Spark Gap Times - Ootc

7him immediately, and we had a real reunion! During the interview, George pointed out that thethree Richmond licensees were all fellow high school students, located less than a mile fromeach other. He said the average DX of his spark gap was about 20 miles, and that he hadtraveled via train to the Navy Yard in Washington DC to apply for his license.PART 3The second government callbook, dated June 1, 1914, shows 31 licensed amateurs in Virginia.Of these 31 amateurs, 20 were from the Norfolk/Newport News area, 7 from Richmond, and 4from the southwestern area of Virginia, around Roanoke and Staunton. Three are worthmentioning. Abe Bernstein, 3VL, Roger, Wolcott, 3JD, and Vincent Tabb, 3TH. Bernstein andTabb are known to have been particularly active during this period. Vincent Tabb, 3TH, islisted in the very first issue of QST (December, 1915) as being an ARRL member.The 1915 Callbook shows 31 licensed amateurs, and the 1916 Callbook shows 47 licensed.These 2 years produced two new amateurs who were destined to dominate amateur radioactivities for the next quarter-century. These two were John Wohlford, first licensed in 1915 as3WE, and after the war as 3CA, and Willis Gravely, 3RO, later 3BZ.Why were these two amateurs so well known? We need to go back to the founding of theARRL in 1914. The ARRL was originally founded, as its name “radio relay” indicates, forhams to relay messages. This was important at a time when few homes had electricity ortelephones. ( In fact, originally the only amateurs who could join the ARRL were those thathad the best stations on the air, and were able to relay messages over long distances. Theserequirements were quickly dropped after a few months to admit anyone interested in amateurradio).A review of QST during its first year shows no mention of any Virginia regularmessage/traffic schedules or the ARRL appointment of a “Superintendent of Traffic” whowould oversee traffic handling schedules—called a “Trunkline”. It was Wohford and Gravelywho first started to keep regular Trunkline schedules. Gravely was appointed “Superintendentof Traffic” in the winter of 1916 for Virginia and North Carolina. At this time, Virginia waspart of Trunkline “D” which covered much of the east Coast. January, 1917 QST states“development of the Trunkline “D” through Virginia is very slow, but local relay work is beingdone by practically all stations.” There is also mention of Trunkline “D” schedules heldbetween 3ZW in Washington, DC and Gravely in Danville, Virginia.After WWI, Gravely served as the first Roanoke Division Traffic Manager, and also servedas the Roanoke Division's first elected ARRL Director to the ARRL Board of Directors. JohnWohlford, 3CA, succeeded Gravely as the Virginia “Superintendent of Traffic” and later servedas Virginia's first elected ARRL Section Communications Manager (SCM) from 1924-32.Wohlford and Gravely both remained active in Virginia until the mid-1950's. W4CA is now8the call sign of the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club.

---------THE HISTORY OF THE QSL CARD“The final courtesy of a great contact is the QSL card. The term “QSL” is derivedfor the radio operators Q-Code and means “Can you verify reception of thistransmission? Or “acknowledgment”. But when did the QSL card originate? In the pastsome have claimed of receiving QSL cards prior to WWI, but no one has ever produceda QSL of that period. For example, an article about QSL card collecting in Wikipediareferences a card sent in 1916 from 8VX to 3TQ. Pictures of pre-1917 shacks, like thetwo pictured in the January SGT, don't show any QSL cards displayed in the shack, soits apparent that QSLing began after WWI.The man who probably knows more about QSL cards is Bob Green, W8JYZ. Bob'sweb site is:oldqslcards.com. The site features 45,000 QSL cards from 1921-1980's.His site is also filled with amateur radio history, and short biographies of many wellknown hams. I recommend it highly. Bob says that the oldest QSL cards he has seenare late 1920. The earliest one in his collection is dated November 3, 1921 from 8AHZin Pittsburgh, Pa to 8FT in Ohio. I located a second printed QSL dated December 30,1921, from 9AYS in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 8IQ in Ohio.

