DX RX

The Doctor of DX prescribes the
answers to your problems, low and
high, near and far.

A how to of what for, by Mike(aka Billy)Graham, K7CTW

A Brief Historical Review of Amateur Radio in the U.S. Part III - 1917 to 1923

The early months of 1917 were a busy time for the burgeoning ranks of the amateur radio community. The pages of QST for the months of January through April of that year reported on a number of timed message relays across the continent, radiophone broadcast experiments by the DeForest Company were conducted and reported upon, the ARRL more formally organized by adopting a Constitution and electing its first board of directors, and there were a number of articles in QST and other journals on the use of Armstrong's regenerative circuitry in receivers. In an unsigned article on page 17 of the April issue of QST, the author (probably Hiram Percy Maxim, or HPM) even has the audacity to assert that "We would not be at all surprised to receive evidence before bad summer weather begins that a message had gone out on one relay only (between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts) at Denver, and the answer received back in like manner and the time something of the order of twenty minutes." 1

Overshadowing this optimism though was the realization that war was imminent. In the April issue of QST, Maxim discusses ways in which amateur radio operators can help the war effort, and advises his readers that "Every one of us who is able to give his service ought to do so." 2

During that month, all licensed amateur radio operators received a letter from the Chief Radio Inspector of the Department of Commerce, which stated, in part:

"To all Radio Experimenters, Sirs: "By virtue of the authority given the President of the United States by an Act of Congress, approved August 13, 1912, entitled, 'An Act to Regulate Radio Communication,' and of all other authority vested in him, and in pursuance of an order issued by the President of the United States, I hereby direct the immediate closing of all stations for radio communications, both transmitting and receiving, owned or operated by you… "3 The letter went on to specify "…I direct that the antennae and all aerial wires be immediately lowered to the ground, and that all radio apparatus both for transmitting and receiving be disconnected from both the antennae and ground circuits and that it otherwise be rendered inoperative both for transmitting and receiving any radio messages or signals, and that it remain until this order is revoked." The airwaves fell silent, except for the crash of static and the occasional military station.

No sooner had this blow fallen than the other shoe fell. The Padgett Bill, H.R. 2753, introduced on April 9th, proposed that all radio communications, including amateur and commercial, were to be turned over to and administered by the Navy. HPM, representing the ARRL, Charles H. Stewart, representing the Wireless Association of Pennsylvania, and numerous others traveled to Washington to bitterly contest this proposed legislation. The bill eventually died in committee, but the swift and decisive actions of the ARRL and others set the tone for future efforts when amateur airwave privileges were threatened. 4

And then Mr. John Q. Public went to war. All across the United States, amateur radio operators were inducted into the Army Signal Corps and the Navy. The Radio Club of America turned over to the government information about its membership and their technical expertise, the ARRL Board of Directors placed the services and resources of the League at the disposal of the government, and various clubs throughout the country followed suit. The League wouldn't have long to wait.

Summoned to New York to meet with a representative of the Navy, HPM and the League was tasked with providing 500 radio operators, together with some of the "better" radio equipment, and he was given ten days to do it. And he did! A later second call for 2000 volunteers was also met and exceeded. Altogether it is estimated that between 3,500 and 4,000 trained radio operators were inducted into the services from the ranks of the amateur community. 5 Among the ranks of the thousands of volunteers were the likes of Clarence Tuska, commissioned a Lieutenant and in charge of Communications Training for the Air Service, and Major E.H. Armstrong, placed in charge of the Army's Signal Corps Labs in Paris. It was while Armstrong was there that he invented the superheterodyne receiver. Even such a notable as Guglielmo Marconi saw service as "Commendattore" of the Italian Army's signaling group. Numerous other notable amateurs saw service and contributed a great deal to the Allied effort in Europe.

During the war years, tremendous strides were made in the art of communications, as is inevitable during times of great need. The emphasis shifted away from spark as a means of transmission and toward Continuous Wave (CW), tubes began to see greater use in receiving circuitry and were being manufactured in a greater variety and quantity, and the practice of "cascading" stages of amplification to increase receiver sensitivity was introduced. Tuning circuitry was improved and a great deal of effort went into reducing the bulk and weight of both transmitting and receiving equipment. Finally, on November 11, 1918, war ceased with the signing of the Armistice in a railroad car outside Paris and peace returned, but unfortunately not for the amateur.

Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW
Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW
If it were possible for a third shoe to fall, it did. Concurrent with the signing of peace, Rep. Alexander of Missouri introduced into the House the strongest attempt yet to give the Navy control of all radio equipment and frequencies in the United States. Once again, the ARRL which was represented by HPM, and representatives from the Wireless Association of Pennsylvania, the Hoosier Radio Club, the South Jersey Radio Association, and the Baltimore Radio Association converged on Washington. While still in committee, HPM and others made impassioned pleas with the congressmen to defeat the bill. Additionally, HPM had the families of all who had been amateur radio operators at the onset of war write letters to their congressmen to strongly protest this proposed legislation. The end result was thousands of letters being sent to and received by members of Congress, and the bill died while still in committee. Once again, the actions of the League and others had turned away a concerted effort to restrict or even eliminate - the amateur service. The lesson to amateurs throughout the United States was obvious; a well structured and centrally organized and managed organization was able to take on and defeat a "strong bill, ably sponsored and backed." 6

Subsequent to the end of the war, the amateur community waited eagerly to begin operating again. But it was to be another five months before they were permitted to operate, and only to operate receivers. Transmitting was being restricted until the President officially announced that a state of peace existed. By the summer of 1919, amateurs were ranting and raving at Congress, the ARRL was writing letters to Washington to request that the transmitting ban be lifted, and to add insult to injury, several more attempts were made to turn over control of the airwaves to the Navy. Luckily, these were again defeated. Finally, only after a Joint Resolution of Congress, Resolution NR. 291, sponsored by the Hon. William S. Green, was introduced, directing the Navy to explain its recalcitrance in granting permission for amateur operations to again commence, did the government relent. But it would still take another month or so for amateurs to get back on the air, as in the interim, all licenses had expired. But by November, 1919 amateurs were again operating - by the thousands.

