Getting QSL cards in the mail has traditionally been an exciting part of Amateur Radio, as immortalized here on the cover of QST 100 years ago this month, July 1923.
The artist is Clyde Darr, 8ZZ, who provided at least 69 such illustrations for the magazine prior to his death in 1929 at the age of 50.
Eighty-five years ago, the July 1938 issue of Popular Science showed how to make this handsome radio to proudly put in the middle of your dining room table. The five-tube (really four tubes plus a ballast) TRF was said to be a good performer. The sides were decorated with mirrors, and it also had two flower holders. They were made of plywood, with a cut down tobacco tin inside to allow you to water the flowers.
Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you mkae a purchase after using the link.
Distance learning is nothing new, as shown by these New York high school students 100 years ago, pictured in the July 1923 issue of Popular Science. While the magazine identifies the school as “Haarken High School” in New York, this is almost certainly a typo, and it should read Haaren High School, as confirmed by this site and others reporting the same accomplishment.
This is the accountancy class at Haaren, and the students are listening to a series of accountancy problems broadcast by WJZ in Newark, NJ (now WABC New York). A receiver and loudspeaker had been installed, and the students are seated at their adding machines. Problems were read slowly and distinctly, and the correct answers were read a few minutes later. “The general correctness of the classroom work was testimony of the clearness with which radio waves carried.”
Witnessing the successful demonstration are officials of the city Board of Education, as well as more than 25 principals of city high schools.
Seventy-five years ago, this young man was safe listening to the radio unattended, thanks to the “safety radio”. As we’ve reported previously, most radios of that era had a “hot chassis“. One side of the line cord was connected to the metal chassis. The connection did go through a capacitor, but those were known to short out. Depending on which way the cord was plugged in, the result could be a 120 volt shock if you touched any metal on the radio and a grounded object. In this safety radio, the set was safely housed in a one-piece plastic cabinet. The description notes that there is ample provision for required cooling, and there was a handle for convenient portability.
I would be curious to know whether there are any screws on the bottom. And if one of the knobs fall off, the volume and tuning controls are probably made of metal and attached directly to the chassis. The magazine, July 1948 Popular Mechanics, doesn’t name the manufacturer or the model. Maybe one of our readers could identify it.
The plans for this nondescript by effective one-tube portable radio appeared in Practical Wireless, July 1948. The set uses a 6K7 pentode, and uses a singl 4.5 volt battery as its power source. According to the author, F.G. Rayer, G3OGR, the set would pull in local stations with just a short piece of wire. With a longer outdoor antenna, it could pull in foreign stations, although lack of selectivity limited its usefulness. The power switch and band switching was accomplished with three terminals on the front of the radio. For longwave reception, terminals 2 and 3 were shorted out. For mediumwave reception, all three terminals were shorted, effectively shortening the coil. For mediumwave reception only, another coil could be substituted.
According to the author, “it should be unnecessary to point but that the receiver is intended mainly as a novelty, but that even so it is capable of surprising results under certain conditions.”
Eighty years ago, domestic radio production had been shut down for over a year, and there would be no new radios for the duration of the war. Therefore, it was every American’s patriotic duty to keep their current radio in working order.
In this ad in the June 1943 issue of Radio Retailing, the makers of Tung-Sol tubes was making available to dealers this display of booklets, containing hints for consumers on how to keep their radio working. The ad noted that many Tung-Sol tubes were available to dealers, so that if repairs were needed, they were probably possible.
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.
We’ve previously written about the MacMillan Arctic expedition. It was the first such expedition to be equipped with radio. The radio operator was Don Mix, later W1TS, who went on to be a prolific writer of construction articles for QST.
A hundred years ago, if you wanted to stay up to date with the expedition, you would definitely want to take out a subscription to the Washington Star, as explained in this ad from the June 26, 1923, issue. The paper would report dispatches received by radio, but for those who wanted to stay in close touch, all that was required was a ham license and station, or just a receiver to listen in. The ad lists the times at which the expedition’s station (WNP, for Wireless North Pole) would be on the air. And from 1:00 to 2:59 AM and again from 3:00 to 7:00 AM, it would be open for contacts with amateurs. As we reported previously, Art Collins, W9CXX (later W0CXX) was able to do just that.
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.
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.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the first time an American president addressed the nation through a hookup of multiple radio stations.
President Warren Harding was on a tour of much of the continental United States, as well as the Territory of Alaska. While in Kansas City, he gave the speech over WDAF in that city. It was also picked up by WGY in Schenectady, NY, WEAF in New York City, and KDKA in Pittsburgh. The wire service story above appeared in the Casper (WY) Daily Tribune, June 22, 2023. It was estimated that about a million Americans heard the speech.
