...The radios we'll always remember

"THE HAM'S WIDE WORLD"


1960s ARRL Promotional Film

Ham Radio History 0 Comments 04/93/2022 


Posted By: Robert Nickels (W9RAN)
Posted on 04/93/2022
This 1960s film from the American Radio Relay League gives viewers a look at the “wide world” of amateur radio, also known as ham radio, a “popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together.” Radio/TV personality Arthur Godfrey narrates and Senator Barry Goldwater and others provide a panorama of the "wide world" of amateur radio.


   Anyone who caught one of the Emergency Action Notifications (EAN) transmitted by the US Air Force on the HF bands remembers this phrase.But not many know how the EAN is actually used by our military.   This re-creation of a Minuteman III Launch Control Facilitliy (LCF) in Utah provides a realistic view of what happens when an EAN is received by a missile control crew,  60 feet under...  READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 04/93/2024 
   If you're a long-time ham you might know what the smeary figure-8 pattern is....Back in the Novice era,  many used crystals purchased from suppliers like JAN Crystals who purchased large quantities of military surplus crystals and reground them for the ham bands.   That's why they were cheap, but also why you couldn't get a specific frequency as they'd grind by a formula and is long...  READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 01/22/2024 
   Ron K5HZ has been building equipment since he first got his ham license in the early 60s, and while he has other transmitters, all it took to build a new one was finding a "free to good home" power transformer at a hamfest.    It also gave him a chance to try using a couple of Compactron tubes that had caught his eye - the 6T10 dual pentode and the 6GE5 beam power pentode that was d...  READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 12/364/2023 
   If you build almost anything electronic, chances are good you've purchased parts from DigiKey Electronics.  But did you know that DigiKey - now one of the world's largest electronics distributors - started out as a ham radio company?"More than 50 years ago, a digital electronic device designed to generate uniform Morse characters and spaces was made available for sale by amateur radio enthusi...  READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 12/341/2023 
   Electronic Design magazine published an excellent interview in 2020 with Chas Gilmore W8IAI, former Heath engineer, manager, and executive.   Anyone with an interest in Heathkits will find this interview to be well worth the time to read. You can read it for free without registration here at the ELECTRONIC DESIGN WEBSITEThe photo below was borrowed from W8IAI's QRZ page, and shows h...  READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (W9RAN)  Posted: 11/332/2023