Contact us ! - emmatoc1922@gmail.com

We are running a video stream throughout the day on Monday 14th February to celebrate the centenary of the birth of wireless station 2MT, which started broadcasting at 7pm - or thereabouts - on 14th February 1922. As with all good stories the actual time is not exactly known, but was (almost) definitely between 7pm & 7.30pm! Maybe some confusion occurred with CW (morse) before telephony (speech) at the start of transmissions. 

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Our programme will not be a history lesson about 2MT, more a celebration of the spirit of the young Marconi engineers who pioneered early entertainment broadcasting. So at 7pm - or around 7.15pm - we will drink a toast to 2MT, & all those involved, & also the radio hams of the day who had petitioned the postmaster general to establish a regular station. At the time they probably didn't realise they were at the start of something big, & also could not have realised the tremendous influence they had on the future of broadcasting. Probably a case of the right people being in the right place at the right time.

 

So - please join me on the 14th for a selection of audio & video documentaries & programmes & then during the evening - live - where we can drink a worldwide toast to 2MT & everything that is good about radio today! 

 

Here's a schedule of our programmes:   Programme Start at 11.00am / 11:00UTC

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AUDIO:

01.   Sounds from the Ether - 29min - a BBC Essex documentary detailing the invention of the wireless & the role of Guglielmo Marconi, & the start of broadcasting from Writtle with 2MT.

02.   Tuning In - 56min - from Marconi to Savoy Hill via an old army hut in Essex, the story of early radio in Britain, looking at pre-BBC history & after.

03.   Radio Lives - 39min - an insight into the talented & complicated life of Peter Eckersley with contributions from family & friends. ''his first love, second love, & third love was broadcasting''...

04.   60 Years of Radio - 49min - an Essex Radio documentary looking at the first 60 years of UK broadcasting, from early days to the arrival of Independent Radio 60 years after 2MT.

05.   2MT Writtle - 60min - a radio play from historian & long time 2MT enthusiast Tim Wander, recreating the transmissions from 1922 from the 'long low hut' in Lawford Lane, Writtle.

06.   BBCentury - 56min - The British Broadcasting Century from writer/comedian Paul Kerensa, a podcast covering early broadcasting & here looking at the start of 2MT & Peter Eckersley.

07.   Radio 5 Live - 4min - from 12th February 2017 'World Radio Day' & Jim Salmon was interviewed during the 95th anniversary of 2MT on BBC Radio 5 Live. 

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VIDEO:

01.   Chelmsford's Radio Experiments - 15min - 'On Air' - a film from Chelmsford Museum looking at early technical & entertainment broadcasts from Chelmsford & the people involved.

02.   Radio Emma Toc on 14th Feb 2017 - 65min - celebrating 2MT's 95th birthday, when we operated a three day station with much from the historic 'hut'. A 'behind the scenes' view.

03.   Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain - 7min - a visit to New Street Chelmsford & Marconi's purpose built radio factory, from where Dame Nellie Melba sang, & then on to Writtle. 

04.   An Interview with Tim Wander Feb 2017 - 14min - CRHnews interviews Tim Wander at Sandford Mill museum where the original 2MT 'long low hut' is now preserved.

05.   A Tour Around the Hut - 5min - CRHnews at the 2MT hut with historian Tim Wander showing Don Baret from the Titanic TV Channel around this significant building.  

06.   Michael Portillo on a Train Journey in Essex - 7min - on a trip to Chelmsford, Michael discovers the origins of the BBC - in an ex-army hut!  

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LIVE PROGRAMME: - JOIN IN!

6.45pm / 18:45UTC - join me - Jim - 2E0RMI - live from a little ham radio shack in Chelmsford UK with an interactive programme to raise a glass to 2MT at 100, & to celebrate all things radio that followed 2MT & everything radio that we enjoy today. Feel free to email me before or during this programme so I can say hello & read out any radio related memories or topics you wish to share! This Live Programme will hopefully (breakdowns & Melchior effect permitting) last well into the evening, possibly aided by a fish & chip supper & a few G & T's... To be honest - there's (almost) nothing planned for this section, - so nothing can go wrong?!

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Here again is the link to our stream page. When there, you can 'chat' to me if logged in to Mixcloud, but you do not need to be logged in or anything else to watch - simply click on the Mixcloud logo. You can also enlarge the stream video to fullscreen by clicking on the box type icon at the bottom right of the screen.

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Don't forget to join in!  -  email me  -  emmatoc1922@gmail.com 

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(& if anything goes wrong or I disappear - have a look at the Twitter feed on the right hand side of this page for news...)

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NB - One final point... whilst we are operating an online video stream rather than a radio transmission, we would like to think that this is in keeping with the pioneering work of the early 2MT engineers. In fact, Peter Eckersley was a great advocate of what he termed 'wired wireless' - ie. cable systems - for relaying audio & video communications, & actually predicted most of what we have today in his 1941 publication 'The Power Behind The Microphone'. If it was good enough for him, it's most certainly good enough for us!  

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