Army Vacation or Navy Cruise

In the fall of 1925, the US Army worked out a plan for transmitting amateurs1 to take part in a cooperative operation in support of Regular Army, National Guard and Reserve units, to handle traffic and provide communications in times of emergency, provide a reserve of trained operators, and exchange ideas about radio.2 Those interested (Official Relay Stations of the ARRL’s Traffic Department were already interested, with 80% responding in a survey) were asked to send a station card (not … Continue reading

Transpacifics

Steadily increasing use of CW paralleled exploration of ever shorter wavelengths, and the two pursuits complemented each other. Amateurs were setting new records at a whirlwind pace. CW use in traffic handling had grown tremendously in the past year, and in June 1922 ARRL message traffic on CW exceeded that on spark for the first time.1 By the following February CW traffic accounted for nearly 90% of the total.2 Hams across the country found CW especially effective in summer when … Continue reading

Crossings III—Accolades

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