1909 Nobel Prize in Physics: Wireless telegraphy

Marconi was an Italian electrical engineer and the inventor of the first practical radio-signalling system. By 1895, he succeeded in sending signals to a point a few kilometres away by a directional antenna. By 1907, a transatlantic wireless telegraph service was established.

Use the following words to complete the sentences below - radio signal, antenna, demodulate, transatlantic, telephone

1. To transmit speech at a distance, one would normally use a _______________.

2. A conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received, consisting usually of a wire or set of wires, is an __________________.

3. A radio wave used to transmit and receive messages is called a _______________.

5. To extract (information) from a modulated carrier wave is to ________________.

4. Spanning or crossing the Atlantic Ocean is known as ________________.

Marconi ran his experiments at his father's country estate. This is the receiver (right) he used to send the first successful wireless signal.

B. Make your own radio

You can make a radio out of household objects, such as an ordinary plastic bottle.

C. Song and lyrics

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles

'I heard you on the wireless back in 52

Lying awake intent at tuning in on you.

If I was young it didn't stop you coming through.

Oh-a oh.

They took the credit for your second symphony.

Rewritten by machine on new technology,

and now I understand the supernova scene.

Oh-a oh. I met your children

Oh-a oh. What did you tell them?

Video killed the radio star.

Video killed the radio star ...'

Discuss

Is there a future for radio in our society? Has the internet superseded the radio? Why/why not?

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

D. Radio in Hong Kong

Listen to the radio live online or select various audio podcasts

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)

RTHK Radio 1: in Cantonese / Putonghua on 92.6-94.4 MHz

RTHK Radio 2: in Cantonese on 94.8-96.9 MHz

RTHK Radio 3: in English on 567 and 1584 KHz and 97.9, 106.8 and 107.8 MHz

RTHK Radio 4: in English and Cantonese on 97.6-98.9 MHz

RTHK Radio 5: in Cantonese / Putonghua on 783 KHz and 92.3, 99.4 and 106.8 MHz

RTHK Radio 6: relays BBC World Service in English on 675 KHz

RTHK Radio 7 (Putonghua Channel): in Putonghua on 621 KHz and 100.9 and 103.3 MHz

Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company

HKCR CR1 (Supercharged 881): in Cantonese on 88.1-89.5 MHz

HKCR CR2 (Ultimate 903): in Cantonese on 90.3-92.1 MHz

AM 864 in English and limited Nepalese on 864 KHz

Metro Broadcast Corporation

Metro Showbiz: in Cantonese on 99.7-102.1 MHz

Metro Finance: in Cantonese on 102.4-106.3 MHz

Metro Plus: in English, Putonghua, Filipino,

Hindi and Indonesian on 1044 KHz AM Stereo

ACTIVITY - Listening and taking notes

Most radio news stories follow a pattern that makes them easy to understand.

Take notes on a broadcast and then complete the information grid.

Your notes should contain the following types of information:

TOPIC - main idea of the news story

SETTING - where and when the story took place

CAST - major people involved

CONFLICT - major issue in the story

CLIMAX - way the story ended

THEME - story may present a lesson or moral

E. Writing for radio news is a visual experience

When writing news stories for the radio, reporters try to use simple, everyday language which paints a picture of the events of the story in the listener's mind.

Task

Write a 30-second radio news story. Remember the 5W's + How: who, when, where, why, what and how.

Write it, voice it, time it, edit if necessary, and now record it, play it and rate it.

Your news writing must stimulate the listener's mind.

F. Citizens' radio

It is illegal to host your own radio station in Hong Kong as the government controls the airwaves. Members of the citizen's radio station (FM 102.8) last year protested the law and demanded that the government open the airwaves.

Discuss:

Should the government control the airwaves? What are the pros and cons of governmental radio licence control?

Answers:

A. 1. telephone; 2. antenna; 3. radio signal; 4. demodulate; 5. transatlantic