GENOVA RADIO c/s ICB

Source: http://genova.erasuperba.it/notizie-genova/radio-icb-stazione-quarto-radiotelegrafisti

Pictures source URL: http://www.linoesposito.it/geradio_it.php

Genoa-Radio (ICB), in the heart of the fourth district, right in front of the historic Via Romana della Castagna, is a former radio station founded in 1952 and at that time used for communications in the maritime field. Composed of two different receiving stations -That in Levantine district, the other dislocated a few kilometers away, on Mount Righi – its transmitters are now inside the ancient fort called “The Castelaccio” (it would seem that the same Guglielmo Marconi has called this place “one of the best Italian stations for broadcasting”). Both stations, transmitter and receiver, were used to fulfill various functions: transmission of messages in Morse code between ship and coast radio; sending of telegrams, for example to relatives, while in the sea away from home; the telex system used for the transmission of commercial data; sending emergency calls 24 hours on 24, 365 days a year.
The two pylons of over 60 meters that still stand in the middle of the ancient town of Quarto and the passion of some “aggressive” amateurs, keep alive the memory of this Genoese excellence and a profession, that of the radio operator, many of them now deceased.

Telegraphy in Genoa:
While the first operations were carried out thanks to the use of short-wave, at various frequencies, the distress call was exploiting the medium wave 500 kHz used for about 90 years in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service for safety at sea, all radio stations that used telegraphy on medium wave had an obligation to ensure the continuous listening on this frequency, with an operator in charge or through a receiver, to receive at any time SOS and “urgent message”, to safeguard the safety of life at sea. Only in 1999, the 500 kHz has been replaced by digital satellite systems. It was also possible to take advantage of these technologies to allow those who were at sea to use a radiotelephone system and make phone calls at home though, very expensive in terms of power consumption and organization of time, these calls could not take place too frequent.
Operators, radio operators capable and well prepared, derived their knowledge Previous work on ships and boats: fair were part of a category of Officers of the Merchant Marine, existing at the time when even the communications were done by telegraph, and they were called “radio Officers”, a name coined in the same Guglielmo Marconi memory, father of radio communications. All those who aspired to a job in radio communications on merchant ships or civil aircraft had to achieve a specific patent, a certificate for radio operators issued by the Ministry of Posts. A fascinating job and motivated by great personal passion, which has now disappeared, having succumbed to advances in technology. The equipment used by the Genoa-Radio were outstanding and all quality: first, the transmitters Collins BC-312 and BC-3124, then Italians Allocchio-Bacchini OC-11.

Lino Esposito shows us on his website the current situation: “Hard to retrace the events, you have little information. It is known, however, that at first, as recently as a few years ago, Genoa-Radio (ICB) is passed by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to Telecom Italy and services (telegraphy and telephony in hf bands) were merged with those of Rome – (IAR): completely “restored” and “remoted”, the Genoese station today is almost fully automated and is controlled remotely by the Rome-Radio station. At the end of 1992, the latest receivers Collins were removed from service and replaced by modern receivers Rohde-Schwarz. So Genoa-Radio saw the arrival of its end and for some years is no longer operational, if not for a few services still managed from the capital, remotely. ”
Today Genoa-Radio has therefore lost most of the functions of a time and, forced to succumb to new technologies remains largely untapped. Given the interest shown, the idea of ​​creating a museum of radio communications in these places, with the equipment of the past, does not seem out of place: an opportunity to re-launch and promotion of a lost job? Why not…

To remember the great support of Italian Coast Radios to Seafarers of each nationality it is good to remember in Italy in 1935 has been founded the first Medical Aids Organization via radio thanks to Prof. Guido Guida, the organization is better known as CIRM and it is still alive trough Italian coast radio stations, the following clip is an old documentary where is shown a Medical Aid via radio:

MARITIME RADIO DAY 2016:

To subscribe free your partecipation at the next Martime Radio Day send an e-mail toR/O Rolf MARSCHNER: dl9cm@t-online.de
or automatically subscription is possible on the following website:
http://www.seefunk-fx-intern.de/mrdaward/mrd_registry.php

***Last day for registering is April 10th at midnight***