Canadian Communication Firsts

Wired and wireless communications were both Canadian firsts. The invention of the telephone by Canadian Alexander Graham Bell is well known. Less known is the Canadian inventor of radio, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden.

On August 10, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell transmitted human voice electrically 13 km by wire between Brantford and Paris, Ontario. He had previously on August 4 transmitted his voice from Brantford to family and friends at his home 6 km away. The famous earlier experiment where he said "Come here Mr. Watson" was just between offices. This proved that telephone voice communication could compete successfully with the telegraph.

Many people associate the invention of radio with Guglielmo Marconi. He is credited with the invention of the radio telegraph. He developed wireless transmission of telegraph code using a spark transmitter. However the inventor of the radio with wireless audio transmission by modulation of continuous waves was Reginald Aubrey Fessenden. This would be analogous to what we call AM (amplitude modulation) radio today.

On December 23 , 1900 Fessenden made what appeared to be the first wireless audio communication over a distance of 1.6 km. In 1906 he made the first transatlantic radio communication. Then on Christmas Eve December 24, 1906 he made the first radio broadcast of music and voice. He played O Holy Night on the violin and read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2. He broadcast from a transmitter at Brant Rock, Massachusetts to an unknown number of shipboard radio operators along the Atlantic coast.

Fessenden, like many others, went to the US to be able to get the backing to conduct his research. He got a job working in Thomas Edison's labs. He also worked for George Westinghouse for a time, and General Electric made the equipment to power his transmitter. He never really made any financial success from his inventions and most of his accomplishments have not been well known.

Canadians made these firsts in wired and wireless communications. And Canada has continued to be at the forefront in communications such as satellite and fibre optics.

Northern Saskatchewan Wedding

On the weekend we attended Matt and Christine's wedding in Hudson Bay. We were pleased to have been invited and glad we were able to go. It was great!

We also enjoyed the trip up there and back seeing some new areas. We had a good visit with Elaine's brother and family Friday evening and stayed overnight there. Then on the way home on Sunday were we able to visit a wonderful older couple in Sturgis. All in all a very enjoyable weekend.

I'm a Dreamer

I have been having a recurring dream that I have just started University and I can't find my schedule or which room my class is supposed to be in. One night I was in my first physics class and the instructor was telling how the marks would be based. He said that 97% would be based on handwriting. I thought "Oh no I've had it" Then he corrected that 97% would be graphs and 7% handwriting. In my dream I never questioned that this did not add to 100%.

Most of my dreams are just nonsensical. But one night a while ago I was seriously prophesying in my dream. I remembered afterward what I had prophesied and told Elaine about it. She said "The Bible says that '... your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions ...' (Joel 2:28). I guess that shows what category you are in!"

Then last night in my dream I was riding a bicycle. Somebody was taking my car to fill it with gas and I was going to follow them. I seemed to be having trouble getting my legs going to pedal fast enough. Then I woke myself up and was actually pedalling my feet under the covers. Fortunately I did not kick Elaine in the process. When I told Elaine about it in the morning she asked if it had been a trick bike. Unfortunately it was not but maybe in my next dream.

Jesus in the Boat

Mark 4:35 ¶ And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

My Musical Instruments

Passy-Muir speaking valve and AeroTrach Chamber


I use a Passy-Muir speaking valve with my trach. It has a diaphragm which acts as a one-way valve. (The clear plastic clip is to attach an oxygen hose.) I breathe in through the trach and then the diaphragm closes when I breathe out so the air goes past my vocal chords and out my mouth and nose. If I am not careful to clean the valve every day it can give a "honking" sound like a duck call. That has happened sometimes at church or at meetings at work. (Awkward!) Sometimes there is a faint "buzz" from the valve diaphragm when I speak. Janny says "Dad your voice has a kazoo quality." But in general it gives me a good clear voice.

I have an AeroTrach chamber that I use to inhale medication through my trach. If I breathe too quickly it makes a sound like a flute. The one I had before had symbol on it of a musical note with a circle around it and a diagonal stroke. The signal means you are breathing too quickly. When Janny hears the flute sound while I take my medicine she yells "Dad it is not a musical instrument!" It makes different notes depending how I breathe so I call it my "trach flute."

So at present the duck call, the kazoo, and the trach flute are the extent of my musical repertoire.