Posts Tagged ‘history’
Happy Morse Code Day!
April 27th, 2015 | 
Author: 
Does this make Samuel the original "Old Man"? Sorry Mr. Maxim*, I think Mr. Morse has seniority on you for that title, as Mr. Morse would be celebrating his 224th birthday today, were he of the kin of Methuselah.
Now that QRPTTF is over, except for e-mailing in my log summary, I thought I'd post where my signal was being heard on Saturday, according to the Reverse Beacon Network.
Bob W3BBO and I were discussing QRPTTF yesterday amongst ourselves, and it occurred to both of us that the western half of the nation seems to have reported larger QSO totals than the eastern half of the nation. This based on e-mails sent to QRP-L that we had read. Not sure what that means, but so far I haven't seen many e-mails from anyone east of the Mississippi with log summaries of around 40 QSOs or so. It will be interesting to see how it breaks down geographically once the results are in.
The EARCHI does get heard, and being on the top of a high hill (we call those mountains, here in NJ) sure makes a difference. And this makes for the other important lesson I've learned from events such as these. As nice as it would be to come in 1st place in a contest such as QRPTTF, the real prize won is enjoying a day outdoors, playing radio in the fresh air and sunshine, being able to forget about everyday worries, cares and concerns, even if it's just for a couple hours.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
* - For those of you who are new to the Ham radio game, Hiram Percy Maxim who founded the ARRL, often wrote editorials under the pseudonym "The Old Man". Since HPM lived from 1869 - 1936. I guess that makes Mr. Morse the rightful holder of "The Old Man" title.
Grinding quartz and holding a frequency during World War II
I’m a great fan of the Prelinger Archives which is home to so many items like this video I’ve heard about recently from various ham radio email lists.
I like how the components of the earliest electronics and wireless were so basic and ‘natural’. Think of hand made capacitors and resistors using traces of graphite on paper. Valves (or tubes) of course were another story but still capable of being ‘homemade‘.
I love the idea that an accurate, literally rock solid frequency could be achieved using a piece of a very common rock – admittedly a pure piece of quartz cut just so.
This video details the elaborate and meticulous manufacture of quartz crystals during World War 2 by Reeves Sound Laboratories in 1943.
The 41’24” video can also be viewed and downloaded via the Prelinger Archives.
Most of the ‘radio quality’ quartz was mined in Brazil which ceased its neutrality in 1942 and joined the Allies.
The story of quartz crystals during WWII is told in ‘Crystal Clear‘ by Richard J. Thompson Jr. (Wiley) 2011.
“In Crystal Clear, Richard Thompson relates the story of the quartz crystal in World War II, from its early days as a curiosity for amateur radio enthusiasts, to its use by the United States Armed Forces. It follows the intrepid group of scientists and engineers from the Office of the Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army as they raced to create an effective quartz crystal unit. They had to find a reliable supply of radio-quality quartz; devise methods to reach, mine, and transport the quartz; find a way to manufacture quartz crystal oscillators rapidly; and then solve the puzzling “ageing problem” that plagued the early units. Ultimately, the development of quartz oscillators became the second largest scientific undertaking in World War II after the Manhattan Project.” (from the book’s blurb)
This would be great!
From Jim Massara N2EST:
"Eric Nichols, KL7AJ, and I are pitching the idea of returning Gil's classic "Jeeves" character in new cartoons to the pages of QST as a Rip Van Winkle character -- the hobby's changed, but he hasn't. We think it would be a great way to celebrate the League's centennial by connecting the hobby's past to its future. If you like the idea, email QST managing editor Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY at [email protected] and tell her so -- and share this post of a sample cartoon in as many places as possible."
Jeff goes on to comment further:
"Fellow ham cartoonist/QSL artist Jim Massara N2EST and his partner in crime Eric Nichols KL7AJ are promoting the idea of a returning Gil Gildersleeve's Jeeves to the pages of QST. I think it would be swell to see Jeeves back where he belongs, trying to keep up like the rest of us geezers. It's a grand tradition. Many classic newspaper comics were carried on by other artists far far after the originals passed on. We grow up with cartoon characters like Jeeves, and they become little parts of of lives, and the continuity can be a small but real comfort."
Back to W2LJ - If I am not mistaken, 2015 is the Centennial of QST. I, for one, would love to see this. I am going to send Becky an enthusiastic e-mail. I hope you'll do the same.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
A Year to Remember
2014 was a stellar year for amateur radio. The year-long celebration of the ARRL Centennial was nothing short of fantastic. The QSO Party and the summer convention were major successes. Our hobby has never received so much attention by popular media. For one entire year, ham radio became the ‘Kardashian’s’ of the hobby world. The ARRL deserves most of the credit for their hard work and vision in promoting our hobby while working tirelessly to foster future growth and protect the valuable resources we enjoy.
