Category Archives: Radio

Exploding Pagers and Radios

In the last few days, we’ve seen news reports of pagers and walkie-talkies owned by Hezbollah exploding in Lebanon. Here’s how we think this operation was carried out.

Apollo pager. X.com image.

The devices in question appear to be the Apollo AP-900 pager, and the ICOM IC-V82 transceiver. These models appear to be out of production, but they are still readily available. In fact, the links above are to them on eBay.

The Pagers

AP900 Pager. eBay image.

The first round of simultaneous explosions involved the pagers. When I first heard about it, I wondered whether it was some kind of software hack, which conceivably could cause an internal Lithium-Ion battery to explode. But it turns out that’s impossible, because the pager actually uses an alkaline AAA battery. (Since Lebanon’s power grid has collapsed, it makes sense to use alkaline batteries, rather than worrying about how to recharge the batteries.) Even if you caused a direct short in a AAA alkaline, not much would happen. Therefore, the pagers certainly had some type of explosive installed in them at “the factory.”

Hezbollah (wisely) abandoned use of things like cellular phones for communications with their people in the field. Since a cell phone relies upon transmitting a signal, even to receive, there’s always a possibility of it being monitored or tracked. Even receiving information via the Internet means that you leave a trace by connecting to some other computer. If your adversary is Mossad, it’s almost certain that they’ll eventually start tracking it or monitoring it. So it’s much smarter to use passive receivers to get your instructions.

This is a time-honored tradition. For example, the words “blessent mon cœur d’une langueur monotone” were famously transmitted by London radio to inform the French resistance that the D-Day invasion was about to begin. (The movie Red Dawn uses the phrase “John has a long moustache.” This is actually a translation of “Jean a de longues moustache,” another coded message (or dummy message) from the movie The Longest Day. I’ve still never figured out whether that phrase was really used on D-Day, or whether it was from the movie.)

And to this day, numbers stations transmit coded messages to be picked up by agents in the field. The general idea is the same: The agent needs nothing more than a passive receiver to get the message. They don’t have to transmit or make their presence known in any way. While the existence of the message (or, if the code is broken, the contents of the message) is known to the other side. But there’s no way of knowing who received the message.

The exploding pagers were just passive receivers. While that model seems to be out of production, you can buy similar ones new on Amazon. They are typically used, for example, in restaurants to let you know your table is ready. They can also be used in a hospital or factory to send messages to employees on the premises. The transmitter is kept locally. When a customer’s table is ready, or a nurse is needed, you simply push the right button on the transmitter, and the pager will sound off.

But there’s no way of knowing who has a pager. Unless you see or hear someone using it (or perhaps, if you are extremely close to them picking up spurious emissions), there’s no way of knowing who has one, or who got the message. You can receive messages anonymously.

Making it Explode

But if you get your hands on the passive receiver before the end user does, there is something you can do. You can make it blow up! All you need to do is add some explosive material, and a means of detonating it remotely. Installing that requires a bit of stealth. But once it’s in place, it’s easy to detonate.

The pager, whenever it’s turned on, listens to its frequency of about 450 MHz, listening for incoming messages. When a message is received, the internal circuitry turns it on and displays an alphanumeric message. It would be relatively easy to tap into this circuit. So, for example, when the incoming message is 011001011011001, instead of displaying it alphanumerically, it just sends a message to the explosives that it’s time to detonate.

If you are on the other side, it’s not particularly difficult to figure out what frequency the pager is listening for. If you capture one enemy pager, then you’ll know that information. Or if you just listen long enough, you’ll realize that there’s a new pager transmitter on the air. All you need to do is transmit on that frequency and send the detonate code. If you’re not sure, or if the pagers are using multiple frequencies, you simply repeat the message. You already know the detonate code, because you’re the one who put it there.

The Walkie-Talkies

IC-V82. eBay image.

Update: Icom Japan has issued a statement pointing out that this model has not been manufactured for ten years. It seems likely that the radios in question were counterfeit, even before the addition of the explosive.

The ICOM VHF transceivers are a slightly different issue, but it’s a quite easy matter to come up with the electronics to detonate one. The IC-V82 is a fairly popular amateur 2 meter transceiver, as shown by these reviews. The version sold to Amateurs in the U.S. cover 144-148 MHz, but other versions probably cover approximately 144-175 MHz.

