I .

Cop)'r ight 1930- 1932 b)' The American Radio Rela"ti League, Inc., West Hartford , Conn.
Printed in U. S. A .
 How TO BECOME
« « « « «

A RADIO AMATEUR
« « « Do YOU remember the old story of
Aladdin and his wonderful lamp, and the magic
in Florida, and several other major disasters
spread devastation and suffering throughout
Genie who was its servant? You can be a mod- parts of the country - and the newspapers
ern Aladdin, your magic lamp the radio vacuum and Red Cross officials were loud in praise of the
tube, its servant the mighty force of Amateur splendid emergency communication work that
Radio. had been carried on by radio amateurs when
In Amateur Radio you can have a hobby of all other means failed.
tremendous fascination, a power at your com- Suddenly, large numbers of the public
mand which will annihilate distance and bring realized that this thing called amateur radio
you closer to mankind throughout the world. is a widespread and tremendously thrilling
You can build and create if you are so minded, hobby, through which in addition to participat-
and put these things to work for you to over- ing in such activities as have been mentioned
come miles and hours and bring back to you here they may also talk nightly from their own
pleasure and new-found friends, or you can homes to other amateurs all over the country,
enjoy the sport of competition with other radio across the seas, and into every corner of the
amateurs. With simple apparatus which you globe. And they realized, furthermore, that
build yourself, you may talk around the world t his fascinating hobby is easily available to
to thousands of other amateurs in every them, whether they be sixteen or sixty, and at
country. a minimum of expense and trouble.
Many people to-day are asking how to be- Is it small wonder, then, that so many people
come amateurs. Three or four years ago they are now asking, "How can I become a radio
hardly knew what the word meant. But much amateur?"
has happened in those intervening years. The
whole world began talking about the marvelous
powers of short waves, and the radio amateurs
were constantly referred Lo as the ones who Contrary to popular impression, t here is
had uncovered this gold mine in the radio nothing at all complicated about the process
spectrum. Exploring and scientific expeditions of becoming an amateur. We might liken it to
to the far corners of the earth - and the Byrd the business of becoming a broadcast listener.
Expedition in particular - became front-page Everyone knows there is nothing hard about
material, and throughout the news dispatches that. You acquire a broadcast receiver, listen in
the radio amateur was prominently mentioned on broadcast programs, and you are a broadcast
as an important link in the communication listener.
system between such expeditions and civiliza- One becomes an amateur by following the
tion. A flood in New England, two hurricanes same method. If you build a short-wave re-
ceiver and transmitter, and operate them in the A word of caution: we are going to tell you
proper wave-bands, you automatically become in this booklet everything you need to know
an amateur. It happens, perhaps, that you have in order to become an amateur, get your li-
seen pictures of amateur stations, and they censes and put your station on the air, but
looked very complicated and expensive. In because of the necessity for including a large
consequence, you are inclined to think that amount of information in a few pages, we must
it is one thing for us to tell you to build an warn you that facts will be stated but once and
amateur receiver and transmitter, hut it is not repeated. Read carefully and don't skip
going to he quite another matter for you over anything.
actually to do so. If you are starting out in your automobile on
Don't let it worry you a minute. There are a trip to some part of the country several hun-
complicated amateur sets, just as complicated dred miles away you usually begin - if you
as the broadcast receivers on the market today. are wise - by looking at a map and getting
But that need not affect you. There are plenty some idea of where your destinat ion is on it.
