USA AMATEUR RADIO HISTORY AND LICENSING

  

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Day One Mother Nature sends static crashes and lightning crashes around the world - but no one is around to hear them!!! Either audibly or by radio - DX will be!!

DX is an early telephone term for distant exchange. It is also defined in Funk & Wagnall's as Distance. The term DX appears in many math formulas as distance of x. See Origin of DX. At any rate, for Amateur Radio, it is the sending of messages over long distances.

EARLY COMMUNICATIONS

The Greeks were the first to discover electricity about 2500 years ago. They noticed that when an amber was rubbed with other materials it became charged with an unknown force that had the power to attract objects such as dried leaves, feathers, bits of cloth, or other lightweight materials. The Greeks called amber electron. The word electric was derived from it and meant "to be like amber," or to have the ability to attract other objects.

1200 BC In the Iliad, Homer tells of a chain of beacon fires prearranged to signal the return of Agamemnon's fleet to Mycenae and, thus, gave Clytemnestra and Aegisthus time to arrange the assassination of Agamemnon.²³

522 BC Persian Army employs a relay system where soldiers positioned on hilltops shout and relay military messages 30 times faster than by runner. Accounts of flags, mirrors and smoke signals appear in early history.

490 B.C Greek runner Pheidippides, Athenian courier is sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon -  runs 150 miles in two days. At the conclusion of the battle, he returns to Athens, where he reportedly shouted “Rejoice! We conquer!” and then died of exhaustion.

Early On - Mirrors are used to signal across visible distances - the heliograph

1206 Genghis Khan is denied importing of radio gear, so develops a "pony express" to keep tabs on his empire -- pony stations at about 25 miles apart. 

1500 -1800's Early discoveries of Electricty and Magnetism can be found in the annals of history, names such as Gilbert, Von Guericke, Volta, Oersted, Wheatstone, Cooke, Faraday, Ampere, Ohm, Davy, all contribute to the ultimate development of wireless.

1610 -  Galileo observes sunspots through his telescope. He also experiments extensively in the fields of mechanics, astronomy, the microscope, thermometry, and magnetism.

1749-1755 “First” solar cycle observed in Zurich, Switzerland. Solar Cycle 1700-2000

1823  In England, Sir Francis Ronalds builds a 'telegraph' in his garden; no one is interested. ²³

1831 - 1903. Early Pioneers and Inventors include, Maxwell, Marconi, Loomis, Edison, Henry, Hertz, Feddersen, Von Bezold,  Hughes, Stokes, Tesla, Henry, Bell, Preece, Hertz, Branly, Dodge, Braun, Lodge, and Popoff all lay the foundation of wireless ¹⁴

1835  Samuel F. B. Morse formulates the elements of a relay system. By 1837 the system is improved and was demonstrated using 'lightning wires' and 'Morse code,' an electronic alphabet that could carry messages. The patent was applied for in 1840. A line was constructed between Baltimore and Washington and the first message, sent on May 24,1844, was 'What hath God wrought!' More On History Of The Telegraph¹⁹ 

1861 the two coasts of the United States were linked by telegraph. The operating procedures, codes and protocols of the telegraph were carried over to the new age of "wireless". Indeed many wireless operators came from the telegraph ranks.

1861 - 1865 During the US Civil War, Telegraph is used extensively using existing commercial systems, and building and operating more than fifteen thousand miles of lines for military purposes only.

^{THE BIRTH OF WIRELESS}

The term wireless was a natural extension of less wired or the telegraph. Not until 1906 did the term Radio begin to appear.

1850 - By 1850 most of the basic electrical phenomena had been investigated. However, James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge then came up with something entirely new. By some elegant mathematics he had shown the probable existence of electromagnetic waves of radiation. But it was twenty four years later (eight years after Maxwell's death) that Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) in Germany gave a practical demonstration of the accuracy of this theory. He generated and detected electromagnetic waves across the length of his laboratory on a wavelength of approximately one metre.¹⁶

1864 Mahlon Loomis ¹ proposes a vertical top-capacity loaded aerial with a keying device and an indicator, all in series to ground. DX Might Be!

1865 Using 2 kites, Mahlon Loomis ² transmits wireless messages between two mountains 18 miles apart in Virginia. Son Of A Gun - DX IS. The first Dxpedition???

1865 - On 17 May 1865  the first International Telegraph Convention was signed by the 20 participating countries and the International Telegraph Union (later ITU) was set up to enable subsequent amendments to this initial agreement to be agreed upon¹³

1870 Mahlon Loomis successfully transmitted wireless telegraphic signals between two ships which were two miles apart on the Chesapeake Bay. The U. S. Navy sponsored those experiments.

1883 Edison demonstrated that an electric current could pass between a heated filament and a cold plate in a vacuum.

1886 Heinrich Hertz proved that electromagnetic waves could be sent through space.

1887 Heinrich Hertz experments with parbolic dishes - produces waves at about 30cm - 1 GHz!!!

1896 - First practical wireless by Marconi, 'Hertzian Waves' over two miles! DX Will Be! When he read about the experiments of Heinrich Hertz and about Popov's suggestion, he saw the possibility of using these waves as a means of signaling. Marconi realized that his signaling system would be most useful to shipping. More on Marconi ¹⁹ 

1898 -- In January, British Leslie Miller ³ publishes an article in the British hobby magazine "The Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician". Here he contributed a superbly written article titled "The New Wireless Telegraphy" encouraging experimenters in the new field of "Wireless". 

1898 - US Navy establishes coastal stations and begins to outfit the fleet with wireless communications.

1898 - 1912, experimenters begin transmitting and DX is anything over 10 miles. Early Amateur Radio in the UK can be seen at Dawn Of Radio in the UK and Europe¹⁶ Also See The Invention Of Radio.¹⁹ 

1899 Marconi sends a signal over the English Channel - 32 miles. QSL's are in order.

1901 Marconi bridges the Atlantic, a feat which caught the world's attention and fueled the imagination of thousands of potential amateurs, who took their first steps into wireless. His transatlantic triumph came on the 12th December 1901 when the morse letter 'S' was transmitted from Poldhu, in Cornwall and received by Marconi himself at St. John's, Newfoundland, who recorded the historic event in his pocket book simply "Sigs at 12.20, 1.10 & 2.20".

Marconi's original transmitters used high voltage spark gaps to generate 'Hertzian Waves'.  The first experimental sets used induction coils with vibrating contact current interrupters to generate the high voltages. 

In the way of development after Marconi's high voltage spark gap came the use of  high voltage transformers to generate the spark gap voltage. The ultimate came in the powerful transmitters such as those at the U.S. Navy's station at Arlington, Virginia. Here a 500 Hz generator, a step up transformer, and a rotary spark gap was used used to create the high voltage. Some of these produced a deafening   noise created by the spark. Spark transmitters were often placed in acoustically insulated rooms to deaden the sound. 

Around 1900 William Duddell discovered the principle of negative resistance in connection with a carbon arc. By adding a resonant circuit to the arc it would oscillate at a frequency determined by the LC constants. Duddell's arc would only oscillate at audio frequencies, audible to human hearing, and it was dubbed the "singing arc."

In 1902 Valdemar Poulsen,  succeeded in making the arc oscillate at the higher frequencies by using electrodes operating in a sealed chamber, with hydrocarbon vapor, and a strong magnetic field. The arc became the first transmitter capable of generating pure, undamped waves. Arc transmitters were widely used at both shore stations and on ships. They were complicated to operate and were infamous for exploding when an operator introduced too much alcohol into the chamber. Arc transmitters were brought to the United States in 1909.