The radio can be tuned to multiple frequencies, and your intelligence needs to figure out which one. Again, if you are unable to capture one, it’s an easy enough matter to simply listen and figure out what frequencies the enemy is using. When the time comes, you can transmit on all of them, and most radios will be tuned to one of those frequencies. If they hear the right tone or code, they will detonate.

This radio probably does have a Lithium-Ion battery. It’s not involved in the initial explosion, but once the small bomb inside goes off, the battery probably adds considerably to the destruction.

Even though this radio is also capable of transmitting, you are relying only upon the receiver in order to blow it up. You send a signal on whatever frequency the receiver is tuned to. That signal activates the detonator you installed. That circuit can be simplicity itself.

About 40 years ago, I built a circuit that could be used in that application. It never really caught on, but for a time, U.S. Amateur Radio operators were toying with the idea of a “long tone zero” protocol. If you needed help in an emergency, you could transmit a zero on your Touchtone pad, hold it down for a few seconds, and that tone would be used to turn on a receiver at someone’s house. It was a good idea, but it never caught on. But I built a decoder and hooked it to a receiver that I left on 24/7. If someone needed to waken me, all they had to do would be to hold down their zero button for a few seconds, and my radio would come to life, full blast.

In my case, that circuit was on a PC board measuring a few inches. But such a device could easily be constructed to be microscopic, and inserted into another component. It’s hooked up somewhere in the radio’s normal audio stages. When the correct tone is received, the circuit, instead of turning on the speaker, would detonate the explosive.

Sending the Detonate Signal

Once the Israelis know the frequencies, it’s an easy matter to transmit a signal to all affected devices. The distance from Tel Aviv to Beirut is only 208 km (130 miles). The distance from the Israel border to Beirut is even less. So it’s a fairly trivial matter to transmit a signal from an airplane on the walkie-talkie’s frequency (about 150 MHz) or the pager’s frequency (about 450 MHz). According to this line-of-sight calculator, an airplane at an elevation of 10,000 meters (30,000 feet) has a line of sight of 357 km. In other words, a VHF or UHF signal transmitted from such an airplane over Israel will be heard loud and clear in Beirut, or almost anyplace in Lebanon.

Getting the bombs inside these devices was quite a coup by Israeli intelligence. But they would be quite easy to disguise. The circuit could be small enough to squeeze inside a replica of a capacitor or resistor that was already there. But once it’s in place, the task of actually detonating it is trivially simple.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.

POTA/WWFF/U.S. Islands: Rock Island State Park, WI

Over the Fourth of July weekend, my son and I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment camping trip to Rock Island State Park, Wisconsin, which is at the northern tip of Door County and at the entrance of Green Bay. It’s a state park accessible only by boat. Unless you have your own boat, you take a car ferry from the mainland to Washington Island, drive across that Island, park your car, and then take a passenger ferry to Rock Island. No reservations are required for either ferry, and they add as many boats as necessary to accommodate the traffic. We bought a round trip on both ferries at the dock, and the cost was about $90 for one car and two passengers.

The campground is about a quarter mile from the boat landing, and the park provides carts, shown here, to move your stuff. My son did the hauling, and we quickly had our campsite, which was right on the shore of Lake Michigan, set up.

Like most state park campgrounds, sites fill up fast, especially on a holiday weekend. But when I checked two days before arrival, there were sites available for both Friday and Saturday night. They were different sites, meaning we would have to move after the first night. But fortunately, the occupants of one of the sites had left early, and after checking with the campground host and warden, we were allowed to have the same site both nights.

QRP Labs image.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a camping trip without bringing a radio, and I brought along the QRP Labs QCX Mini, shown here. This is a handheld CW transceiver for one band (in my case, 40 meters). For the power supply, I brought along my fish finder battery, which I also used to charge my cell phone. (We did have good cell phone service from most of the island, including the campground, through Boost Mobile. My son, on the other hand, who has service through Tello, had no signal, so your mileage might vary.)

I made a total of 33 radio contacts over the course of a couple of hours, covering the eastern half of North America, from Quebec to Georgia. If I had stayed up later, I would have been able to work the western United States. But 40 meters covers long distances best at night, and I shut down around local sunset, meaning the West Coast didn’t have a chance to work me. Ideally, I would have been on 20 meters as well for some daytime contacts, but I wanted to keep the station size and weight to a minimum. The complete log is shown below.

