Historical Notes of VHF Contesting and Operating
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Historical Notes of VHF Contesting and Operating Edited by Kevin Kaufhold, W9GKA General Notes · Anyone having historical knowledge of VHF contest rules and/or VHF activities not mentioned below should send the information to [email protected]. · The SMC Area VHF high scores and records for most ARRL VHF contests have been compiled by reviewing back issues of QST between 1948 to the present and/or the ARRL web-site since 1997 to the present (unless otherwise noted below in the Notes on Specific Scores in the SMC Area). The compilation is thought to be reasonably accurate, although certainly not guaranteed. Any corrections, revisions, and/or updates should be sent to [email protected]. · Complete scores are available in QST for the January VHF SS. Scores for the June and September VHF QSO Parties are taken from either contest results published in QST or from claimed scores and score results contained in early “The World Above 50 Mc” columns. · The SMC Area VHF Records and High Scores are provided across all time frames, for the sake of completeness of the historical record. However, scoring in various contests and categories has been dramatically altered over the years for a variety of reasons. Many of the changes have had the effect of increasing overall scores. It therefore may not be appropriate to directly compare results across different scoring epochs. In particular, the following events serve as significant breakpoints between scoring methodologies: · The adoption of QSO Points between the bands in the 1978 January VHF SS, instead of contact points regardless of band. · The adoption of DXCC countries as additional multipliers beginning in the 1978 June VHF QSO Party. · The incorporation of Maidenhead grid square designations for each band worked, beginning in the 1983 August UHF, as the multiplier for all VHF Contests (except the 10 GHz and the EME) instead of the use of ARRL sections. · The adoption of and then the revising of the Rover scoring methods between 1991 and 1995. · Paul, K9PG and Brian, K9QQ/KH6 provided assistance on the initial development of the SMC Area VHF Records and High Scores. Brian continues to his invaluable abilities as webmaster, par excellence. Karl, K9BGL gave access to QST’s back to the 1930’s (and complete sets, too!!!). Curt Roseman, K9AKS, has provided valuable comments and information on VHF contesting. Several others have given comments on various line scores including Bob, K2DRH, Pete, K9PW, and John, K9IJ. Thanks to all these hams for assistance. Historical Notes on VHF Contests, VHF Operating, and the General Use of the VHF and UHF Spectrum · The Early Days of Radio. Experimentation of spark gap transmissions by Henry Hertz in the mid 1880’s may have occurred on wavelengths as high as 300 Mc. Spark gap transmitters and galena crystal receivers were then considered state of the art. · The Bureau of Navigation of the US Department of Commerce initially had jurisdiction over the regulation of airwaves. In 1912, the Bureau authorized the first amateur radio transmissions. The American radio Relay League formed shortly thereafter, and the first issue of the League’s magazine, QST, began publication in 1915. · Hams initially referred to any radio activity above 30 Mc as being on a “ultra-high” frequency, abbreviated as U.H.F. It was not until after WW II that distinctions were made between VHF, then generally viewed as being between 50 and 400 Mc or so, and UHF, being the frequencies above 400 MHz. · The reception and transmission of radio waves took a major leap forward when Edwin H. Armstrong first invented the super-regenerative receiver in 1922, and then further developed and advanced Frequency Modulation techniques. Armstrong’s new FM methods necessitated the use of frequencies above 30 Mc where space was available for wide bandwidth transmissions. · By the mid 1920’s, a few hams had ventured onto a 5 meter band (65,000 – 75,000 kc) that had just been allocated to specially licensed amateurs. In March 1925, the Department of Commerce also allocated the ¾ meter band (400,000 kc to 401,000 kc) for amateur use. · A technical editor at the ARRL, Robert S. Kruse, contributed greatly to the early usage and development of 5 and ¾ Meters when he wrote numerous articles in QST on equipment and antennas at UHF frequencies, as well as writing a monthly QST column entitled “Experimenter's Section Report”. · In early 1927, the Federal Radio Commission was given jurisdiction over the regulation of the airwaves through Congressional amendments to the 1912 Radio Act. · By March, 1927, regular two way contact on 5 Meters was occurring between a few stations located in close proximity to each other. For instance, repeated