Amelia Earhart

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 18:31:55 -0500, "Martin X. Moleski, SJ"
wrote:

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 15:32:26 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:

1. She and Fred Noonan, her navigator, refused to learn Morse Code.
They planned to rely on voice. This became a fatal flaw when they
needed to communicate with the Coast Guard crew waiting for
them at Howland Island.

Mantz also indicated, that at Putnum's instance AE left the long wire
antenna in Florida to lighten the load ...

RIght. The 250' trailing antenna was exclusively for 500 Hz (aka
as "kcs" in the old sources), which, in turn, was exclusively
for Morse Code (aka as "CW", continuous wave).

Since neither AE nor FN knew CW, there was no point in
carrying an antenna dedicated to an all-CW frequency.

I'm coming in late; maybe this was already covered.

Until a few years ago, 500 kHz was the one frequency marine radio
operators were REQUIRED to monitor continually, day and night, for
emergency traffic.

Also, If I remember _North to the Orient_ CW was one of the things
Anne Morrow Lindbergh made it a point to master before that flight,
and that was six years before AE and FN disappeared.

I'm surprised they'd throw away a lifeline like that.

Don

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 01:54:10 GMT, Don Tuite
wrote:

Mantz also indicated, that at Putnum's instance AE left the long wire
antenna in Florida to lighten the load ...

RIght. The 250' trailing antenna was exclusively for 500 Hz (aka
as "kcs" in the old sources), which, in turn, was exclusively
for Morse Code (aka as "CW", continuous wave).

Since neither AE nor FN knew CW, there was no point in
carrying an antenna dedicated to an all-CW frequency.

I'm coming in late; maybe this was already covered.

Nope.

Until a few years ago, 500 kHz was the one frequency marine radio
operators were REQUIRED to monitor continually, day and night, for
emergency traffic.

That is correct. I think that rule came in after the Titanic sank
(1912).

Um, thanks for quietly correcting my mistake: kHz vs Hz.

Also, If I remember _North to the Orient_ CW was one of the things
Anne Morrow Lindbergh made it a point to master before that flight,
and that was six years before AE and FN disappeared.

I think both she and Charles could do celestial navigation, too.
I don't know whether they checked each other's calculations,
but "two heads are better than one."

I'm surprised they'd throw away a lifeline like that.

Yes. I think (especially in 1937) that long wave is better for
DF than shorter waves. Even if she couldn't do anything but
tap out "A" on 500 kHz, it might have helped the Coast Guard
and Navy to search more intelligently for the downed aircraft.

Marty

Until a few years ago, 500 kHz was the one frequency marine radio
operators were REQUIRED to monitor continually, day and night, for
emergency traffic.

That is correct. I think that rule came in after the Titanic sank
(1912).

IIRC, the Titanic's sinking led to the creation of the International
Telecommunications Union, which was the first international attempt to
regulate and bring some sense of order to wireless transmissions. The
ITU was one of the most successful of the world's efforts at
international cooperation, which continued through war and peace.

vince norris

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 22:12:34 -0500, vincent p. norris wrote:

IIRC, the Titanic's sinking led to the creation of the International
Telecommunications Union,

wrong, the ITU was founded in 1865 in Paris, France.
http://www.itu.int/aboutitu/overview/history.html

#m
--
http://www.terranova.net/content/images/goering.jpg

wrong, the ITU was founded in 1865 in Paris, France.
http://www.itu.int/aboutitu/overview/history.html

Well, I learn something every day!

vince norris