‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM JANUARY 2015 QST PAGE 99‰ IMPOSSIBLE. EARLY TRANSCEIVERS LACKED THE DUAL VFOS AND OFFSET TUNING THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED IN HF GEAR TODAY. THE EARLY SSB TRANSCEIVERS ALSO DID NOT OFFER AM OR CW CAPABILITY, OR AT LEAST HAD LIMITED FEATURES WHEN OPERATING IN THOSE MODES. THE KWM 1 WAS RESTRICTED TO 20, 15, AND 10 METERS, UPPER SIDEBAND ONLY. IN THE FALL OF 1959, COLLINS INTRODUCED THE KWM 2 AND IT WAS AN INSTANT HIT WITH ITS 80 THROUGH 10 METER COVERAGE. A SLOW TAKEOFF WITH SUCH ENTHUSIASTIC REVI SAME CRYSTALS. TAKING YOUR STATION MOBILE WAS ANOTHER CHALLENGE. IMAGINE TRYING TO DRIVE WHILE DEALING WITH THE HASSLES OF TUNING AND TRANSMITTING, LET ALONE THE INCONVENIENCE OF TRYING TO ACCOMMODATE TWO SIZABLE BOXES IN YOUR CAR. BUT MOBILE OPERATING WAS ON THE RISE IN THE POSTWAR WORLD. CHANGES IN REGULATIONS, VEHICLES AND LIFESTYLES WERE DRIVING FACTORS NO PUN INTENDED. THE TRANSFORMATION OF AUTOMOBILE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS FROM 6 V TO 12 V, AND THE POPULARITY OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS AND POWER STEERING SOON MADE MOBILE OPERATING EASIER AND SAFER. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, CHANGES IN FCC RULES MADE HF MOBILE POSSIBLE ON ANY BAND AND MODE. ALL OF THESE PRESSURES SPURRED DEMAND FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION. HAMS WANTED RADIOS THAT WERE FREQUENCY AGILE ON RECEIVE AND TRANSMIT. THEY ALSO WANTED RIGS THAT COMBINED RECEIVERS AND TRANSMITTERS INTO SINGLE ENCLOSURES THAT WERE MORE COMPACT AND CONVENIENT TO HANDLE ESPECIALLY WITH MOBILE OPERATING IN MIND. IN OTHER WORDS, HAMS WANTED TRANSCEIVERS. EARLY HURDLES YOUD THINK TRANSCEIVER DEVELOPMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY EASY, BUT IT WASNT. ONE HURDLE WAS THE FACT THAT RECEIVERS AND TRANSMITTERS APPROACHED FREQUENCY VINTAGE RADIO FROM SEPARATES TO COMBOS TO TRANSCEIVERS THE TRANSCEIVERS WE TAKE FOR GRANTED TODAY HAVE THEIR ROOTS IN A DESIGN REVOLUTION THAT BEGAN IN THE 1950S. RON POLLACK, K2RP K2RP ARRL. NET IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE TRANSMITTERS, AND THERE WERE RECEIVERS. EACH WAS SELF CONTAINED, WITH NO MUTUAL PARTS OR CIRCUITS, AND A HAM NEEDED AT LEAST ONE OF EACH TO GET ON THE AIR. THIS OPERATING ENVIRONMENT PRESENTED SPECIAL CHALLENGES THAT ARE LARGELY UNKNOWN TO AMATEURS TODAY. FOR EXAMPLE, CRYSTALS WERE OFTEN USED TO CONTROL THE TRANSMITTING FREQUENCIES. WHILE SOME VARIABLE FREQUENCY OSCILLATORS, OR VFOS, WERE AVAILABLE FOR TRANSMITTERS BEFORE WORLD WAR II, THEY WERE NOT COMMON DEVICES UNTIL WELL INTO THE 1950S. UNTIL THEN, HAMS WERE OFTEN RESTRICTED TO TRANSMITTING ON DISCRETE FREQUENCIES THAT WERE DICTATED BY THE CRYSTALS THEY OWNED. SINCE THE TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY WAS DETERMINED BY THE CRYSTAL, THE COMMON PRACTICE WAS TO CALL CQ AND THEN TUNE THE BAND WITH YOUR RECEIVER FOR A RESPONSE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS WAS INEFFICIENT IN TERMS OF SPECTRUM USAGE BECAUSE CONVERSATIONS WOULD OFTEN END UP OCCUPYING TWO SEPARATE FREQUENCIES. ANOTHER CONSEQUENCE OF SEPARATE FREQUENCY DETERMINING SYSTEMS FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING WAS THE PRACTICAL INABILITY TO CONDUCT NET OR ROUNDTABLE OPERATIONS ON A SINGLE FREQUENCY, UNLESS ALL MEMBERS OWNED THE ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