Peter Terence Thomas.

OK I admit it. This was an April Fools wind up. The clues are all there if you look for them! It was developed from and original idea by Wayne, UDK, and we collaborated to make a good story from a few paragraphs. Several regular members of the GB3BC 15:00 and 22:00 nets are in there if you look and there are references to various discussions etc. There are some snippets of truth, marked in green. Let me take you through it and explain...

Peter Terence Thomas Wayne had originally called him William Ptt, but I thought it too obvious, was born near Penderwen (now Penderyn), at the southern end of the Brecon Beacons, Wales in early April, 1876.

His father, Dafydd Francis, and mother, Janice Wilma, made a living hill-farming and tending their flock of sheep. They were so poor that Peter had to go to school without any socks to keep his feet warm as the family could ill afford such luxuries. Reference to Frank, FJW, and his lack of socks one morning!

Peter attended the local village school until he was 11, and even at such an early age he showed considerable scientific prowess. His scrapbook on "The Ticks and Fleas of Sheep" contains over 170 specimens and can be seen on display in the Framley Museum's Farming section. He was an accomplished amateur engineer as well and was called on by most of the villagers whenever something required repair. Framley Museum is an on-line spoof, grown from the Framley Examiner, a spoof news paper, also on-line and yes there is a Farming section in the Museum! (but I don't think the book is there).

During the Great English Wool Famine of 1885 was there? Irish potato famine (1845) yes but wool? Peter's parents made their fortune trading wool across the border. With their new found wealth they sent Peter, now with plenty of socks, another nod to Frank, after he'd visited Swansea Rally! to the prestigious Chigley College in Epping where his engineering and scientific endeavours flourished. Isn't Chigley near Trumpton? I think you'll find that Chigwell is the school!

In 1898 Peter spent the summer with relatives at the family pub the "Leonard of Blaina" in Russell Street, Edgeware. Hi Len, RSE. Peter and his cousin, Michael, were idly flicking crown tops into an ashtray in the centre of the table. Michael's father, Joseph Assheton Fincher (a London shopkeeper), was watching the boys play and later developed the game and patented it as Tiddly-Winks in 1890 Crown bottle tops weren't invented until 1892 but the Tiddly - Winks date and inventor are correct.

In 1890 Peter left Chigley and moved to a secret location where he was instrumental in the building and testing of Britain's second steam powered submarine (based on the Narcis Monturiol design of 1867 with improvements by Reverend George William Garrett)Both the mentioned persons did indeed design steam powered submarines. Anyone remember the discussions about the radio controlled boats and comments about a coal powered submarine? Rev. G W Garrett patented a steam powered submarine "The Resurgam". She was built in 1879 by Cochran & Co in Birkenhead, at the time she cost £1500. She now sits in the water just off Rhyll where she sank on February 25th 1880. He suggested the use of "split metal discs, rather like large washers" instead of leather to seal the piston of the steam engine, an idea that lives on today in the form of piston rings John, AQI, making model aero engine piston rings from washers, although his main work was investigating the use of lambs wool as a lagging and fireproofing material for the steam engine and boiler. Unfortunately a fire broke out on the vessel on March 31 1892, when the fire box failed and, as Peter was living aboard the submarine at the time, he lost most of his works and possessions, including a 10 volume treatise on "The Diseases and Treatment of Sheep", in the conflagration. This was the end of British submarine experimentation until the ordering of 5 Holland class submarines in 1900. Holland sub info thrown in for realism.

With the catastrophic failure of his submarine experiments, Peter teamed up with a school friend from Chigley, Barnard Moncrief, to investigate the use of a thin metal coating to the internal envelope material of hot air balloons to reduce the risk of fire. They formed a company, Peter-Barnard Balloons, to carry out this work. Unfortunately, they were unable to secure the required venture capital and P-B Balloons failed to take off A balloon with a metal lining? Pb balloons? Oh well that went down like a lead (Pb) balloon!

Disillusioned by his losses and failures Peter turned toward his other passion for experimentation, radio. He moved to London to take up a research post and, in 1896, he teamed up with Guglielmo Marconi who had arrived to demonstrate radio telegraphy. Peter designed the apparatus Marconi used in his demonstrations, he is acknowledged for his invention of the yellow spark that could easily be seen by the audience unlike the standard blue one Marconi had used previously, which had required the demonstrations to be held in darkness inventing a coloured spark? whatever next!

Early in 1906 Peter, seeing that the future of radio was in voice transmission, tried to convince Marconi that radio telephony was the way to go, but Marconi had invested too much in Telegraph Keys and was trying to monopolise the market, so Peter, who had been ridiculed by Marconi for his inability to grasp Morse Code, left Marconi to his own devices and teamed up with Canadian Reginald Aubrey Fessenden to develop radio telephony. Peter's work on the transmit/receive switch enabled Fessenden to make his historic broadcasts on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve that same year.

The switch was developed over the next 10 years. Starting out as a simple high voltage, high current change over switch and progressing through various designs and types to a sprung type that required the operator to hold it pressed while talking. just part of the story folks!

While he mostly worked on his own inventions, Peter also assisted many others in the field with their own experiments. In 1907 he teamed up with 3 Canadian brothers Mark, Michael & Maximilian Mattesson, to investigate the benefits of moving magnets over moving coils in microphones. The brothers went on to develop the MMM. Mattessons Moving Magnet Microphone. mmM Mattessons? lovely meat products (and a load of pork pies, just like this article!) As for a moving magnet microphone the magnet would have been so heavy that you would need to shout very loudly to get any movement, theoretically possible now with the high strength magnets but probably impracticable.

