Even as Guglielmo Marconi was busy making headlines with his early experiments in radiotelegraphy, a Brazilian priest named Father Roberto Landell de Moura held fast to his belief in the power of radiotelephony, the wireless transmission of the human voice. The priest's successful work advanced wireless communications at the turn of the 20th century.
On the 25th of July, hams in his native Brazil celebrated his legacy with the inauguration of the Landell de Moura Memorial and its permanent on-site amateur radio station. The radio shack installation was the work of many members of the Sao Paulo chapter of the Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emissão, Brazil's amateur radio society, It is located inside a carefully curated memorial conceived and maintained by the priest's great-grandnephew, Sylvio Landell de Moura, It contains an array of educational displays of his inventions, patents and other scientific accomplishments. The memorial's ham radio curator is Edson, PY2FWM, a member of LABRE-Sao Paulo.
On inauguration day, the priest's unwavering vision of radio telephony and all its possibilities was alive and evident: The hams' QSOs included a 40-metre contact with Father Casimiro, PY5ZHP in Curitiba, southern Brazil; and a chat with Peter, KP2US, the donor of the station's equipment, who was contacted in Florida, USA, using DMR.