communication between 2EB in New York City and 2NZ in New Jersey some 15 miles away was considered worthy of note (QST, March, 1927, at 55). Several one- way signal receptions of far greater distances were also being reported. By May and June of 1927, came confirmed reports of 1000 mile two-way reception, although no relays or schedules could be established. Many hams hoped that 5 Meters would become quite useful in extending long distance communication abilities of the lower bands. Since distance records were increased when radio activity moved from the very low frequencies up to higher frequencies at 14 Mc, many hams initially held out the hope that DX potential might even be greater when transmissions moved to even higher frequencies on 5 Meters. · With this background in mind, the ARRL sponsored a 5 Meter CQ Party on June 11- 12, 1927, following a CQ Party format previously held on the lower bands. This 5 Meter event may have thus been the first organized gathering of hams on a VHF band. Prizes were given out for the being the “best” in various activities, but this CQ Party was not described at the time as a radio contest. Instead, it was more of an activity time with some “rules of the game”. (See, QST, May, 1927, at 44). With the recent activity reports of very long distance contacts, the Party drew lots of interested parties and attention. Propagation turned out to be very puzzling however, as hams were unable to contact anyone but the most local of stations. To sort out the propagation characteristics of the band, another 5 Meter CQ Party was held on November 12-13, 1927, and more were scheduled for the following year. · In 1928, the Federal Radio Commission made the 10 meter band available for use to amateurs. This new band quickly showed promise of DX abilities, with sustained relay traffic. Meanwhile, 5 Meters was developing a reputation for being rather quirky at best, and there was a general disappointment that the band seemingly did not support the hoped for long distance traffic typical of the lower bands. Further, equipment was very difficult to make by hand (for example, many of the best tubes of the day had to be physically modified and shortened in order to work at 5 Meters!). As a result, UHF activity dropped for a while as hams began experimenting with 10 meters. Many hams simply returned to the HF frequencies, forgoing further attempts at working DX on the “ultra highs”. · By the mid 1930’s, equipment had become a bit simpler to make, and 5 meter usage was becoming increasingly common. People generally referred to as “bootleggers” and “would be” hams also were still populating the band, as there had been a history of casual experimentation at UHF frequencies from the earliest days of radio (individual and commercial transmission experiments at UHF frequencies had been conducted far before the development of federal radio regulations). Indeed, when the FRC opened up the 10 meter band, the Commission also provided a definition for the first time of who constituted an “amateur” radio operator, in an effort to stamp out the unauthorized use of all ham bands (QST, May, 1928, p. 14-15). · With the success of radio schedules on the lower bands coupled with a general failure of regular DX work on 5 Meters, most UHF communication involved only local distances. Many hams felt that the ultra-highs were usable chiefly at line of sight distances, although some people continued to wonder how the 5 Meter band could produce occasional contacts of great distances. · In this time frame, a young Australian by the name of Ross Hull worked at ARRL headquarters. In 1934, Hull erected a directive antenna at Seldon Hill in West Hartford, Ct, where many League staffers then lived. He immediately made contact with Boston area hams, some 100 miles distant. Over the next few weeks, it became obvious to Hull and other ARRL staff members that routine contacts on 5 meters was possible far beyond the line of sight. Hull wrote of his experiments in QST, and his activities on VHF were widely followed. · In addition to 5 meters, homemade equipment in the early 1930’s allowed for communication on 2 ½ (112 to 116 Mc) and 1 ¼ meters (224 to 230 Mc), and some experimentation was also occurring on frequencies over 400 Mc. In 1932 and 1933, Marconi conducted his now famous experiments off the Italian coast at frequencies near 500 Mc. He was able to achieve consistent transmission paths over 150 km (90 miles). (kck note: when did 112 and 224 come into existence?) · UHF activity in general was becoming so recognized by the late 1930’s, that in December, 1939, the League started a column in QST exclusively devoted to the higher bands. Originally entitled “On the Ultra Highs”, this column contributed greatly to knowledge of VHF activities in the early days of amateur radio.