1909 saw Peter back in the lab, this time with the Germaniac Johann Morze Guess Who? spelling mistake intentional! who intended placing miniature thermionic valve amplifier circuitry within the microphone body. miniature valves? the full sized things were only invented a few years previously with improvements in 1908, miniature ones are a long way away and not that small when they arrived! This device later became the basis of the "Morze Geräusch-Verbesserung Mikrophon" or Noise Improvement Microphone. John, AQI's, recent development of a noise improvement on his mic, yes the noise got better! The working model was finally completed when Karre Braumeister stepped in to assist as Johann had found what he thought of as an insurmountable problem. Karre Braumeister? Karre = cart = wain (Wayne), Braumeister = Brewing master. Yup Wayne Brewer, UDK, finally sorted that noisey microphone.

In 1910 Peter married Opal Fasildory, an Italian girl No, she's an anagram of "April Fools Day", he had met while working with Marconi and kept in contact with. They married in a small chapel that stood on a hill overlooking Pontypridd. GB3BC/GB3MG. After the ceremony there was a demonstration of radio telephony utilising Peter's latest development of the change over switch where, when you stopped speaking, you simply stopped pushing the button and the radio apparatus reverted to receiving. The demonstration was a success and the Mike Era Mike, ERA, the repeater keeper was born no, that's not what I ment, he's not that old! It is not recorded if the couple had any children, but they did have a dog, by all accounts he was a playful cur a nod to, the always happy, Steve, CUR.

In 1912 Peter teamed up with Dutch inventor Alain Du Veek who was trying to make a machine to produce a new kind of sock. Peter had met Alain whilst on holiday in Amsterdam. Peter was very helpful as he saw a need for inexpensive but good quality socks, remembering the days of his cold feet as a child. Du Veeks' mother had designed a sock that kept the foot warm whilst giving ample ventilation so the foot would not perspire, thus keeping feet comfortable and boots non odorous. The Dutch sock makers welcomed the new "soK Het maCen apparaat" (sock making device) and were buying them as fast as they could be produced. Alan, KHC, and his perspiring tootsies. During the Great Storm of Friday January 3, 1913 (day/date is correct) (1 pm - 3.15 pm) Whoever heard of a 'Great Storm' lasting just 2 ¼ hours? a lightning strike caused one of the sock making machines to malfunction, and a full reel of wool was woven into a single, toeless, sock. When the sock was outside drying, it was noticed that any wind would catch it and the direction and intensity gauged. It was subsequently attached to the top of the washing line and referred to as "De Wind op Sok" or "The Wind Up Sock", now known as the Wind Sock. Wind-up as in twist, it's a wind up 'innit? Peter returned to Wales from Holland just before the outbreak of World War 1 a rich man.

With the many patents taken out and trade marks registered for his transmit/receive switches Peter granted manufacturing licences and received royalties from the production of them. Added to that regular income was his payment from Alain Du Veek for his part in the sock making machine. In 1920, aged 44, Peter retired early to a gentleman's life, enjoying regular walks around his new home in Newport. Later that year a payment from Johann Morze for Peter's help on the prototype of the Geräusch-Verbesserung Mikrophon was forthcoming. Sorry John, but your subs were late!

Peter died on April 8, 1932, just a week after his 56th birthday. Hmmm a little math, 7 days in a week from 8 days gone from April leaves 1, so April 1st then!

His memory lives on to this day as the transmit/receive switches are still called "PTT" in his honour. Despite the widespread use of his inventions and ideas he has sunk into obscurity and not even made it into the 100 Welsh Heroes list. not to worry as he never really existed anyway, only in our imagination!

Note: This article was submitted by Señor Ussal Del Krappo via email UDK? that's Wayne, also look closely at the name! Usual erm Rubbish? yup that's right!.

Ussal is a Spanish stutent who is currently studying Historia De los Medios (Media History) at the Instituto de Universidad, campus Largo de Vuelta del Alambre that's University Institute, return, long wire campus, where does the return come from? well Wayne suggested "University Institute Cwmbach, Sandpiper campus" which didn't translate so I changed it - Cwmbach = come back = return and Sandpiper became a Long Wire. So it ended up as: University Institute, Cwmbach, long wire campus. He has found the club site useful in researching his thesis into the "Orígenes de la difusión de radio" (Origins of Radio Broadcasting) and wished to contribute to the Innovators Pages from his list of "people who started it all" as a way of thanking us for such an informative site. His English is quite good (better than my Spanish, anyway my Spannish extends to "mucho gracias penis" or "Ta very much, cock") and I didn't have to do too much to make it read "properly" in English. But it was difficult to read at times from laughing!

Thanks Ussal.

As PT Thomas was a fairly local man is anyone familiar with him? Well after the explanations maybe not Peter but if you're a regular listener to GB3BC then I'm sure that you will be familiar with some of the cast/exploits!

Thanks actually go to:

Wayne for the excellent idea, continued input and pointing out jokes that I missed (his humour is more twisted than mine is!).

The Goons and Terry Prachett for developing our senses of humour.

Altavista's Search Engine for fact finding and Bable Fish for translations to foreign languages and back again.

Denise for putting up with my giggling.

And finally, but most importantly, the users of GB3BC and their many and varied topics of conversation, without which this whole article would not have been possible.

Now what about next year?....

The development of the Microwave Combination Crystal Oven that warms crystals up in double quick time and lets you know when it's ready by going "Bing"???

Or: Ofcom approves advertising on Amateur Radio.... GlaxoSmithCline announce sponsorship of "The Medical Net"???

Or: Imperalisation of the Amateur Bands, a win for the anti metrication group.... 80 Meters will now be known as 87.4 Yards and 23 cm becomes 9 inches???

Or: "S" units will now be referred to as half kilos. This is because so many "Amateurs" are calling them "pounds" but the metrication board won't allow the imperial measurement to be used???

Answers to the usual address please.