Amateur Radio and electronics are woven tightly together and 2014 was without doubt the Year of the Raspberry Pi and everyone jumped on the bandwagon, including radio enthusiasts. It wasn’t difficult to find numerous ways to put these credit-card sized, $35 computers to work in the shack — replacing desktop computers employed for dedicated functions. The trajectory of this trend is nearly vertical and we can expect to see even more interesting uses from it in the coming New Year.
The HF bands cooperated with the major DX operations in 2014. In fact, what appears to be a double-peak in this current solar cycle created some real excitement — about the same time the experts declared us to be on the backside of decent and headed toward minimum. I’m amazed by the courage of operations like FT5ZM that moved forward with their plans despite predictions of less than great band conditions, and brought joy (and QSL’s!) to DXers everywhere.
Logbook of the World adoption picked up steam in 2014. The online service has now crossed 100 million confirmations and the number of users could cross 100,000 in the New Year.
Operators on the International Space Station delighted the world with SSTV transmissions in late 2014 reminding the entire planet that amateur radio still has a shack in space!
Amateur Radio really took to social media in 2014. Facebook and Twitter being the primary beneficiaries of Maxim’s progeny. The ARRL Facebook page has nearly 50K “likes” while its main Twitter account has over 20K followers. Yes, we’ve been tweeting up a storm and the @CallSign label appears on almost everything #HamRadio these days. This won’t last forever, Internet time moves fast and things change in a heartbeat online. Still, these forms of social media are continuing to expand and amateur radio seems firmly affixed for the ride.
Every year it seems we lose more of the old guard, passings that leave us feeling a little off-balance in our mission. 2014 was no different in that regard. Though many of our giants have left us, their work and inspiration continues — in us. That’s the point. The tasks that we undertake and share today, are passed along to tomorrow.
It’s been that way with our passion since the basement experimenters first began to decode the secrets of radio, and passed them along to the next generation of basement experimenters in order to perfect the art and science of radio.
And that work continues into another new year — a new century — a new millennium for amateur radio.
Nostalgia is a wonderful place of retreat to warm and nourish your soul but those are chapters in a book already read. RIGHT NOW is infinitely more exciting because we don’t know what will come next, but we get to write the next chapter!
Nice radio-related stamp
A few weeks ago I had one of my rare visits to the post office. As I was waiting, I saw a display of a new series of stamps and I just had to buy the one shown here. What caught my attention was not really the artist, but rather the Kurér portable radio.
The stamp was of course not about the radio but was issued in commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the birth of Alf Prøysen. The English Wikipedia page has this to say about him:
Alf Prøysen (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970), was a writer and musician from Norway. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the twentieth century, and he made significant contributions to literature, music, TV, and radio.
One of his main characters was “Teskjekjerringa” called Mrs. Pepperpot in English. She is shown here in the second stamp in the series. I remember this story very well from my own childhood in the 60’s as told in the characteristic calm and soothing voice of Prøysen himself. The character eventually appeared in 23 different languages. The radio is of course here because this and others of his plays were very popular on radio in the 50’s and 60’s.
And it was this radio, the Kurér (= Courier), that made me buy the stamp. It was a highly successful portable radio from the Radionette factory in Oslo from 1950 to 1958. It has four valves and covers long wave, medium wave, ‘ the trawler band’, and short wave. It has room for batteries (90 Volts and 1.5 Volts). But luckily it also has a built-in mains supply – the 90 Volt battery is hard to find these days. A total of 224 000 were produced and it was exported to many countries especially in the Middle East. It is very easy to repair even today.
I would think the most popular version today among collectors is the dark red one shown in the stamp. I have a grey one shown here with a simple medium wave transmitter that I have described before on top.
- Alf Prøysen honored with stamps
- Kurér radio. This radio could could need an English language Wikipedia page as well as a better Norwegian one.
- The Radionette factory 1927-1972
Also, a very Happy 239th Birthday to the Marines! Semper Fi, Marines!
Lastly, a Happy Veteran’s Day to my Dad. I was rummaging through some papers in my desk when I came across the Certificate of Condolence that the White House sent upon his passing in 2001. My Dad was a WWII Army Vet who loved to talk about some of the European “sites” he saw during his tour in Europe (including the Passion Play at Oberammergau). He never spoke about combat, though – not uncommon for his generation, it seems. I also came across his wallet sized copy of his Discharge Papers. He was not an Amateur Radio operator, but he was a graduate of the Signal Corps RADAR and Repeater School (which probably explains in some way, my love for Amateur Radio). I also noticed for the first time that he was a recipient of medals for Combat in the European Theater, as well as a Good Conduct medal and one other. He NEVER spoke about those.
For all the Vets who have passed – Eternal rest, grant unto them Oh Lord, and may Perpetual Light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the Faithful Departed, rest in peace. Amen.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!