[HCARC] Old School Phone Patches!!

[W4wj at aol.com]

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LENORE JENSEN PHONE PATCHING TO VIETNAM  VIA MARS

Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, of Amateur Radio Newsline,  has
discovered another classic film featuring the late Lenore  Jensen,
W6NAZ, running phone patches to Vietnam. These were done  through
the Military Affiliate Radio System ("MARS") which often  used
frequencies just outside the regular HF ham bands. Overseas
telephone  calls were difficult to make decades ago and sometimes
impossible depending  on location, so ham radio filled the void
-- all with volunteer effort -- and  Lenore was at the forefront
of that activity.

Bill adds, "The color is  faded meaning the film was shot on
the old non-fade-proof Kodak 7381/7383  film stocks we all used
for industrial film making back then." He dates the  documentary
to the late 60s and notes that the phone patch was  obviously
simulated for filming. Did you ever hear noise-free audio on
HF  DX, or the public always remembering to say "over?"

These details aside,  the film appears to be accurate overall.
It depicts the way things were done  about 50 years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/LenorePatchingToVietnam (30  minutes)