Museum Store Sunday at Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum

Welcome to Chatham on Cape Cod!   Today is Museum Store Sunday, with 20% off selected logo merchandise!  Stop by in person to browse our Museum Store.  Find something unique for your Christmas giving, or browse our online store any time at https://chathammarconi.square.site .

   Advance reservation tour times today are 1:00 and 2:30 PM.  If you don't have reservations but would like to visit anyway, please call ahead to make sure we can accommodate you: 508-945-8889.  For more information, fees, and ticketing see our website's Plan Your Visit page:  https://www.chathammarconi.org/planyourvisit . 

   Your tour starts in the Wireless History Gallery with Guglielmo Marconi's life and legacy.  Then explore the era of Chatham Radio, when Radio Corporation of America's dominant 20th Century Ship-to-Shore station was the "largest US coastal station in the marine service".  Learn of the station's WWII years as the US Navy's secret "Station C" which intercepted Enigma-encrypted U-Boat messages.  Working Enigma cipher machine simulators allow you to try your own hand at encryption.  This year, we proudly celebrate the second of three consecutive centennial events, each historically important to both Chatham and America:  Following World War I, the newly-formed Radio Corporation of America (RCA) acquired the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, including its unfinished installations at Chatham and Marion, Massachusetts.  RCA installed state-of-the-art equipment manufactured by U.S. industrial giant General Electric to create Chatham Port wireless station WSO.  On May 17, 1920, RCA inaugurated service between Chatham Port and Norway, finally realizing Marconi's dream of sustainable trans-Atlantic communication.  Come explore our newest exhibit, "Chatham on the Air."

   After an hour and a quarter (1:15), you will move to the Wireless Today Gallery which chronicles the digital revolution shaping our lives today when wireless is everywhere.  Learn to how ships at sea off Cape Cod are located in real time and how Great White sharks are tracked.  Peer inside a smart phone, count the many wireless devices that surround you, or operate a drone flight simulator.  The museum features "Radio to the Rescue" this season.  Radio communication ended the isolation of mariners at sea.  The valuable lessons learned from early - and even more recent - sea rescues are explored in new exhibits.  Learn how radio and satellite technologies keep people safe today, and help save countless lives by aiding the Coast Guard in maritime rescues.

   After your approximately two hour museum visit is over, or at any other time during daylight hours, walk the Antenna Field Trail.  The trail is a winding path through the flora and fauna of Cape Cod with interpretive signs identifying and describing the station's various radio antennas.