9So who originated the idea of the QSL card? It just so happens, we know!! Fullcredit goes to Donald Hoffman, 8ADU. This man gets the credit for we amateurshaving walls full of QSL cards.In August, 1919 QST, Hoffman, who before WWI was an QST cartoonist, wrote aletter suggested “that the fellows with long distance ham receiving sets make themselvesup a form for post cards something like this (see below) and send each time a new longinstance station is heard. In this way numerous relay possibilities will be discoveredwhere some were careless and didn't notify stations heard formerly. Fellows receivingcards would keep them on file, etc. I used to do this a got a lot of thanks for it from theones I wrote cards to” (page 28).ToHeard your stationDates HoursAudibilitiesWorkingApparatus I useDo you hear me?Call“Hoffman held 8ADU, 8UX, and W8FRY. Note that the 1954 QSL card listed belowsays; “originator of the QSL card fad”.Hoffman was also the author and publisher of“HamFlashes” a subscription got youthe mailing and it was well respected in the Youngstown region. This was a newsy 8-10page booklet mailed monthly. The amazing thing about “HamFlashes” was this littlegem commenced in 1932 and ran its limit in1956. Sadly, Don appeared in the July 1956QST under Silent Keys.” (Tnx W8SU and Bob Green, W8JYZ).

The FCC Rules say.By John B. Johnston, W3BEQ. Can I use my amateur station to sell items?A. That might be feasible in places where our amateur service isregulated by the FCC. Section 97.113(a)(3) says:No amateur station shall transmit:(1) Communications specifically prohibited elsewhere in thispart;(2) Communications for hire or for material compensation, director indirect, paid or promised, except as otherwise provided in theserules;(3) Communications in which the station licensee or controloperator has a pecuniary interest, including communications onbehalf of an employer, with the following exceptions ***11

11(ii) An amateur operator may notify other amateur operators ofthe availability for sale or trade of apparatus normally used in anamateur station, provided that such activity is not conducted on aregular basis.***Additionally, Section 97.113(a)(3)(i) provides exceptions forprofessional communicators.Q. Where is the difference between an amateur and aprofessional communicator?A. SEC. 3. [47 USC 153](2) of the Communications Act says theterm amateur station means a radio station operated by a dulyauthorized person interested in radio technique solely with a personalaim and without pecuniary interest. The ITU concurs in No. 1.56 ofthe international Radio Regulations (RR). The FCC echoes it twicein Sections 2.1(c) and 97.3(a)(4). Section 97.113 says, in effect, thatno station licensee should cause or allow the station to be used forany communications unless no can be answered to each of 11.1smell-test questions. Read BE Informed COMPLIANCE No. 3.0Section 97.113 Smell Test.A professional communicator, on the other hand, doesn't make thecut. That is a person with something more than a personal aimand/or having pecuniary interests in radio technique. As such, theperson is not within our regulators' classification as an amateur eventhough holding an amateur operator license grant.Q. So, how did this breach this happen?A. Until August 2010, most commerce was banned from ouramateur service spectrum. Then, the exceptions in Section 97.113(a)(3)(i) were drastically broadened:(i) A station licensee or control station operator may participate onbehalf of an employer in an emergency preparedness or disaster

12readiness test or drill, limited to the duration and scope of such testor drill, and operational testing immediately prior to such test ordrill. Tests or drills that are not government-sponsored are limited toa total time of one hour per week; except that no more than twice inany calendar year, they may be conducted for a period not to exceed72 hours.(ii) (shown above)(iii) A control operator may accept compensation as an incident ofa teaching position during periods of time when an amateur stationis used by that teacher as a part of classroom instruction at aneducational institution.(iv) The control operator of a club station may acceptcompensation for the periods of time when the station is transmittingtelegraphy practice or information bulletins, provided that thestation transmits such telegraphy practice and bulletins for at least40 hours per week; schedules operations on at least six amateurservice MF and HF bands using reasonable measures to maximizecoverage; where the schedule of normal operating times andfrequencies is published at least 30 days in advance of the actualtransmissions; and where the control operator does not accept anydirect or indirect compensation for any other service as a controloperator.Employers commonly engage in commerce. Income-basedintercommunications on behalf of employers, therefore, can beencountered from places where our amateur service is regulated bythe FCC.Q. How about commercial communications with other othercountries by ham radio?A. Section 97.117 still prohibits such in our international