I used my usual antenna, namely, a dipole supported by my trusty golf ball retriever leaning against the picnic table, with the two 33-foot wires extending out from the table. The wires were actually just draped over tree branches. You don’t need an elaborate antenna to get out well. Despite the various reasons that it shouldn’t work (too low, touching trees, etc.), it got out very well.

You will notice that many of the contacts are with 1×1 call signs who, along with WM3PEN, were taking part in the 13 Colonies special event. If you are doing a park activation during a similar event or contest, that’s always a good opportunity to put some contacts in the log.

Our campsite

Other notable contacts included WB8IZM, who was operating from another park, Potagannissing Flooding Wildlife Management Area near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and KB0HXL, who was operating from his car in Indiana.

I’ve always enjoyed operating from remote locations with portable equipment, an activity which has gotten easier over the years with the advent of radios such as the QCX. It’s also become a very popular activity. Starting in 2016, the National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) activity was extremely popular, and after it ended, many American hams continued, thanks to the WWFF (World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio) activity that had started to enjoy popularity in Europe. Shortly thereafter, a separate program, Parks On The Air (POTA) has become extremely popular. In addition, since I was on an Island, I was able to participate in the U.S. Islands Award Program. I was able to hand out contacts for all three programs. I didn’t make the required 44 contacts to make it an official activation for WWFF, but I was able to meet the minimums for both POTA and US Islands. If I had been able to get on 20 meters, I’m sure I would have made many more contacts, but as it was, I was able to give credit for a fairly rare park.

And even though we had cell phone coverage (except for a brief outage on Sunday morning), it’s reassuring to know that, in case of emergency, we have a reliable method of communications with the outside world.

Rock Island was originally developed as the vacation getaway of inventor Chester Thordarson, founder of the transformer company that bears his name. He built the iconic boathouse shown here, which serves as the terminal for the passenger ferry. The campground is located about a quarter mile away, with a more distant backpacking campground somewhat further away. We also hiked to Pottawatomie Light , Wisconsin’s oldest lighthouse, dating to 1836. The lighthouse is about 1.5 miles from the campground.

With carts available, setting up camp on foot was relatively easy. Unlike backpacking, where you have to consider every ounce, the carts made the trip fairly easy. It would have worked a bit better to bring a wagon from home, since we could have just packed it once before getting on the ferry. Also, the provided carts were somewhat heavy, and a wagon probably would have been a bit easier to move. Large wheels are important, because the paths on Rock Island are, well, rocky. I was initially thinking of just packing things in a roll-on suitcase, but this would have been a bad choice, since the wheels would have just been too small. We used an inexpensive tent and air mattress. The ground is covered with roots and rocks, so some kind of pad is a must.

Flush toilets are available near the boathouse, and the campground has vault toilets. Drinking water is available near the boathouse. We realized on the way that we hadn’t brought a water container, so we just bought a one-gallon jug of water and filled it as needed. Firewood is available on the island for $7 (cash only), We used that for most of our cooking, although I did some of it on the emergency stove I previously reviewed. I discovered that four fuel tablets were about enough to boil enough water for oatmeal and coffee. We had only a very small cooler, so for the first night, we cooked some brats on the fire, but on the second day, we ate packaged food such as ramen noodles, to which you just add hot water. Another convenient meal choice was a prepared meal such as Hormel Compleats. These avoid any cleanup, since you can just put the sealed meal in a pot of hot water. Packets of meat such as the pulled pork we previously reviewed are also easy to cook this way.

There is a very small camp store on Rock Island, but other than a few bags of chips and a few Clif bars, they don’t sell food or camping supplies. It’s mostly souvenirs and apparel. So you do need to plan ahead. But as long as you do your minimal planning, Rock Island provides an opportunity to easily do some camping completely off the grid.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.

MFJ Enterprises, 1972-2024

73 Magazine, Sept. 1982.

We were sad to hear the news recently that MFJ Enterprises will be shutting down production on May 17, 2024. The company has long been a fixture in Amateur Radio, producing a wide variety of products, mostly station accessories, for the amateur market. Their products have the distinction of being functional and utilitarian, and usually reasonably priced. They are often dubbed “Mighty Fine Junk,” but it’s a term of endearment, with the emphasis on “mighty fine.” They are junk in the sense that they are usually not professional grade. But they usually serve their purpose well, and they will be missed.

