Douglas Byrne G3KPO

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The pictures above where taken at Puckpool Nr Ryde Isle Of Wight when the wireless museum was open to the public however it is now closed

By County Press Reporter - Thursday, April 5, 2007
PLANS are under way to form a foundation at Oxford University in the name of wireless enthusiast Douglas Byrne, who died last week, aged 89.
Friends of Mr Byrne, who lived at Highfield House Nursing Home, Ryde, hope to form the Douglas Byrne Marconi Foundation, which will support Oxford University students researching wireless communications and technology. Mr Byrne was an only child, born and raised near Peterborough, Lincolnshire, and his interest in radio began at an early age. He started accumulating all forms of wireless technology and paperwork and throughout his life amassed an immense collection. During the Second World War Mr Byrne, who never married, taught members of the RAF to use wireless technology and after six years moved on to work for Sun Life of Canada Insurance. He had an evening job giving radio instruction at a technical college. In the early 1970s, Mr Byrne started a wireless museum in Lincolnshire but, when he retired, he moved his entire collection to the Island. He initially lived at Alverstone Manor Hotel, Shanklin, but later moved to a house in Ryde and then to a 22-room mansion on Westhill Road, Ryde, with its distinctive H-shaped aerial on top. He established a wireless museum at Arreton Manor and at Puckpool Park, Ryde, but when new owners bought Arreton Manor he moved out and transferred as much of his massive collection as possible into the two cottages at Puckpool Park, Ryde. Initially called the National Wireless Museum, it later became a registered charity called the Wireless Preservation Society with a board of trustees. The museum closed around two years ago. Around eight years ago, Mr Byrne moved to a bunaglow in Binstead and his mansion was sold at auction. The money raised paid for an archivist to work at Oxford University for three years, collating the Marconi collection from 2004. The remaining funds are earmarked for the Douglas Byrne Marconi Foundation. In addition to his radio hobby Mr Byrne, whose radio ham call-sign was G3KPO, also attended St James’s Church, Ryde, and enjoyed travelling abroad to meet other radio enthusiasts.

Antenna's VHF Field Day Antenna 64

SWL Mike - G3HXR - SWL - G3KPO - G3TGO - G3TZJ

Douglas Byrne (Standing up with white shirt) Boatload of Hams River Nene Alwalton G2NJ - G3KPO - SWL- G2BYI - G3TDW

Field Day Prep Field Day Preparation PDARS Alwalton

SWL G8ALS G3KPO SWL G3RED

Douglas in Interview G6REH/T Camera - G3KPO Mic - G3MMS + XYL

Douglas In Front Peterborough Technical College

Demo of Halicrafters Equipment

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Antenna's VHF Field Day Antenna 64

SWL Mike - G3HXR - SWL - G3KPO - G3TGO - G3TZJ

News 6 December 2004

Marconi Corporation plc and The University of Oxford today announce an agreement to transfer the historic Marconi Collection to The Bodleian Library and The Museum of the History of Science, both part of the University of Oxford. Marconi has agreed to gift the Collection to the University where it will have a safe and secure future, preserving the integrity of this unique collection. Through the generosity of the Wireless Preservation Society a full time archivist will be appointed to catalogue the Collection over the next three years.

Dating from 1895, this is an unrivalled collection of Marconi artefacts, apparatus and printed material, much of which formed the basis of early wireless communication. This includes: The early patents, such as the famous “7777” patent which, in 1900, solved the problem of multi-station operation without mutual interference;

Apparatus used in the first transatlantic wireless transmission of 1901;
A wealth of historical documents including telegrams sent during the Titanic disaster of 1912; whose subsequent Board of Enquiry endorsed the recommendations of Guglielmo Marconi, fundamentally improving safety at sea and saving countless lives, and
Items relating to the birth of broadcasting, such as the microphone used by the legendary Australian diva, Dame Nellie Melba to broadcast the world's first live recital in 1920.

The Museum of the History of Science will put on permanent public display some of the over 250 artefacts from the Collection. In an adjacent building The Bodleian Library will house the thousands of papers, letters and other printed material going back to 1895, making them available for viewing and research access. The BAFTA award-winning website marconicalling.com , based on the Marconi Collection, is also to be transferred to the University. Oxford University have commenced planning for a major exhibition of items from the Collection in the Spring of 2006.

It is expected that Oxford University will work together with the Essex Record Office and the Museums Service in Chelmsford such that a representative set of historic items from the Collection are on display at an appropriate location in the town, the original home of the Marconi Company from 1898 and the acknowledged “Birthplace of Radio”.

