Certified Radio Operator

Radio operator means a person who is responsible for the operation of the equipment. The independent profession of the operator has become largely redundant with the digitization and automation of radio communications in the last few decades. Nevertheless, there are still radio operators on ships and in the military field. Most of the radio operation is now only one of several tasks of a radio operator.

Radio operator in the maritime mobile service

With the introduction of wireless Morse code in the shipping industry in 1900 had powerful radio operators have every ship via one of telegraphy. This usually dominated the messaging by means of flags, signal masts ( semaphores ) or later also signal lamps. The internationally valid signal alphabet was only in 1856 entered into force and provided a common basis for communication.

As the first German shipping company in the North German Lloyd outfitted a ship with a " wireless Telegrafiestation " (Mobile maritime mobile ) and submitted the corresponding country stations on Borkum and the lightship Borkumriff on. The stations were staffed with full-time radio operator. The job of a radio officer had formed.

First, the manufacturer of radio equipment from ships upgraded with their devices and introduced simultaneously trained personnel available. The radio officers were usually employees of these companies and were rented along with the equipment to the shipping companies. The equipment of passenger ships was also of commercial interest in the foreground of the companies, as was expected by many people on board with a high volume of telegrams. The equipment of commercial vessels was, however, hesitant: radio equipment, including radio officer on board who was not prescribed. In England and Italy and also on ships of other nations assets of Marconi companies were incorporated. In Germany, founded in 1907, ' German operating company for wireless telegraphy ' DEBEG perceived these tasks and presented radio operators to their plants. It had been founded at the behest of Emperor Wilhelm II and brought together the activities of rival companies AEG, Siemens, Telefunken and Lorenz.

The radio officers took part in the public exchange of messages and were on the secrecy obligation, since they received through their activities knowledge of the news content. With the threat of jail time they were allowed to pass on to any third party the information they have acquired. A radio officer on a merchant ship had eight hours service were completed in a two -hour watch, two hours off watch system, up to eight hours. In the free guards and in the time of absence from the radio room, the car alarm device ran. File was a receiver which was fixed tuned on the distress frequency 500 kHz and could evaluate the car alarm signal consisting of a sequence of 12 Sendertastungen of four seconds in duration. After the fourth signal it had to trigger an alarm in the living room of the radio officer and on the bridge.

The design of the radio officers after 1950 in Germany was made ​​to maritime colleges. After passing an examination in the telecommunications authorities, they received a patent be issued, with which they could strive for a job in shipping companies. As in other professions, the radio officer was greeted with all sorts of nicknames, which are: Sparks, Marco Ista, Funkenpuster, radio operators, Telgraphista. The reference to radio goes back to the early days of the art, when the first stations were actually large spark generator.

In many cases, took over the radio officer and the administrative work, resulted in foreign ports by the Einklarierung etc.

The job of a radio officer has always been closely connected to the wireless telegraphy in the maritime radio. On 1 February 1999, the era of the analog -powered marine radio ended by the final launch of the new Global Maritime Distress and Safety System GMDSS. The profession of the radio officer is not needed anymore.

Radio operator in the aeronautical service

The Mobile aeronautical radio service, so the radio traffic of aircraft to ground stations or from aircraft to aircraft, was formerly handled by radio operators. To a cockpit crew included not only the two pilots also still a technician who was often referred to as a radio operator.

In the 1950s, the telegraphic communication was abolished in flight radio, and often took over the co-pilot to radio communications instead of the radio operator. The Hamburg-based weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported in August 1958 in a detailed article about the crash of the KLM Super Constellation " Hugo de Groot " and the belated search of the machine due to lack of radio communications. Disorders of the radio operation over the North Atlantic were in aviation at this time as commonplace. The air traffic control in Shannon initially restricted itself merely informed of the coast radio station " Valentia Radio" in Ireland of navigation, that the aircraft have not been reported, but gave no position report through. Der Spiegel wrote that the susceptibility of the radio communications between aircraft and ground station " paradoxically due to a technical innovation " was. Some airlines had to in accordance with the safety recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO in transatlantic traffic completely from telegraphy to radio communications. The crashed over the North Atlantic KLM plane had therefore no full-time radio operator on board. The KLM Directorate had declared before the crash: " The radio has proven itself He makes the transmission of messages between the radio operator and the pilot, misunderstandings can easily occur when the superfluous, because the pilot receives or delivers all messages themselves. . " Radio experts at that time did not exclude the possibility that perhaps some survivors could have been saved if an ordinary Morse instrument on board the Dutch machine would have been for emergencies. That a professional radio operator may be time had found to hammer a distress call in the Morse key, close the experts from some clues: from the rescue ships was a child found, the life jackets had been created. With a sudden crash or an explosion would have been no time to do so.

The radio equipment this time, the antennas loaded in haze layers of ice crystals or water droplets on sometimes so strong electric, that releases the ground stations on board hardly could still be taken for granted.

First, the Royal Dutch airline managed ( KLM ) and the Pan American World Airways ( PAA) on the North Atlantic traffic professional radio operators on board from.

Radio operator in the military radio service

The Signal Corps ( Reichswehr, Wehrmacht and NVA: News Force; Swiss Army Signal Troops ) is in most armed forces a separate branch of service, special force or a service partition.

Wehrmacht

Radio operator and top radio operators were in the Armed Forces of the lowest enlisted rank in the telecommunications organizations. Funkmeister other hand, the function names for example, was for a telecommunications sergeant in a radio companies.

Bundeswehr

In the Bundeswehr radio operators shall be trained who work in the various branches of the armed forces. The central training institution of the Signal Corps of the Army and Armed Forces Base ( SKB ) is the lead support der Bundeswehr and College of the Bundeswehr for Information Technology ( FüUstgSBW / FSBwIT ).

Intelligence services

Staff that is mostly concerned with the analysis of data Signit works among others the Federal Intelligence Service ( Division 2, officially " Federal Bureau of Telecommunications Statistics ").

Funker today

The Federal Employment Agency is the job of radio operator before today. Other conditions commonly called an education in electronics and the prescribed for the respective operating mode license. Ship radio operator must submit a nautical certificate, a valid General Radiotelephone Operator's Certificate for the maritime mobile service or the general operating certificate for radio operator (GMDSS ). In addition, you need a certificate of medical fitness and sound knowledge of the English language.

The tasks in addition to the radio operation also includes radio-communication systems to maintain. Radio operators mainly work for companies in the inland waterway, maritime and aviation. Also offer taxi companies as well as the operational centers of emergency services, fire services, the police and the army radio operators work opportunities. In practice, the vessel traffic, the task of the operator is mainly in the control of traffic management (eg in ports before any locks) in contact with the shipping company and weather stations as well as the receipt of distress, urgency or safety messages. In the ship traffic radio operators interact with by radio direction-finding in the navigation, but this is rarely necessary. Ship radio operators perform the Seefunkverkehr on land and other ships and so supply the ship's officers with information to guide the ship and its safety. Radio operators pass messages to the occupation continues, accept calls for help from people in distress and participate in mutual aid in shipping.

Known Funker

Jack Phillips (first radio officer ) and Harold Bride (second radio officer ) were the two radio operators of the RMS Titanic. They were employees of the Marconi Company and operated for this radio station on the ship. They set off the alarm before the ship sinks. Bride was rescued, while Philip was drowned in the North Atlantic.