[ARC5] WW2 Sw Listening - ARC5 Digest, Vol 82, Issue 6

[Clarke, Tom AIR4.0P NATOPS]

Great story!  Parallels many here I suppose. 

I also was born in 40, but my Elmer was easier to find - he lived across the street!  I was amazed at the way he could open his garage door while driving down the street (this is 1949/50 time frame).  I asked him about it and he showed me his basement "ham shack". It seems that his mobile ten meter rig (that sat up on the rear window shelf - horrors, a "missile" hazard!) could control the door!  A crystal set followed, then a regen and a slat 6V6 and the world opened up!

73 Tom/W4OKW 

-----Original Message-----
From: Donald Sanders [mailto:w4bws at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 3:45 PM
To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [ARC5] WW2 Sw Listening - ARC5 Digest, Vol 82, Issue 6

In reference to listening to shortwave radio during the WW2, I was born in 1940 so I listened after I was 6 yrs old. However, I remember sitting in the living room with my father and mother listening to the big Silvertone console radio and my dad tuned in several shortwave stations to get news of the war effort. We also enjoyed the green hornet, The Shadow, music from top of the building in New orleans and many others. 

I got interested and at age 8 built my first regen receiver and 6L6 transmitter with the help of an Elmer. I found him by listening to 160 meters one day.He was talking with another local fellow and told how to get to his house. It was about
2 miles from my house and I told my mother I was going there and the address. 
Hopped on my bike, rang the door bell and the rest is history as they say.
Don W4BWS/HC4   



----- Original Message ----
From: "arc5-request at mailman.qth.net" <arc5-request at mailman.qth.net>
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 14:00:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jim Haynes <jhhaynes at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Ham Radio Intercept of military Comminciations
To: Robert  Eleazer <releazer at earthlink.net>,     "Discussion of AN/ARC-5
    military radio equipment." <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <alpine.LFD.2.00.1011021355190.5115 at localhost>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

On Tue, 2 Nov 2010, Robert  Eleazer wrote:
>
> As for other ham intercepts, remember that SW listening was 
>discouraged in WWII and many of the better quality commercial SW 
>receivers were taken by the government for its own use.  Considering 
>that the air over the USA was alive with many thousands of aircraft, 
>and the associated radio communications must have been quite extensive, 
>I find it remarkable that I have never heard anyone recall listening to that comm at their home.

I don't know anything about SW listening being discouraged, but this was a period of time when many home radios, console and table model, were equipped to receive shortwave broadcasting.  But maybe network broadcast radio was so good then that few people were interested in shortwave listening.




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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 12:14:56 -0700
From: Bob Macklin <macklinbob at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Ham Radio Intercept of military Comminciations
To: "Discussion of AN/ARC-5 military radio equipment."
    <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP1454719B01C41A227F8DE5AC5490 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
    reply-type=original

To use those SW radios you had to have an outdoor antenna. These radios were 
also the main radio in home. They were used for other entertainment. There 
was NO TV in those days. Trying to find aircraft radios on those things 
would have been difficult. They had no bandspread. And only the top of the 
line radios had the GREEN TUNING EYE!

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"