KCUR Interview: US Amateur Radio during The Great War

Battleships of the Hochseeflotte, 1917. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

When America declared war on Germany in 1917, most radio stations came under government control, reserved for war efforts. On this edition of Up To Date, we learn why HAM radio operators were prevented from broadcasting during The Great War.

Guests:

Jonathan Casey is the Edward Jones Research Center Manager at the National World War I Museum.

Herb Fiddick is the amateur radio voice of the National World War I Museum.

This weekend, the National WWI Museum will host special event station WW1USA. The station will be manned by amateur radio operators for 31 consecutive hours, beginning Saturday, December 12 at 10 a.m. through Sunday at 5 p.m. The event is free. For more information go to theworldwar.org.

Click here to listen to the interview on KCUR.

The Worldwide Listening Guide 7th Edition: now released

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WWLG-7th-Edition

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Thomas Ally, who notified me that he has just purchased a copy of the WWLG 7th edition through Amazon.

Here’s the description of the new edition:

New, fully-updated 7th edition provides a complete guide to listening to radio in all of today’s formats: “live,” on-demand, WiFi, podcast, terrestrial, satellite, internet, digital, and of course analog AM, FM, and Shortwave.

The introductory section explains all of the newest delivery methods for radio, and the devices used to access broadcasts from around the World at any time of day or night. Listening to programs from distant lands is no longer a late-night activity dependent upon shortwave propagation conditions. There are thousands of radio stations worldwide that use the Internet to stream their broadcasts. Traditional radio is being augmented by computers, tablets, smartphones, satellites, WiFi receivers, and multiplexed digital transmission methods, greatly enhancing the listening experience.

The Worldwide Listening Guide shows you how to access all of this audio content using these different delivery platforms. The Guide is focused on English language broadcasts that can be heard in North America. There is a comprehensive listing of more than 3500 programs. These are then placed in separate categories by program type, such as news, music, talk, current affairs.

The WWLG 7th edition is also available from Universal Radio, the W5YI Group and Ham Radio Outlet.

Whereas the WRTH–also just released–is a guide to stations and broadcasts, the WWLG is a guide to content and programming. I always have copies of both in my shack.

Thanks, Tom Ally, for the tip!

A note of caution about Thunderbolt Magnum Heavy Duty batteries

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Discount hardware store, Harbor Freight, sells packs of very affordable Heavy Duty batteries under the Thunderbolt Magnum brand name. Occasionally, Harbor Freight even gives large packs of these batteries away for free (with a coupon).

This is how I acquired a pack of 24 Thunderbolt Magnum AA cells earlier this year: for free during a store promotion.

In truth, I use quality rechargeable AA cells quite heavily (mainly Powerex and Panasonic Enloops). If I am reviewing a radio, I buy fresh Energizer or Duracell AA alkaline batteries to make sure the radio is receiving full voltage from the batteries during the evaluation.

But, on occasion, a cheap AA will suffice, right?

Not these.

I put three in a shortwave portable in June because all of my other batteries were in use. I had just planned to take the portable on a weekend trip. Though it shouldn’t have been a problem, I forgot and left the batteries in the radio.

Tuesday afternoon, I checked the batteries because they were already dead. Turns out they were already leaking! I then remembered that other cells–from the same pack–had leaked in one of my kid’s flashlights.

It could be that I simply got a bad batch of batteries, but these cells really do feel of poor quality–I bet they weigh half that of most other Heavy Duty cells.

My advice? Free is too costly for these batteries. Stick with quality cells!

Now I need to go through my house and find where the remaining four batteries are hidden before they damage another device.

WRTH 2016: now in publication

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I’m very happy to see this notice from Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher of the World Radio TV Handbook:

We are delighted to announce the publication today of the 70th edition of WRTH.

For full details of WRTH 2016 and to order a copy please visit our website at www.wrth.com where you can also order the B15 WRTH Bargraph Frequency Guide on CD and as a download.

WRTH 2016 is also available for pre-order, for readers in the USA, from Amazon or Universal Radio in Ohio.

I hope you enjoy using this new edition of WRTH and the new CD.

Best regards

Nicholas Hardyman
Publisher

SWLing Post comments…some getting lost in our SPAM folder?

