Re: Visit to the Marconi/InfoAge Museum NJ

[jhalphen]

Good day Gentlemen,

This is my second US photo travel log after the recent KutzTown Radio swap meet:

http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/k...%20May%202010/

this time the visit covered the Marconi/Signal Labs/InfoAge Museum located in the city of Wall, NJ.

The place has a double historical significance as from 1914 to 1924 it was the US transatlantic transmission/reception site of the Marconi corporation. The company was pioneering the use of radio waves to get around the monopoly of the undersea telegraph cables. It was also used for the monitoring/help/rescue of received ship distress signals, radio having been made compulsory on all ships above a certain size in the aftermath of the 1912 Titanic disaster (1500 victims).

The rapid progress of radio made the equipment obsolete, and in 1924, Marconi co. abandoned the site. It then became a military area (Camp Evans) and from the thirties onwards the location became the main research laboratory of the Signal Labs, later to be renamed the famous Signal Corps of the US Army. Intense radar research took place there during the WWII years in the fast-paced race to generate high power at very short wavelenghts.

After WWII, Camp Evans distinguished itself in building some of the very first US weather satellites (TIROS Series) and was home to the control & tracking of these pioneering spacecrafts. It also worked on numerous "Black-Ops" US National Security projects.

Close to the present, the location was demilitarized, cleaned of chemical pollutants and property transfered to the city of Wall, NJ.

The place is huge, and covers several square miles, see the map:

http://www.infoage.org

There are approximately 12 x WWII wooden military baracks each about 1500/2000 square meters in size. Operating on a shoestring budget, a hard-core team of approx. 50 volunteers spend considerable time renovating the buildings for present and future exhibits.

This is a very exciting area as the potential for the growth of InfoAge and/or a critical mass assembly of various museums is possible because of all the space available.

To focus on the InfoAge/Marconi museum, here's a short list of what you will see: Marconi relicas (400 ft antenna bases), Marconi radio gear & memorabilia, Radio throughout time from the basics to covering the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, Tape recording, gramophones and other content recording media, Television, Electricity, hands-on electricity, high-voltage & radio experiments, all Signal Labs history and a nice collection of US & German WWII war vehicles. Also, the outside sites of the TIROS satellites huge reception antenna, Earth-Moon-Earth distance measuring antennas and some 1960s really massive computer gear.

The Museum is in constant search of new sponsors and hopes to interest some major brand-name computer co. such as Apple, IBM, Dell, etc. to help it fund its facilities.

The photo collection (view in "Slide Show" mode) include 71 shots including 3 in full 5 megapixel mode to zoom & read the fine print text.

It's an ideal place to bring kids interested in science/technology and could easily trigger a passion for future scientific careers which the US sorely needs.

Many Thanks! to Steve Goulart and David Sica for their time to give me the full VIP tour of the facilities.

I hope you enjoy the photo tour,

http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk23 ... seum%20NJ/

the Museum's official site:
http://www.infoage.org

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[USSEnterprise]

those 12 "wooden barracks" were actually 16 masonry building, with a total interior space near 10 000 square meters