My first encounter with MFJ was probably the product shown at left, which is typical of their offerings: It met a very specific need at a reasonable price. It looked kind of clunky, but it worked well. When the MFJ-313 VHF converter came out in 1982, inexpensive handheld radios for 2 meters were just hitting the market. For example, my first HT was an Icom IC-2AT, which was priced at about $225. Unlike most ham rigs these days, the radios of that era generally tuned only the ham bands. So receiving was limited to 144-148 MHz.

The ability to tune other frequencies, particularly NOAA Weather on 162 MHz, was a useful addition, and the MFJ-313 solved that problem. It was a receive converter, powered by a single AAA battery, that attached to the radio and antenna. You could transmit right through it, “and it won’t burn out.” But at a flip of a switch, the local oscillator inside the converter would come to life at 16 MHz, and you would be able to tune the weather on 162.55 by tuning the receiver to 146.55.

Most of MFJ’s products filled similar niche needs. They weren’t glamorous, but they got their job done.

Another MFJ product I own is the MFJ-9040 CW transceiver for 40 meters. There was a time when I had been off the air for a few years, and didn’t really have a station set up. I wanted to get on the air fast, and this rig did the trick. I’ve traveled to multiple countries with it, and it’s always performed well. It’s not a perfect rig–it’s notorious for having a lot of frequency drift when first turned on. But that’s part of the charm, and the drift isn’t too bad once it’s been turned on for a while.

4SQRP Image.

You wouldn’t build your whole station using MFJ gear (although with rigs like the 9040, you certainly could). But they took care of all kinds of needs.

If you’re still interested in getting in on the fun, the company isn’t going out of business just yet, and they undoubtedly have a lot of New Old Stock on hand in their warehouse, and at their many dealers. If you want to build something, I would recommend their MFJ-8100K regenerative receiver. It covers shortwave broadcast and amateur bands from 80 to 15 meters, and should be a relatively easy kit for the beginner. It’s also available assembled.

I suspect that some of MFJ’s brands will be sold to other manufacturers, and it’s not all doom and gloom. Those other little accessories they make, even if MFJ stops making them, will still be available. For example, I really like my MFJ-9040, but QRP Labs has a superior product in the QCX Mini, which I previously reviewed. We will miss MFJ, but amateur radio will continue.

MFJ got its start in 1972, and as far as we can tell, it’s first products were the two audio filters shown in this ad in 73 Magazine, December 1972. They made an innovative product, and kept adding more innovative products. We’re confident that someone will do it again.

We thank MFJ’s founder and owner, Martin F. Jue, K5FLU, for over a half century of service to the Amateur Radio Community, and wish him the best in his retirement.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.

Eclipse 2024

Our loyal readers have noticed that we’ve been incommunicado for a few weeks. We’ve been busy stuffing envelopes with eclipse glasses at our sister site, MyEclipseGlasses.com. It’s too late now for online orders, so we’re at OneTubeRadio.com Eclipse Headquarters in Dallas where we will view the eclipse.

We’re cautiously optimistic, but the weather forecast is currently “partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon.” Totality here starts at about 1:40, so we’re counting on the thunderstorms coming later. And “partly” cloudy means that there are holes where you can see the sun.

Fortunately, we have mobility. To the southwest of Dallas, Interstate 35 more or less follows the path of totality all the way to San Antonio. And to the northeast, Interstate 30 stays in the path all the way to Little Rock, Arkansas. At this point, the northeast looks a bit more promising, so it’s possible we’ll view from Arkansas. But we’ll play it by ear. I’m confident we won’t be clouded out, like we were for the 2021 annular eclipse.

This is my last chance to implore you that if you live anywhere even close to the band shown above on the map, extending from Mazatlan, Mexico, to New Brunswick, Canada, that you should drop everything and go see it. Even if you live in a place where there is 99% coverage of the sun, the experience is completely different just a few miles away in 100% totality. That 1% of the sun that is still showing is about 100,000 times brighter than the sun’s corona. The experience is utterly and completely different. If possible, go see it, especially if you have kids, and even if they will have an unexcused absence. This is one case where you know better than the school. If you have kids, please read what I wrote in 2017.

If you are in Dallas, stop by our eclipse glasses stand at 2510 Firewheel Pkwy, Garland, TX 75040. Just look for the giant eclipse glasses. If you live in the Midwest, it looks like you can still get eclipse glasses at Hy-Vee or Menards, which ordered quite a few this time. Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s also had them, and they still might. In Texas, they’re a little harder to find, but you can find them. In New England, they seem to be unobtainium. But if you can’t find a pair, check out our 2017 post about alternatives.

