Treasures of the Bodleian

The world’s first fixed wireless station was set up by Guglielmo Marconi at the Royal Needles Hotel on the Isle of Wight. He enlisted coast-guards to help erect a mast 120 feet high, fitted aerials and receivers to a pair of local ferry boats, and began tests of wireless reception at sea. Signal rates of about four words a minute were achieved, sometimes beyond the horizon and in atrocious weather, at ranges up to 18 miles. This sketch illustrates the experimental transmissions, showing the Needles Hotel, Alum Bay, and the boat positions.