[Hallicrafters] Questions for OLD-timers (Hams)

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 24 Apr 2008 at 8:06, Waldo Magnuson wrote:

> I'm interested in your answers/comments on the following topics.
> 
> 1.  I've read that the Post Office Technical Branch was at one time
> (1920s, 1930s?) responsible for enforcement of amateur radio practice
> (operating frequency, power output, etc.). Does anyone know if that
> was the case?  The Federal Radio Commission came into being in 1927,
> later to become the FCC in 1934.

No. I think the Post Office only came into the picture in the UK, not 
in the U.S. A somewhat recent ER magazine had an article 
concerning early licensing with details. As I remember it, the U.S. 
Navy played a big part in that, but not the Post Office.

> 
> 2.  At one time Hams were required to keep an accurate log of every
> contact.  Was that true

Yes. Absolutely. Not only of every contact, but of every time we 
transmitted at all, contact or not. Most of us OT still have logs from 
years ago, many of us have line after line of CQs with no answers.

> and is it still required but not practiced?

I am not certain of this. However, I believe it is "suggested" that we 
do it. For most routine, scheduled, operating, I don't log it, since 
there is ample evidence from other sources. I probably should.

> 
> 3.  In the 1940s and 1950s I think the amateur license application
> required you to list how the station frequency was to be monitored
> (measured).  Was that true?

Yes. We had to have a "secondary frequency standard", like a BC-
221 or LM frequency meter. We could not rely only on the 
calibration of either the transmitter or the receiver. Most of us 
poorer hams just made certain we were well within a band and did 
not, routinely, operate close to any band edge, ESPECIALLY if we 
were using a home-made VFO. Most of us OT have at least one 
"trophy" of an out-of-band operation logged by the Friendly 
Canning Company. In my case, it was a bad harmonic from a 
home-brew transmitter.

>  When did that requirement get replaced
> with "Operated in accordance with good engineering practice"?

Dunno. Probably about the same time they cut the code 
requirement to 5 WPM.

>  I
> suspect most operators now rely on the crystals in the transmitters
> or/and a crystal calibrator to remain in the band.

Most modern transceivers are very accurate and very stable, about 
on par with a good BC-221. Therefore, the "secondary standard" is 
no longer required. BTW, the "primary standard" was WWV or 
CHU. The word "secondary" had nothing to do with anything else in 
your shack: it had to do with what was out in the real world.

>  Crystal use
> started in 1934.

Actually, long before that. COMMON use of commercially 
manufactured crystals possibly started as late as 1934, but 
amateurs were experimenting with them LONG before that. I have 
an article from sometime in the 1920s on how to make your very 
own crystal. It included a TERRIBLE amount of work just to make 
one crystal, starting from a block of quartz. It involved cutting it with 
a hacksaw with the blade inserted in the frame with the teeth up 
and took many hours to make that one crystal. My understanding, 
from what I have read, is that many of the better ham stations of 
the late 1920s had at least ONE home-made crystal for their 
transmitters after CW became required. In fact, most of those had 
ONLY one, and after reading that article, I can certainly see why!

> 
> I'm trying to put together an article and the above questions/thoughts
> have a bearing in the article content.

There have been several articles in either ER or the AWA bulletin 
on these questions. I will try to dig out references to one or two for 
you.

One thing you should keep carefully in mind is that the OT were 
FAR more technically competent than many moderns give them 
credit for. It was a time of gigantic strides in technological 
development, and the amateur was not lagging behind in this. 
There were practically daily incredible leaps. It was a very exciting 
time.

Ken Gordon W7EKB
Moscow, Idaho