Transatlantic signal from Pouch Cove sets record

A group of amateur radio enthusiasts set a new record on Monday when they sent a radio signal across the Atlantic ocean from Newfoundland to Europe.

Roger Sturtevant, part of the group from Nova Scotia, said they wanted to use new technology to replicate, in reverse, Guglielmo Marconi's 1901 transatlantic signal.

He said the group was successful, and managed to send a two-meter (144 MHz) radio signal from Pouch Cove to the U.K., setting a record and surprising many amateur radio enthusiasts.

"In our hobby, this is really reaching for the limits — most people think it could not be done," Sturtevant told the St. John's Morning Show.

"Theoretically, perhaps it could. We'd have to have exactly the right conditions at the right time."

Sturtevant said the group was thrilled when their message was heard across the Atlantic Ocean, and they weren't the only ones celebrating.

"[There were] lots of high fives, and immediately in Europe there were chat pages where amateurs were all looking and they're watching what everyone's trying to do. Many, many operators tried to work our station and all of a sudden the information was just spreading like wildfire amongst radio operators, and by yesterday it basically had gotten around the globe," he said.

Sturtevant said the group hopes to win the Irish Radio Transmitter Society's Brendan Plate, one of three coveted Brendan Awards, for their achievement.