Mike Parton, Chief Executive of Marconi, said; ”We have been concerned to find a secure and lasting home for this precious and historic collection, which is of world importance. The Collection will be maintained as a single entity offering the best possible access for serious academic researchers and students. The many visitors to Oxford will have the chance to see some of the original instruments used by the ‘Father of Radio’, Guglielmo Marconi.”

Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford said: “The gift of the Marconi Collection is a significant acquisition for Oxford which will enhance the University’s standing as a major cultural and scientific repository. This important archive will join extensive collections of scientific books and archives at the Bodleian Library and an unrivalled collection of historic scientific instruments at the Museum of the History of Science, attracting researchers and interested members of the public from around the world.”

Rod Burman, Chairman of the Trustees of The Wireless Preservation Society said: “The Society is delighted to be in a position to support the Bodleian Library in its work to archive the very important Marconi papers that are being generously donated by the Marconi Corporation, thereby ensuring the preservation and accessibility of the Collection for future generations.”

Gordon Bussey, FRHist.S, Wireless Historian and Author commented: "This is a marvellous achievement. It is most fitting that the world's most important collection in the history of wireless communications should be gifted for the nation to one of Britain's most prestigious universities, where it will be conserved and made available for research."

For more information contact David Beck (Marconi) on 020 7306 1490, email: david.beck@marconi.com, or the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280531, email: press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Further editorial and media resources, including an 1874 - 1937 image gallery with captions, copy and extensive background information is available at: www.marconi.com/MarconiCollection

About the Marconi Collection
The Marconi Collection also contains extensive historical material relating to the history of The General Electric Company (GEC), from 1880, including The Hugo Hirst Collection, Hirst Research Centre Archive, and archive materials from English Electric, AEI, British Thomson-Houston, and Metropolitan Vickers.
During 2003 Marconi placed with the Museum of the History of Science its historic “Elliott Collection and Archive” of scientific instruments and printed materials from the former Elliott Brothers company. Earlier this year Marconi also placed with the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford its Historic Photograph Collection of 13,500+ prints and negatives including computer database index and 3,500+ glass slides. About www.marconicalling.com marconicalling.com was launched in May 2001, a century after the first transatlantic transmission by Guglielmo Marconi. Dedicated to his Life, Science and Achievements, and based on the historic Marconi Collection, it features 10,000 pages covering 500+ pieces of ephemera, 426 photographs, 33 sound clips and 10 film clips, together with four Milestone exhibitions (Titanic Messages, Doctor Crippen, Marconi's Miracle and Broadcasting), examples of how wireless opened up a new world, made the impossible possible and ushered in the age of mass communications. It caters for all ages and interests including students, historians, researchers and wireless enthusiasts and has welcomed well over a million visitors since it was launched. It won the Factual Category at the 2001 Interactive Entertainment Awards of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in October 2001. Marconi Corporation plc is a global telecommunications equipment, services and solutions company. The company's core business is the provision of innovative and reliable optical networks, broadband routing and switching and broadband access technologies and services. The company's customer base includes many of the world's largest telecommunications operators. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MONI and listed on NASDAQ under the symbol MRCIY. Additional information about Marconi Corporation can be found at www.marconi.com

About The University of Oxford As the oldest English-speaking University in the world, the University of Oxford can lay claim to nine centuries of continuous existence. With a total student population of over 17,000 and over 3,000 academic staff Oxford is world-renowned for the quality of its teaching and academic research. Additional information about the University of Oxford can be found at: www.ox.ac.uk  About The Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library is the principal research library of the University of Oxford. Together with its dependent libraries the Bodleian holds over seven million volumes on shelving measuring more than 180 kilometres. In England it is second only in size to the British library, and has been a legal deposit library for nearly 400 years and as such can claim a copy of every book and periodical published in the UK and Ireland. The Bodleian’s “John Johnson Collection” already holds a small but significant collection of Marconi-related materials given by the Marconi Company in 1936. Additional information about the Bodleian Library can be found at www.bodley.ox.ac.uk  About The Museum of the History of Science

The Museum of the History of Science houses an unrivalled collection of early scientific instruments in the world's oldest purpose-designed museum building. Following a comprehensive Lottery-funded redevelopment, it has a new gallery for special exhibitions and an active programme of events serving the growing public interest in the history of science. Additional information aboutthe Museum of the History of Science can be found at: www.mhs.ox.ac.uk  About The Wireless Preservation Society The Wireless Preservation Society was founded some thirty years ago by Mr. Douglas Byrne (G3KPO) with the aim of collecting, restoring and preserving radio, television and sound reproducing equipment for educational, historical and cultural purposes. Mr. Byrne is a keen follower of Guglielmo Marconi and annually celebrates International Marconi Day with the operation of a “special event” amateur radio station. Consequently, Mr. Byrne is delighted that the Society’s funds are being used to assist in the display and safe keeping of the very important Marconi Collection