TAT-1
TAT-1 (Transatlantic No. 1) was the first submarine
History
The first
The developments that made TAT-1 possible were coaxial cable, polyethylene insulation (replacing gutta-percha), very reliable vacuum tubes for the submerged repeaters and a general improvement in carrier equipment. Transistors were not used, being a recent invention of unknown longevity.
The agreement to make the connection was announced by the Postmaster General on December 1, 1953. The project was a joint one between the General Post Office of the UK, the American Telephone and Telegraph company, and the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. The share split in the scheme was 40% British, 50% American, and 10% Canadian. The total cost was about £120 million.
There were to be two main cables, one for each direction of transmission. Each cable was produced and laid in three sections, two shallow-water armored sections, and one continuous central section 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) long. The electronic repeaters were designed by the
The cables were laid over the summers of 1955 and 1956, with the majority of the work done by the
Opened on September 25, 1956, TAT-1 carried 588 London-US calls and 119 London-Canada calls in the first 24 hours of public service.
The original 36 channels were 4 kHz. The increase to 48 channels was accomplished by narrowing the bandwidth to 3 kHz. Later, an additional three channels were added by use of C Carrier equipment. Time-assignment speech interpolation (TASI) was implemented on the TAT-1 cable in June 1960 and effectively increased the cable's capacity from 37 (out of 51 available channels) to 72 speech circuits.[7]
TAT-1 carried the
In May 1957, TAT-1 was used to transmit a concert by the singer and civil rights activist,
After the success of TAT-1, a number of other TAT cables were laid and TAT-1 was retired in 1978.
The TAT-1 was named an
See also
References
- ^ a b "Specimen of the first transatlantic telephone cable, 1956". The Science Museum. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ Bill Burns. "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications". Atlantic-Cable.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ a b Bill Ray (14 October 2013). "TAT-1: Call the cable guy, all I see is a beautiful beach". The Register. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ a b "First transatlantic telegraph cable completed". History.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "Global Telephone Calls For All". www.blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ Mattingley, F. (January 1957). "Manufacture of Submarine Cable at Ocean Works, Erith". The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal. 49 (4): 308.
- ^ "Overall Characteristics of a TASI System" (PDF). September 19, 1961. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 14, 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^ Presenters: Aleks Krotoski (5 January 2016). "Hidden Histories of the Information Age: TAT-1". Hidden Histories of the Information Age. 11:45 minutes in. BBC Radio 4.
- ^ "Washington Moscow Hotline". cryptomuseum.com. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ^ "Tat-1, Hidden Histories of the Information Age - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ^ "Let Robeson Sing". www2.warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ^ "Paul Robeson, Treorchy Male Voice Choir – Transatlantic Exchange". Discogs. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Robeson sings to miners- by cable". Western Mail: 2. 5 October 1957. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Milestones:The First Submarine Transatlantic Telephone Cable System (TAT-1), 1956". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
External links
- TAT-1 Opening Ceremony Includes transcript of the official first telephone call over the cable.
- Reminiscences of TAT-1 by Jeremiah Hayes (in .pdf format)
- 50th Anniversary of laying TAT-1 BBC News
- 50th Anniversary of laying TAT-1 Scotsman
- http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/04/17/gallery-an-illustrat.html