One of the more powerful arc transmitters constructed were the 1,000 watt units built for the U.S. Navy at Bordeaux, France, during World War I. In Java, a unit was rated at 3,000 W, the antenna was suspended over a mountain gorge. By gradually scaling up the equipment Federal Telegraph finally produced a 30 kW unit that outperformed a powerful rotary spark transmitter at the Navy's Arlington station. The navy wanted still more power and Elwell thought he could build a 60 kW unit by merely scaling up the parts again. But it didn't work. Arc transmitters were gradually eliminated when the new vacuum tube transmitters came into use. However, many were used up to World War II. Perhaps the last to be in operation on land were the stations operated by the Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company between cities on the Pacific coast.

A synchronous rotary had the spark electrodes mounted on the shaft of the motor generator which feeds a HV step up transformer. In this way, the spark would discharge the capacitor synchronously with the peak in the AC waveform. In a non-synchronous gap, the discharge could occur anywhere within the cycle. Buzzer were sometimes used to supply the voltage to an induction coil in early spark coil sets, since they had a higher "tone" than what some other interrupters could produce. Buzzers were used early on as a way to get ICW ( interrupted CW ) signals in early vacuum tube transmitters. The buzzer would interrupt the CW at an audio rate, thus modulating the CW carrier. You could detect the signal with a non-oscillating detector.¹⁰ Also see Fessenden and the Early History of Radio Science where the concept of an HF Alternator is discussed^.20 

1902 - Nathan Stubblefield  Kentucky farmer invents wireless telephone! But was it radio? Facts and folklore about Nathan Stubblefield by Bob Lochte²⁴.

1902 Oliver Heaviside predicted that there was an conducting layer in the atmosphere which allowed radio waves to follow the Earth's curvature. This layer in the atmosphere, the Heaviside layer, is named after him. Its existence was proved in 1923 when radio pulses were transmitted vertically upward and the returning pulses from the reflecting layer were received. Propagation has always been the life blood of long distant radio communications and from the early days, Amateurs carefully watched propagation conditions as they do today.

Early wireless codes  was The American Morse code, International code and U. S. Navy code¹¹

1904 Sir John Ambrose Fleming worked to develop the first rectifier and in 1904, while working for the Marconi Company, he was faced with the problem of detecting weak wireless signals. He was inspired by his work with Edison’s lamps back in 1889 and decided to try inserting one of the lamps in an oscillatory circuit containing a galvanometer. He had found the solution to the problem of rectifying high frequency wireless circuits.

1904 One of the first companies to sell radio equipment to experimenters and amateurs was the Electro Importing Company of New York City, set up in 1904 by Hugo Gernsback.

1905 Guglielmo Marconi patented his directive horizontal antenna.²³ (A Beam Antenna!!)

1905 Horace G. Martin introduces the The Vibroplex semi-automatic telegraph key, commonly called a "bug". The Use of 500 kHz as the International Distress Frequency is common.

1906  First wireless communication of human speech (and music) on December 24, 1906. Fessenden spoke and broadcasted music by radio from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, to ships in the Atlantic Ocean using a two kilowatt (100 kHz) alternator developed by Alexanderson.  Fessenden modulates continuous wave. ²³

1906 November 3. The "Berlin International Wireless Telegraph Convention" ⁴ defined call letters, operating procedures and signals for Coastal Stations and ships at sea. The committee decided that henceforth the term "Radio" would better describe wireless. Radio is derived from the Latin radius (ray or beam of light). The term wireless lingered for many years, but by 1912 the term Radio was used in legislation. Some countries even today are fond of the word wireless. Radio Shack probably gets its name from maritime lore dating back to the invention of the radio at the turn of the century. At the time, wireless equipment aboard ships was generally housed above the bridge in a wooden structure that was called the "radio shack". 

1906, Lee De Forest added a third electrode to the diode, the "triode" or "audion" tube could both rectify and amplify; and its greater control it meant that various electronic circuits would finally be commercially feasible.

1908 Hugo Gernsback published his first magazine, Modern Electrics (later to become Electrical Experimenter) which does much to foster and popularize Amateur Radio.

1909, On January 2, the first amateur radio club; The Junior Wireless Club, Limited, of New York City, was organized. Later the club name changed to Radio Club Of America, and their history is a must read, don't miss it.

1910 Oct 5. The first Cat's Whisker Detector invented by B. F. Miessner who received "The De Forest Audion Award in 1963."  This patent was sold to John Firth for "a magnificent sum
of $200".  From the "On the Early History of Radio Guidance".  Library of Congress Card # is 64-2115.

1910 Senator Depew introduces a bill virtually prohibiting amateur experimenting. The Junior Wireless Club organizes a committee to plead the cause of the amateur before Congress. The bill is squashed and again DX IS!¹⁷

1910 First Callbook issued - The Wireless Blue Book^. From the WayBack Time Machine⁵ By Bill Continelli, W2XOY. Today many Amateur Radio Callbooks are on the web.

1911 Young radio amateurs are building receivers with whatever parts are available. Although headphones can be purchased...many public telephone booths become inoperative.²³

Pre 1912 - Before the advent of Vacuum Tubes¹⁴ - various forms of detectors were used including: The Coherer, Lodge Muirhead Coherer, Electrolytic Detector, Carborundum Detector, Fleming Valve, Thermo Electric Detector, and Magnetic Detectors. See World Of Wireless ¹⁴ Also see Crystal Sets¹⁴

1912 - Edwin H. Armstrong⁶ uses feedback in an Audion - amplifiers and oscillators now practical.

1912 - April 12, RMS Titanic sinks after encountering an iceberg, the tragic loss of life prompts new international radio laws which also affect Amateur Radio, including frequency restrictions and operating procedures. See the Bill Continelli's  History of Amateur Radio.5 Also see excellent article on Radio Aspects of the Titanic Disaster and the Transcript Of The Actual Radio Distress Traffic of the Titanic.

Before 1912, call signs were just made up by the aspiring Amateur and it wasn't until the Radio Act of 1912 that the first licenses were issued. An HTML version of Early Radio Laws ⁴ is on-line. Very interesting reading as it defines DE, CQ, Operating Procedures, Morse Code of the day, and many Q Signals we still use. In 1911, Hiram Percy Maxim's assumed call was SNY. In 1912, Irving Vermilya, 1ZE, ⁶ received Skill Certificate No. 1, thus considered as the first licensed Amateur Radio Operator. Some sources indicate the code requirement was 5 wpm (how things go around and come around - 5 wpm now in the year 2000!!!). Written exams included essay type questions -- making a diagram of transmitting and receiving apparatus and how they worked! Also of course International and US Law questions.

For opinions on the origins of  Q-signals, Z-codes, X-codes, R-codes, and S-codes, DE, CQ, 33, 73, ham, lid, SOS, mayday, pan-pan, RST system, S-meter, prosigns, roger, wilco, boatanchor -- See Origins.  Also each human endeavor seems to develop its own jargon, ham jargon is almost incomprehensible to others and has a rich history -- see Jargon and abbreviations.

1913 Amateurs using Audions in their receivers discovered that distances of up to 350 miles were now possible on 200 meters.

1913 - Radio Call Letter Policies ⁴ issued by the Department Of Commerce listed the USA with call letters of KDA to KZZ - United States, N - All to the United States, W - All to the United States. This document shows other countries as well. However, for Amateurs, "The call letters for amateur stations in the United States will be awarded by radio inspectors, each for his own district, respectively according to the following system:  (a) The call will consist of three items; number of radio district; followed by two letters of the alphabet. Thus, the call of all amateur stations in New England (which comprises the first district) will be the figure "one" in Continental Morse, followed by two letters; in California (in the sixth district) the figure "six" followed by two letters; in South Carolina the figure "four" followed by two letters; in Missouri the figure "nine" followed by two letters, etc. The letters X, Y, Z, must not be used as the first of the two letters". Examples, 1AW, 6OI, 2MN. 

