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 Previous: Westchester Emergency Communications Association |  Next: First ARISS Canadian Contact Will Be Last for Current Crew |
 The "collector's collector" Al Hall, W9IVA (ex-9BOX), now a Silent Key, in his shack, which contained gear that spanned several decades. His gear now is in a private museum. [Photo courtesy of Jim Green, KG9MM] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 21, 2001--Amateurs are known to be collectors, but Al Hall, W9IVA, who became a Silent Key last year at the age of 93, was the collector's collector! Not only did he collect radio gear but also Callbooks dating back to the 1940s and other call sign directories going back even further. Now, his collection has been donated to ARRL Headquarters by the ham who inherited it.
A longtime resident of Madison, Wisconsin, and an ARRL member at the time of his death, Hall left his Callbook collection to Jim Green, KG9MM, who donated and shipped the entire collection to ARRL Headquarters this month. The volumes will augment the League's Callbook and call sign directory collection, and some of the books will replace directories that have deteriorated with age or become dog-eared through use.
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The donated collection from W9IVA included these US Department of Commerce call sign directories from 1929 and 1931. | ARRL staffer John Hennessee, N1KB, tends ARRL Headquarters' collection of Callbooks and call sign directories. |
The collection is archived at League Headquarters in the Field and Educational Services offices. ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist John Hennessee, N1KB, maintains the small, but expanded, library. He says the League now has 165 call sign directories in its archive, including a complete Callbook collection from the late 1940s. Some gaps remain between 1932 and 1955, however.
Hennessee said the ARRL invites donations of needed Callbooks to the ARRL collection. Contact Hennessee at 860-594-0236 or by e-mail at n1kb@arrl.org. He asks that donors not ship books but check with him first to ensure that a particular edition is needed.
In addition to its historical significance, the collection of directories also is in demand for research purposes. "Although ARRL HQ staffers are not able to research calls, which can be incredibly time consuming," Hennessee said, "they will be happy to confirm whether a specific call appears in a particular year and to provide proof as a free service to members." Hennessee said searches can be done only by call sign, not by name. Visitors to ARRL Headquarters may research old calls, by appointment.
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A Callbook collector himself, QST "Old Radio" Editor John Dilks, K2TQN, got a chance to look through the collection last week during a brief visit. "This is great," he said. "You've got a wonderful collection here!" | A section containing Callbooks from the 1950s and early 1960s. [ARRL Photos] |
Green described Hall--who first used the call of 9BOX at the age of 12 around 1920--as "a feisty old guy with lots of stories, and some of them were even true!" Green said Hall "still had his first rig, his last rig, and according to him, every rig in between." Hall's first rig was a spark-gap transmitter with a cat's whisker detector for a receiver. His last rigs were a Heathkit HW-101 and an HW-8. "His entire collection is set up on display in a private museum in Madison, Wisconsin," Green said.
Green also included several assorted Amateur Radio-related books going as far back as 1908. ARRL Wisconsin Section Manager Don Michalski, W9IXG, had encouraged Green to contact ARRL HQ.
| Previous: Westchester Emergency Communications Association | Next: First ARISS Canadian Contact Will Be Last for Current Crew |