13communications: Transmissions to a different country, wherepermitted, shall be limited to communications incidental to thepurposes of the amateur service and to remarks of a personalcharacter.Q. Thanks for your eye-opening explanation of the differencebetween an amateur and a professional communicator. Just howmany professional communicators have hacked into our hamradio?A. No one can say for certain because the ULS does not show anysuch detailed information. Whether or not an applicant for an FCCamateur operator/primary station license grant is interested in radiotechnique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interestis the key determinant which - peculiarly enough - is not a stipulationfor licensure by our regulators. They provide other radio servicesintended for those with professional communicator 11.11inclinations.12For whatever it may be worth, the unofficial reluctantly-given WAGestimate from here is that the number of professional communicatorsamongst us is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of our FCCamateur service community population. There were 709,575 amateurstations listed on the ULS at the end of 2012. But with some personslisted thereon residing outside of our United States, the exact numberis unknown.Another unidentified number of hams residing within the UnitedStates who are not listed on the ULS are the non-U.S. citizensauthorized by Part 97.107 Reciprocal operating authority.Additionally, we likely have other non-ULS-listed hams amongst usauthorized by Section 97.301; it makes available certain transmittingfrequency bands in places where our radio service is regulated by the

14FCC to an amateur station having an alien control operator whoholds a CEPT radio amateur license or an IARP (InternationalAmateur Radio Permit).So, we might have something like 70,000 to 100,000 professionalcommunicators and 610,000 to 640,000 bona fide amateurs. give ortake.Q. How can so many professional communicators hack into ouramateur service?A. Probably because the FCC has previously granted so manyamateur service licenses to professional communicators. Others startout as bona fide amateurs. They subsequently transform themselvesinto professional communicators as commercial opportunities arise.Hams, moreover, seem overjoyed whenever anyone obtains a newFCC license grant. They make it all so easy. Read BE InformedLICENSE EXAMINATIONS No. 2.9 W3BE's Notes Get Your HamCall Sign. Practically anyone - anywhere - can speedily obtain one free of charge - simply by answering correctly at least 26 multiplechoice questions on what it is that our VEs consider as beingnecessary to proving that the examinee possesses the operational andtechnical qualifications required to perform properly the duties of anamateur service licensee. Read Sections 97.503 and 97.523.In its NPRM in WT Docket No. 12-283, moreover, the FCC hasdeclared the public interest will be served by making it easier fornew and former amateur service licensees to enter or reenter ouramateur service.Q. Even if your WAG is correct - and I think the real numberof professional communicators is much higher - our amateurservice obviously has been seriously hacked by them. The FCCis fooling no one but itself with those undefined terms utilized inthe Section 97.113(a)(3)(i) text: participate on behalf of an

15employer, emergency preparedness, disaster readiness test or drill,and operational testing.That glorious governmentalgobbledygook practically endorses hacking. We amateurs arethe victims here. It is our radio service that is being hacked andour amateur service community organizers do not seem to care.A. That governmental jargon can sound so magnificentlyauthoritative when it is proclaimed pontifically in a rich baritonevoice, but your observation is compelling. The professionalcommunicators probably rationalize their activities just by tailoring theirown meanings to those ambiguous terms. There resides within theprofessional communicator population, however, those who mustbelieve they merit a pass on the amateur/professional communicatorissue. They apparently consider themselves capable of exemplifyingour regulator's notion of an amateur by effectively self-neutralizingtheir instinctive non-personal aims and/or their pecuniary interests inradio technique.de W3BEThe ARRL Form 1

