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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. Uni~ MicrOfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD., ANN ARBOR, MI 48106 8122479 EtsER.FREDJOlL~SON AMATEUR RADIO--AN AMERICAN PHENOMENON University ofHawaii PH.D 1981 University Microfilms International 300N. Zeeb Road.Ann Arbor. MY 48106 ~~TEUR RADIO--AN AMERICAN PHENOMENON A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF F~WAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN STUDIES ~mY 1981 By Fred Johnson Elser Dissertation Committee: James M. McCutcheon, Chairman Floyd W. Matson Stuart Gerry Brown Seymour Lutzky Wallace C. Mitchell ABSTRACT Amateur Radio as a scientific hobby in America has been almost exactly contemporary with the twentieth cen­ tury. First embraced by amateur wire telegraph operators, who saw in radio the means to extend communications beyond the limits of their neighborhood telegraph lines, amateur radio was found in and around the port cities of America, where ship and shore radio installations were first made. The first amateur stations, unregulated until the U.S. law of 1912 carne into effect, communicated not only with other amateurs in the vicinity, but also with any Government or Commercial stations nearby that would answer them. Unlike European radio experimenters of those early days prior to the First World War, American hams were not limited by government monopolies on all types of electrical communications, and had a whole continent to cover. with the establishment of the American Radio Relay (a non-profit Connecticut corporation) by hams in 1914, an organization was ready to span the U.S., and routes and stations were selected and printed in QST (ARRL's journal) in December 1915 and later--too late to become very effec­ tive prior to World War I. In 193(\, Raymond V. Bowers, in his doctoral disser­ tation, "A Genetic Study of Institutional Growth (Amateur iv Radio)" has shown how ham radio developed up to 1930, principally from a demographic viewpoint. Subsequent pub­ lications have been issued, including Clinton B. deSoto's Two Hundred Meters and Down (1936) a history of amateur radio up to that year; and Fifty Years of A.R.R.L. in 1964. Much has occurred since these publications, and a study of the field, with some attention to motivation and American uniqueness due to our way of life, political orientation, and heritage of free speech was something that needed to be done. It is hoped that this work will help to fill a lack of assembled information on amateur radio's philosophy and practice at this time. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT. • iii PREFACE . ....... ... vi CHAPTER I RADIO AMATEURS YESTERDAY AND TODAY: A SEGMENT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY • . • . 1 CHAPTER II HIRAM PERCY MAXIM; THE ARRL AND THE INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION 24 CHAPTER III WHO ARE THE RADIO AMATEURS? THE TWO BASIC TYPES. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMERICAN HAM. HOW DO FOREIGN HAMS DIFFER? . 42 CHAPTER IV A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN: HAM CLUBS 72 CHAPTER V THE RADIO HAM: HIS BENEFITS AND HIS PROBLEMS •••••••••.•.•• 97 CHAPTER VI EQUIPMENT: EFFECT OF COMPETITION AND "HOME-BREW" •••.. •••.•• •• 112 CHAPTER VII COMMUNITY SERVICE AND EMERGENCIES 126 CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSION • •••• 155 BIBLIOGRAPHY . .. ••• 159 PREFACE This dissertation on Amateur Radio is an up-to-date overview of the art. It will give the reader some historYt and will state the benefits rendered the nation by the grant of radio frequencies for radio amateur use. It will also mention some of the failings of the amateurs, and how community relations can be improved between the amateur and his neighbors as they have been in the past. Especially will it be brought out how the amateurs have been able to over­ come interference t~ nearby radio/TV sets and other modern electronic devices. This involved high states of personal patience and cooperation, as will be shown. Although the bibliography shows fifty books and maga­ zines used for my background material, three main sources have provided most of my information. QST, the monthly journal of the American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL--the American amateur's national organization since 1914). QST was first published in December, 1915, and ex­ cept for twenty months during World War I, has been pub­ lished ever since. Its sixty-five volumes now occupy a shelf space of 17 feet. Dr. Raymond V. Bowers' doctoral dissertation on amateur radio, presented in June, 1934 at the University of Minnesota, and covering the period 1901­ 30 was another main source consulted. Dr. Bowers, not himself an amateur radio operator, used a multitude of vii records to present the growth of an American institution in the first part of the twentieth century. His demographic study presents a wealth of information about the earlier days of amateur radio. So far as I have been able to deter­ mine, it is the only Ph.D. dissertation on amateur radio prior to mine. Another main source was my own experiences with amateur radio. In February, 1911, and again in March, 1913 and September, 1916, I made the five week crossing of the Pacific on a ship equipped with the old spark-gap wireless. The noisy spark-gap was a great source of interest to me as a young man. During the First World War I learned the International Morse Code on wire telegraph and finally, in October, 1919, obtained my first government amateur permit and have been active ever since. Then in 1921 I joined the ARRL and have been a member of that organization for sixty years. I have operated my amateur stations in many parts of the United States and abroad, including the Philippines, Europe, Turkey in Asia, and Japan while I was residing in those countries, some of them while serving as an officer in the United States Army Signal Corps. Now for a little background: The scientific hobby of Amateur Radio in &~erica has been almost exactly contempor­ ary with the twentieth century. First embraced by amateur wire telegraph operators, who saw in radio the means to viii extend communication beyond the limits of their neighbor­ hood telegraph lines, Amateur Radio was first found in and around the port cities of America, where ship and shore radio installations were first made. The first amateur stations, unregulated until 1912, communicated with other amateurs in the vicinity and also with any other nearby stations that would answer them. Unlike European radio experimenters of those early days prior to the First World War, American amateurs were not limited by government monopolies on all types of electrical communications, and had the whole continent to cover. With the establishment in 1914 of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), an organization was ready to span the United States, and routes and stations were selected and shown in QST (ARRL'S journal) in December, 1915, and later issues, but too late to become very effective before America's entry into World War I. In June, 1934, RaYmond V. Bowers submitted to the University of Minnesota his doctoral dissertation "A Genetic Study of Institutional Growth and Cultural Diffusion in Contemporary American Civilization--An Analysis in Terms of Amateur Radio." His study, written principally from a demographic viewp~int, covered the period 1901-1930. Sub­ sequent publications have been issued, including Clinton B. DeSoto's Two Hundred Meters and Down (1936), a history of ix ~nateur Radio up to that year, and Fifty Years of ARRL, a reprint of selected articles from QST up to 1965 (published by ARRL). An up-to-date overview has become necessary, showing changes in the amateurs themselves, their means and methods of communicating, their growth and proficiency in national and international information and their aid in emergencies. There has been a growth in unfriendly and illegal operation, and means for controlling this need analysis.