Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Northeast Blackout of November 9, 1965. During the afternoon rush hour, the power went out in most of New York City, as well as parts of the states of New York and New Jersey, New England, and Ontario.
Interestingly, the blackout was documented in part by an aircheck tape from WABC
in New York. In the minutes before the blackout, the lights began to dim, but the frequency dropped from the normal 60 cycles per second to close to 50 cycles. Since the station’s turntables used synchronous motors, the music slowed down noticeably. The DJ even quipped that one recording sounded like it was in the key of R. When the power went out, most FM and TV stations went off the air until the power was restored. Most of the City was back on line around midnight, with power fully restored by six the next morning.
The New York Times managed to put out a ten-page edition, using the presses of the Newark Evening News. Most telephone exchanges remained in service, thanks to battery backups and emergency generators. Nonetheless, Amateur Radio operators reported for duty, and were on the scene a civil defense headquarters and hospitals, as well as their own homes and vehicles. The activities of hams throughout the region were reported in QST in February 1966. Nets on 2 meters and 10 meters were in operation in the New York metropolitan area as well as other areas. HF traffic nets remained in operation continuously, but there was little additional traffic due to most phones remaining operational.
Massachusetts Governor John Volpe was reported a saying, “I understand that the performance of the radio amateurs on Cape Cod and the Islands during the recent blackout indicate you men lived up to the finest in the tradition of the radio amateurs.”
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