Marconi short-wave beam transmitter, 1927

The merits of short-wave radio communication only emerged during the 1920s and it was a courageous decision by the Marconi company to embrace the new technology rather than stay with well-understood long-wave equipment. This transmitter was installed at the Post Office radio station at Dorchester in 1927 and remained in service until 1969. It was used for point-to-point service to Egypt and later for transmissions to South America and the Far East. Messages were sent in Morse at between 20 and 50 words per minute.