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Thursday 27th March 2025 – Club Meeting – Speaker, Professor Nigel Linge, with his presentation ‘Our Wireless World’.
Nigel began by telling this was his 6th visit to Knutsford Rex and he expressed delight in attending once again. He asked his audience to all name an example of the use of ‘Wireless’ and the members responded with a myriad of situations such as Radio, WiFi, Ambulances, Telephones, etc.etc.. He went on to explain that wireless is connected with every part of our daily lives in so many ways. He outlined the concept of a wide spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation covering many wavelengths each with their own useful function in this modern wireless world. Giving a brief outline of the history, the Scottish Physicist, James Clerk Maxwell, first suggested a range of varying wavelengths made up this Electromagnetic spectrum, part of which was the visible light we see in various colours. Eventually the German Physicist, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, proved the theories to be true.
However it was the Italian entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi who set out to put these potential technologies to commercial use with the help of encouragement and financial incentives from the UK Government. He created the environments for using data transmission by telegraph and eventually promoted the use of both Amplitude and Frequency Modulation to carry voice communications wirelessly. As the use of wireless communications expanded, the value of the cable networks diminished leading to their eventual amalgamation to the ‘Cable & Wireless Company’ in 1934.
In real terms for people, this created an instant News and Entertainment medium capable of being received in homes from 1922 onwards with this broadening out to included black and white television pictures from 1936.
In other spheres, Wireless transmissions were used for Trans-Atlantic telephone calls for those who could afford the £15 cost for 3 minutes! At the end of WW2 things developed very quickly bringing the science developed during the war to bear fruit in the commercial sector and we saw telephones in cars and private radio transmissions to taxis as well as the Emergency Services.
Nigel described the technologies of ‘Frequency Hopping’ and ‘Spread Spectrum’ which have become widely used in Bluetooth and Wifi applications. Apparently Radio transmission, as we now know it, knows no bounds and this is currently being proved by the 1977 launched spacecraft ‘Voyager 1 which is still in contact range at 14 billion miles away from Earth.
Nigel described al, the features of modern life where radio transmission was utilised for the common good and highlighted the various forms of transmission and receive capabilities of the modern Smartphone. Nigel then answered a multitude of interesting questions from the members.
Thursday 20th March 2025 Walk – Little Leigh
The Walking Section ventured to Little Leigh near Northwich. In fabulous weather the route took the group along the Weaver towpath passing Dutton Locks and then across the Dutton Horse Bridge which is the World’s oldest glulam bridge made from laminated wooden planks. Crossing rural farmland they met the Trent & Mersey canal towpath for a slow amble back to the Leigh Arms Inn. An excellent lunch was partaken to send the members home having experienced a memorable day.
Thursday 13th March 2025- Club Meeting – Speaker John Horsley who gave a talk “Three Questions”.
John is a member of the Over Peover Probus Club and the Knutsford Camera Club. He is also a man with a life-long interest in cameras and photography that started when he was in his early teens and helped his uncle, who had a camera and photography shop in Hartlepool. His talk was not however about his own life but about the German camera company Leica and how they developed the first successful 35 mm roll film camera in prewar Germany.
The “Three Questions” related to how the Leica camera came about, how the company became pre-eminent in the field, and how that position was lost to the camera companies of Japan. The roll film 35mm camera came about as an act of faith and a major investment by the Leica company during the very difficult financial times of the 1930’s in Germany. They rose to dominate the field due to technical excellence and good marketing but their fall was largely a result of the second world war, the of the loss of their patents and fragmentation of the company in the partition of post war Germany. John explained how this series of events opened the market to a range of companies which were able to copy the Leica products.
John’s audio-visual presentation was most professional bringing together pictures of the cameras as they developed, film clips with audio and a series of famous, instantly recognisable photographs that had all been taken on Lecia cameras. John also brought a selection of his own collection of old and new cameras that he passed amongst the audience as practical illustrations of how the 35 mm camera has developed from the early roll film viewfinder cameras, through to the single lens reflex and on to the digital cameras of today.
Thursday 6th March 2025 – Walk – Swettenham/Brereton
The Rex Probus Club Walking Group met on a fantastic morning ideal for walking. They started from the Swettenham Arms and descended into the Dane Valley Way and then on past Davenport Hall to the Brereton Heath Nature Reserve. At the end of their journey they dropped in to the Egerton Arms in Chelford for an excellent lunch.
Tuesday 4th March 2025 – Social – Afternoon Tea
Members and partners of Rex Probus attended a Afternoon Tea Party at the Knutsford Golf Club. There was an excellent turnout who enjoyed a comprehensive Tea Party with Prosecco, Sandwiches, Scones with Cream and Jam, and Cakes. This regular event is becoming very popular with our members and thanks to Richard Fenby for organising in his usual professional manner.