Sparks what´s going on ?

On February 1'st, 1999, radio-telegraph service on board ships was ended. The radio officers were no longer needed and left the ships, and the majority of coast-stations stopped their services. The grand era of the transmission of messages by Morse code had lasted almost 100 years .

Former German ship's radio officer Sylvester Föcking (DH4PB) distributed more than 700 copies of his CD-album "Radio Telegraphy Worldwide News." In many letters the OM's confessed that they listened to the recordings with "tears in their eyes," and raved about the tremendous periods of this profession.

To prevent oblivion of a total profession, he - together with ex-colleagues Rolf Marschner (DL9CM) and (Dutchman) Hans Polak (NL 9694 and ex-PCH) collected funny, sad and unbelievable stories of colleagues from all over the world to publish them - after 11/2 years - in a book, titled:

"Sparks what's going on?"

In 300 pages, A5 format, 64 colleagues from 20 nations tell more than one hundred, partly illustrated, stories in the English language.

For examples, there is the partly illustrated story of

- Disaster Hinnerk,

- Legendary Tugboat Captain Kalkman,

- Radio officer with a Service Bicycle,

- Football on Ice,

- Stool Samples in Jam Pots,

- Parrot Smuggle,

- Drive by Taxi to the "Consulate,

- " The good old Goldfranc,

- A Canary Saved from Distress,

- About the "Schlackertaste (Vibroplex-Morse-key),

- and many dramatic and funny stories of life at sea and at the coastal stations.

There is something for everybody - perhaps self-experienced - and for EUR 13.00 (+ postage and packing) really affordable.

The publishing of this book is on a non-profit basis, and the authors willingly declined the author's fee. However, we will make a gift: This gift may be done to preserve the memory of sea-wireless radio, i.e. to a museum or another means of preservation concerning radio communication at sea, or radio officer's lives.

The book will be issued on the 50'th anniversary of the "Seefunkkameradschaft BREMEN" (R/O comradeship), on August 30th, 2003.

Information: www.seefunker.de

E-mail: foecking@main-rheiner.de