Here is a possible explanation as to how the USA got W and K, no documentation on this but sounds plausible. The USA had unofficially used N for North America (e.g., NBZ, Boston), also A for America. The letter "N" in morse is dah dit, adding a dah to N gives dah dit dah which is "K'. Letter "A" in morse is dit dah, adding a dah to A gives dit dah dah which is "W".

Somewhere in this era, an informal system of prefixes evolved and Amateurs used A for Australia, B for Belgium, C for Canada, etc. This single-letter system worked until Amateur Radio spread around the world and there were too many countries for the system to accommodate. Thus, in 1927,  a new system took effect using two-letters with the first letter indicating the continent (E for Europe, A for Asia, N for North America, F for Africa, etc.) and the second letter indicating the country. Stations in the 48 United States used an NU call. These were called "Intermediate Prefixes".

With the advent of the Radio Act of 1912, the first Amateur Radio License is issued. The call letters assigned to the United States were NAA -NZZ, WAA - WZZ, and KDA to KZZ (KAA-KCZ was assigned to Germany and was not given to the United States until 1929). The somewhat puzzling Amateur calls like 1AW, 6OI, 2MN, etc. is explained by the fact that Amateur stations did not qualify for international call signs. At that time, the USA was divided into nine Radio Districts so Amateurs were granted calls consisting of their district number followed by letters, the first letter was from A through W, for example, 1AW, 1TS. Recognition was given to certain land stations, X as the first letter for Experimental licenses (e.g. 1XE), Y for School licenses (e.g. 9YY), and Z for Special Amateur licenses (e.g. 8ZZ). 1x3 calls (like 1AAA) was issued to Amateurs beginning in 1914. For a list of early X, Y, Z callsign issues -- see  U.S. Special Land Stations: 1913-1921.⁴  It was not until October 1, 1928, that the W and K prefixes were assigned to Amateurs.

Amateurs were relegated to 200 meters and down and shocked the world with making excellent use of these higher frequencies -- see "200 Meters and Down" by Clinton B. DeSoto. 

1914 - The ARRL is organized by Hiram Percy Maxim to help relay messages, typical ranges were 25 miles. QST magazine appears in 1915. Hiram Percy Maxim was the son of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim who invented the machine gun (the Devil's Paint Brush), father and son are often confused, although Hiram Percy Maxim did invent a weapons silencer. 

1914 Frederick E. Terman 6AE is operating out of Palo Alto, CA. Later he publishes "Radio Engineering" in 1932 and the Radio Engineers's Handbook in 1943, 1955, which becomes the bible for engineers and technicians alike during the vacuum tube era. . He is also famous for persuading young Bill Hewlett and David Packard to stay in California instead of going East to start their electronics business.

1915 Ray Kellog invents the The electric ( moving coil ) loudspeaker. ²³

1915 John R. Carson applied for a patent on his idea to suppress the carrier and one sideband. See History of SSB ²⁵

1916 Amateur Station 2IB works 8AEZ Lima Ohio - 750 miles across the USA

1916 Amateur station 2PM succeeded in breaking all records by sending the first transcontinental relay  message from New York to California. Several weeks later the same station and the same operators succeeded in getting signals to California, a distance of some 2,500 miles over-land¹⁷

Note that the NAA -NZZ, WAA - WZZ, and KAA to KZZ allotments are used for all broadcasting stations, aircraft, marine, police, fire, MARS and just about anything else that uses a radio. Although the N numbers on aircraft are registration numbers with the FAA, private planes use them legitimately for their "Radio Call". CB at one time had calls like KEV9506 (mine) until this was done away with. Now CB, FRS, and special low power services do not require a license. GMRS does require a license -- see CB and Family Radio Service.

Amateur N call usage has been very limited until the 1970's, but some notable exceptions at N - CALLS

1917 - There were about 6,000 Amateurs. By 1917, code speed requirements were increased to 10 wpm. Amateur radio was shut down during WWI and the Navy even issued orders against receiving as well. Amateurs get back on the air in October - November, 1919.

1918 - The superheterodyne-principle is discovered by Armstrong.  Equipment homebrew and manufacturers switch from direct conversion to superheterodynes around 1934¹⁴

1918  - The first crystal (Rochelle salt) controlled oscillator is invented by A.M. Nicolson.

1919 Marconi and Fleming both assume strong positions on fostering "Amateur Radio". Perhaps without them the Amateur Radio Service might not exist today.¹⁶

1919 E. Kaleveld PA0XE claims that the first QSL was issued 1919 by C. D. Hoffmann, 8UX, but there is no example in existence. Nor is there a record in "Wireless World" or in any other known contemporary publication supporting the claim of 2UV to have issued the first authentic QSL card in Europe or the date it was used. "Wireless World" reproduced a post card bearing the call 8ML in the issue dated May 5, 1923, and this, according to the caption, was "one of the specially printed cards circulated in America by members of the ARRL for reporting the reception of experimental mtransmissions", and advocated the adoption in the United Kingdom of a similar type of card for acknowledging reports. 

1919--President Woodrow Wilson broadcasts to American Troops in Europe, the first Presidential radio broadcast.

1919  The Alexander Bill proposed to give the government - specifically the Navy Dept - control of all transmitting, and leave amateurs out in the cold. There are articles about this in  about this in the Jan, Feb, and Mar, 1919, "Electrical Experimentor".  Gernsback claims to have killed the Bill and so does  the ARRL, per the 1936 "Radio Amateur's Handbook", claims that Hiram Percy Maxim killed it with a single handed job of personal lobbying in Washington. Perhaps both did.

1920 to 1980’s Don Wallace¹² W6AM. DX Hall of Fame and early pioneer of Amateur radio. Don has probably done more to promote DX operation and encourage new operators than any other individual. Famous for his antenna farms in Rolling Hills on the Palos Verdes peninsula.

1920 The Radio Amateurs Callbook (RAC, Flying Horse) is published. International QSL bureaus are establihed.

1920 October 27th  -- first licensed Broadcast Station KDKA, Pittsburg, PA. For the History of Broadcast Radio  -- also has a  list of the  first 100 BC Stations. Another is Broadcasting History Links.

1920 The Ladies Of Early Radio⁶ Perhaps the first woman to be both an announcer and an engineer was Eunice Randall. At the age of 19, she was broadcasting on 1XE, a Boston-area radio station owned by AMRAD. Soon after, she was deeply involved with both professional and amateur radio, building her own ham station, and ultimately became one of the first women in New England to hold the first class license (her ham calls were 1CDP, and later W1MPP).

1921 - ARRL membership numbers 6,000 transmitting members.

1921 - Practical horn loudspeakers were developed.

