REPORT ON RADIOTELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND CONDITIONS ON M.S. "ST. ROCH" August 20, 1928
By Spl/Const F.W. Sealey.
Source: LAC "St. Roch", RG18-F-1 Volume/Box number 3477, File S-1200-17. Vol 2. 1928-32.TRANSMITTERS - Two transmitters are employed; the main transmitter being a Marconi Co. 100 watt C.W, I.C.W. and radio-telephone set ( model 100W4) which is used for all ordinary ship to ship or ship to shore work. The second transmitter is also of Canadian Marconi manufacture, being a short wave, 50 watt set [1], the intention being to use it for communication this coming winter between stations that may be too far away to work on the main set. As noted in the letter attached from Mr. Naughton of the Department of Marine and Fisheries [2] it is intended to use this set for communication purposes to stations in and around the Hudson Bay or, possibly, Ottawa.
The main transmitter works very well, a daylight range of 400 miles being easily maintained and judging from this we expect a night range of three to four times that distance. So far there has been little opportunity to test out under night conditions but during the last few days I have been in communication with Nottingham Island with this set during the brief period of darkness which prevails at this time of year. This distance was around 1100 miles. Actually the set is rather low powered which it is considered that there is no "night effect" to take advantage of to transmit to distant stations, but, nevertheless, it works very efficiently and I must admit I was surprised at the ranges already attained.
Until a proper aerial can be erected for the short wave set - when we get into winter quarters - it is hard to say what ranges will be but on a small temporary aerial of thirty feet in length which was erected vertically no trouble was experienced in working the amateur station "7JR" at Bristol Bay, Alaska when we were at Point Barrow which is about 700 miles, but then receiving conditions have been unfavourable to further tests on this set but I have great hopes for it in the coming winter.
RECEIVERS. This vessel is well equipped with receivers, there being three of them which cover the wave-bands from 15 to 20,000 meters which takes in all the stations of the world except the experimental stations below fifteen meters. Press news is easily received (when conditions later described will permit) from England, Germany, USA, Canada and Australia and during the last few nights, when a little darkness has prevailed, ships on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts can be heard.
SPARES. We are well equipped with spare parts except for one or two small items which were not obtainable in Vancouver at the time of leaving. Spares include two [3] wave-meters, for both transmitters, which are certainly a great asset as with this the transmitters can be set to operate on any predetermined spot within their range.
RADIO ROOM. This is too small and its location does not help towards the efficient working of the apparatus. It is realized, of course, that accommodation is limited, but, if at a future date, alterations are being carried out, I would recommend that this be borne in mind and provision made for the radio room on the upper deck which would provide better lighting in the day-time, reduce noise from the engine room (at present only a joint partition is between the engine-room and radio room) and remove the apparatus from the inductive effects of the large [tanks] and gear in the engine room and also provide for a coal heater, at present there is only an electric heater and no room for any other.
POWER SUPPLY. This is obtained from the ship's dynamo which is driven by a gasoline engine. It has been remarked that a storage battery for lighting and radio purposes would be a desirable addition to the ship's equipment. Certainly, from a radio point of view this would apply as the operation of the set would then be independent of possible break-down of the engine which drives the dynamo, also it would remove the noises caused in the receivers by the dynamo which interfere considerably with the reception of weak signals. The intention would be to run the dynamo for a few hours each day to keep the batteries charged at a time when the wireless set was not being used.
GENERAL CONDITIONS IN THE ARCTIC. During the summer months when daylight prevails for twenty four hours, the only station through which traffic can be cleared in Aklavik, operated by the Royal Canadian Signals. As this station cannot receive on a wave of less than [ illegible.] meters except by using a broadcast receiver, it was found necessary to tune our transmitter to a wavelength of 500 meters to enable Aklavik to receive us at all as the ship's apparatus cannot get above about eight hundred meters with the present aerial. As Aklavik, with its system could not receive on continuous wave it limited our range with him to 395 miles which was when we lost communication with him on our eastward trip. We were then 84 miles east of [illegible] Point and continued to hear Aklavik's signals until after leaving Bernard Harbour. The operator on the HBC "Baychimo" informed me that he found things the same viz - that Aklavik lost him after they had passed a point about midway between Inman River and [illegible] Point. This transmission is all across land and it can be considered a good range for that reason and also that it was day-light at the time. The only station we could work through after losing touch with Aklavik was the vessel HBC Baymaud, laid up in Cambridge Bay, which relayed several of our messages to Fort Simpson. This could not be relied upon as atmospheric conditions were bad at the time and the Baymaud would not clear Simpson regularly though Simpson could be heard fairly well. I would advise that the RCS be approached and asked to have a receiver put in at Aklavik which could receive on a wave of 600 meters CW. I believe that if this is done communications could be maintained with him as far as Bernard Harbour. Aklavik gave us very good service, keeping well to schedules even after the lost touch with us when we were eastbound, the result being that no time was lost in getting into communication with him again as soon as we got within range coming west.
BROADCAST RECEIVER IN FORECASTLE. This was slightly damaged by salt water leading from the deck overhead but is now repaired and working OK. A charging device was made up so that the "A" storage battery for the radio filaments could be kept charged from the ships lighting system.
INDUCTION (RFI) . This includes noises caused in the receiver both from vibration, the main engine and the ships dynamo. The worst of these is that caused by the main engine when the vessel is under way. This is of such heavy nature that it is impossible to receive anything but very strong signals without recourse to stopping the engines. A lot of time has been put in in the endeavor to get rid of this but so far without success. I have one or two more experiments to make in this line and intend reporting more fully on this matter at a later date.
The noise caused by the dynamo brushed sparking was very bad at first but choke coils were made and installed along with condensers and this has very much reduced the noise, at any rate to the point where it interferes only with weak signals. This applies on the medium and long-wave receivers. On short-wave the dynamo noises are very bad and cause a lot of trouble with reception.
Noises from the spark-plug on the dynamo engine, that were very bad at first but have now been rendered negligible by putting the sparkplug lead in shielded cable and shielding the spark plug itself. Another noise trouble is caused by water leaking from the deck overhead to the engine room switchboard causing electrical leakage across the wiring.
I should say that all the above are equally applicable to the broadcast receiver up forward which is entirely separate from the main apparatus as to aerial, ground and batteries. In summing up I would say that the apparatus is all of good quality and highly efficient but that receiving is hindered by the items outlines under "Induction" when the ship is under way. When we are anchored, everything is OK except on short-wave and this disappears as soon as the dynamo is shut off.
F.W. Sealey
S/Cnst,
Wireless Operator[Webmaster] After serving in the St. Roch, Sealey then became OIC of the Department of Transport (DOT) Coppermine, then a radio inspector and retired as OIC of the DOT Office in Victoria. BC. Somewhere along the way he acquired the call sign VE7CB]
FOOTNOTES added by Jerry Proc[1] The model number of this 50 watt transmitter is not known at this time. It continues to elude identification.
[2] Department of Marine and Fisheries handled Canadian radio administration in the period 1927 to 1937. After that the newly created Department of Transport took over.
[3] Later on, the number of wavemeters was reduced to one.
Credits and References::1) John Gilbert <johngilber(at)gmail.com>
Nov 18/19