of simple amateur outfits, too - receivers of Before we do anything else, let us take a mo-
one or two tubes and transmitters using only a ment to look at the short-wave territory into
single " receiving type" tube - and yet they which we are going to venture, and obtain some
perform well and transmit and receive signals idea of where the various amateur "destina-
entirely satisfactorily for thousands of miles. tions" are in that territory. :r
You may not possess the slightest amount of The broadcasting band (in the United States)
experience, engineering or technical knowledge, extends from 200 meters up to about 550 meters,
but that will not interfere with your amateur as you probably know. When we speak of
progress. You will still he able to construct a "short waves" we usually refer to the territory
satisfactory amateur station, and operate it to below that dividing line of 200 meters. Now
bring you many hours of pleasure. there was a time, up to a few years ago, when
the amateur was given all the territory below
It is our purpose to describe in the pages of 200 meters, because none of the commercial
this booklet an exceedingly simple radio sending or government radio people thought that those
set, and a correspondingly simple short-wave wavelengths were at all useful. However, after
receiver, and to give easily understandable the amateur had shown that these wavelengths
directions for putting them on the air and using were really far more . valuable and useful for
them. A fourteen-year-old hoy can do it - long-distance communication than the long
many have, in fact. No knowledge of theory is waves above 200 meters, it became necessary
necessary t o construct the set or operate it. to subdivide the short-wave territory into
Some idea of how the transmitter and receiver bands for all the various interests that wanted
work is necessary for your government license room to operate th ere. Government stations,
examination, hut in these pages we will also commercial land stations, trans-oceanic radio
teach you all you need to know on that score. stations, ships, airplanes, television companies
It is necessary to learn the code, but that is not and police radio systems - these and many
difficult. As for mechanical ability, anyone who others, in addition to the amateur, wanted their
can wind a coil of wire, use a screw-driver and share of the short waves. So the amateur, instead
follow directions, will have no trouble whatever of having all the wavelengths below 200 meters,
in building and putting into operation a com- was given certain hands in which he could op-
plete amateur station such as that described in erate, and he must not operate elsewhere.
this booklet. Suppose we draw a Jong line to represenL
And that's all there is to becoming an ama- t he short-wave territory between 5 meters and
teur. 200 meters. The various bands in which we,
 A RADIO AMATEUR ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ 5
as amateu1·s, can operaLe, and thcfr relaLive D ) is beLLer than the 7000-kc. band. 1L happens
widths, wi ll be as shown in our firs t illusLration. that at 10 meters (band E ) the wave goes so
You may wonder why the amateurs have high into the air that by the time it comes down
several narrow bands instead of one single band it is frequently beyond t he limits of the earth,
equal to all those narrow ones put together . and never touches our world again. At 5
That is a perfectly good question, and we'll try meters (band F) the "sky wave" is always
to e:Kplain the reason to you - for there is a useless and so this is again solely a short-
good reason. You see, jus t as the short waves clistance band.
have different habits than the long wave.5, so Thus, for general amatelll' use, we will find it
some of the short waves behave differently than most profitable to work in either band A, B, C
other short waves. For instance, the wave- or D. The transmitter described in this booklet
lengths between 100 and 200 meters work best will work in band A. There are good reasons for
at comparatively short distances - anything this. Band A is our widest band and therefore
. up to 600 miles, wemight say. Thus, the amateur desirnble for Lhe beginner because he has less

