W8USR - Special Events

100th Anniversary of the Long Distance Overland Wireless Transmission

The "Radio Priest" Breakthrough: November 23, 1905

The purpose of this event was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Long Distance Overland Wireless Transmission on November 23, 1905. The event was hosted by the Murgas Amateur Radio Club.

Jozef Murgaš was known as the "Radio Priest" and inventor. On November 23, 1905, operating out of a basement laboratory at his church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he achieved the first successful public transmission of intelligible voice and music via overland wireless. The groundbreaking test successfully sent sound across northeastern Pennsylvania between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.

Technical System: The Musical Tone System

The system Father Jozef Murgaš used for his 1905 overland transmission was a highly advanced variation of spark-gap wireless technology. While contemporaries like Guglielmo Marconi were using traditional Morse code dots and dashes, Murgaš revolutionized transmission speed and clarity by introducing his patented "Musical Tone System." Instead of relying on a single, continuous static buzz, Murgaš used a high-speed rotary spark gap and a high-frequency alternator connected to an induction coil.

The transmitter featured two separate interrupters working on the same coil. By varying the electrical frequency across the spark gaps, the transmitter generated electromagnetic waves that translated into distinct musical tones at different pitches on the receiving end. At the receiving station in Scranton, Murgaš utilized reconstructed transformers, finely tuned capacitors, and choke coils paired with an ordinary telephone receiver. Because the incoming frequencies were already modulated into specific pitches, the receiving operator could clearly hear distinct audio tones rather than just clicks or rhythmic static.

To push the signal overland across 20 miles of rolling Pennsylvania terrain, Murgaš built a massive infrastructure. He erected two 200-foot-tall wooden antenna towers—one at his parish in Wilkes-Barre and the other in Scranton. Overland transmission was notoriously difficult in 1905 due to interference from high-voltage power lines and coal mining equipment. His high-frequency tuning allowed the waves to bypass this local electronic noise successfully.

Station Log: Contact History

Date / Year	Special Event Call	My Callsign Used	Time (UTC)	Band	Mode
November 26, 2005	K3YTL	W8USR	17:13 UTC	40 Meters	SSB