Author Archives: W2PA

New Circuits

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Though radio had changed rapidly and radically over the past decade, that change only accelerated in the early twenties.  New regulations, the broadcast boom, the abandonment of spark for CW, and new transmitter, receiver, and antenna designs were all happening simultaneously.  No single one drove the others, but all together they advanced the radio art in a self-supporting feedback loop. Since publication of John Reinartz’s (1QP or “1-Kewpie”) tuner1 in 1921, hundreds of hams had used it on CW with … Continue reading →

First Band, Top Band

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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On 20 March 1923 Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover convened his second national radio conference and, as before, the ARRL was there in force. A May QST photo shows Maxim at center flanked by C. F. Jenkins, identified as “inventor of radio transmission of photographs,” and Major General G. O. Squier, US Army, Chief Signal Officer. Paul Godley of transatlantics fame and ARRL Secretary Kenneth Warner can be seen in the background. Besides Maxim and crew, other prominent participants from … Continue reading →

Crossings IV—The Reply

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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It had been a one-way affair.  In the successful transatlantic tests of December 1921, North America transmitted and Europe listened, along with a lone transplanted North American. Now it was time to try it in both directions, though still not in complete QSOs. In October 1922 the ARRL announced that another round of transatlantic tests would be run in December, with preliminary trials from 25 October through 3 November.1 This time the test would include British, French and Dutch amateurs. … Continue reading →

Twenty-two in ’22

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Driven by rapidly expanding and radically changing uses of radio, a fitful and frustrating process of legislative and regulatory proposals and counterproposals was just beginning and would continue for a decade or more before it would begin to stabilize. As spring arrived in 1922, new broadcasting stations packed the air with signals as growing crowds of listeners in the general public clamored for even more. Ten years had brought changes unimaginable in 1912 when the first radio law was enacted.  … Continue reading →

Broadcast Boundaries

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Despite several attempts, no successor to the outdated 1912 radio law had yet emerged. Now it could wait no longer since things had changed so radically with the rise of broadcasting—“well over a half-million receiving stations in the country, some sixty broadcasting stations, and rumor has it that there are some five hundred applications for broadcasting pending in the department of Commerce,” wrote Warner.1 Companies were trying to control access to the airwaves too; AT&T, for example, was formally requesting … Continue reading →

What is an Amateur?

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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As the number of phone broadcasts exploded in late 1921, radio amateurs and the ARRL were ambivalent about it. On one hand, the great increase in the number of people owning receivers was a good thing—radio technology was being embraced by the general public. On the other hand, the shared airwaves were getting even more crowded. There were now thousands of broadcast stations operating, both commercial and amateur. Furthermore, a fuzzy line separated amateur from non-amateur that had nothing to … Continue reading →

Crossings III—Accolades

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Back in London, Coursey1 kidded Paul Godley about freezing up north in soggy Scotland while he and the other British hams relaxed comfortably in their warm, cozy London homes, receiving signals using small aerials. British amateurs had indeed heard many northeast US stations, and 1BCG was also heard in Holland and on a ship docked at Hamburg. Godley spent ten hours at Coursey’s office documenting details of the test. January QST’s banner cover headline read: Transatlantic Tests Succeed! – followed … Continue reading →

Crossings II—Ardrossan

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Paul Godley slept well during his six-day Atlantic voyage, catching up on the sleep he lost during the intense organizing activities in the run-up to the transatlantics project. Arriving in England on 21 November 1921, he was unexpectedly met by H. J. Tattersall, Superintendant of the Marconi Company in Southampton, who helped him deal with various customs problems.1 A recently imposed import duty would have caused his equipment to be held up for weeks. Instead, they negotiated for Godley to … Continue reading →