{"id":126,"date":"2012-12-06T03:45:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T03:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/?page_id=126"},"modified":"2014-03-01T13:48:35","modified_gmt":"2014-03-01T13:48:35","slug":"glossary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/glossary\/","title":{"rendered":"Glossary"},"content":{"rendered":"

1929 type<\/strong> \u2013 Describing stations, transmitters and receivers, this term meant that they had been designed specifically to adhere to the bands and signal characteristics dictated by the 1927 International Radio Convention, whose specifications went into effect on January 1, 1929.<\/p>\n

AARS<\/strong> \u2013 Army-Amateur Radio System, volunteer precursor to MARS<\/p>\n

Antipode(s)<\/strong> – Two locations directly opposite one another on the earth\u2019s surface, believed in the early days to favor propagation because of a re-convergence of signals from multiple paths around the globe.<\/p>\n

Audibility<\/strong> \u2013 A measure of signal strength, usually based on audio strength<\/p>\n

Audion<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 DeForest\u2019s name for a three electrode vacuum tube<\/p>\n

BCL<\/strong> \u2013 Broadcast Listener, used to refer to listeners in the early 1920s to distinguish them from amateurs. The term novice<\/em> was also used at this time to refer to such a listener.<\/p>\n

Beam transmission<\/strong> \u2013 a term first used in the mid-1920s to refer to a directional signal, especially at very short wavelengths around 1 meter and below.<\/p>\n

Bulb<\/strong> \u2013 early term for vacuum tube (see also Audion)<\/p>\n

Bug<\/strong> \u2013 used alone, an early synonym for ham \u2013 as in, radio bug<\/p>\n

Bustands<\/strong> \u2013 also Bustan, contraction of the Bureau of Standards (WWV, is its station)<\/p>\n

Chicago Plan, The<\/strong> \u2013 a time sharing plan intended to reduce QRM in the Chicago area, many variations of which were adopted around the US in the early 1920s. (see April 1921 QST, \u201cQRM and The Relay Game,\u201d by J. F. Scholtes, 9AR)<\/p>\n

Chopper<\/strong> \u2013 a rotary device used to modulate a CW signal to produce ICW<\/p>\n

Connection<\/strong> \u2013 As in \u201cwe present a connection for\u2026\u201d – early term for a circuit or design.<\/p>\n

Damped oscillations or waves<\/strong> \u2013 Radio frequency pulses such as those produced by a spark<\/a> transmitter, typically a series of short bursts of radio frequency energy that decay in amplitude with time.<\/p>\n

Dead end<\/strong> \u2013 refers to the unused part of a tapped inductor, beyond the tap in use. Letting unused turns float was a source of various problems in early RF circuit design.<\/p>\n

Decrement<\/strong> \u2013 a parameter of a spark<\/a> or damped wave transmitter, it denotes how rapidly the amplitude of the RF wave decreases. It is calculated by taking the ratio of the amplitude of successive oscillations in the wave train, and taking the natural logarithm (called the Naperian logarithm in texts of the teens and twenties). In textbooks (e.g. Duncan and Drew) it is referred to as the logarithmic decrement. Example: a ratio of 1.22 is a decrement of 0.2. It is usually specified in tenths, as in \u201cthe law says our wave shall not dampen quicker than two tenths\u201d means the decrement should not exceed 0.2 (the government regulated maximum decrement). If damping is too quick, you get a series of very short pulses that are very broad. See the chapter on Spark Radio<\/a> for a more complete explanation.<\/p>\n

District<\/strong> \u2013an ARRL organizational unit in the 1920s just below the division level, managed by a District Superintendent, or D.S. In some divisions they were called \u201csections.\u201d See, for example, The Operating Department, March 1922 QST, where West Gulf Division has both Districts and Sections and Central Division has Districts.<\/p>\n

D.S.<\/strong> \u2013 District Superintendent (see District).<\/p>\n

DX<\/strong> \u2013 in the early years simply meant \u201cdistance.\u201d DX station<\/em> meant a station capable of working long distances (as used e.g. p33, Jan 1920 QST).<\/p>\n

Fading<\/strong> \u2013 early term for QSB\u2014also called \u201cswinging,\u201d \u201cfreaks<\/a>\u201d and QSS<\/a><\/p>\n

Fan antenna<\/strong> \u2013 multiple vertical wires that spread out as they are strung up from ground level, fed at the common point at bottom, insulated and supported by a horizontal wire at the top. A popular antenna in the teens and twenties.<\/p>\n

FB<\/strong> \u2013 Fine business\u2014generally used as either a noun or adjective to describe goodness.<\/p>\n

Freak<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 yet another word for QSB or \u201cfading.\u201d Sometimes used as a verb, as in \u201cfreaking in and out\u201d (e.g. p36 Feb 1921 QST).<\/p>\n