1921 - The Transatlantic Tests  Paul Godley 2ZE (a prominent U.S. amateur) traveled to England with US equipment and operating from Ardrossan, a coast town near Glasgow, Scotland. At 00.50 GMT on December 9th 1921, he identified signals from 1BCG located at Greenwich, Connecticut. Two days later the historic first complete message transmitted by U.S. amateurs and received in Europe on the "short waves" (actually 230 metres) heralded a new era. The message read: No.1 de 1BCG. Words 12. New York December 11 1921. To Paul Godley Ardrossan Scotland. Hearty Congratulations. Signed Burghard Inman Grinan Armstrong Amy Cronkhite. In the summer of 1922 amateurs in France began to get licences and Leon Deloy 8AB President of the Radio Club of Nice in southern France started hearing British stations. After a visit to the U.S.A. Deloy was able to improve his equipment and on November 27th 1923 he contacted Fred Schnell 1MO of West Hartford, Connecticut for the first ever 2-way QSO across the Atlantic. They used the "useless" wavelengths around 100 metres¹⁶

1922 Amateur Radio License Requirements for the two grades of licenses, Amateur first grade and Amateur second grade, were the same except the second grade license was issued only where an applicant could not be personally examined by a US Radio Inspector for the district. Applicants were required to demonstrate technical expertise in adjusting and operating equipment, and a knowledge of International Conventions and US laws . The code requirement was ability to transmit and receive in the Continental Morse at least 10 words per minute and recognize important signal usage of the day (distress and "keep out" signals).  General amateur stations were restricted to 200 meters and down with input power not to exceed 1 kW. Amateurs within five nautical miles of a military station were restricted to 500 Watts.¹¹

1922 Carson describes FM and concludes it is inferior to AM, a decade later Armstrong places a new perspective on the matter.

1923 - Patent granted for SSB. See History Of Single Sideband.

1923 Us Bureau Of Standards suggests the use of frequency instead of wavelength.

1923 - WWV began broadcasting time and frequency information from its radio station.

1923, November 27, the impossible happened.  Leon Deloy (8AB), of Nice, France worked (on 110 m CW)  USA stations: Fred H. Schnell (1MO, Connecticut) and John L. Reinartz (1QP/1XAL, after - W3RB).Four thousand miles - DX For Sure.

1923, from "200 Meters  and Down," by Clinton DeSoto, page 85. "It was expected, then, that every effort would be bent toward putting over the fourth transatlantic tests, to be held from December 21st (1923) to January 10th (1924). The widest possible publicity was accorded these tests on both sides of the Atlantic. To facilitate the international identification, an initial letter was assigned to each country to be used by the amateurs of that country ahead of their calls. The United States was given "U"; an American station would sign itself u1AA, for example. For each of the countries participating in the transatlantics: Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United States and New Zealand (z). Cuba was assigned the phonetic Q, Argentina the phonetic R. South Africa was arbitrarily given O." These were not official prefixes assigned by any authority, but an informal convention adopted to avoid confusion when transoceanic communications were first becoming "routinely" possible. Later an additional prefix letter was adopted indicating the continent, "N" being North America, so "1AW" would be "Nu1AW". 

1924 - Quartz Crystals. H.S. Shaw introduces the amateur radio community to quartz crystal control of radio transmitters and Hams were the first sizable commercial market for crystals. See in-depth article on The Influence of Amateur Radio on the Development of the Commercial Market for Quartz Piezoelectric Resonators. The use of crystals yielded a very clean '9x' note. Amateurs begin building Superheterodyne receivers.

1924, Oct 18 A station in England G2SZ Cecil Goyder worked a New Zealand station Z4AA Frank Bell, a distance of almost 12,000 miles.

In 1924, Amateurs received new bands at 80, 40, 20, and 5 meters. Spark transmission was prohibited on the new bands. By 1926, Spark transmission was prohibited for use by Amateurs. The existence of the ionosphere (first proposed by Oliver Heaviside) is confirmed by the English physicist, Edward V.Appelton in 1924. Prior to that the term "ether" was thought to explain the magic.

1925 - Heater type vacuum tubes made possible the first all electric receivers. Dynamic loudspeakers appeared

1925 - International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is founded. Dedicated to organizing and providing representation of  the interests of Amateur Radio, nationally and internationally, for the better mutual use of the radio spectrum among radio amateurs throughout the world, to develop Amateur Radio worldwide, and to successfully interact with the agencies responsible for regulating and allocating radio frequencies. An example of the IARU work is the NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network.

In 1926, Brandon Wentworth, 6OI, achieved confirmation for working all of the continents.

1926 Hidetsugu Yagi and Shintaro Uda invent the "beam" antenna array.

1927--The Radio Act of 1927 creates the Federal Radio Commission. (The Federal Communications Commission came later in 1934). The 10 meter band is opened to Amateurs.

1927-1982 KV4AA Dick Spenceley¹² in the U.S. Virgin Islands provides thousands of contacts over the years. He was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in March, 1969.

1927 -  the Union (forerunner of (ITU) allocated frequency bands to the various radio services existing at the time (fixed, maritime and aeronautical mobile, broadcasting, amateur and experimental) to ensure greater efficiency of operation in view of the increase in the number of services using frequencies and the technical peculiarities of each service¹³ Amateur bands are established near 160, 80, 40, 20, 10, and 5 Meters, power limits to be set by each nation, and the international intermediates prefixes are abandoned.

1928 May --  ARRL sponsors what is probably the first organized contest dubbed "The 1928 International Relay party". There about 17,000 licensed Amateurs.

1928 - Paul M. Segal, W9EEA,  writes a "Suggested  Amateur's Code".  In the USA today,  the government's official position on the purpose of Amateur Radio is defined in  Part 97 of the FCC Rules and Regulations -- See Basis and Purpose of  The Amateur Radio Service.

1928 - The Federal Radio Commission announces that all old licenses issued by the Department Of Commerce will be terminated on August 31, 1928. Applications under the new licensing system must be submitted no later than July 31, otherwise the applicant must submit to re-examination. Beginning October 1, 1928, the new W and K prefixes were assigned to Amateurs.

1928 - As the transmitting range of amateur stations increased, Hams naturally worked DX and it became necessary to have international call signs, international prefix structure is set by the International Radiotelegraph Conference of 1927-1928.

This call sign structure lasted for the rest of the 1920's and the 1930's. Stations in the 48 States had a 1x2 or 1x3 call sign beginning with W and containing a numeral from 1 to 9. Stations in Alaska, Hawaii, or other US Possessions had a K prefix. See Pre WWII K calls. The zero numeral was not available. Boundaries were considerably different than today - for example the western sections of New York and Pennsylvania were in the 8th call district. See Old District boundaries ⁴ Note that the suffixes beginning with X was reserved for experimental stations. Eventually,  the FCC  relaxed their position on the 1x2 and 1x3 X suffix calls, but the 2x3 call signs (such as KB6XYZ) are still reserved for experimental use. W#X** calls were also portable calls - a separate authorization was needed for portable operation and their suffixes began with X. Apparently there was a very limited "vanity call" program - if a ham wanted a 1X2 call and met several criteria, such a call would be issued. If a ham moved to a different call area, he/she had to get a new callsign that matched the district of the new location. Unlike today, you could always tell where a ham station was located by the callsign.

At one time in the 1920's and 30's, college club stations were issued W#Yx calls. So W6YX (1922) is Stanford, W9YB (1920) is Purdue, etc. Many of these are still extant -- try QRZ.com for your college.

1929 - Screen grid introduced into the vacuum tube. Pentodes came a year later.

Early to mid 1930's -- From W3HF - During a short period of time in the early- to mid-30s, 1x4 callsigns were issued for "permanent" portable stations. They were of the form W#ZZxx (e.g., W2ZZAF). They were only issued for a short time, first appearing in late 1931. (They were not in the June 1931 government callbook, but are listed in the Fall 1931 Flying Horse.) It looks to me like the government was issuing W#ZZx calls (1x3s) to portable stations, and went to 1x4s after they used up the 26 available 1x3s. The last ones seem to have expired by 1936-7. (There are only a few in my Spring 36 callbook.) From W3HF

January 1930, QST magazine announces Twenty-Meter Phone Authorization.