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Site-SPAM-Comments The SWLing Post has been online since 2008–plenty of time for SPAMbots to focus their attention on us! In fact, we receive a SPAM comment, on average, every 3 minutes! Way too many comments to moderate individually.

To fight SPAM, we’ve employed a number of strategies over the years including site plugins, scripts, and external applications.

It seems, though, that our SPAM filters are catching more than SPAM: they’re catching your qualified comments! Several readers and contributors have contacted me recently and noted that their comments haven’t posted. I’ve had to search through the 4,000+ comments in the SPAM folder using their email address.

If you’re a regular on the SWLing Post and submit a comment, but it doesn’t appear in the post’s comment thread, please notify me!

Keep in mind that there are certain comments that are automatically moderated or sent to the SPAM folder:

Those from a new user (who has never had an approved comment)
Those with multiple links to external sites (a characteristic of much SPAM)
Comments with common profanity

If your comment is sent to moderation, no worries. There are a few volunteer comment moderators that will approve it within minutes or, at most, a few hours.

I’ll attempt to reset/reinstall our SPAM plugins/scripts in the hopes that this will keep our filters from being over-active. In the meantime, please let me know if your comment doesn’t post, yet meets the criteria above.

Many thanks and apologies for the inconvenience!

The annual “Santa Net” on 3916 kHz

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Santa-Radio-Vintage

If you have a shortwave radio with SSB mode, you too can listen to the Santa Net on 3916 kHz LSB every night until Christmas starting at 01:30 UTC (7:30 PM CST). Of course, if you’re an amateur radio operator, you can talk to Santa as well!

(Source: Southgate ARC)

Santa Net 3916 kHz

Larry Shaunce WD0AKX provides a reminder that at this time of year kids can talk to Santa at the North Pole via amateur radio

Every year before Christmas, there is the Santa net on 3916 kHz on the 75 meter ham radio phone band 7:30 CST or 0130 UT. Round up your kids, grand kids, or neighbor’s kids and let them talk to Santa at the North Pole.

Watch Talk To Santa By Ham Radio – It’s The Santa Net On 3916 kHz!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=263&v=KfFk430lxXU

Morse code training in the Air Force

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(U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Pete Carron (W3DKV) who writes:

“Thought you might be interested in the following article from Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas, posted May 20, 2015. Apparently Morse Code still isn’t dead, not even in the military!”

Morse code training moving to Goodfellow

GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — Morse code training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, will transfer to the 316th Training Squadron at Goodfellow, allowing the Air Force to take the reins for future training.

The move stems from the Army’s redirection of training requirements, leaving the Air Force as the sole remaining branch attending the course taught at Fort Huachuca.

In the last 10 years, the Army renovated the course to cater as a secondary skill set and serve as a support function, rather than being a single source of intelligence gathering. As this happened, the Navy began teaching their own course at Pensacola, Florida.

The Goodfellow course will train 10 students annually starting July 1. Tech. Sgt. Ryan N. Kilcrease and Senior Airman James M. Gosnell, 316th Training Squadron Morse code instructors, will be the first to teach the course here.

“Morse will never fully go away as long as it remains the cheapest, most reliable way to communicate,” said Kilcrease. “Our adversaries will continue to use it, so we still need to be able to understand them if we want to be able to continue our mission successfully.”

Gosnell believes that the course still holds benefits for the Air Force.

The military recognized the benefits of Morse code for communication after Samuel F. B. Morse completed the first coded message in history by transmitting, “What hath God wrought?” from the U.S. Capitol to a railroad station in Baltimore, Maryland, May 24, 1844.

President Abraham Lincoln relied on it during the Civil War to gather intelligence and communicate directly with his generals.

The Department of Defense embedded it heavily into all armed forces as a communication device with the Army-lead training in Fort Devens, Massachusetts. In 1993, the training moved to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where Operating Location B, 316th TRS, is located.

Thanks for sharing this article, Pete!

I like Tech. Sgt. Ryan N. Kilcrease’s quote:

“Morse will never fully go away as long as it remains the cheapest, most reliable way to communicate”

If you listen to the CW (a.k.a. Morse code) portions of the ham radio bands, you’ll hear that CW is still very much alive and well. It is an incredibly reliable and robust communications medium. As we CW operators say: “CW always gets through!”