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 Previous: Texas Youngster Makes Career Choice During Ham Radio Chat with ISS |  Next: QRP Community: QRP Contesting (Part 2 of 2) |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
October 19, 2002
This week, our surfboard turns into the way-back machine as we travel through time to the early days of radio.
I get mass quantities of e-mail as a result of this column and there are a lot of suggestions included in that e-mail. Some of the suggestions tell me where to go to find interesting Web sites for future installments of Surfin' and some just tell me where to go! Anyway, I check out every suggestion, and a lot of them turn up here in this column, as is the case this week.
Recently, Paula Keiser, K8PK, suggested that "to get really deep into the history of radio in the early days, look at Thomas White's site, United States Early Radio History. I don't think he's missed a thing!" I agree.
 Thomas White's Web site, United States Early Radio History, contains an abundance of articles about early ether. |
White's collection of articles, extracts, and documents concentrates on the period 1897 through 1927 and contains fascinating reading for the radio history buff. For example, the introduction from the article titled "Mystique of the Three-Letter Callsigns" reads, "U.S. radio and television station call letters, especially the three-letter variety, hold a special fascination for many. This article concentrates on three-letter calls, but also reviews some early four-letter policies including why KDKA got that odd call." Another article, "Building the Broadcast Band" describes how "the structure of the AM band in the United States was painstakingly put together during an eight-year period from 1920 to 1928."
White did a lot of research to build the content of this site. His articles on "pioneer broadcast service stations" are typical and in their introduction, he explains how they came about. "Years ago, I got frustrated because I couldn't find a complete and accurate list of the first broadcasting stations. So, I've compiled a detailed review of the 389 broadcast service grants that were made through June, 1922, and the current status of each station."
White not only is generous with the time he spent putting this Web site together, he is generous with its contents, too. When I e-mailed him about my intention to write about his Web site, he replied, "Everything on my Web page is free for anyone to use in any way they wish. You don't even have to ask permission first."
Thank you, Thomas White.
Until next time, keep on surfin'
Editor's note:
Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, resides in downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, and is a member
of the QQCC (QST quarter century club), i.e., he has been a QST writer for 25
years. Since getting his ticket in 1969, Stan has sampled nearly every entrée
in the Amateur Radio menu (including a stint as Connecticut Section Manager),
but he keeps coming back to his favorite preoccupations: VHF and packet radio.
As a result, he runs a 2-meter APRS digipeater and weather station (WA1LOU-15)
from his mountaintop location in central Connecticut. Stan has been a long time
advocate of using computers with Amateur Radio and wrote programs to dupe
contests and calculate antenna bearings way back in 1978. Today, he is on the
board of directors of the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) and uses his Mac
to surf the Internet searching for that perfect ham radio web page. To contact
Stan, send e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: Texas Youngster Makes Career Choice During Ham Radio Chat with ISS | Next: QRP Community: QRP Contesting (Part 2 of 2) |