F E D c B A
5.0-S.36 METERS 10.0-10.7 METERS 20.8-21.4 METERS 41.1-42.9 METERS 75-85.7 METERS 150· 175 METERS

(''"I""'") (""'"i'"'"' (M""'I"'"-) (4""if") ("""'l'"-J

(7300-7000Kc:.)

5METERS
(60,000 Kc:)
10 zo
I
40 80 160
I

200 METERS
(1500 Kc.)

Fig. 1. - THE HIGH-FREQUENCY SP.E CTRUM, SHOWING THE RET, A' l'JVE W 10TllS AND THE R ELATI VE LOCATIONS OF
THE AMATEUR BA N OS

band marked A is essentially a medium- chance of getting outside it through maladj ust-
distance band. ment of his apparatus and consequently getting
As ow· wavelengths grow shorter (which is into hot water with the government authorities.
the same thing as stating that Lhe .frequency It is also somewhat easier to make a transmitter
increases ) the distance range grows. Band B , work properly in this band. You will derive
for instance, is a better long-distance band than much enjoyment from operating the set there.
A. When we get to band C we begin to jump After you have learned more about the opera-
across great distances, and find our signals going tion of amateur apparatus, you will be ready
many thousands of miles under favorable con- (if you so desire) to move down into bands B ,
ditions, and in band D they go still farther. C and D and get in on international amateur
Ten-meter signals (band E ) often go too far ! communication. But this should not be at-
This sounds rather strange, no doubt, so an t empted at the s tart.
explanation is in order. The reason short waves The receiver described here will work in
go to great distances is that t hey leave the any of the bands except E and F; in fact, the
smface of the earth and angle up into the air, coils specified enable you to cover practi-
are gradually " bent " by refract ion in the upper cally the entire range from about 18 meters
atmosphere, and eventually come down to earth to appro>cimately 190 meters, so that all
again. Now, t he shorter the wavelength, the kinds of short-wave traffic, in addition to
higher it goes into the air before it starts to bend amateur work, may be listened to. You will like
down. This explains why the 7000-kilocycle the receiver.
band (C) is better than the 3500 (B) for extreme Now let us get to the business of really
long-distance work, and why 14,000 kc. (band becoming an amateur.
6 ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~HOW TO BECO M E
Learning the Code

THEfirst thing for you to do is ·--·-·

-··· A
B
Lo start
learning t he code. You can memorize it while
you are building your receiver, and then you
•-··
··-·
c
D
E
can use yo ur receiver to listen in and get code
practice while your transmitter is being con-
structed. Thus, by the t ime your transmitter is
--·
••••
F
G

·---
H
finished and you are ready Lo apply for your
••
-·-
licenses, you will probably find your code-speed
I
requirement taken care of. J
Learning t he code is the first stumbling
block for some people. But it has t o be learned
·-··
--
-··--·
K
L

---
- the government won't issue you any kind M
of an amateur license until you know it. Don't N

--·-
let it scare you ; it really isn't at all difficult. 0
The entire alphabet can be memorized in one p
or two evenings. A few weeks' practice listening
in to code transmissions with the receiver de-
scribed herein will develop speed. If you make
up your mind t o settle down and lick the code
·-·
-··-
••• s
T
Q
R

···-
·--
u
within a few weeks, you will be surprised t o
see how fast you progress. v

-··- w
The alphabet , numerals and punctuation
marks are shown in Fig. 2. First of all, memo-
rize t hese characters. Start by memorizing the
alphabet, disregarding the numerals and punc-
tuation marks for the present. There are several
ways t o memorize the alphabet . One way is t o
take the first five lett ers - a, b, c, d and e -
and learn them, and then take the next five,
-·--
--··
·----
x
y
z

I
and so on. On the other hand, some people like ··--- 2
to group the alphabet into so-called memorizing ···- - 3
groups, somewhat as shown in Fig. 3. ••
· ·•·•·
•- 45
Try whichever grouping you think will be
easier for you. -···· 6
Another suggestion : Learn to think of the
--··· 7
letters in terms of soun d rat her than their
appear ance as they are print ed . D o not think ---·· 8
----· 9
of a as "dot -dash" but think of it as the sound
----- 0

