nt D'Arco in 1903 to form the Telefunken company, and in the U.S.A.
by Dr Lee De Forest of the American De Forest Wireless Telegraph
Company who was the first to use a high A.C. voltage of 20,000 volts
to obtain the necessary high-potential discharges, thus dispensing
with the induction coil. Again in the U.S.A., Professor R.O.Fessenden
was responsible for the design of new types of transmitting and
receiving apparatus.

During this period Marconi had resisted all offers by financiers to
acquire his patents. In July 1897 he entrusted his cousin Jameson
Davis to form The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company Ltd which soon
became Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co., and ultimately the Marconi
Company.

William Preece of the Post Office detached one of his assistants,
George S. Kemp, to help Marconi. Kemp was destined to become his
right-hand man and served Marconi faithfully throughout his life. By
today's standards, Marconi can be said to have been a highly
successful entrepreneur. He had the great knack of selecting the
right man for the job, and inspired deep loyalty in his staff. He
regarded himself as an 'amateur' and often paid tribute to the work of
radio experimenters.

(Most of the above passages are quoted from 'A History of
the Marconi Company' by W.J.Baker, published by Methuen & Co Ltd.
reprinted in 1979.)

CHAPTER THREE

THE RADIO AMATEUR MOVEMENT

From the turn of the century enthusiastic young men who built
their own items of electrical and wireless apparatus were known as
"Wireless Experimenters". Many of them were later granted licences
for the use of "Wireless Telegraphy for experimental purposes" (in the
United Kingdom) by the Postmaster General under the terms of the 1904
Wireless Telegraphy Act. In his report to Parliament for the years
1905-1906 the P.M.G. stated that it was his wish "to promote
experimental investigations in this promising field".

In a book published in 1908 by R.P.Howgrave-Graham entitled
"Wireless Telegraphy for Amateurs" the word amateur seems to have been
used for the first time.

During the 1914-1918 war all wireless apparatus in the possession
of licensed amateurs was closed down under the Defence of the Realm
Act of 1914. Experimental transmission licences numbered 1,600.

After the end of the war an Inter-Departmental Committee was set
up and in its report to the Pos