Tag Archives: special license

Regulations and Enforcement, Hard and Soft

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Descriptions of the radio laws and anecdotes about their enforcement during the early years paints a picture of a regulatory environment that could be alternately strict or flexible.  A QST article in 1916 by “Little Willie” described his and his friends’ experience preparing for and taking an exam for the “first grade comm” (First Grade Commercial license) which consisted of a code test and a written test.1  Although the author’s identity is likely fictitious, the story probably relates an actual … Continue reading →

The Relay’s the Thing

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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Whether for public service or as a challenge worth attacking, transmitting information across ever greater distances is what drove members of the Relay League to organize. The thrill of wireless communication was reinforced with each additional mile covered, even as signals became weaker. Relaying was an obvious way to extend range beyond the capability of one pair of stations in direct contact, and it required more than just knowing who was located where. Urged by the first district Radio Inspector, … Continue reading →

Getting Organized

Posted on by June 23, 2013
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A growing number of clubs across the country, especially in and around cities, continued to spur interest in amateur radio. One of them, the Radio Club of Hartford in Connecticut, held its first meeting on 14 January 1914, and would soon play a larger role than most in amateur radio history. Local businessman and engineer Hiram Percy Maxim was among the group in Hartford that evening. Already a prominent radio amateur, he operated a one-kilowatt station, with call sign 1WH, … Continue reading →

The First Regulations

Posted on by June 2, 2021
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The air began to fill with signals from military, commercial and amateur transmitters. By mid-1904 the Navy had established 20 coastal stations to make special broadcasts and communicate with 24 wireless-equipped ships. Perhaps a hundred or so high-power amateur stations were also operating in the US at this point. Companies started to be established around 1908, many based on wild claims impossible to satisfy, which therefore fed public skepticism about radio. But as the business environment stabilized, companies consolidated and … Continue reading →