If I get a chance, I’ll be on the air for the Solar Eclipse QSO Party, helping generate some date for citizen scientists to study the ionosphere. If the weather is good, I’ll do that before totality. If we’re chasing a hole in the clouds, then I probably won’t set up until after totality.

Enjoy the eclipse!

2023 Post-Eclipse Report

My son and I were in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the annular eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Our original plan was to view it from the Padre Island National Seashore, which we had scoped out the day before. But when we woke up Saturday morning, it was cloudy in Corpus Christi, and weather maps showed clouds over most of the region.

There was a large break in the clouds to the north, and we decided to head that direction. We decided to head to Rockport Beach, and this proved to be an excellent spot to view the eclipse. This was the first time I experience an annular eclipse. Basically, it’s a 99% partial eclipse, with the remaining 1% of the sun forming a “ring of fire”. The photo above was taken with my son’s cell phone, using the filter from a pair of eclipse glasses. The photo at right is using an expedient projection method. With the pair of “cheaters” reading glasses in my pocket, I simply projected the image onto the picnic table.

The phenomenon was very different from total eclipse. It was worth the trip, but considerably less dramatic. I could tell that it didn’t seem as bright outside as usual, but if I hadn’t known there was an eclipse in progress, I might have dismissed it as haze. No stars were visible, although the sun didn’t seem as hot as it should. As you can see from the photo at the left, it’s still obviously daytime. This is very different from the total eclipse, where at least one star (the planet Venus) was visible, and there was a sunset on the horizon for 360 degrees.

The moral of the story is that if you are in an area with a 99% total eclipse, you should definitely drive a few miles to where it is 100%. It’s worth the drive.

There was a fairly large crowd at Rockport Beach. It was obviously smaller than they would have on a hot summer day, but I’m sure it was much larger than a typical windy October morning. Everyone seemed to have eclipse glasses, and one group played “Ring of Fire” during annularity, which seemed like a nice touch.
After annularity, most other eclipse chasers on the beach started packing up to head home, even though the partial eclipse was still ongoing. I made an effort to operate on the radio during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW. Unfortunately, I had an extremely marginal antenna, as there wasn’t much to attach an antenna from my location. As you can see, I used two broomsticks taped together as the center support. The ends, I staked into the ground. In Minnesota, there are always plenty of sticks on the ground to use to tie down the antenna. South Texas, with its palm trees, doesn’t have convenient sticks on the ground. Fortunately, I had two pencils in the car, and I used them.

But my makeshift antenna was only a few feet off the ground, and I didn’t manage to make any contacts, nor was I heard by the Reverse Beacon Network. I made a list of calls heard, and I guess I’ll submit them.

October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse

You might have noticed that we’ve been kind of incommunicado lately and not posting any new content. That’s because my son and I have been on the road, selling eclipse glasses for the annular solar eclipse, which will be visible in most of North and South America on Saturday, October 14, 2023. If you still need a pair of glasses, you can find them at one of the retailers we’ve sold to from Nevada to Texas, listed at this page.

If you don’t have glasses, see our post from 2017 showing safe projection methods of viewing the eclipse.

Nat’l Park Svc. photo

Our official headquarters for the eclipse will be near Corpus Christi Texas, probably at the Padre Island National Seashore, as we watch the annular eclipse leave the United States and head toward Central and South America.

For hams, please listen for us (W0IS) during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW. We will try to set up and look for contacts, probably after annularity, or shortly after noon central time. We will be calling CQ looking for contacts, as well as making ourselves visible on the Reverse Beacon Network. After the eclipse, other citizen scientists will analyze the data generated to see how the eclipse affects the ionosphere. You should be able to see where we are heard at this link. Since we will be in a National Park and on an island, we’ll also submit our logs for POTA and WWFF, as well as US Islands and/or IOTA.

For information about the exact times that the eclipse can be viewed in your area, visit this page. For information from NASA on safely viewing the eclipse, visit this page.

Field Day 2023: Greenberg Island, Wm. O’Brien State Park, MN

This past weekend was ARRL Field Day, an operating event in which Amateur Radio operators set up in the field and see how many contacts they can make with portable equipment. It’s mostly a fun activity, but it also serves as a test of emergency capabilities. For many, this involves hauling large equipment, often powered by a gasoline generator, and setting up large antennas. Often, large groups are involved in these operations. It’s been around since 1933, so this year’s running marked the 90th anniversary.