··--··
" di t-dah." B, of course, would be "dah-dit-dit-
•••••• PERIOD

-···-
dit," etc.
INTERROGATION
After you have memorized the alphabet
(don' t worry about speed yet) you should
memorize the numerals. These are easy. You
will observe they follow a definite system, and
you will probably learn them very q uickly.
Then you should learn the signals for the
·-···
·-·-·
···-·-
BREAK (DOUBLE DAS H)
WAIT
END OF MESSAGE
END OF TRANSMISSION
Fig. 2. - Tira CooE
 A RADIO AMATEUR.~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~
7
various p unctuation marks, always remember- will be faster than you can copy - but don't
ing to think in terms of the sound the signal mind that. Every time you hear a letter that
makes. you recognize, write it down, even if it is only
When you feel that you know all these in every fifth or tenth letter. The point is to keep
your own mind, without hesitating over them, at it and make a real effort to copy every letter
you are ready Lo develop speed. you possibly can. Do not be alarmed if you
The best way to develop speed is for two copy several consecutive letters and t hey don' t
people to learn the code together. If you are make sense - many amateurs use abbrevia-
fortunate enough to be able to find someone tions that will be unintelligible to you, at first.
who will help you do t his, the two of you should
buy a buzzer and key, hook t hese up t o a couple
of dry cells, and send to each other. Fig. 4
shows how a buzzer and key should be con-
nected. By taking turn and turn about it is
remarkable how soon speed will be picked up.
Another good thing about this sort of practice
is that it develops ability in sending, too, be-
cause the fellow who is receiving will be quick
to criticize indist inct and uneven sending. Fig. 4. - CONNECTIONS OF TElE PRACTICE B u z1E n ,
If you are unable t o get someone to practice KEY AND BATTERIES, A LSO SHOWIN G How TO HoLo
THE KEY
with you, we would still suggest that you get a
buzzer and key (you can always use the key
later , in the transmitter) and "send to yow·- In band A, too, it so happens that in various
self." This helps at the s tart. After a little prac- parts of the country there are some public-
tice along these lines, you should get on the air spirited amateurs who make a practice of send-
with your receiver and listen to actual signals ing code lessons especially for the beginner,
being sent out by other amateurs. Most of them and if you are near one of those amateurs it
will be helpful to be able to listen in on the code
• E - T lessons and improve your code speed that way.
•• I
••• s
•••• H
-- o
--- M If you will write to the American Radio Relay
League, at West Hartford, Conn., we will be
glad to tell you if there are any begiriiier's code
stations in your vicinity.

·- w
·-- A -• N
-•• D
-••• B
It is probably safe to say that the majority
of the amateurs on the air to-day learned the
code by list ening on their receivers. Keep at it
·--- J - try to get in a few minutes at your receiver

·-·
··-·
R
F ··- u
every day. Before you know· it, you will be
copying solid sentences.

·-·· L ···- v When you can consistently copy ten words

a minute (fifty letters) you are sufficiently well

-·-
-·· - x
K

--·· --• G
z
equipped on this score to pass the government
code-speed requirement in connection with
your amateur operator's license. It is a good
-·-·
-·-- c
Y ·--· p thing, of course, to learn to copy a little faster
l
--·- Q
Fig. 3. - TH E ALPHABET IN MEMORIZING GROUPS
than ten words a minute before you take your
license examination, because if you are like
most amateurs you will get just a little rattled
8

