Hi all,

I'm trying to dig up some information about the Marconi company. I've
got a few rigs listed on my site made by this firm, but I can't seem to
find exactly what company it is. Problem is that when I search for
'Marconi' I obviously get a lot of results.

Can anyone tell me if the Marconi company that build the Atalanta, CR100
and Mercury receivers is in fact the same company founded by the Italian
Guglielmo Marconi? Personally I very much doubt this, but I have nothing
to back me up. Any help very much appreciated!

The Marconi rigs on my site can be found he
http://rigreference.com/manufacturers/view/44


73 Elmer PH5E

--
RigReference.com - Reference guide for ham radio equipment
http://rigreference.com/

"PH5E" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm trying to dig up some information about the Marconi
company. I've got a few rigs listed on my site made by
this firm, but I can't seem to find exactly what company
it is. Problem is that when I search for 'Marconi' I
obviously get a lot of results.

Can anyone tell me if the Marconi company that build the
Atalanta, CR100 and Mercury receivers is in fact the same
company founded by the Italian Guglielmo Marconi?
Personally I very much doubt this, but I have nothing to
back me up. Any help very much appreciated!

The Marconi rigs on my site can be found he
http://rigreference.com/manufacturers/view/44


73 Elmer PH5E

In fact it is the vary same although its been through
some business changes. See the article on Wikipedia for a
brief history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marconi_Company
Marconi, unlike many inventors, was a very good
business man and created a very successful company which
still exists. The US part of Marconi was sold to GE/RCA when
RCA was formed in 1919 but continued to operate in the rest
of the world.



--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL

Richard Knoppow wrote:
"PH5E" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm trying to dig up some information about the Marconi
company. I've got a few rigs listed on my site made by
this firm, but I can't seem to find exactly what company
it is. Problem is that when I search for 'Marconi' I
obviously get a lot of results.

Can anyone tell me if the Marconi company that build the
Atalanta, CR100 and Mercury receivers is in fact the same
company founded by the Italian Guglielmo Marconi?
Personally I very much doubt this, but I have nothing to
back me up. Any help very much appreciated!

The Marconi rigs on my site can be found he
http://rigreference.com/manufacturers/view/44


73 Elmer PH5E

In fact it is the vary same although its been through
some business changes. See the article on Wikipedia for a
brief history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marconi_Company
Marconi, unlike many inventors, was a very good
business man and created a very successful company which
still exists. The US part of Marconi was sold to GE/RCA when
RCA was formed in 1919 but continued to operate in the rest
of the world.



--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL




Okay, thanks Richard. I was a bit confused by all the merges and
take-overs... Nice to see the company has some really old roots.

--
RigReference.com - Reference guide for ham radio equipment
http://rigreference.com/

PH5E wrote:
Okay, thanks Richard. I was a bit confused by all the merges and
take-overs... Nice to see the company has some really old roots.

It's important to note that when Marconi first tried to market his invention
he was laughed out of the country (Italy). Marconi's first backers were
British. Therefore it was a long time before you would find a Marconi
"wireless" on an Italian ship, the company would not sell to them.

As a little history, Marconi used the letter "M" for callsigns, so that's
why Great Britan has both the "G" and "M" prefixes, although it has only
been very recently that they started using M for ham calls.

The Titanic's call sign was MGY. Before sailing it may of had a different
callsign, I was told that once, but have recolection of who said it or
where (sorry). Or for that matter, what they actually said.

Like all telegraphy companies at the time, Marconi used codes to reduce
the amount of sending in each message, they began with the letters "CQ".

That's where "CQ" came from as a calling signal, it meant calling all Macroni
stations, or with a callsign calling Marconi station Mxx. There were others
starting at CQA, but the most famous one is the fourth, which was supposedly
assigned that way because it was the fourth one they made up, not for
any other reason, "CQD", "calling Marconi stations, I need assistance",
or in plain English "HELP!!!".

The Marconi radio operator in New York City who received the Titanic's
distress call was a young boy named Sarnoff who later founded RCA.

Geoff.



--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
PH5E wrote:
Okay, thanks Richard. I was a bit confused by all the
merges and
take-overs... Nice to see the company has some really old
roots.

It's important to note that when Marconi first tried to
market his invention
he was laughed out of the country (Italy). Marconi's first
backers were
British. Therefore it was a long time before you would
find a Marconi
"wireless" on an Italian ship, the company would not sell
to them.

As a little history, Marconi used the letter "M" for
callsigns, so that's
why Great Britan has both the "G" and "M" prefixes,
although it has only
been very recently that they started using M for ham
calls.

The Titanic's call sign was MGY. Before sailing it may of
had a different
callsign, I was told that once, but have recolection of
who said it or
where (sorry). Or for that matter, what they actually
said.

Like all telegraphy companies at the time, Marconi used
codes to reduce
the amount of sending in each message, they began with the
letters "CQ".

That's where "CQ" came from as a calling signal, it meant
calling all Macroni
stations, or with a callsign calling Marconi station Mxx.
There were others
starting at CQA, but the most famous one is the fourth,
which was supposedly
assigned that way because it was the fourth one they made
up, not for
any other reason, "CQD", "calling Marconi stations, I need
assistance",
or in plain English "HELP!!!".

The Marconi radio operator in New York City who received
the Titanic's
distress call was a young boy named Sarnoff who later
founded RCA.

Geoff.

While Sarnoff was involved with the reception of Titanic
distress signals he was not the sole operator and later much
exagerated his role. He was very good at self promotion. See
the biographical artical at Wikipedia which appears to me to
be pretty accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sarnoff



--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL

On Wed, 9 Sep 2009, Richard Knoppow wrote:



The Marconi radio operator in New York City who received
the Titanic's
distress call was a young boy named Sarnoff who later
founded RCA.

Geoff.

While Sarnoff was involved with the reception of Titanic
distress signals he was not the sole operator and later much
exagerated his role. He was very good at self promotion. See
the biographical artical at Wikipedia which appears to me to
be pretty accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sarnoff

That part of history was also covered in Tom Lewis's "Empire
of the Air" that was made into a PBS documentary. It's a good
history of the early days of radio, focusing on Sarnoff, Armstrong
and I guess deForest. Since it's not dealing with a single
subject it's less likely to dote on the subject. It's been about
a decade since I read the book, but my recollection is that it
made that point about Sarnoff inflating his role in the Titanic
affair.

This is the first I've seen that "CQ" is because of the Marconi
company, and I suspect a deeper search into history would reveal
some other explanation.

Michael VE2BVW

Marconi came back to the USA after WW II as GEC-Marconi. For awhile
(until, ablout 1996) the Company was GEC-Marconi Avionics (Norcross, GA)and
later just Marconi Avionics. They moved to the Dallas area and I have no
idea if they exist any longer.

Canadian Marconi existed for years with the Canadian Government and Military
as their giggest customer. They licensed the RCA AR-88 receiver
and some of the RCA/Marconi gear until well after WWII.

GEC (UK GE) still runs Marconi in the UK and Marconi Avionics was a unit.

You might consult books such as Shortwave Receivers: Past and Present by
Fred Osterman for more company info.

Dave Thompson, K4JRB