I prefer a simpler approach, and set out by myself or a smaller group with equipment that I can easily carry and quickly set up. This year, instead of just driving to a park, I decided to operate from an island accessible only by boat. In particular, I operated from Greenberg Island in the St. Croix River, part of William O’Brien State Park, Minnesota. The plan was for my wife and I to do the operation, bringing our canoe from home.

Setting up one end of my antenna. I’m breaking of a stick which I used as a stake to anchor it in the sand.

The initial weather reports didn’t look promising, so we decided not to take the canoe, and instead just operate from the mainland. But while driving there, the weather looked fine, so we decided to rent a canoe and activate the island as originally planned.

The island has been part of the park since 1958. When I was a kid, there was a pedestrian bridge linking it to the mainland, with a trail covering part of the island. Exploring the island was always a fun part of a trip to the park. The bridge is long gone, and the only way to access it is by boat. I did check first, and it’s perfectly legal to land there, although it is posted “No Camping.” And not having been there for about 50 years, it was fun to explore the island again, but there was no trace of the old trails.

There were a few human footprints on the beach, but not many. At the beach where we landed, there were deer footprints, as well as either a dog or a wolf. The only other sign of humans was a fairly recent mylar balloon reading “happy birthday” which had landed in the brush just off the beach. I inspected it carefully to see if it carried a note. Unfortunately it didn’t, so I just picked it up and took it to a trash can on the mainland.

I was on the air from about 3:30 – 5:00 PM, and the weather held up fine. It started looking like rain and we headed back. We had a few drops of rain, but it didn’t start pouring until we had just left the park on the way home.

We found a beach on the east side of the island, and set up there. I used the QCX Mini, running 5 watts on 40 meter CW, and worked about 20 contacts. The antenna was an inverted vee supported my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into the sand and leaning against a tree. The power source was a fish finder battery. I did purchase it new for Field Day, since the previous one was showing signs of wear after 7 years of abuse.

I forgot to bring a folding chair (although my wife remembered hers and was able to relax while I operated). The fallen tree shown above served as a suitable substitute.

Heading home. KC0OIA at the bow, W0IS at the stern.

Best DX was Alabama, I believe. In addition to working Field Day, I submitted the logs for Parks On The Air (POTA), WWFF-KFF, and U.S. Islands Awards Program. This is the first time the island has been activated, and since we went over the magic number of 15 QSOs, it will count as being “qualified” for that program.

Thanks to the stations shown below, some at home, and some out in the field, for pulling in my 5 watt signal. If you look carefully, you’ll see three dupes. All of my logging is pencil and notebook, so sometimes it’s hard to remember who I just worked.

Will I ever save the world with my communications abilities? Probably not. But it’s good to know that with equipment I can carry with me, just a few minutes setting up, and a battery found in any car, I could get messages out to my friends and relatives in case of disaster, and could do the same thing for my neighbors.

Some links are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after using the link.

When Wires Are Down: 1948

There was a time when electronic communications meant wires running from city to city. In the United States, these were the telephone lines owned by The Phone Company, or telegraph lines owned by Western Union. If those lines were knocked down due to some kind of natural disaster, then whole communities could be cut off from the rest of the world.

When that happened, Amateur Radio might serve as the only link. And 75 years ago this month, the June 1948 issue of QST announced that Western Union had reinstated a cooperative program with the ARRL to ensure that hams were available as backup “when wires are down.” It was a reinstatement because Amateur Radio had been off the air during the War, and the program originally dated to 1939, as announced in the June 1939 issue of QST.

Image, 1950 Handbook.

The ARRL was able to “give W.U. a list of Emergency Coordinators (EC), so in any pinch, the W.U. local managers will know who to call upon for coordinated information on the active amateur stations, radio schedules, points in radio nets, local emergency-powered outlet, and so on, so
necessary emergency traffic might be filed.” For their part, Amateurs were encouraged to fill out ARRL Form 7 and give it to their EC to sign up as members of the Amateur Emergency Corps. In fact, the blank forms were available at Western Union offices, and could even be dropped off there, with Western Union routing the forms back to ARRL headquarters.

