Guess I shudda said Rick. Hi.
sorry Rick.
Bob W5UQ
On 12/31/2021 2:56 PM, Bob H via BVARC wrote:
Ron, So where's the "rest of the story"?
Bob W5UQ
On 12/31/2021 1:39 PM, Rick Hiller via BVARC wrote:
Just Chevy vs Ford.....
Sent from my i-Thingamajig
On Dec 31, 2021, at 10:12 AM, Gary Sitton via BVARC <[email protected]>
wrote:
OK, I'm stupid but why Harvey Wells? I actually have an
old H.W. Z-Match Balanced Tuner which I restored and plan
to use on a big loop whenever I get one up on my small lot.
I did get an O.O. notice in the '50s of severe chirp on 20
mtrs using a surplus ARC-5 transmitter. I just ditched the
rig and got a Heath Kit VFO which was much more stable.
Later while in CA as WB6NDY in the early '70s a nearly
Ham complained of my key click on 20 mtr CW. I fixed the
cathode keying circuit with a resistor and capacitor in my
restored old 90 watt transmitter and all was well.
73, Gary K5AMH
On 12/29/2021 10:09 AM, k5hm.ron--- via BVARC wrote:
*The Great Harvey Wells Caper*
*Part 1 – The Pink Ticket*
It was April in New York City. I was on my way home from the
regular weekly breakfast with the Queens County Bagel, Bowling and
Spark Club.
These were the halcyon days of kid-dom on the cusp of adulthood. I
had my General Class ticket now for about two years. Got my
acceptance letter from college and it was six months before anybody
would hear of Sputnik. Life was good.
As I walked home from the bus stop, I was thinking about getting on
the air today and rolling up a few new states for my WAS. I needed
South Dakota and my old buddy Ralph from the QCBB&SC said there
were only three active hams in the whole state. I could see that
South Dakota was going to be a real challenge.
I climbed the front steps two at a time, walked through the front
door and headed directly for my basement ham shack. I am halfway
down the hall when I hear my old man say, “Where are you going?”
Any kid who has reached the age of five, immediately recognizes the
peril in that question. It’s not a question really, it more a
combination of Red Alert, General Quarters and Take Cover
simultaneously.
I turned around to see the old man advancing toward me. He was
upset. I tried to think of anything I did or failed to do in the
last twenty-four hours. I aced my Physics quiz, took out the trash
last night, and didn’t leave any wet towels in the bathroom, check,
check, check.
He was about two feet away when he stopped, thrust a letter in
front of me and said, “What’s this?” His hand was shaking so much,
I couldn’t read the envelope at first, but it looked very
important. Eventually, the oscillation decayed enough for me to
see better. It was one of those business window envelopes with no
stamp. The top right-hand corner of the envelope contained the
words, /U.S. Government Official Business!/
The old man was really wound up; like a pressure cooker ready to
explode. He’d lived his life avoiding entanglements with
authority. He was 4-F for the draft in WWII, voted at least once
in every election and was an associate member of the Police
Benevolent Association. Any unexpected things that had to do with
“Official Business” made him very nervous.
Desperately, I tried to think of something that would get him in
such a lather. I had gotten my draft card six weeks ago. Maybe
this was the dreaded, “Greetings from Uncle Sam” letter. Then I
noticed the return address, /Federal Communications Commission,
Washington, DC./
I stopped breathing. The FCC! This was worse than getting
drafted. Looking through the window of the envelope I could see
the paper inside. A pink ticket!
The envelope was torn open. At the top of the page, I could see
the words, /Notice of Violation!/ He’d already read it and
assumed the worst; a life sentence for me at Leavenworth. I was
doomed!
Flight was the only response I had. I grabbed the letter and ran
for the basement. I read and re-read the notice several times.
Cold sweat was dripping off me.
The letter said that my signal had been observed operating at a
frequency out of the band at such and such time and date. It
demanded I explain what happened. That I take immediate steps to
prevent this from happening in the future and that I report those
steps to the FCC within 30 days. No wonder the old man was upset.
