We will be at the Arrowhead Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Superior, Wisconsin, this Saturday, May 2. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello! I’ll have copies of my books available: My study guides for the Technician and General class amateur licenses, the MROP
Interestingly, the Hamfest is located less than a mile from the transmitter site of W9XJL, Duluth-Superior’s 1930’s shortwave broadcast station.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Elbe Day, April 25, 1945. On that day, U.S. Army Lt. Albert Kotzebue and three other men in his reconnaissance platoon crossed the Riber Elbe. There, they met forward elements of the Red Army under the command of Lt. Col. Alexander Gardiev. The arranged photo shown above was taken shortly thereafter, and shows Lt. William Robertson of the U.S. Army and Lt. Alexander Silvashko of the Red Army.
Russian commemorative coin, 1995. Wikipedia, Photo by Банк России. Original uploader was Permjak at ru.wikipedia.
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OneTubeRadio.com is running its first ever contest. The winner will receive a copy of the book U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters
During World War II, German subs operated in Canadian waters, as far up the St. Lawrence River as 172 miles from Quebec City. They sank ships, laid mines, and even set up a secret weather station in Labrador. My earlier post about that weather station was based largely upon this book. The book is very well written. It reads like a novel, but is extremely well researched with extensive footnotes.
The book is out of print, but you will receive a used copy (a former library book from Wheaton, Illinois) in excellent condition. To enter, simply follow these two steps:
The contest ends at 11:59 PM Central Time on April 25, 2015.
Seventy-five years ago today, Life Magazine, April 15, 1940, shows this young man and woman admiring this electric lathe at a National Youth Administration machine shop. Between 1930 and 1940, the number of American youth increased from 22,000,000 to 25,000,000. The NYA was a New Deal program designed to help find a place for those extra three million kids, sparing them of the demoralizing prospect of being out of school and out of work.
The young Romeo here is showing off the machine shop to his awestruck date during an NYA party.
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Was it a morning like this?
On this Good Friday, we present Via Dolorosa:
A hundred years ago, the public works department of Baltimore had equipped this truck with a wireless receiver, capable of receiving messages while the car was being driven at high speed through streets flanked with high buildings. The set was capable of receiving messages within a 10 mile radius, allowing crews to be dispatched quickly to any emergency situation. Among other equipment, the truck contained a pump capable of pumping 12,000 gallons per hour. It is shown here in the March, 1915, issue of Popular Mechanics.
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FARC Guerillas. Wikipedia photo.
Morse Code was used in 2010 to get a secret message to hostages being held in the Colombian jungle by FARC guerrillas. Some of the hostages had been held for years, and the Colombian army wanted to deliver a message that they hadn’t been forgotten, that some hostages had already been rescued, and that they were next.
Since it was known that some of the prisoners knew Morse Code, and the captors probably didn’t, the Army decided to insert a Morse message into a popular song and get it broadcast on the air. The result was the song heard on this YouTube video, Mejores Dias (Better Days), recorded by Colombian studio musicians Natalia Gutierrez Y Angelo.
I knew there was Morse Code coming, and I heard it the first time. If I hadn’t been expecting it, I suspect it might have taken a couple of plays for me to notice. And once I knew it was there, it took me several times to get the entire message, since it is well hidden in the music. But if I had a lot of time on my hands, I would eventually decode the entire message. It’s in the chorus, starting at about 1:30, 2:30, and 3:40 in the video, following the words, “escuchas esta mensaje, hermano” (listen to this message, brother).
To make sure that the song was heard, the Colombian army arranged to have it inserted into the play lists of the government-owned stations serving the jungle areas where the hostages were being held. The guerrillas listened to the radio, and the hostages later reported that they even liked the song. The message was heard, as rescued hostages later reported.
The message reads: “19 LIBERADOS. SIGUEN USTEDES. ANIMO.” (19 PEOPLE RESCUED. YOU’RE NEXT. DON’T LOSE HOPE.) Even if you have only a passing knowledge of Morse Code, you will hear it, and you’ll eventually be able to decode it.
More information is available at TheVerge.com, at the article linked below.
References
Welcome to OneTubeRadio.com, where we cover a seemingly unconnected variety of topics. Many posts cover radio history, but we also delve into emergency preparedness, camping and RV’ing, the history of World War 1 and World War 2, law, politics, scouting, Minnesota history, and other topics.
The Canadian flag is fifty years old today. As proclaimed by the Queen on January 28, at the stroke of noon on February 15, 1965, at a ceremony on Parliament Hill, the Red Ensign was lowered and the current Maple Leaf flag was hoisted. The crowd sang “O Canada” followed by “God Save the Queen”
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