when you actually go to take yoUT Lest, and it The receiving set we describe is of simple
is wiser Lo be on the " far " sid e of ten words a design and construction. It is easy and straight-
minute than on the" neru"' ! forward to assemble and operate, and yet
Pract ice sending, t oo. You will undoubted ly will readily bring in amateur signals from
find it a lot easier to send than to receive - distant stations with a suitable antenna and
everybody does. But don't try to hurry yom· ground.
sending. Grasp the key lightly but defini tely Some of our readers may notice that t he cir-
with the thumb and first two or three fingers cuit is similar t o the old familiar " three-circuit "
of the hand, and adjust the key so that there tuner so commonly built by broadcast listeners
is an up-and-down motion of abouL one-six- in the early days of broadcasting. Do not think,
teenth of an inch at the knob. Use a wrisL mo- for this reason, Lhat it is not a particularly good
tion. Learn to make the characters evenly and amateur receiver. It may surprise you to know
dis tinctly. Don't try to send fast . One of t he Lhat this t uner, with occasional slight modifica-
suresL indications of a b eginner on t he air is the tion, is used in probably 90% of the amateur
fellow who tries to send rapidly and only makes stations in this count ry. Most of the inter-
an unintelligible mess of everything. It is a good national amateur work, expedition communi-
idea to keep yom sending speed on a .level wiLh cation, etc., is done with receivers using this
your receiving speed. circuit. One of the attractive t hings about ama-
Be particularly careful when sending letters teur radio is t hat the simplest apparatus suffices
such as c to make t hem " all at once" like this for even the greatest distances.
( - · - · ) and not like this ( - · - · ) . In describing this unit, as well as the others
which follow, the use of pictUTe diagrams has
Building the Receiver been avoided, for several reasons. The first
IT rs now high time to build the receiv.er ; is that such diagrams are not acceptable in
license examinations, t he use of standard sym-
in facL, it should be started a~ soon as you s tart
in Lo learn the code. bols being compulsory. A second reason is that
the schematic diagrams, once understood, are
far less confusing than picture diagrams. A
Lhird is that particular brands of parts must be
specified if picture diagrams are used, and as
there is no objection t o substituting apparatus
that may be on hand or more readily obtainable
tha n that used in these particulru· sets, the
picLme diagrams would lead to difficulties if
such subst itutions were made.
A word about cost s: T he retail list, price of
Lhe parts in the receiver shown is about $23;
in t he transmitter they aggregate $20 and in
Lhe power supply another $20; making a total
of about $63. But these are list prices and it is
rarely necessru·y to pay list prices in this day
of cut-price stores. On Lhe average, retail prices
now run 40% to 50% below list, so that yo u
can expect Lo build th e three units at a cost of
about 812 apiece. By judiciously substituting
parts of other makes from the catalogs of
mail-order bargain houses it is possible to make
A GENE RAL Vmw OF THE REcmvF.11 still further savings, b ut generally it is better
 A RADIO AMATEUR 9
economy to stick to hjgh grade
and well known makes.
The receiver shown here will
enable you to tune in on nearly
all the useful high frequencies
(short waves) so that you can
hear stations at almost any hour
of the day or night. Many of
them will be sending slowly,
giving plenty of opportunity for
code practice. To cover this
large wavelength range it is
necessary to use interchangeable
coils in the receiver. They are
easy to make. A top view of
the receiver is shown in Fig. 5
and the circuiL cliagram in Fig. 6.
A complete list of the parts is
given below. OLher makes than
those shown may be used , if good
apparatus of the correct values
is on hand or if· equivalent parts
of other manufacture can be ob-
tained more conveniently. The
symbols (C,, etc.) identify the
parts as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
C, - 100-µµfd.* (.0001 µfd.) midget
variable condenser; Pilot .T-23
C, - 100-µµfd. (.0001 µfd.) fixed con-
denser with grid-leak clips;
Pilot l sograd Fig. 5. - PLA N V rnw OF THE R ECEIVER
Ca - 250-µµfd. (.00025 µfd.) fLxed con-
d enser ; Pilot Isograd 2 Type '30 vacuum tubes
C, - 0.5-µfd . fi xed by-pass condenser; F lechtheim B-50 1 45-volt " B" ha ttery
R1 - 20-ohm rheostat; Frost 1720 2 No. 6 dry ceLis
R, - 2-megohm grid leak; Pi.lot 1 pair headphones
l?a - 50,000-ohm variable resistor; Frost 1890 Miscellaneous screws, soldering lugs, etc.
T - Audio transformer; Thordarson R -260
2 4-prong t ube sockets; Pilot 213 The parls should be arranged on t he base-
1 vernier dial; General Radio 502-A board in the manner indicated in Fig. 5. The
1 panel , 6 x 7 inches; bakelite or similar material tuning condenser, C,, filament rheostat, Rt.
1 wooden baseboard , 9 x 10 inches and regeneration control resist or, R3, are
7 small Fahnestock clips
10 feet covered bus wire, No. 14 mounted on the panel, which is held upright
8 inches of 2" bukelite tubing at the front edge of the board by two srnaJl
t lb. No. 22 double-Rilk-coverecl wire brass angles. The regeneration control re-
4 binding po~ts sistor, R0 , is equipped with three terminals,
11
*The capacity of condensers is measured in farads," but a farad
is so huge that it is common to deal in units of a millionth of a farad,
but only two of these are used, the center one
called microfarads nnd abbrevinted "pfd." In fact it is sometimes and either of those on the outside. The mount-
eaeier, to get the capacity into whole numbers, to Speak of a micro- ing for the interchangeable coils is a strip of
microfarad (abbreviated .. µµfd . 11
whfoh, of course, is a millionth
),

