Alberta-MTC-Wire Project

Hello fellow Alberta Landline Telegraphers!

 
This is the first post concerning a new "pie in the sky" project proposal for the Alberta-MTC group, and the Calgary "CG" chapter of the main MTC.

The "pie in the sky" element will become clear pretty quickly I suspect :-)

Here is the 30,000' view:

The project is to create a working landline telegraph system that includes ALL (if possible) railroad museum displays in Alberta and potentially Western Canada.

The days when railroads had right of ways and telegraph lines alongside those right of ways to most places in Alberta are long gone. However we are no longer constrained by the existence of physical wires! The widespread adoption of the cellphone network coverage in Alberta and Internet access , even if only dial-up, means that it is possible to have telegraph connectivity pretty much anywhere!

Freed from the need for physical wires, the MorseKOB program and its associated server allow computers running MorseKOB to communicate across any Internet connection. Devices under development allow connection of tiny inexpensive computers to physical telegraph equipment and local circuits, thus putting that equipment into virtual circuits that mimic physical long distance wires.

Imagine walking into any railroad station display in Alberta and hearing their telegraph instruments click clacking away, and not just producing random clicks but actual traffic from other telegraph stations across Alberta and beyond.

It is likely that most museums that include railway station displays have old telegraph equipment as part of that display. My proposal is to hook it all up and get it working again.

This is a potentially big project and not something that can be done simply or, alas, that cheaply.

Subsequent posts to this thread will cover the various phases of the project and the target objectives of each phase.

In thinking about how to proceed, given our small numbers of telegraph "enthusiasts", and of course our very real budget constraints, I have sought to make the objectives of each phase worth while in themselves. So that even if the project never gets past the first couple of phases something useful will have come out of the work. I am also hoping that by keeping the objectives modest that they can be accomplished without stressing us out or putting a burden on our already constrained time and pocketbooks.

As we improve our telegraphy skills this project is also an opportunity to spread landline telegraphy to a larger group of people and perhaps inspire more people to learn! (If only so they can explain what is happening in their displays).

Keep an eye out for further posts and discussions about the #AlbertaMTCwire project on the Alberta-MTC email group Recent posts are highlighted in the box on the left of this page.

The name and hashtag for the project is "#AlbertaMTCwire".

Subsequent posts here on this page will be labelled with "AlbertaMTCwire" and will be available on the Alberta MTC Wire tab above.

This is an exciting project and there will be lots of opportunities to help out so stay tuned!

Thoughts and comments welcome as always.

73
Ciao
KJ 

Editor
and AlbertaMTCwire Wire-Chief