1932 - At the 1932 Madrid Conference, the Union decided to combine the International Telegraph Convention of 1865 and the lnternational Radiotelegraph Convention of 1906 to form the International Telecommunication convention. It also decided to change its name and was known as from 1 January 1934 as the International Telecommunication Union in order to reaffirm the full scope of its responsibilities, i.e. all forms of communication, by wire, radio, optical systems or other electromagnetic systems.¹¹

1933 First Field Day Contest.

1933 Astatic Crystal Microphones introduced.

1933 and before. Up to 1933, there were at least 1,200 companies producing radios of some kind.

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt starts presidential radio broadcasts.

The Communications Act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission. Amateur Licenses are reorganized into Class A, Class B, and Class C. In 1936 there about 46,000 licensed Amateurs.

Class A- 13 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic and advanced written tests on theory and regulations. At least one year of experience as a Class B or C licensee. Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges.⁸

Class B- 13 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic written test on theory and regulations.  Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges except 75 and 20 meter phone were granted with a Class B license.⁸

Class C - Same as Class B, except tests given by mail.⁸

Licenses terms were 5 years, and renewable. Renewal required that the operator certify that he/she could meet all of the current requirements for licensing. Also, renewal required that the license holder make least three contacts on the amateur bands in the six months prior to the renewal application - and the contacts had to be on CW, not voice. All licensees had to be US citizens.  If you lived within 125 miles of a quarterly examining point, you had to appear in person for the exam. If you lived more than 125 miles from an examining point, or had a permanent physical disability that prevented you from going to an exam session, or were on active military duty, the Class C exam could be taken by mail. This was monitored by  a volunteer examiner (another ham or a commercial licensee).⁸

In this era, crystal controlled operation was used (mandatory ??) and a station calling CQ would say calling CQ and tuning -- indicating he/she would tune up and down the band for a response and it was common if not usual to work another station on a different frequency. Crystals were expensive, so long CQs and replies to CQs were common, because most hams tuned the entire band looking for replies. Today you can still hear the OT's --- CQ CQ CQ from WZ9OOO calling CQ for any station , bye for a call and tuning. (and the new guys wonder why they would be tuning - VFO's and transceivers being the norm).  

1935 Russ Hall describes tropospheric refraction for the 5M band explaining why signals might exceed line-of-sight range.

1936 Edwin H. Armstrong creates a classic paper on Frequency Modulation. His analysis of a noise free high fidelity system is the basis of our FM broadcast today. 

1936 - 56 Mcs - G5BY was the first European to span the Atlantic on 56MHz when his signals were heard by W2HXD¹⁷

1937 The ARRL introduces the DXCC Program. Discontinued during WWII and started all over again after the war.

In 1938, Amateurs lose the exclusive use of 40 meters, to be shared with SWL Broadcasters. The FCC grants two new  bands, 2 1/2 meters (112 Mc) and 1 1/4 meters (224 Mc).

1938 - The distance record for 56MHz (the old 5 Metre band) was held by W1EYM and W6DNS for a 2500 mile contact on July 22,1938. For receiving he used a rhombic. 240 feet on a leg ¹⁷

1939 The Cubical Quad. Clarence C. Moore, W9LZX, tackles the problem of Ecuador S.A.station HCJB. The missionary staion had used a gigantic four element parasitic beam at their 10KW, 25 meter station. Totally unexpected, was the effect of operating the high-Q beam antenna in the thin evening air of Quito. The 10,000 foot thin altitude caused gigantic corona discharges from the tips of the driven element and directors. The ends of the antenna dripped molten metal. Moore designs an antenna with no ends that could discharge. This concept evolved into designing a folded dipole with the loop pulled open. This loop later became the basis of the Quad design.

THE WAR YEARS

From Jeffrey Herman, KH6O

This will give you some background on amateur radio's CD communication effort during WWII:

What follows is a summary of the War Emergency Radio Service (WERS). Information was gathered primarily from "Fifty Years of ARRL," an historical record of the League and amateur radio.

First a bit of background: In 1939 there were 51,000 US hams. In September of that year war came to Europe. Of the 250 DXCC countries, 121 of them immediately went off the air (including Canada and the UK). The US maintained the strictest sense of neutrality. This was re-enforced by the ARRL, which came up with a neutrality code for amateurs. Hams were asked by the ARRL to voluntarily abide by the code, which they did en masse; this earned additional support for the amateur radio service in
governmental circles.

In an effort to streamline its operation in preparation for possible US involvement in the war, the FCC at this time introduced multiple-choice tests.

By June 1940, the US invoked the Telecommunications Convention prohibiting US amateurs from contacting hams elsewhere; at the same time all portable and mobile operation below 56 MHz was banned (except the ARRL Field Day). At the request of the ARRL, the ban was modified to allow the League's Emergency Corps to continue work on the lower frequencies for training and drills. All licensees were required to send a set of fingerprints, a photo, and proof of citizenship to the FCC.

The FCC needed 500 radio operators to man listening and direction-finding stations -- they asked the League's assistance -- the League put out the word in QST and within days of that issue, the FCC had the 500 operators it needed. (It's important to note for the duration of the war, the military and government always turned to the ARRL when radio operators and equipment were needed; the League would put out the call in QST and over W1AW, and the quotas were always filled in short order. Of the 51,000 hams mentioned above, 25,000 enlisted, and 25,000 remained at home to teach radio and electronics, serve in the communications industry, and serve in WERS.)

By June of 1941, tubes and other components were in short supply; each time the military asked hams to donate parts, they were flooded with whatever was needed. Many US hams were recruited for a Civilian Technical Corps to operate and repair British radar equipment. Also at this time, the Office of Civil Defense, at the offering of the ARRL, created a CD communication system with ham radio as its backbone (this relationship between between CD and ARS exists even today). Because the Army needed the 80 meter amateur band, the FCC gave hams 40 meter phone privileges for the first time, to make up for the loss of 80 (prior to that, 40m was a CW- only band.)

December 7, 1941, the US entered the war; hams were immediately ordered to go QRT. By special FCC order, the ARRL's W1AW was to continue its transmissions.

At the request of the ARRL, the War Emergency Radio Service (WERS) was created in June 1942. The Government Printing Office was inundated so the rules for WERS appeared only in QST. At the League's insistence, the FCC continued to offer amateur licensing throughout the war; this to provide standards for WERS applicants, and more importantly, to enable amateurs to prove their ability before enlisting in the armed services.

The purpose of WERS was to provide communications in connection with air raid protection, and to allow operators to continue their role in providing communications during times of natural disaster as they'd been doing as hams (WERS was not part of the amateur service, but was manned by hams; non-amateurs were permitted to serve in WERS in low level positions). WERS was administered by local CD offices; WERS licenses were issued to communities, not individuals.

WERS operated on the former amateur 2 1/2 meter band (112-116 MHz) and on higher frequencies. Again, WERS was not part of the amateur service but hams were asked by OCD to join -- and they flocked to it. Until the end of the war, if a ham wanted to operate he could only do so as a WERS operator. QST fully supported WERS by publishing technical articles on building WERS gear and modifying existing 2 1/2 meter ham equipment so as to meet the rigid WERS standards. Nearly every issues of QST contained WERS articles - two examples:

Oct. 1942: WERS operating procedures; how to train auxiliary (non-amateur) operators; and Feb. 1943: OCD's plan for selecting frequencies.

A sample of WERS operations: May and July 1942 -- communications support  for flooding of the Mississippi and Lake Erie; 1944 communications support after an Atlantic Coast hurricane; 1945 -- Western NY snowstorm early in the year, spring flooding, and a September Florida hurricane.

