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 Previous: ARRL Petitions FCC for LF Allocations | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif "SETI League Calls Foul on Claimed SETI "Hit""){kind=small} Next: SETI League Calls Foul on Claimed SETI "Hit" |
By Bob Raide, W2ZM, and Ed Gable, K2MP
November 2, 1998
Amateur Radio history was made 75 years ago when the first two-way transatlantic QSOs were successful. With our modern equipment, we take contacts with Europe for granted, but in 1923 this was major news. Later this month, the Antique Wireless Association will relive the thrills of those original transatlantic tests by putting period equipment on the air the weekend after Thanksgiving. This special W2AN operation will give today's ops a tiny taste of what it was like back in those heady days of 1923.
AWA Museum Curator Ed Gable, K2MP (left), and Bob Raide, W2ZM (right) with the Reinartz 1922 receiver and the 1MO replica transmitter. [Photo: Stanley Avery, WM3D] |
Just two years ago we celebrated the first one-way transmission across the Atlantic ocean with the 1BCG operating event. [1] In December 1921, the original transmitted message was received in its entirety by Paul Godley, located in a tent on a coastal moor in Scotland. The great Atlantic had been conquered! However, neither Paul Godley nor anyone else for that matter was able to send back a message from that "other side." There was still work to be done.
It was not until the fourth and final transatlantic tests in November 1923 that the first amateur transatlantic two-way communication would take place. Then, ARRL Traffic Manager Fred Schnell, 1MO, and, a little later, John Reinartz, 1XAM, (later W4CF and K6BJ, respectively) would work 8AB, Leon Deloy in France. [2]
The 1 MO transmitter. [Photo: WM3D] |
As events happened, it was 1MO in West Hartford, Connecticut, that first contacted 8AB in France. Their QSO lasted almost two hours! Later that evening, Reinartz at 1XAM would duplicate the feat. QST reported that, a few months earlier, Deloy had visited the US "with the avowed intention" of spanning the Atlantic that winter. He had even attended the ARRL Convention in Chicago and met with hundreds of US hams to share information and techniques.
An aside: John Reinartz was a good friend of the late AWA Museum Curator Bruce Kelley, W2ICE. Reinartz once gave Kelley a spare "bottle" for his 1500T kW 'phone set--a 2000T that now hangs in the AWA annex tube room. Reinartz worked for Eitel-McCullough (Eimac) and authored many articles and tips for the amateur builder. Mike Raide, W2ZE, is in the process of completely restoring Kelley's phone transmitter to operation.
The Reinartz receiver, vintage 1922. [Photo: WM3D] |
In the December, 1921 tests, 1BCG operated on what was then considered the "short wave" of about 230 meters. In 1923, 1MO and 1XAM worked Deloy's 8AB in France on about a 100-meter wavelength. During that time period wavelengths much below 200 meters were considered a no-man's land. But, indeed, those short waves got the job done, and the exodus from the 200-meter region had begun!
It should be noted, that the importance and significance of these Amateur Radio accomplishments are illustrated in the Proceedings of the IEEE. [3])
It would seem appropriate to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the significant happening using similar apparatus and wavelength of operation. As 1MO was first to contact French 8AB, a recreation of the 1MO transmitter seems most appropriate for our special event. [4] In addition, the 1MO transmitter is well-illustrated in the QST feature article. The 1XAM receiver also deserves much credit. We know from the QST article that on at least one occasion during that fateful November night 1XAM was able to copy completely a message from 8AB while 1MO needed several fills. Therefore, our special event station will consist of the 1MO transmitter and 1XAM receiver.
The 1MO transmitter appears to be essentially a fullwave, self-rectified, self-excited set with four 203A tubes in a shunt-fed Hartley circuit. Two sets of two tubes each are used in parallel, with each pair of tubes conducting on each half of the 60-cycle (Hz) a.c. line frequency. The resulting received signal is a distinctive 120-cycle (Hz) note that even under adverse band conditions is very effective. Nothing is mentioned about the 1MO antenna system.
The 1XAM receiver consisted of the then new type "spider-web" coil, 201A detector and 201As in the "two-step" audio stages to the speaker speaker. The particular set we have available for use is of Reinartz' design but utilizes UV199 tubes instead of the 201As. Reinartz also utilized an ingenious combination of transmitter and receiver mating to allow full-break-in operation, which is illustrated in a separate article in the January 1924 QST issue that reported this astounding accomplishment. [5]
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Leon Deloy, 8AB, of Nice, France (l) and ARRL Traffic Manager Fred Schnell, 1MO. [Photos from Radio Broadcast, March 1924, via AWA] | |
Little was mentioned about Leon Deloy's (French 8AB) apparatus, other than his note being on the order of 25-cycle raw a.c. The QST article in 1924 also mentioned that he was authorized up to 1 kW input, so we must assume that he ran close to that power level. His receiver was a Grebe CR-13.
Now, exactly 75 years later to the day, the Antique Wireless Association is scheduling an event to work other amateurs with this early apparatus to commemorate this momentous occasion. On Friday, November 27, 1998--the day after Thanksgiving--W2AN will operate from the AWA annex on or about 3525 kHz. Operation will begin promptly at 6 PM EST (2300 UTC), and we will work as many stations as possible.
We will resume operation the next evening, the 28th, if popular demand dictates. A special QSL card will be available.
Send QSLs for W2AN commemorative contacts to AWA, 187 Lighthouse Rd, Hilton, NY 14468. For more information, contact AWA Museum Curator Ed Gable, K2MP, 716-392-3088; k2mp@eznet.net. Visit the AWA Web site.
Special Canadian Prefixes to Mark First Transatlantic QSOHams North of the Border also will celebrate a transatlantic first this year, specifically, the 75th anniversary of the first recorded transatlantic QSO between A.W. Grieg, c1BQ of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and E.J. Simmonds, g2OD, of Ascot, Berkshire, England. This contact took place on December 16, 1923, a few weeks after the US achievement. To commemorate this uniquely Canadian event, Industry Canada will permit Canadian Amateurs the use of the following special prefixes during the month of December 1998: CF in place of VA; CG in place of VE; CJ in place of VO; CK in place of VY--Eddy Swynar, VE3CUI |
[3] Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol 84, No 12, Dec 1996, p 1762, refer to footnote 2, page 10. 4.
[4] "Transmitter for the 1929 QSO Party" by Bob Dennison, OTB, Jun 1985
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