The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast November 7, 1990

     Just prior to World War I, many radio operators noticed that for several hours each night the powerful German Telefunken station WSL in Sayville, Long Island, did not send Morse code.  Instead, they heard only a continuous "buzz" coming from the station.  This aroused the curiosity of commercial and amateur radio operators.
     Radio amateur Charles Apgar, 2MN, of Westfield, New Jersey, was not only curious, he was suspicious.  Apgar had a very advanced sensitive Armstrong regenerative receiver that he modified to make off-the-air recordings on a cylinder recorder.
     The U. S. Secret Service was conducting surveillance of WSL activities and requested the assistance of Radio Inspector L. R. Krumm of the New York office.  Inspector Krumm knew of Apgar's ability in recording signals and requested his help.
     Suspecting that WSL was transmitting secret intelligence at very high speed, Apgar further modified his audio recorder to greatly reduce the speed on playback.  As he suspected, the "buzz" was actually secret Morse code sent at very high speed.
     For several hours each night, Apgar made recordings of WSL and turned them over to the Secret Service each morning for checking.  Within three days, they obtained enough evidence and on July 6, 1915, the government seized the station and placed it under the control of the Navy.
     At the spy trial, WSL officials were charged with sending illegal secret messages about allied and neutral shipping.  It was also believed that the German submarines obtained secret information that led to the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania.
     After the government seized the station, sinking by U-boats greatly decreased and the station officials Dr. Karl Frank and Dr. Zennic were convicted and interned in Atlanta, Georgia.
     On July 8, 1915, the story about radio amateur Charles Apgar, 2MN, was released to the press and was hailed as "the most valuable service ever rendered by a radio operator to this country."

November 7, 1990

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

Page updated January 22, 2004  page created June 11, 2001