In reports of disasters, it wasn’t uncommon to read that hams had assisted Western Union when the lines were down. For example, during the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard, Sherm Boen of Albert Lea handled traffic for the railroad, since a dispatcher in southern Minnesota needed permission from Minneapolis before sending a snowplow north.

These days, it’s unlikely (but not totally inconceivable) that the normal telecommunications networks will fail completely. In addition to ground-based lines, there are multiple satellite options available for linking various communities. So it’s unlikely that an internet service provider or phone company will call hams for assistance with restoring their networks.

However, it’s not unheard of for individuals and families in areas hit by disasters to be cut off from the outside world. The ability to send a short message to family or friends in other states could be a major morale booster, and could be extremely helpful in reuniting families separated by disasters. Hams spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find a “served agency” to whom they can offer their services. But radio communications today isn’t exactly rocket science, and those agencies can probably have communications in place operated by their own personnel.

But hams still have a major strength, and that is the fact that they are widely dispersed around the country, mostly in residential areas. In other words, if there is a local or regional disaster, they are already there, and they can begin communicating immediately. As exercises such as Field Day and Winter Field Day prove, they can be on the air immediately, even if power is out, and even if part of their station is damaged. A wire antenna can be put up almost anywhere, hooked up to an HF rig and car battery, and communications are immediately established. Even the most modest of VHF rigs can provide local communications with other hams.

It seems to me that individual hams should figure out how they can serve their neighbors in time of emergency. In my case, I will simply make it known, perhaps with a sign in the front yard, that I can send short messages to anyone, just about anywhere, via Amateur Radio. I have multiple radios that can be pressed into service, and all I need is some wire to build an antenna. For power, I have multiple options, such as a car battery, flashlight batteries, or a solar panel. I can be on the air almost immediately, and stay on the air more or less indefinitely. I don’t need any agency to serve. My license is the only authorization I need to offer my services to my neighbors.

1973 Multiband Antenna

Great minds think alike, as shown by the April 1973 issue of Popular Electronics. I wrote an article for the June 2010 issue of QST entitled, “A Fan Dipole for 80 through 6 Meters.” It was really nothing new, and I cited earlier versions dating back to the 1930s. But apparently QST hadn’t published one for a while, so they included my version.

The idea is simple–one piece of feedline feeds antennas for multiple bands, so that you can instantly switch from one to the other. But the 1973 magazine includes a new twist in the article by RIchard Yommus, W2DMK (or maybe the name is Richard Yeomans, since that name goes with the license). While the antenna covers 80 through 10 meters, the longest antenna elements are for 40 meters. The added trick is using 90-1/2 feet of RG-59 coax. Apparently, the coax radiates on 80 meters, along with the rest of the antenna, on 80 meters, thus providing a good SWR on that band. The author notes that the coax should be kept as straight as possible, and as much as possible should be outside and away from metallic objects.

I haven’t tried this particular antenna, but I wouldn’t be surprised that it works well on 80 meters. My antenna works surprisingly well on 160 meters. When I use it on that band, I unscrew the outer connector of the coax, so that the whole antenna, coax and wires in the air, constitute a long wire. I suspect that the antenna when used this way causes the house wiring to do much of the job of radiating RF, but it does seem to get out pretty well on 160.

Winter Field Day 2023 – QCX Mini Review

This weekend was Winter Field Day, an event in which amateur radio operators set up at a remote location and see how many contacts they can make. Two years ago, many hams stayed home in the mistaken belief that being in a field somehow causes COVID. To dispel that notion, I set up at a state park campground, where I operated while socially distancing myself hundreds of feet from other persons.

Last year, I operated a little bit from home, albeit with battery power, and doing my best to work only portable stations. But the name of the event is Field Day, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to do it anywhere but out in the field. Santa Claus recently gave me a new QRP (low power) radio, the QCX Mini for 40 meters, and this was a good opportunity to put it to work.

Review of QCX Mini

QRP Labs image.

I’ve had the QCX Mini, a product of QRP Labs, a few weeks now, and I’m absolutely amazed at how well this radio works. It weighs less than half a pound, and can easily be held in the palm of your hand. It’s available for multiple bands, but I chose 40 meters, which is almost always open to somewhere, day or night. Winter Field Day is, in addition to being a fun activity, an exercise in emergency preparedness, and this tiny rig is one that you could carry with you anywhere. You just need to plug it into a key, headphones, power supply, and antenna. It’s an excellent CW transceiver, and in many ways, it’s comparable with even the best stations.

