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<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve been following along you know that strays<\/i> is a word hams used in the early years to mean static or other noises caused mostly by nature that would interfere with reception of signals. QST<\/i> adopted the word as a heading for a collection of unrelated short topics of interest. In the first issues they were all grouped together and sometimes would take up a full page or more. Today, Strays<\/i> lives on in QST<\/i>, but distributed around the magazine in smaller numbers.\u00a0 I will adopt the concept for this Ham Radio History blog as a good way to similarly collect unrelated but interesting topics from the period, particularly ones that are too short for their own posting, which don\u2019t fit logically within another nearby posting.<\/p>\n
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As 1920 began, Warner asked ARRL members to send their ideas for a symbol to represent the organization.1<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 After many submitted designs were considered, an official ARRL emblem was adopted by the board of directors and announced in July \u2013 the well known diamond framing an elemental radio circuit, still in use today.2<\/a><\/sup> \u201cWe all know that our Emblem must be chaste in design and color, distinctive and symbolic of our work. These qualities, we feel, are well represented in this insignia,\u201d wrote Warner. It would be used for all manner of League business, but its immediate purpose was as a lapel pin to be worn at gatherings. \u201cNow we will know each other. As quickly as we can get these distributed they will become the sign of a Hail-Fellow-Well-Met in amateur radio\u2014a Brother A.R.R.L. man,\u201d he added. Later in the issue, an ad appeared for \u201cThe \u2018Sine\u2019 of the Fraternity,\u201d an emblem in \u201cextra-heavy rolled gold and black enamel\u201d on a pin or lapel mount, for $1.50 postpaid.<\/p>\n Not quite one year after the reopening, ham radio was fully revived and bracing for growth. QST<\/em> grew to reach 100 pages in September 1920, a size not seen for almost three and a half years. The Calls Heard<\/em> section expanded to two and a half pages.<\/p>\n As the postwar influx of new hams accelerated, Maxim wrote about embracing beginners.3<\/a><\/sup> Maxim\u2019s appreciation for mentoring is probably one of the reasons for QST<\/em> beginning a new column, \u201cThe Junior Operator,\u201d conducted by Guy Entwhistle, meant to help newcomers get started in amateur radio.<\/p>\n A late starter himself, he had only begun learning about radio ten years earlier, already in his forties, and it was the help of more experienced operators who got him going. Most amateurs were beginners back then and amateur radio was much simpler too\u2014an aerial, water pipe ground, loose coupler, and crystal for a receiver; and spark coil, fixed gap, and photographic plate condenser for a transmitter. Maxim was becoming concerned that because the average station had become so much more complex there was a growing gap between the experienced hams and the beginners. \u201cA sort of aristocracy is built up, and this is not a healthy condition,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0 And he believed it was also in the best interest of the established, experienced operators to encourage beginners to get involved. As a practical matter, \u201cthere is only one air and we must all use it in common,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe experienced amateur cannot work if the inexperienced amateur is not willing to co-operate, just as the inexperienced cannot function without the co-operation of the experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n From the start, Maxim\u2019s constant interest had been in traffic handling. He still believed that it was the main draw in amateur radio, and without it interest would wane. If all activity were just conversation, conditions on the air would be \u201cintolerable\u201d because of interference. Traffic handling \u201cpossesses a charm and a pull which is never ending,\u201d he wrote. Although a visionary, he failed at this point to envision the rich variety of amateur radio activities yet to come.<\/p>\n Maxim traveled to California in late summer to attend the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.4<\/a><\/sup> While there he also addressed a meeting of the San Francisco Radio Club, never before having visited an amateur radio organization on the West Coast. \u201cFor the first time in our history the Atlantic sat down at the same table with the Pacific and each was able to see the kind of man the other was,\u201d wrote Warner. \u201cFor years we have read of each other but had never seen what the other fellow looked and acted like. We understand Mr. Maxim listened in at Brother McGown\u2019s5<\/a><\/sup> station. We envy him the privilege of hearing a \u201csix\u201d call. It and the seven have never entered these ears of ours thus far.\u201d<\/p>\n One difference Maxim noted from East Coast clubs was that the West Coasters charged dues, paid to rent meeting space and generally \u201cdo things properly,\u201d in his view. He encouraged adopting their practices more widely. Maxim\u2019s trip was viewed as contributing to nationwide bonds between amateurs, as were visits by Traffic Manager J. O. Smith to the South, Southwest, and Midwest.