[QCWA] Callsign history question

[William Pasternak]

Lew,

Back in the 1950's there was a ham station at Lafayette HS (Im a 1959 
graduate) in the room of a teacher named Phil Goldstein.  It looked 
like old WW2 gear and one would have needed a fork-lift to move the 
Hallicrafters transmitter.  The receiver was a then vintage HRO with 
a box of plugin coils.  Sadly, Phil never put it on the air for his 
students -- though he operated during lunch hour.  There was no club 
at Lafayette and I cannot remember Phil's call.

When I started NYC Community College of Applied Arts & Sciences - 
when it was still down at the old Brooklyn Pickle Works building on 
Pearl Street -- we had a radio club that had been dormant for a 
decade.  I cannot recall its callsign, but the gear was a B&W 5100 
transmitter and a National NC-109 receiver that I believe we conned 
Arrow into donating.  Oh yes, the obligatory D-104 mic and J-38 hand 
key.  We put up 40 and 20 meter dipoles and the half dozen of us had 
a ball on 40, 20 and 15.  We regularly contacted W2CXN which was only 
a mile or so away.  I believe we once also held a lunch gathering 
with the folks from that club.

In June 2009 we held our 50th reunion of the Lafayette Class of 1959 
at NYCCC location in Manhattan Beach.  I had hoped to find a ham 
station at the campus but was told by the maintenance folks that all 
they had was a Computer Club and a CB Radio Club.  I was to busy to 
follow up any further.

RE:  Erasmus:  The same for Lafayette.  Bloomberg in his not so 
infinite wisdom converted it into 4 mini high schools which later 
brecame 6 -- and next year may be 7.

You have brought up some great memories that I must include in my new 
book.  (Geeks:  Parallel Lines Crossing) hopefully due out the middle 
of next year.  Producing a new video for ARRL and co-writing a stage 
play kind of got in the way of my completing it.

73
de
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF
(ex WA2HVK - Bensonhurst Brooklyn)

PS:  Want me to mention on ARNewsline that you are looking for info 
on W2CXN?  We have listeners world-wide and you never know who might 
have an old QSL or maybe was a club member.  Let me know if that 
would help and what would be a good public contact e-mail for folks 
to contact you..




At 11:37 AM 12/20/2011, you wrote:
>Thank you for the multiple responses.  It is apparent that October 1, 1928
>was the date.
>Thanks to Pete NL7XM for a copy of one of the original letters from the
>Department of Commerce.
>
>I am writing about the history of W2CXN (ex 2CXN) at Brooklyn Technical High
>School, along with some proposals to move the club forward.  I am also
>working with the folks at Stuyvesant High School to get their club moving
>again.  Both of these clubs have benefited from the generous support of
>alumni.  Unfortunately, my alma mater, Erasmus Hall, remains in name only.
>It has been broken up into multiple small schools with little resemblance to
>its former status.
>
>
>73, Lew
>N2RQ, ex WA2FBX, WV2FBX
>
>n2rq at arrl.net
>Administrator for the School Club Roundup. scr at limarc.org
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lew M" <n2rq at optonline.net>
>To: <qcwa at mailman.qth.net>
>Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 9:06 PM
>Subject: [QCWA] Callsign history question
>
>
> > When did national callsign designations with prefix letters begin?
> >
> > For example, 2ANU (~1909) became W2ANU, for the club station at Erasmus
> > Hall High School in Brooklyn, NY.  2CLE (~1909) became W2CLE, for the club
> > station at Stuyvesant High School in NYC.
> >
> > When did the practice of issuing new callsigns with W begin?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > 73, Lew
> > N2RQ at arrl.net
> >
>
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