[CW] W6BNB Robert "Bob" L. Shrader, of Sebastopol, California. R/O, Teacher, Author Fire Chief &c.

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Please do.

Here's more:

DR says some of you might be interested in old time police radio.

    Back in January of 1939 I jumped ship from the old rust-bucket SS
Curaca when it returned to San Francisco because I learned that the job I
had been looking for was open because a Deputy Sheriff radio operator was
found to have stolen something.  So I was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff,
badge #56, for Alameda County, CA.  The next day I showed up at the
Sheriff's station KPDA half way up the hill on 150th Avenue outside of San
Leandro CA all decked out in my uniform, badge, gun, belt of bullets and
 handcuffs.
    The station had recently been built by Capt. Brower MacMurphy, W6OU,
who I had known via amateur radio for several years.  He and another Deputy
ham radio operator had built the 500-W AM transmitter that operated on 1658
kHz.  That frequency was nice and close to the AM BC band so all we had to
do was jimmy the local oscillator in a car's AM receiver to allow it to
monitor KPDA!  They also erected a nice 1/4-wave 1658 kHz vertical antenna
outside the station on a little rise.
    In those days there were no police mobile transmitters available so we
built our own.  Mac had made up a form and was able to pour a hot liquid
aluminum 5-position box in which we installed the dynamotor and all the
stages for a 10-W 30+ MHz FM mobile transmitter. (I forget the
actual mobile transmitting frequency.)  Whenever operating times were slack
we would go into the room adjacent to the operating position and solder
in one of the stages of the next mobile transmitter.
    The FM receiver for the mobile car transmissions was at the top of the
hill, another 300 yards or so.  Received signals came down a 2-wire line to
our operating position and to an AF amplifier and loud speaker.
    To monitor all the other SF Bay police stations we had two racks full
of AM receivers.  Each station had its own receiver.  They were all using
frequencies just above the BC band for their transmitters with VHF mobile
transmitters.
    The area we covered for Sheriff's cars, DA's cars and other county
cars. might be from any of the SF Bay cities plus out about 30 miles or so
from our hill-top receivers and our transmitter position.
    Besides the operating and transmitter rooms, there was the construction
room, a wash room and a small garage in which we could service the cars
when it was raining.
    Besides the AM voice car radio equipment we also had a HF CW
transmitter and receiver.  All operators had to have radiotelephone
licenses.  Those of us (me) who had a radiotelegraph license could use the
police CW equipment (if not using it for hamming!)
There were several police CW bands.  All the CW operators I ever heard were
good, fast operators.  We mostly used CW to get information regarding car
license plates from the Sacramento Highway Patrol CW station.  Sometimes we
would work southern California, and rarely the mid-west police
stations. (After the war CW was deleted and teletype was used instead.)
    We also had a telephone rack with all of the incoming lines to allow us
to plug some incoming line into someone elses phone line.  During the
daytime our telephone calls were regarding local police work.  After
midnight the other Sheriff offices only had mobiles out checking their
area, with no one to answer their phones.  Any calls coming in came to us
at our operating position.  We did get some  really weird calls during
those early morning watches!  There were always a couple of weirdos who
would call every few nights with some report of someone breaking in.  After
a half dozen or so such calls they were not responded to too quickly.
    To see how the other half lived, on my 12--8 a.m. watch days off I
would often drive out to the Hayward Sheriff Office and get in their squad
car and make the rounds with the other deputies.  This was really about the
only time that I had to wear my uniform.  We mostly checked all the places
selling alcohol to make sure they closed down at 2 a.m..  Our daily work
was remote from any other people except for cars being serviced, so we
usually only wore plain work clothes.  On the 8--4 watch we would drive
down to the prison camp  for lunch with the Deputies there.  It was
situated half way down to the highway on 150th Ave.  On days when prisoners
were cleaning up the station we might wear our gun belts, but we never had
trouble like that.  The only troubles we had were with the cows which were
free to roam around outside the station.  They would stick their head in
the station on a warm day when the doors were open and the Mooooo they let
out was enjoyed by all of the cars on duty at the time plus all the other
police stations who were monitoring us.
    Since all of us were hams we had a great time working out there.
During the war I was sent by the USCGR to teach cadets radio at the US
Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point NY.  When IU came back the CW was
gone.  All communications were on VHF FM.  The operators were no longer
being hired as Deputies.  Not all of them were hams.  Some were women.  We
bought all of our equipment now.  It just wasn't like those good old days.
So I took a job teaching radio at a trade school which became Oakland Laney
College before I retired.
    73 -- W6BNB/Bob

Hi David --
    Thanks so very much for giving us this dissertation about
old time radio operations around the WW2 time.  As you
probably know I was at sea pre-WW2 and taught radio at the
US Merchant Marine Academy during the whole war.  A book
came out in the 90s all about Kings Point and not a word was
mentioned that there ever was a radio and electricity course
for deck cadets there during the war.  Of course radio had
not been taught there long after I left for home after the Japs
gave up, so none of the present officers ever know about
the wartime radio training. I wrote the textbook for the
course and have a copy here with me.  Lots of good old stuff.
 We gave the cadets info on how to operate radio stations
on 500 kc if they were ever in a position where the radio
operator was incapacitated.  Also how to operate radio
outfitted life boats, plus quite a bit of electrical theory in
case they needed it.  Except for their use of Morse code
when they used blinker lights, I have often wondered how
much use all of that training was good for.  Hi.  At least the
text gave me a good start on my Electronic Communications
textbook that came out in 1958.  It went out of print this
year after 6 editions, which was pretty good for a textbook.

    73
        W6BNB/Bob
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