After VJ Day in 1945, hams were given authorization to begin operating again on the 2 1/2 meter band, on a shared basis with WERS. WERS was terminated in mid-November. By the 15th of that month, the FCC released bands at 10, 5, and 2 meters for amateur use. The post-war era of amateur radio had commenced.

Thanks Jeffrey Herman, KH6O
-----------------------------

1940 - With the advent of the War in Europe, by June 1940, the US invoked the Telecommunications Convention prohibiting US amateurs from contacting hams outside the USA. Also all portable and mobile operation below 56 MHz was banned. All licensees were required to send a set of fingerprints, a photo, and proof of citizenship to the FCC.

As the USA enters WWII in 1941, Amateur Radio Operation is suspended. Amateurs form a valuable pool of trained technicians and operators and are in high demand by the Military. By 1942, there was about 15,000 Amateurs in the US Military. But there is a WERS¹⁰ (War Emergency Radio Service) on 2 1/2 meters (around 2,000 Amateur Stations participated).

1941 - 1945. Skilled code operators on either side could distinguish the enemy operators by the CW swing or style of 'fist", thus in many cases identifying the ship or station location. Post war records indicate the Japanese were monitoring US Navy VHF from long distances -- VHF was thought to be limited to line of sight. Code breakers in England in a massive project "Ultra" could recognize German operators from their CW swing, cliques and habits.  Indeed it is reported that the British developed the first programmable computer, containing 1500 vacuum tubes, to break the German codes. This preceded the American EINIAC Electronic Computer of 1945.

1939 - 1945 World War II movies are full of radio equipment of the time, look for the National, Hallicrafters, RME's etc.

1942 Navajo Code Talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted  in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. Their unique code language totally confounded the Japanese Radio Operators.

1942 British mathematician and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clark suggests using satellites to relay  radio signals about 20 years before the first satellite, Sputnik I was placed in orbit! 

 On November 15, 1945, amateurs are allowed back on the air -- but only on 10 and 2 meters. By 1946, Amateurs get most of the bands back except for 160 Meters, this was used by LORAN and other services and was not available to Amateurs. Over the next several decades 160M would be reopened, a little at a time.

1945 - onwards - Equipment Manufactures (some earlier, some later) included: Tons of War Surplus, Knight Kits, Central Electronics, Hammarlund, Collins, Drake, Multi-Elmac, Swan, E.F. Johnson, Galaxy, Gonsett, Hallicrafters, Heathkit, National, Henry - See RadioDan, RME, Meissner, Lafayette, B&W, Millen, RACAL, MacKay, EICO, Breting, Marconi, McMurdo Silver, World Radio Labs, Harvey Wells, Ameco, Astatic, Clarostat, Eddystone, Eldico, SBE, Shure, Simpson, Sonar, Squires-Sanders, Stancor, Adams, Elenco, Lakeshore, Morrow, Kenyon,Thordarson,UTC, Philmore, ElectroVoice, Vibroplex, Bud, Tecraft, Mosley, Cornell Dubilier, Amphenol, Bliley, Telex headphones, C.F. Cannon, Trimm, Burgess, Everready, Willard, Atlas, Murch, Paco, Alliance, Clegg, Midland, Conar, Sprague, James, M.C. Jones, Telrex, James Knight Crystals, TMC, Penwood Clocks, American Bell microphones and headphones, Jackson, Brush, Mytron, KDK, Pierson Holt, Tempo, KLM.

MORE FROM BAMA Via K4XL

[ Aero ] [ Aerovox ] [ Alda ] [ Alliance ] [ Alpha ] [ Ameco ] [ Ameritron ] [ Amp Supply ] [ Antenna Mart ] [ Astatic ] [ Astron ] [ Autek ] [ AVO ] [ Babcock ] [ Ballantine ] [ B&K ] [ B&W ] [ Bird ] [ Boonton ] [ Breting ] [ Browning Labs ] [ CDE ] [ Central Electronics ] [ Clarostat ] [ Clegg ] [ Collins ] [ Comdel ] [ Conar ] [ Dentron ] [ DeVry ] [ Dow Key ] [ Drake ] [ DX Engineering ] [ Eddystone ] [ Eico ] [ Eldico ] [ Electro Voice ] [ Elenco ] [ Elmac ] [ Elmax ] [ EMC ] [ EZ-Way ] [ Funke ] [ Gates ] [ Galaxy ] [ GE ] [ Geloso ] [ Gonset ] [ GR ] [ Gross ] [ Hallicrafters ] [ Hammarlund ] [ Harris ] [ Harvey Wells ] [ Heath ] [ Henry ] [ Hickok ] [ Howard ] [ HP ] [ Hy-Gain ] [ Industrial Inst. ] [ Jackson ] [ James ] [ Johnson ] [ Kenwood-Trio ] [ Knight Kit ] [ KW Electronics ] [ Lafayette ] [ Lakeshore ] [ Lysco ] [ Mackay Marine ] [ Magnum 6 ] [ Marconi ] [ MBLE ] [ McMurdo-Silver ] [ Measurements ] [ Meck ] [ Meissner ] [ Mercury ] [ Microwave Modules ] [ Military Test Gear ] [ Millen ] [ Morris ] [ Morrow ] [ Mosley ] [ Murch ] [ National ] [ NRI ] [ Northern Radio ] [ Nye Viking ] [ P & H ] [ Paco-Precision ] [ Palomar ] [ Panoramic ] [ Philips ] [ Pierson-DeLane ] [ Pilot ] [ Racal ] [ Radiomarine ] [ RCA ] [ Readrite ] [ RFT ] [ RME ] [ SBE ] [ Scott ] [ Sencore ] [ Shure ] [ Siemens ] [ Sigma ] [ Silver-Marshall ] [ Simpson ] [ Sonar ] [ Sprague ] [ Squires-Sanders ] [ Stancor ] [ Star ] [ Superior ] [ Swan-Siltronix ] [ Tapetone ] [ Tecraft ] [ TMC ] [ Tornister ] [ Triplett ] [ Utah ] [ Waters ] [ Wayne-Kerr ] [ Weston ] [ WRL ] [ Yaesu ]

1945 - onwards - Favorite Radio Catalogs of the day -- every Ham had the latest copy: Allied Radio, Lafayette, Burnstein- Applebee, Concord, Newark, World Radio Labs, Gotham Antennas, Fort Orange Radio, Radio Shack, Olson, Amateur Electronic Supply, Associated Radio, Digi-Key, Jameco, Poly-Paks, Fair Radio Sales, Dick Smith Electronics (Australian company),  Heathkit,  as well as Eitel-McCollough, Sylvania and RCA tube and design manuals. And the very first piece of amateur radio related mail that every new ham received...... a packet of QSL card samples and a catalog from "The Little Print Shop!"

1945 - onwards -  The Candy Stores. In San Francisco - San Jose,  one made pilgrimage to Quements, Sunnyvale Electronics, and HRO. In New York  there was Cortland street and Canal Street, where New York's famous Radio Row was located -- now beneath the World Trade Center. Also nearby Chambers St and Warren St, Harrison Radio used to be in that area also. In New Jersey, Vetsalco. In Chicago -- R&W and BC (Ben Cohen) Electronics as well as Newark Electronics and Allied Radio. For Los Angeles there was Figart's, Midway, on Venice Boulevard, and there was a row of surplus stores topped by THE electronics war surplus store of all time "Sam's Surplus, and of course Henry Radio See RadioDan. In the greater Boston area,  John Meshna, Jr.'s surplus emporium and Eli Heffron & Sons.