<\/p>\n While in California, Maxim also addressed the \u201cwireless world of the western United States\u201d on the air via Lee De Forest\u2019s one-kilowatt station in San Francisco on 3 July.6<\/a><\/sup> Lieutenant Ellery W. Stone, USNRF, had given a lecture on vacuum tubes via the same transmitter a couple of weeks earlier on 23 June. It was thought to be the first technical lecture ever delivered by radiotelephone.<\/p>\n The US Navy was pressing for control of the airwaves again in late 1920. Their attempt at radio legislation was an inactive bill in the Senate\u2019s Radio Subcommittee of the Committee on Naval Affairs,7<\/a><\/sup> which QST<\/i> condemned as \u201cun-American to the core\u201d in many provisions and one that did not assure amateurs of continued permission to operate.8<\/a><\/sup> Thought to be obsolete because of a pending international convention,9<\/a><\/sup> there was nonetheless renewed fear that it might be revived and rushed through the short congressional session starting on 6 December. The bill proposed establishing a \u201cNational Radio Commission\u201d with authority to regulate the operation of all eight classes of stations, including several kinds of amateur stations. But it made \u201cno provisions for hearing the claims of interested classes of stations, and throughout is amazingly autocratic and contrary to the principles of American government,\u201d according to the editorial.<\/p>\n QST\u2014<\/i>presumably Warner as editor\u2014speculated that naval officers who had drafted most of the bill had, \u201cacquired the \u2018imperialistic\u2019 views of Europe on matters affecting communication.\u201d The proposed commission would have representatives from the Departments of the Navy, War, Commerce and Post Office, but its secretary would be a naval officer appointed by the Secretary of the Navy, thus essentially giving the Navy complete control of radio. The commission would have the power to deny a license to any applicant for only vaguely defined reasons. It could, for example, \u201cannounce that the amateur wave length should be two meters, the power one watt, the decrement .0001,\u201d and be within the law. \u201cThe un-American qualities of this bill reach a state of absolutely unqualified despotism,\u201d decried Warner, and urged members to implore their representatives to oppose to it.<\/p>\n Operating procedures were in flux in the early 1920s. For example, there were as yet no national prefixes. This naturally caused confusion between Canadian and US call signs – duplicates were unavoidable. So for a while the ARRL adopted a different prosign or signal<\/em> to be used between various combinations of call signs.10<\/a><\/sup> US working US would use DE<\/em> as usual. US working Canada would use AA<\/em>, Canada working US will use V<\/em> and Canada working Canada would use OE. We can imagine what this must have sounded like. With only two countries to contend with, it was just the beginning.<\/p>\n The Old Man defined SOL<\/i> as \u201csure out of luck,\u201d which is what you were if you missed the ARRL Midwest Convention in St. Louis in December, where he met many well known hams for the first time.11<\/a><\/sup> \u201cThat’s the funny thing about these Radio Conventions,\u201d he wrote, adding that \u201cYou get to know folks intimately in five minutes time.\u201d He described seeing HPM by surprise when,<\/p>\n \u2026 the crazy elevator behind me exploded again, and another bunch was disgorged into the room. I gasped for air when I realized that the gray-haired middle-aged man who came out first was no other than our President, Mr. Hiram Percy Maxim. By the Great Horn Spoon! Right here in the same room! Had known him for years and years, it seemed like. I had written him no end. The Old Chief, himself! Say boys, it was just the greatest feeling that came over me that I have had in many a long year. It just grips you.12<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n At one point, somebody wheeled in a big crate supposedly containing a \u201cstatic eliminator.\u201d As HPM uncovered it, out burst a \u201cyoung lady dressed for anything but winter weather.”<\/p>\n The roaring twenties had begun.<\/p>\n de W2PA<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been following along you know that strays is a word hams used in the early years to mean static or other noises caused mostly by nature that would interfere with reception of signals. QST adopted the word as a heading for a collection of unrelated short topics of interest. In the first issues they were all grouped together and sometimes would take up a full page or more. Today, Strays lives on in QST, but distributed around the … Continue reading <\/p>\nMaxim, Mentor<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nTwo Firsts in the Sixth<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nAnother Navy Skirmish<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nCall Confusion<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nT.O.M. meets Maxim?<\/h3>\n
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