GCT<\/strong> \u2013 Greenwich Civil Time, which, in the 1920s was defined as beginning 0000 at midnight as opposed to GMT which began at noon despite later conventional use as starting at midnight.<\/p>\n

Group Frequency Method<\/strong> \u2013 Using a tuning capacitor in the headphone circuit to select a specific spark tone.<\/p>\n

Handy\u2019s Handbook<\/strong> \u2013 The first edition of The Radio Amateur\u2019s Handbook, edited by ARRL Communications Department Manager F. E. Handy and published in 1926. It was commonly referred to as Handy\u2019s Handbook in the late 1920s.<\/p>\n

Honeycomb coil<\/strong> \u2013 An inductor wound with turns that weave in and out radially so that adjacent windings are never parallel and thus minimizes the distributed capacitance of the coil.<\/p>\n

Hot wire ammeter (HWA)<\/strong> \u2013 A device for measuring feed line (and therefore antenna) current. \u00a0This was the common way of specifying radiation (rather than power in watts).<\/p>\n

ICW<\/strong> \u2013 Interrupted CW\u2014a modulated CW signal using a \u201cchopper\u201d to pulse it.<\/p>\n

Intermediate<\/strong> \u2013 the separator between called and calling stations\u2019 call signs, most commonly DE<\/em>, which, in the 1920s was proposed to change depending on the countries involved during a contact. It was also sometimes called an Interval Sign<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Interval sign<\/strong> \u2013 See Intermediate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Juice<\/strong> \u2013 An early common slang term for electric power service.<\/p>\n

LD<\/strong> \u2013 Long distance; a precursor to \u201cDX\u201d<\/p>\n

Litzendraht wire (Litz wire)<\/strong> \u2013 A bundle of stranded wire, each strand insulated from one another to reduce AC resistance due to skin effect (by increasing surface area)<\/p>\n

M.O.P.A.<\/strong> \u2013 Master oscillator, power amplifier\u2014the name given to the most popular design for transmitters in the late 1920s.<\/p>\n

Natural wave<\/strong> \u2013 Refers to the resonant length of an antenna, usually one full wave length.<\/p>\n

NCR<\/strong> \u2013 US Naval Communication Reserve, a service in the 1920s and 1930s for hams to serve in reserve duty.<\/p>\n

ND<\/strong> \u2013 No dice\u2014roughly the opposite of FB.<\/p>\n

Number<\/strong> \u2013 used to mean \u201cissue\u201d as in this month\u2019s number of QST.<\/p>\n

Novice<\/strong> \u2013 an early 1920s term for a broadcast listener, as distinguished from a radio amateur. Also BCL <\/em>for broadcast listener.<\/p>\n

Off-wave<\/strong> \u2013 Operation outside the legal limits of an amateur band, a term mostly used in the late 1920s and 1930s<\/p>\n

O.T.<\/strong> \u2013 Oscillation transformer\u2014forms the resonant circuit in a spark transmitter and couples to the antenna<\/p>\n

O.W.<\/strong> \u2013 Old woman\u2014a precursor to YL, also synonym for XYL (see, e.g. Mar 1922 QST p 53).<\/p>\n

Phantom antenna<\/strong> \u2013 A dummy load (see, e.g. July 1917 QST editorials and Sept 1921 QST p.25)<\/p>\n

Power factor<\/strong> \u2013 (Apparently) the cosine of the angle between voltage and current\u2014so in resonance, it equals 1. See, e.g. July 1921 QST p.15.<\/p>\n

PX<\/strong> \u2013 Abbreviation for press release used during the MacMillan polar expedition in 1923-24.<\/p>\n

QCW<\/strong> \u2013 (Feb 20 p46) a suggestion: listen for my CW on \u2026 meters (or a question)\u2014used during the early stages of the shift from spark to CW.<\/p>\n

QRK<\/strong> \u2013 Readable (on a scale from 1 to 5).<\/p>\n

QRM<\/strong> – Interference with or from another station’s signal.<\/p>\n

QRN<\/strong> – Static, or random noise caused by natural sources – see “strays”<\/p>\n

QSA<\/strong> \u2013 As in, signals are QSA, means roughly 5 by 9 signals. Or \u201cstrength\u201d (1 to 5).<\/p>\n

QSLL<\/strong> \u2013 A reply card to a received QSL card.<\/p>\n

QSS<\/strong> \u2013 Early Q-signal promoted by ARRL to mean \u201cfading\u201d in the 1920s\u2014later replaced by QSB.<\/p>\n

Radiocorp<\/strong> \u2013 Early shorthand for RCA corporation (e.g. p13, February 1922 QST).<\/p>\n

Radiotron<\/strong> \u2013 Brand name for RCA vacuum tubes.<\/p>\n

Receivers<\/strong> \u2013 Early synonym for headphones.<\/p>\n

R.I. \u2013 Radio Inspector<\/strong> \u2013 A government district level official.<\/p>\n