 In Albany N.Y.,  Fort Orange Radio owned by Uncle Dave Marks, World Radio Labs in Council Bluffs Iowa, Fair Radio Sales in Lima Ohio, Lafayette and Radio Shack in Wilmington, Delaware. In Tokyo Akihabara,  In San Diego, Coast Electric, Ashe & India, Shanks & Wright. In Detroit, M.N. Duffy, Reno Radio, RSE Ham Shack, Lafayette Radio, also surplus heavens, Silverstine's, and Lambrecht's. In the Washington, DC area the "Electronic Equipment Bank", better known as EEB, was the local Candy Store. In Waterbury, Ct, Bond Radio, later Hatry Electronics. Burnstein- Applebee in several locals .Also see Catalogs and Boatanchors.

1945 Parts manufacturers were Tubes: RCA, Amperex, Continental, Chatham, Eitel-McCullough, Electrons, GE, Heintz & Kaufman, Hytron, National, Raytheon, Sylvania, Taylor, Tungsol, United, Victoreen, Westinghouse, Western Electric. Rectifiers: Federal, Mallory, Sarkes Tarzian, Clarostst, Amperite. Meters: Triplett, Pyramid, Emico, Simpson. Controls and Resistors: Mallory, IRC, Clarostat, Centralab, Ohmite, Chicago Telephone, Sprague, Continental. Capacitors (condensers): Mallory, Cornell-Dubilier, Aerovox, Sprague, Erie, Centralab, Sangamo, Bud, E.F. Johnson, JFD, Hammarlund, Cardwell, Barker-Williamson,  Transformers: Stancor, Thordarson, Merit, Altec-Lansing, Peerless, Chicago, UTC, Superior, Raytheon, Sola, Regency.

1945 Just plain Radios included: Admiral, Airline, American Bosch, Andrea, Arvin, Atwater Kent, Audiola, Belmont, Capehart, Case, Colonial, Columbia, Crosley, Delco, Detrola, Dewald, Echophone, Edison, Emerson, Fada, Fairbanks-Morse, Farnsworth, Firestone, Freed-Eisemann, Garod, GE, General, Gilfillen, Goldentone, Grebe, Grunow, Gulbransen, Howard, Imperial, Jesse French, Kadette, Kennedy, Lyric (Wurlitzer), Majestic, McMurdo Silver, Midwest, Motorola, Northern Electric, Oriole, Oxford, Pacific, Packard Bell, Paramount, Philco, Pilot, Radiobar, RCA, RCA/Canada, Scott, Sentinel, Silver-Marshall, Silvertone, Simplex, Sonora, Sparton, Stewart-Warner, Stromberg-Carlson, Tiffany Tone, Travler, Troy, Truetone, US Radio, Wells Gardner, Westinghouse, Wilcox-Gay, Zenith. Lots of "All-American Fives" where the heater voltages added up to 117 Volts. Car radios had vibrators to develop plate voltages -- coupla hundred volts running around in your dash board!
As for TV's too many to mention but Mad Man Muntz stripped out the fat in current TV designs and were noted for being built with  few parts and cheap cabinets, unlike the big RCAs or Zeniths which had 30 or more tubes and elaborate designs. Crazy but the Muntz sets worked pretty well - as long as you could see the TV Tower!!

1945 Coaxial cable in wide use. Although coaxial cable had been around since the 30's, surplus cable was ready available and WWII did much to make coax practical. Prior to coax, ladder line was common. BNC connectors are used -- "bayonet Niell-Concelman" named for the inventors.

1945 - Amateurs are allotted the 6 meter band 50-54 Mc. The 2 1/2 meter band is moved to 144-148 Mc. With the exception of some FM, all phone operation is with AM.

1945 6 Meters. Pioneers utilized CW, AM, and experimented with NBFM. Antennas included rhombics, corner reflectors, folded dipoles, and of course Yagi's. The first 2-way QSO involving "skip" was  reported to have taken place on April 23, 1946 when W1LSN of Exeter, NH worked W9DWU of Minneapolis, MN. This and many other contacts were made on that night via a combination of aurora and sporadic-E. The distance of this contact was 1100 miles.

1945 CQ Magazine is published.

1945 Rhombic Antennas, although rhombics had been in use for years by broadcasters, Don Wallace, W6AM,  did much of the pioneer work for Amateur radio rhombics.. 

1946 The Northern California DX Club (NCDXC), one of the oldest DX Clubs, is founded. 
In San Diego, California, the SDDXC is also established. Many other DX and Contest clubs.

1946 - Yasme Dxpeditions By Lloyd Colvin (W6KG - King George) and Iris Colvin W6QL (Queen Lady) - many Dxpeditions over the years into the 1990’s.

1946 - Amateurs make the first Meteor Scatter contacts. On the night of October 9, 1946, the night of the Giacobind-Zinner Comet, and its associated meteors, Amateurs made their first two-way contacts via meteor scatter on the 6M band, the propagation lasted 3 hours with reports from the east and midwest part of the USA. However it was not until Oct 22, 1953 that a 2M two way contact was made between W4HHK and W2UK. Transoceanic 6M contacts are made in late 1946.

After World War II, about 1946, the tenth call district was added. For the current USA Ham Districts - see USA Ham Map. Except for the redrawing of the boundaries, things remained the same until 1951. There were about 60,000 U.S. amateurs in 1946. Date not certain but after WWII, the FCC issues "military base calls" such as K9NBH and K9NCG (Treasure Island Naval Training Center, CA); KH6MC for the Marine Corps station on Oahu; K9NBH, Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. K calls are issued throughout the pacific see OLD PREFIXES

1947 -  Amateurs lose the top 300 kc of he 10M band (29.7--30), and relinquish the 14.35--14.4 Mc on 20 meters. However the 15 meters (21.0-- 21.45 Mc) is planned. Also the FCC allows Amateurs to use the 11 meter band (26.96--27.23 Mc) on a shared basis with other services.

1947 W1AW AND W2GDG conduct narrow band FM tests and the FCC authorizes a one year trial on some bands.

1947 - W1FH is awarded the first "modern" DXCC membership for mixed and phone.

1947 VK5KL makes a two way contact with  W7ACS/KH6 in Hawaii  - 9000 km, See 50 years on 50 Megs. ²²

1947 - The DXCC country count for this year was 257. Gatti-Hallicrafters Africa Dxpedition - Nine Month Tour. QCWA is founded. The Quarter Century Wireless Association was organized to promote friendship and cooperation among Amateur Radio operators who were licensed at least a quarter century ago. The Old Old Timers Club was founded in 1947 by a group of amateurs who had played a part in laying the foundations of electronic communications.

1948 William Shockley invents the transistor. Within 10 to 20 years, the transition from tubes to solid state occurs. No longer will your cat want to sleep on the TV set!

1948  The. Military Amateur Radio System established, later renamed the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS). Forerunners of this system existed such as the Army Amateur Radio System (AARS) organized in November, 1925. MARS is a Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the Army , Navy, and Air Force. The program consists of licensed amateur radio operators who are interested in military communications on a local, national, and international basis as an adjunct to normal communications. For MARS callsigns see MARS CALLS.

1948 - VP7NG Bahamas - One of the first DX Expeditions. By W4NNN & Others in the 14th ARRL DX Competition. CQ sponsors its first contest  -- The CQ WW Contest.

June 1949, Citizens Radio Service was established with frequencies in the 460-470 Mc band.
 

1950 -- US Amateur population is near 90,000

1950's -1960's Amateurs are active with Radio Teletype (RTTY) and take advantage of the surplus market for equipment. Also see RTTY is not dead but I still remember.

