Hiram Percy Maxim

“ These people never entirely get over this feeling and many of them have station equipment which in the hands of an operator with more nerve, could do wonders; For this reason, any plan which calls for initiative on the part of all stations in a voluntary organization such as the Relay League, is bound to be only partially effective.
The next question in undertaking to grasp the practical necessities, is that of regular trunk lines. In order to have system in either traffic in messages or traffic in
portation, it is necessary that there shall be established routes. ”

“ Some people are so constituted that they naturally handle a piece of work in a systematic manner, and records are simple and always kept. Other people entirely lack anything appreaching order and system and if one of these should be a District Headquarters, things would go haphazard, hit and miss, and interest would quickly die out on all of the lines which they had charge of. ”

“ The movies are out by this time, which is a factor we can by no means overlook, and it is not so late that it would kill us to stay up one or even two nights in a week. This matter however, is one for each Trunk Line to settle for itself. ”

“ Main headquarters would then
appoint district headquarters and turn over to each of these the stations on their lines. Each district headquarters could then begin the work of developing the best stations. The rest would follow naturally, and if there are enough amateur stations in the country to make relaying possible it would not be long before a practical Relay League would be established. Then we amateurs would have something of which we all could be justly proud. ”

“ Tom is never on when Dick and Harry are on, and Dick seems to make a point of going, to the movies when Tom and Harry most need him. Harry invariably reserves his off night for the time when Tom and Dick depend upon him being at his instruments. ”

“ Some amateurs who are in business have letter writing facilities of an office and it is very little work to get off half a dozen letters once in a while. A station owner so situated that letter writing was convenient and easy would be a better Headquarters than one who had not these facilities, other things being equal. ”

“ In handling test and regular messages, this point must be most carefully considered, and a Headquarters must be selected who can either be on regularly or have other stations who will act for him when he is absent. The nights when the through Trunk Line work is to be done, should not be too often. Three nights a week would probably be impractical and the writer believes that one night a week would be better than two, unless the relay stations on a given Trunk Line were sure that they could be at their instruments more frequently. ”

“ Some people would rather take, a thrashing than touch their key for the purpose. They feel that they cannot send well enough, or that they will become rattled or that something will happen in the form of a come back, which will disclose the awful fact that they cannot receive well. ”

“ Another requisite, and an important one, as we all know, is the ability to always be on the job at the time specified, or never fail to have some one else if he cannot be there himself. This failure to keep regular hours is the greatest fault we amateurs have, and, is the great big factor which limits our radio relaying work. ”

“ Philadelphia or some point in New Jersey would likewise be a good location to act as Headquarters for the entire eastern section of the country. One test message sent out from here would be carried northeast through New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, south through the Atlantic States to Jacksonville, Florida, and southwest on Trunk Line D through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, to New Orleans, La. ”

“ If certain well equipped and regularly operated stations can be appointed along each of these trunk lines, it would be possible to establish regular test signalling and unquestionably materially assist in making long distance relaying possible. ”

“ Again, and before we lay down any detailed plan for running proof tests:— Must we not realize that from a practical standpoint, there are a great many amateurs who lack the nerve or whatever else it is, to break in and send out a general QRU?. ”

“ In the case of those of us having especially good aerials and ground connections, and who know how to tune, we probably would make many very remarkable and extremely interesting long distance records. It would not be at all unusual for the man in Maine to hear Ann Arbor, Mich., nor the man in Little Rock, Arkansas to hear Chicago Headquarters when he started out his test msg. ”