In the meantime, the ARRL Board of Directors, in March, had authorized the League to purchase QST from its owner, Clarence Tuska, and the Board authorized the League to borrow $7500 from former members. In March, the League's treasury contained a grand total of $33, and there was an unpaid printing bill of $4700. In order to publish QST again, it was initially decided to print a mini-QST of 8 pages, and the $100 printing fee was "bankrolled" by members of the Board. In April, 18 months after ceasing publication, QST was again coming off the presses. It saw "The Old Man" once again poking jabs here and there, and more than once he took a couple of good swipes at the government for its lack of action on behalf of amateur radio. The April issue contained not a single ad, but it did contain information about the bond issue and a membership application in the back. There was no May issue, while the League struggled to obtain monies from the bond issue, which it did. The June issue contained 34 pages, and once again the ads were back. The ARRL had managed to survive where so many other publications had ceased to exist during the war.

As hams flocked back to the airwaves, the bedlam at 200 Meters was monumental. The newer generation of superregenerative receivers was far more sensitive than older types, and the spark signals were as "broad as a barn". The ARRL also realized that self-policing would be necessary in order to ward off the incessant attacks by certain elements within the government to take the radio spectrum away from amateurs. Keeping "our own house in order" was an absolute necessity. More and more, hams began to look at CW as a means of salvation. Tubes were becoming increasingly cheaper and more readily available, and certain advances in oscillator circuits provided the frequency stability which would be required to transmit and receive using CW.

Added to this mess was the "broadcast" factor. In 1919 Woodrow Wilson became the first President to speak over radio when he broadcast a speech to armed forces in Europe. Prior to that time, there had been a number of broadcast experiments by DeForest and others. But on November 2, 1920, when Warren G. Harding was elected President, an amateur operator, Dr. Frank Conrad, 8XK, broadcast the returns via his amateur station as they were wired in. He was an employee of Westinghouse and his station later evolved into KDKA in Pittsburgh, the first commercial broadcast station. 8XK had been broadcasting music since May of that year (it was legal at that time). By modulating their CW transmitters, thousands of amateurs began broadcasting music and news to their respective communities. And there were listeners.

Amateur Station 8XK (KDKA)
Amateur Station 8XK (KDKA)
Many experimenters and curious individuals began to purchase crystal sets or regenerative receivers available at the time. And specifically, Westinghouse was building and selling receivers designed to receive the 8XK broadcasts. Capitalism at work! And these receivers could be bought for as little as $10. Whereas most amateurs were broadcasting point to point, Westinghouse deliberately targeted its broadcasting to the general public. A stroke of marketing genius! For the first time, the general public began to influence the direction of radio. November 2, 1920 was a major turning point.

Because of the interference to broadcast signals from CW and spark stations, citizens began flooding the halls of Congress and the Commerce Department with angry letters. Secretary Herbert Hoover convened a conference of interested parties in February, 1922 and got participants to agree to the following provisions:

  1. Broadcast licenses would be issued at 360 Meters for regular transmissions, and at 485 Meters for crop reports and weather.
  2. After marine interests abandoned the 220-525 Meter range, it would be turned over to broadcasting.
  3. Broadcasting was forbidden by amateurs, who were formally defined as stations operating "without pay or commercial gain, merely for personal interest."
  4. "Quiet Hours" were imposed on amateur operators between the hours of 8 and 10:30 PM, and on Sunday mornings.

    The broadcast station count immediately dropped from 1,200 to 30, a rather forceful indication of the number of amateurs who were among the first broadcasters. 7

    Also, between 1921 and 1923, a number of Trans-Atlantic tests had been conducted successfully, attesting to the superiority of CW over spark. Postwar production of vacuum tubes was at a peak, an $8 RCA 5- watt transmitting tube was outperforming a 500-watt spark transmitter, and a 50-watt tube, costing about $30, was 5 times more effective than a 1 KW spark transmitter. And fifty CW stations could occupy the same space as one spark transmitter. While not yet dead, spark was gasping its last breaths. In 1923, QST was still printing articles on "quenched" spark transmitters, but more and more, the preponderance of technical articles revolved around CW transmitters and superheterodyne receiver circuits and stabilized oscillators. In addition, the MacMillan Arctic Expedition was the first to carry two-way radio; an amateur 200 Meter CW station. It was only the first of many such expeditions over the next ten years, including the expeditions of Admiral Byrd to the South Pole.

    In the next installment, we'll digress slightly from a strict timeline to focus on the life of the "Father of Modern Radio", Edwin H. Armstrong, whose contributions to the "art" of radio spanned a period of more than 40 years, and the significance of which are immeasurable in scope.

    For now, best 73 es Good DX, de K7CTW

    1 "Trans-continental Record", QST, April 1917, p. 17.

    2 "Our Country Calls Us", QST, April 1917, p. 25.

    3 "Two Hundred Meters and Down", Clinton B. Desoto, American Radio Relay League, 1936, p. 50.

    4 ibid., p. 51.

    5 ibid., p.p. 52-54.

    6 ibid. p. 55

    7 "Outline of Amateur Radio History", Bill Continelli, W2XOY, http://hudson-loop.org/timeline.html

    Back to In this issue...