1951 CONELRAD¹⁰[CONtrol of ELectronic RADiation] system established by President Truman. See Amateur Requirement Also See Conelrad.com
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In 1951, the FCC eliminated the old Class A, Class B, and Class C licenses, and added three new classes of licenses Novice, Technician, and Amateur Extra. Now the license classes were Novice, Technician, Conditional, General, and Amateur Extra Class licenses. Advanced licenses apparently came later. Novices could  get a one year, non-renewable license, which had a special 2x3 call sign with the letter N following the W, e.g.,  WN2ODC, WN6ISB. With an upgrade,  the N was dropped. The Technician Class is created for experimentation, not communication, and has privileges only above 220 Mc. Conditional licenses were the same as general but given by mail, provided the applicant lived far enough away from the nearest FCC office.

Novice - 5 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Simplified written test on theory and regulations. No experience required or allowed - anyone who had previously held any class of amateur license was ineligible for a Novice. Extremely limited CW privileges in parts of the 80 and 11 meter bands, plus CW and phone privileges on part of 2 meters. 75 (or was it 50) watts maximum power input, crystal control only. One year license term, nonrenewable. Exams given at FCC examination points or by mail if conditions for mail exams were met. The Novice was intended to be a sort of "learner's permit" to help new hams get started.⁸

Technician - 5 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic written test on theory and regulations - same written test as General class. All amateur privileges above 220 MHz. Exams given at FCC examination points or by mail if conditions for mail exams were met. The Technician was meant for those who were more interested in VHF/UHF experimentation than HF operating. The proposed Class D license was implemented as the Technician.⁸

General (old Class B) - 13 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic written test on theory and regulations.  Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges EXCEPT 75 and 20 meter phone.⁸

Conditional (old Class C) - Same as General, except tests given by mail.⁸

Advanced (old Class A) - 13 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic and advanced written tests on theory and regulations. At least one year of experience as a General or Conditional licensee. Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges. The Advanced was to be phased out and replaced by the Extra, and no new Advanced class tests were given after 1952. Holders of Advanced class licenses could renew and modify them indefinitely.⁸

Extra - 20 wpm code test, sending and receiving. Basic and higher level written tests on theory and regulations. At least two years of experience as a General, Conditional or Advanced licensee. Exam given at FCC examination points only. All amateur privileges.⁸
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1951 W6SAI, W8AH and others are among the first of the post war major DXpeditions, Andorra and Monaco. W6SAI, Bill Orr inspired new and veteran hams alike with his consistent encouragement and technical expertise. Amateur radio has benefited from numerous Bill Orr publications, many on Antennas - written in a very practical style. For many years W6SAI wrote the monthly "Radio Fundamentals" column in CQ magazine.

1952--The FCC permits phone operation on 40 meters, previously CW only. The 15 meter band is opened. The Advanced Class is withdrawn, although present holders can continue to renew. The retest requirement for Conditionals was dropped in 1952.

1952 RACES founded, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a public service provided by a reserve (volunteer) communications group within government agencies in times of extraordinary need.

1952 - 1956 SSB was making inroads on the ham bands.⁸  Central Electronics offered SSB gear in 1952. The Hallicrafters HT-30 was produced in 1954, The Collins KWS-1 transmitter was offered in 1955. So although perhaps not popular in the early 50's, the gear was available.

Early 1953  -- the FCC made a surprise about-face and announced that all amateur privileges would be granted to all holders of General, Conditional, Advanced and Extra class licenses. Novices got a place on 40 M.

Around 1953, the FCC was running out of W 1x3 call signs. So1x3 K calls began to be issued in the 48 states, with US possessions receiving 2x2 and 2x3 K calls. Novice calls in the 48 states continued to have the N (such as KN4LOD) which was dropped after upgrading. Had some reports of reissued calls about this time.

1953 Japanese VHF History A must read for VHFers.²¹

1954 - VQ4ERR receives the first phone WAZ award.

1954 The Novice and Technician licenses became so popular that  the FCC made them available by mail only.  50 kHz of 20 meters was lost to other services. and the distance requirement for a Conditional license was reduced to 75 miles.

In 1955, Technicians are given 6 meter privileges. By 1956 there were over 140,000 US hams, and growth was exceeding 10,000 per year

160 meters was returned to hams in a very limited fashion. There was a complex chart describing amateur privileges, depending on geographic location. There were power limits based on location and time of day, ranging from 1000 watts to 25 watts. It was confusing, but better than losing the band altogether.

1955 - 1963 Danny Weil Dxpeditions - Starts from England and in 8 years gives contacts from 30 different countries including -- Canal Zone, Tahiti, Canton Island, Nauru, Solomon Is./Guadalcanal, Buck Isl/Tortola, Br.Virg.Is., Madeira, Aves, Buck Island, St. Kitts, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Kingstown, Grenada, Trinidad, Jamaica, Baja Nuevo, Galapagos, Marquesa, Nukuhiva, Tahiti, S. Cook, Raratonga

The US amateur allocations in 1956⁸

About 1956-1958, the FCC started to run out of 1x3 K and W calls in some districts and began re-issuing expired W and K calls before going to the WA's. For example, when K2ZZZ was issued, they went back and re-issued some expired W2 and K2 calls. Up until this point, a normal sequential call sign was always a 'first issue'. At some point, 1958 or so, perhaps when all available expired calls had been re-issued, the FCC began issuing 2x3 WA calls, then WB as necessary.  Novices were given WV instead of WN. The V would change to an A or B upon upgrading. A few years later, the FCC reverted back to the Novice N scheme. With the uneven amateur population in the ten call districts, it took time for the K calls to run out in the some areas. In some districts, K calls were issued as late as 1964.

1957 W6NLZ contacts KH6UK via tropospheric ducting. Two years later, they achieve contact on 220Mhz.

From 1957 to 1962 there existed a set of regulations commonly referred to by hams as Conelrad¹⁰ Hams were required to monitor a local broadcast station at intervals of 10 minutes or less whenever they were operating, and if the broadcast station went off the air due to an emergency, hams had to leave the air as well.

In September, 1958, the Class D Citizens Band is opened and Amateurs lost the shared use of 11 meters. USA Amateur population is about 160,000.

Late 1950'S -- Log Periodic Antennas --  the ARRL Antenna Book Chapter 10, written by L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, attributes the LPDA to D.E. Isbell at the University of Illinois in the late 1950s.

In 1959, Technicians get the middle part of 2 meters (145-147 Mc).

1960 - first two-way EME contact on 1296 MHz is achieved. See Earth-Moon-Earth Communications.

1960 - 1970 Gus Browning¹² (W4BPD) The first DXer elected to the Dx Hall of Fame. Operated from over 100 countries. Dxpeditions included --- Seychelles, Somalia, Monaco, Aldabra, Cosmolédo, Assumption, Chagos, Burundi, Ruanda, Gough, Tristan da Cunha, Bouvet, Basutoland, Swaziland, Mauritius, Reunion, Juan de Nova, Comores, Madagascar, Tromelin, Glorieuses, Europa, Somaliland, Kamaran, Yemen, Aden, Bhutan, Tibet, Sikkim, Nepal, Afghanistan, Kuria-Muria, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, China, Lebanon, Jordan, Faroer, Luxembourg, Togo, Dahomey/Benin, Mauretania, Volta, Mali, Venezuela, Senegal, Gambia, Rodriquez, Bertaut Reef, Etoile Cay, Boudeuse Cay, Kenia, Comores, Geyser Reef, Farquhar, Agalega, Blenheim Reef, Chagos, Aldabra, Geyser Reef. Gus learned to write left handed so he could send C