-> BK> I got both the advanced class ham and the commercial first   
   -> BK> class. Now the commercial is only one class... all that study   
   -> BK> for nothing. Ok, not for nothing, I still have the old ones to   
   -> BK> show off. That was in 1969... dang again!   
   ->    
   -> I love morse. Sitting here at the BBS machine I have the HF trnsceiver   
   -> listening on the 20m CW band. I'm not as radio active these days but I   
   -> enjoy listening to the CW traffic. I guess it also helps keeping up the   
   -> receiving speed.   
   ->    
   -> 73 de Sam, OH0NC   
      
   Did you catch this bit form the ARRL Newsletter.    
   **********   
   Morse Code Plays Role in New Spielberg Movie   
   TAGS: amateur radio, message traffic, morse code, Morse Telegraph Club,   
   telegraph    
   11/27/2012   
      
   Producer Steven Spielberg has used Amateur Radio or Morse code in three of   
   his last four movies: Super 8 (2011), The Adventures of Tin Tin (2011) and   
   Lincoln (2012). Members of the Morse Telegraph Club (MTC) -- an association of   
   retired railroad and commercial telegraphers, historians, radio amateurs and   
   others with an interest in the history and traditions of telegraphy and the   
   telegraph industry -- played an integral part in the production of Lincoln.   
      
   According to International President of the Morse Telegraph Club James   
   Wades, WB8SIW, several MTC members -- including Tom Perera, W1TP; Derek   
   Cohn, WB0TUA; Kevin Saville, N7JKD, and Roger Reinke -- provided telegraph   
   instruments to equip the 16 operating positions portrayed at the War   
   Department set. Jim Wilson, K4BAV, and his son Matt had roles as extras.   
   Wilson also worked with production staff and the actors to explain   
   telegraph technology and the role of the telegrapher in the 1860s.   
      
   “Nine of the 16 telegraph positions depicted in the War Department were   
   fully operational,” Wades said. “These instruments could be operated in any   
   combination through the use of a specialized computer program and custom   
   built terminal units for the process. When necessary, a hand key could be   
   inserted in the individual telegraph loops so messages could be   
   improvised.”   
      
   Wades, who was employed as a Technical Advisor for the production, worked   
   with set designers over a period of months to develop the War Department   
   telegraph scenes, coordinating the process of procuring the necessary   
   instruments and serving as an historical consultant as the telegraph scenes   
   were developed. He also worked the producers to develop historically   
   appropriate message traffic that fit the sequence of the script; however,   
   as the movie was edited, he explained that the final product evolved into a   
   more generic facsimile of Morse traffic. “Those with a background in   
   landline telegraphy will hear the occasional snippet of message traffic in   
   the audio track of the movie,” he said. “We are very pleased that Mr   
   Spielberg and his staff took the time to treat the telegraph with dignity   
   and respect. It is a pleasure to be associated with a high quality motion   
   picture that can genuinely be classified as not just entertainment, but as   
   a work of art.   
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