaan dankzij het weekblad dat de jonge babyboomers van destijds, vanaf 1965 konden kopen in de sigarenwinkel en meer: ‘Hitweek’. Het … Read more