Single handedly, I had brought the wrath of the entire federal
government down on our home.
I pulled out my log and started flipping pages; hoping this was a
mistake. Some other guy with a similar call sign, maybe. The time
in the letter was around 2 AM. Was the FCC really awake that late?
I ran my thumb down the logbook pages slowly, hoping against hope.
Yikes! There it was. At the alleged hour, I had been on the air.
What could I do? “The old man was right, you’re going to
Leavenworth “, said the voice in my head.
That night I’d logged several calls to DX stations who were calling
CQ on the other side of the 20-meter band edge. The last entry in
the log that night was a guy in VK-land that I had finally managed
to work. I was so excited I almost woke the old man out of a sound
sleep to tell him. I must have strayed too close to the band edge!
Maybe I’ll just throw myself on the mercy of the court. /“Your
honor, I’m just a kid. I didn’t know I was committing a crime.”
“I fell in with a bad crowd; they dared me to do it!”/
In a panic, I called my old buddy Ralph on the land line. Ralph
was a charter member of the QCBB&SC. He knew everything about ham
radio. He had been a ham so long that he said Marconi was his Elmer.
After an eternity of rings, he answered. Without giving him a
chance to say hello, I unloaded on Ralph in one single breath.
When I finally finished, Ralph calmed me down and assured me that I
was not going to Leavenworth. “Yeah kid (everyone was a kid to
Ralph), I got my first pink ticket in ’36”, he said softly, as if
someone were listening.
What a relief! My old buddy Ralph, the greatest Elmer of all time
had gotten at least a couple pink tickets and he was still walking
around a free man. There was a ray of hope for me!
I could swear he was grinning on the other side of the phone. The
voice in my head said, “Yeah, they’ll probably confiscate all your
radio gear instead.”
It was only two years earlier that I went to the FCC offices in
Manhattan to take my General exam under the watchful eye of Lurch,
the examiner. I still remember the big bullpen where the FCC guys
worked. They were all dressed alike too; white shirts rolled up to
the elbow, black ties and black pants. It was the official FCC
uniform. I didn’t know what would be worse; just quietly going
off to Leavenworth or having a squad of FCC men in black show up at
my house in front of all the neighbors!
“Listen kid”, he began; his voice had a way of piercing through the
QRM in my head. “You just need an accurate marker for the band
edge. A crystal calibrator. You can pick one up at Harrison Radio
for about ten bucks.” I could hear Ralph take a deep breath. He’d
been a chain smoker for twenty years, so his inhale had a signature
wheeze, just like a good CW operator’s fist.
Then he continued, “The dial markings on your VFO ain’t worth the
plastic they’re printed on kid. So, when you are chasing DX, don’t
get any closer than three kc to the band edge marker, no matter what.”
“Hey Ralph”, I said “What about the letter I have to write? What
should I say?” Ralph started in again, “Listen kid, just tell them
the truth, you’ll be fine. See you later kid.” And then there was
a click.
I sat for a long time; thinking. The U.S. phone band ended at 14200
KC. Most of the good DX was always just below that. We worked
split back then, running full carrier double sideband AM, pushing
as close to the band edge as we dared, calling for that rare
station we needed.
I wasn’t willing to give up a whole three kc of band, if I didn’t
need to do it. Maybe I could just turn down the mike gain. Just
listening to twenty meters some nights it was easy to see how
everybody pushed the limit. Still, I was willing to do or say
anything get back in the old man’s good graces and the FCC off my
back! Finally, the beginnings of a diabolical plan began to form
in my head. If I played my cards right, I would solve my FCC
problem and then some.
To be continued
*Reporting from the Dark Side,*
*Ron Litt, K5HM*
73,
Ron, K5HM
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
www.qrz.com/db/k5hm <http://www.qrz.com/db/k5hm>
<image001.jpg><image002.jpg><image003.jpg>
*Excelsior!*
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
Publicly available archives are available here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
