Baldur, DJ6SI will be active with special call DC220GERKE from Bergheim, Germany, 1 February - 31 April 2021, in memory of 220th anniversary of birth of Clemens Gerke.
He will operate on HF Bands.
QSL via DJ6SI.
Ads for direct QSL:
Baldur Drobnica, Zedernweg 6, Bergheim, 50127, Germany.
Information from his qrz page:
Morse Telegraphy – Who was Clemens Gerke?
January 22, 2021, marks the 220th anniversary of Clemens Gerke’s birth. The large majority of radio amateurs are unaware of an existing relationship with him.
Clemens Friedrich Gerke is the reformer of the Morse telegraphy code. Since 1851 whole generations of telegraphists have got their training according to his new system. Gerke
was able to eliminate the shortcomings of Morse’s original code. Altogether he redefined or rearranged eleven letters of the alphabet and nine numerals.
In the early days of wire-bound telegraphy the signals were printed on a moving paper-strip at their destination and were then transformed in a written text by an experienced
telegraphist. So there was quite enough time to decipher the marks the telegraph printer had left on the paper strip. Listening to wireless signals and writing the letters down
right away became standard procedure a good number of years later.
In Morse’s original system signals were of different length; some signals were composed of other basic elements. Thus quite a number of errors occurred, and the learning process
proved to be difficult. About half of Morse’s original signals have been retained, though. The basic structure of Gerke’s system is a short signal (dot) and a long signal (dash), the length
of which corresponds to three dots. So each signal is unique. The respective intervals between signals and words were defined; the numerals got a systematic structure.
He will operate on HF Bands.
QSL via DJ6SI.
Ads for direct QSL:
Baldur Drobnica, Zedernweg 6, Bergheim, 50127, Germany.
Information from his qrz page:
Morse Telegraphy – Who was Clemens Gerke?
January 22, 2021, marks the 220th anniversary of Clemens Gerke’s birth. The large majority of radio amateurs are unaware of an existing relationship with him.
Clemens Friedrich Gerke is the reformer of the Morse telegraphy code. Since 1851 whole generations of telegraphists have got their training according to his new system. Gerke
was able to eliminate the shortcomings of Morse’s original code. Altogether he redefined or rearranged eleven letters of the alphabet and nine numerals.
In the early days of wire-bound telegraphy the signals were printed on a moving paper-strip at their destination and were then transformed in a written text by an experienced
telegraphist. So there was quite enough time to decipher the marks the telegraph printer had left on the paper strip. Listening to wireless signals and writing the letters down
right away became standard procedure a good number of years later.
In Morse’s original system signals were of different length; some signals were composed of other basic elements. Thus quite a number of errors occurred, and the learning process
proved to be difficult. About half of Morse’s original signals have been retained, though. The basic structure of Gerke’s system is a short signal (dot) and a long signal (dash), the length
of which corresponds to three dots. So each signal is unique. The respective intervals between signals and words were defined; the numerals got a systematic structure.