The receiver is possibly a little less sensitive than a full-size receiver at home, but it’s more than adequate for QRP use. My best DX with it so far was Austria, I was able to pull in the other station’s signal, and he was able to hear me. Additional sensitivity wouldn’t really add much.

It is, however, extremely selective, and has a narrow filter which is ideal for CW. The downside is that the filter is an analog filter permanently wired in, so it’s really not possible to copy AM or SSB signals. You can hear them, and make them out to some extent, but not very well. For example, the receiver is able to tune to both 5 and 10 MHz, and I can hear the beeps from WWV, but can’t really copy the voice messages.

In addition to the transmitter and receiver, the little radio has a built-in keyer, and even a code reader. The code reader doesn’t work quite as well as the one between my ears, but it actually does come in handy. Occasionally, I might miss a letter, but there it is, right on the screen. And if I forget a call sign before writing it down, it’s there on the screen for a few seconds until it scrolls away.

I haven’t tried it out yet, but the QCX Mini also contains a WSPR beacon that might be fun to play with. You can read the QST review of the radio at this link.

If someone wants to get into amateur radio very cheaply, and they’re willing to learn Morse Code, the QCX Mini would be a very inexpensive way to start. Completely assembled, it sells for about $120. Of course, knowledge of Morse code is necessary, but the code reader makes the learning curve a bit easier. As long as the station you’re working is sending reasonably good code, the built-in reader will help you catch all or most of what you might have missed. Even if you’re a little unsure of your abilities at first, you can get on the air right away, and build your speed up on the air, rather than having to worry about “practicing.”

In kit form, the radio is only $55, although you probably want to spend an additional $20 for the case. (But it would work fine with the printed circuit boards exposed.) If you get the models for 80, 40, or 15 meters, only a technician class license is required, and that can be done with a weekend of study (perhaps using the study guide I authored).

Winter Field Day Summary

The contest incentivizes operating away from home, so I decided to trek a bit further than my own back yard. I toyed with the idea of just sitting in a folding chair outside, but the temperature was only 5 degrees Fahrenheit, so I opted to sit inside the car for a little protection from the elements. I found an almost-empty parking lot at Como Park in St. Paul, MN, and decided to operate for a couple of hours from there.

The 40 meter band is best during nighttime hours, but I wanted to avoid sitting in the dark as much as possible. So I arrived at about 4:00 PM local time, and stayed until a little after 6:00. Most of my time there was in daylight, but with very good band conditions.

My antenna was an inverted-vee dipole. The center was held up with my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into a snowbank next to the car, and the ends were tied to the ground. Normally, I just pick up a stick off the ground and use that as a stake, but when I got there, I realized that all of the sticks were buried under two feet of snow. A search of my car found a water bottle, which I pushed into the snow to serve as an anchor at one end, and my windshield scraper, to which I tied the other end. The antenna, made of cheap speaker wire, was up in about 10 minutes. Since I was in my car, I just plugged the radio into the lighter socket. But I would normally run it with my fish-finder battery. In fact, the radio will work just find on as little as a 9-volt battery, although I’m guessing one battery would last less than an hour or so. A better compromise for small size but reasonable battery life would be 8 AA batteries or 8 D cells.

As soon as I turned on the radio, it sprang to life, and I made a total of 34 contacts over the course of two hours. You can see from my log below, the radio does get out. The log image below was made shortly after the contest and confirmations continue to trickle in, but other states worked included Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as Ontario, Canada. Surprisingly, I worked nothing to the west, but there are a couple of explanations. Forty meters is primarily a nighttime band, and it was still daylight to the west of me. Also, the antenna had an east-west orientation, meaning that it would get out the best to the north and south, which explains the good signal into Texas and Louisiana.

If you see your call sign here, thanks for the contact. And if you don’t see your call sign here (or if you don’t have a call sign yet), I look forward to seeing you on the air next year! Maybe by then I’ll try out QRP Labs’ QDX digital transceiver. Starting for just $69, it’s a multi-band digital transceiver. It plugs into your computer, and you can immediately start bouncing your signals off the ionosphere into other states and countries. If you get the entry-level technician license, you can use it immediately on 10 meters. While that band is very hot right now, that’s not always the case. Therefore, I would recommend also taking the test for the slightly more difficult general class license. But you’re in luck, as I’m also the author of a study guide for that test.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after following the link.