The great fire of 1910 made it obvious to the Forest Service that there was a lack of an adequate communication system in the nation’s mountainous backcountry. The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula in Missoula, Montana had a special exhibit—Fire Call!—featuring the technologies used by the Forest Service over the years to communicate to and from the backcountry. One of these forms of backcountry communication involved wireless technologies.
According to the display:
“In 1930, Dwight Beatty developed a lightweight, portable radio that was ‘simple, rugged, and reliable’ convincing the Forest Service to fully invest in the radio. Innovation built on Beatty’s standard over the coming decades, spurring the transition from costly telephone lines to mobile radios.”
Beatty was a career Forest Service employee who developed an interest in radio. He became convinced that ultralight radio could be a valuable communication tool for ground personnel. In 1925 he began to educate himself a about radio. He developed his first working model in 1927. By 1930, Beatty had developed a prototype that met Forest Service requirements.
His radio project established the three primary types of radio communication used by the Forest service: (1) a portable radio which could be carried in a fire fighter’s backpack; (2) a semiportable radio that can be used by small crews; and (3) a temporary or field-based station.
The semiportable sets were successfully used during the 1930 fire season. According to Beatty:
“The records show a 94% or better message transmission reliability, working over distances up to 40 miles and across the roughest topography.”
More Museum Exhibit Photo Tours
Museums 101: Forest Fires in North Idaho (photo diary)
Lake Chelan Historical Society: Homestead Cabin (photo diary)
Museums 101: Sawmill (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Miller Lumber Sawmill (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Timber Industry (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: The Washington timber industry (photo diary)
Museums 101: The Hanford Reach Nuclear Facility (Photo Diary)
Museums 101: Farm Equipment at the Presby House Museum (Photo Diary)