Rock-crusher<\/strong> \u2013 Slang term for a spark<\/a> transmitter (e.g. p.40 Sept 1921 QST).<\/p>\n

Rochester Plan, The<\/strong> \u2013 A plan for sharing the airwaves with broadcasters in the early 1920s that involved amateurs voluntarily refraining from transmitting between approximately 7:00 and 10:30 PM local time.<\/p>\n

Secondary circuit<\/strong> \u2013 Early synonym for the grid circuit of a vacuum tube circuit design (e.g. p9 Jan 1922 QST).<\/p>\n

Self-controlled oscillator<\/strong> \u2013 One that is variable in frequency, as opposed to a crystal controlled one (e.g. p41, Dec 1930 QST).<\/p>\n

SF<\/strong> \u2013 An abbreviation for standard frequency, used in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

Sine, (sometimes written as sign<\/em>) as in, operator\u2019s sign or signature<\/strong> \u2013 An identifier for a specific operator at a station, usually two letters, used to distinguish one operator from another, and is a carry over from the days before government issued call signs when two-letter identifiers were used.<\/p>\n

Single-Signal receiver<\/strong> \u2013 also referred to as an S.S. receiver, was a superheterodyne design in the 1930s using interstage filtering for added selectivity.<\/p>\n

S.S. Receiver<\/strong> \u2013 see single-signal receiver<\/p>\n

Soldering copper<\/strong> – term for a soldering iron in the 1920s. They were available electrically heated and stand-alone for heating over a flame.<\/p>\n

Special license<\/strong> \u2013 Granted to some stations to operate at wavelengths above 200 meters.<\/p>\n

Spot frequency net<\/strong> \u2013 A net where everyone is on the same frequency\u2014a novelty in the late 1920s and 1930s.<\/p>\n

Squeak box<\/strong> \u2013 A spark<\/a> coil, or spark coil-based transmitter.<\/p>\n

Static room<\/strong> \u2013 An early term for ham shack\u2014e.g. p13 Feb 1922 QST.<\/p>\n

Strays<\/strong> \u2013 Another word for \u201cstatic\u201d (see, e.g. the report form for the 1920 QSS Tests in June issue. \u201cSignal-stray ratio\u201d is mentioned on p6, Jan 1921 QST. A Bureau of Standards researcher uses the term in June 1921 QST.<\/p>\n

Swinging<\/strong> \u2013 Synonym for fading, or QSS. The term was also used in the early days of CW operation to describe the behavior of a signal having an unstable frequency.<\/p>\n

Telephones<\/strong> \u2013 An early synonym for headphones\u2014also called receivers in the early 1920s.<\/p>\n

Time constant of an inductance<\/strong> \u2013 The old term for Q of an inductor (e.g. July 1921 QST p.17).<\/p>\n

TPTG<\/strong> \u2013 Tuned plate, tuned grid style of transmitter circuit, circa 1930.<\/p>\n

Transcon<\/strong> \u2013 Short for a transcontinental message relay, ca. early 1920s.<\/p>\n

Tuner<\/strong> \u2013 Often used as a synonym for receiver<\/em>, in the early 1920s it referred mostly to a receiver\u2019s front end, particularly the grid and plate circuits of a regenerative detector.<\/p>\n

Tunes<\/strong> \u2013 Pre-1920 (approx.) synonym for frequencies or wavelengths, as in, what you\u2019re tuned to.<\/p>\n

Undamped oscillations or waves<\/strong> \u2013 CW, signals with zero decrement.<\/p>\n

Valve<\/strong> \u2013 Synonym for vacuum tube, mostly European but also used in early QST<\/em> (e.g. September 1920 lead article).<\/p>\n

Variometer<\/strong> \u2013 A transformer with variable coupling controlled by changing the angle of one winding with respect to the other, with one physically inside the other. See, e.g. the ad on page 3, Nov 1921 QST. It is used to get variable coupling between two inductors, or wherever a variable inductor is needed. One can connect the windings in series or parallel or have them independent.<\/p>\n

Wing circuit \u2013<\/strong> Vacuum tube plate circuit (syn.).<\/p>\n

Wobbulation or wabbulation<\/strong> \u2013 The modulation of a transmitter\u2019s frequency due to instability in its oscillator or amplifier while being keyed or modulated.<\/p>\n

X Section<\/strong> \u2013 The Experimenters\u2019 Section, a QST<\/em> magazine department in the 1920s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1929 type \u2013 Describing stations, transmitters and receivers, this term meant that they had been designed specifically to adhere to the bands and signal characteristics dictated by the 1927 International Radio Convention, whose specifications went into effect on January 1, 1929. AARS \u2013 Army-Amateur Radio System, volunteer precursor to MARS Antipode(s) – Two locations directly opposite one another on the earth\u2019s surface, believed in the early days to favor propagation because of a re-convergence of signals from multiple paths around … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-126","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3151,"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions\/3151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w2pa.net\/HRH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}