16I bet many members remember this ARRL Form 1? I believe the ARRL still prints them.This is the oldest one I've ever seen. Dated April of 1930, Frank Irish, W1BLS, is reporting tohis Section Manager his traffic count for the month—5 originated, 5 delivered and 28 relayed.He reports that his “one and only fiver” (5-watt tube) burnt out and he is off the air. Whatmakes this card even more interesting, is that W1BLS was OOTC #1680! He was firstlicensed in 1927, became a Silent Key in 1997, and was licensed for 70 years.SILENT KEYSLEE WICAL, KH6BZF OOTC #4444 District #6 DirectorLee was our OOTC District #6 Director. He was born in Sharon, Pa in 1934 andmembers of his family were hams. He worked for several broadcast stations in Ohio in theearly 1950's, and joined the army in the Korean war. After the war, Uncle Sam sent him towork in Hawaii, and Lee got his Novice license, WH6BZF in 1954. He quickly upgraded toKH6BZF and became interested in contesting and Dxing. Your editor suspects there are manyof our members who first worked Hawaii thanks to KH6 “Blooming Zipper Flipper” as Leecalled himself. .Lee served as ARRL Section Manager for Hawaii from 1962-72, and was State Directorof Army MARS. He was a Charter Life member of the ARRL. In recent years, he edited the“KH6BZF Report” regarding HF propagation. Lee passed away May 2 at the age of 79.SILENT KEYSManuel Botelho, W3NNA Life #2450Botelho was licensed as W1DKT in 1931 and was licensed for 84 years! He graduatedfrom the RCA Institute in Boston in 1932, and worked for the Federal CommunicationsCommission in the Radio Intelligence Division (RID) as a radio monitor. During WWII heworked for the Merchant Marine as a radio operator aboard the “George Hawley”. He wasfluent in multiple languages, and after the war, worked for the CIA where he retired in 1974.He was a life member of the Society of Wireless Pioneers, a Life member of the OOTC, amember of the Veteran Wireless Operators Association, and a Life member of QCWA. He was99 years old.William Deily, Sr, W8YA #2949Deily was born in Philadelphia in 1918, and attended Penn State, graduating with a EEDegree. During WWII he worked for the Signal Corps and for the US Air Force. After the

17war, he worked for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia designing missile tracking systems.Later he worked for Boeing Aircraft in Melbourne, Florida. He was first licensed in 1934 asW3EYO, and also held KK4ST.Walter H. Verdick, KA4WFS #2654Verdick grew up in New Rochelle, NY and served in the Army Air Corps during WWII,serving as an airplane mechanic. He later became a motorcycle police officer, retiring asSergeant with 25 years of Service. After retirement he worked as a gunsmith. He was firstlicensed as KA4WFS in 1971.Noel O. Kindt, W9EFL #4229Kindt was born in Marcellus, MI and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in EE in 1955from Notre Dame. He then entered the US Air Force where he served at Lockbourne AFBStrategic Air Command and retired as a Major. He later earned his Master's degree in EE, andstarted a new career in the electronic sales and distribution business near Chicago. He wasfirst licensed as WN9EFL in 1951. He was 80 years old.Charles Stinger, W8GFA #4047Born in Ludlow, Pa, in 1930, Joined the Navy in the Korean War, and was a 1957graduate of Villanova University in EE. He received his first ham license in 1951 as W3RMB.Edward McGrath, W5IOK, #3955McGrfath was born in Buffalo, NY and was a retired Certification Technician.He was first licensed as WV2NQQ in 1959. He later upgraded to WA2NQQ andbecame W5IOK when he retired to Texas. He was 75 years --

18OOTC Supplies available: OOTC 4” diameter patch Iron-on or sew-on. 5.OOTC pins-- 3.50. Free gold 1” stamp glue back, sheets of 63, just send SASE.Send to Secretary Phil Sager, WB4FDT 7634 Carla Rd Baltimore Md 21208NEW MEMBERSChris Ramsay, N4YE #4636Chris was first licensed in Michigan as WN8NSQ Novice in 1964 age 12. Hebecame WA8NSQ 6 months later. He moved to Virginia in 1967, becoming WB4IIT.In 1977, he changed his call to N4YE. Chris is now retired from the federal governmentafter working in personnel management in several agencies, including the Coast Guard.He has been active using QRQ (hi-speed) CW on the lower bands. In recent years, hehas been more active on SSB, and currently serves as the Manager of the Virginia PhoneNet. Chris, who has been blind since birth, holds a BA and MBA in Management fromthe College of William and Mary, in Virginia.Marc Pressman, N4DR #4637Marc was first licensed in 1966 at age 14 as WB4DRB, changi

the quad. William (Bill) Orr, W6SAI (SK) in his book "All About Cubical Quad Antennas" said a group of radio engineers installed a "gigantic" four element quad in Ecuador in 1939 (All About Cubical Quad Antennas, 2nd Ed., Radio Publications, Inc., 1977). Now I see various quad related designs (e.g. "Hexbeam", "Spiderbeam") that