of a mioroforud, or n inillionth of a millionth of a farad. bakelite or hard rubber four inches long and one
10 ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ H 0 W T 0 B EC 0 M E
inch wide. Four binding posts spaced five- because all the "grounds" in the seL focus at
eighths of an inch apart hold the coils, which this point. The small 6-32 screw furnished with
will be described later. The binding post at the condenser is removed and one long enough
the extreme right, marked No. 1, is at the to go through t he baseboard is substituted for
"grid " end of the tuning coil. It is connected it. This projects through the board and serves
to the stationary plates of the tuning condenser, as a common connection poin t for the various
Ci. by a piece of covered bus wfre which runs wires shown in the bottom view of t he set.
under the binding post strip and up to the fron L Binding post No. 3 connects Lo t he near side
panel. One end of the grid condenser, C2, is of c3and also to the plate terminal of the pri-
also connected to binding post No. 1 through mary of the audio transformer, T. Binding
the medium of a lug on the grid-leak mounting post No. 4 is connected Lo the plate Lermfoal
which is soldered directly to the lug on the on the detector tube socket, wbjch is placed
binding post. A t hird connection is made be- directly behlnd C2 and C3 • The grid terminal
tween binding post No. 1 and t he antenna cou- on t he tube socket connects to the grid con-
pling condenser, C5• This condenser is formed denser, C2.
from two pieces of brass strip, each approxi- It is important that the binding posts on the
mately an inch long and a half inch ·wide, bent coil-mount ing, strip be connected exactly as
in the middle to form an "L." They are screwed shown; otherwise the detector tube will not
down to the baseboard facing each other , but oscillate.
The remairung connections abo ve the
AMP. baseboard are those between the " G"
post of the secondary of the audio
transformer and t he grid post of the
amplifier t ube socket, the necessary con-
Cs nections between the fil ament posts on
the tube sockets Lo place the two fila-
ments in parallel, and a connection from
the left-hand filament binding post on
the detector tube socket to the F ahne-
stock cl ip whlch is marked "A+."
Gnd. "="'
-A +8 The method of making connections
-a underneath the baseboard is shown in
Fig. 7. Each wire is plainly marked .
fi'i[J. 6. - TH E "SCH E MATI C" D IAGRAM OF THI~
The coil forms are short lengths of
RECEIVER two-inch tubing of bakelite or other stiff
insulating material. T hey are all l Ys
not touching. There should be a space of about inches long except that for t he 1750-kc. grid coil
a sixteenth of an inch between them. Neither ( o. l ), which is two inches long. Measure off the
the spacing nor the size of the condenser desired length, wrap a strip of paper several
'·plates" is critical, however, as long as these Limes around the coil at t he desired point, pull it
approximate djmensions are followed. taut, and then with a pencil you may mark a
Binding post No. 2 is connected to the roLary smooth line around the tubing. With the tubing
plates of cl by a second piece of bus wire r un in a vise, the lengths are t hen carefully cut off
under the strip and up to the front panel. A sec- with a hacksaw and the edges finished off with
ond connection from this binding post goes Lo a file. Two holes are then drilled near the
the rear end of condenser C3, mounted just edges t o allow insertion of short 6-32 screws
behind the strip and beside grid condenser c~. for holding t he ends of the wire and the mount-
T his connection deserves special mention, ing " legs." The legs are simply pieces of bare
A RAD 10 AMATEUR.~~~~~~~~~~ 11

bus wire looped around the screws and bent

down t o fit in the mounting-strip binding posts.
They should be about 174'. inches long.
The coils are all wound with o. 22 double-
silk-covered wire. The direction of winding is
not important, but it is important that they
all be wound in the same direction. Each coil
should be centered on its form. When finished
they shou ld be coated with collodion, Duco
cement or similar adhesive.
There are six coils, numbered in the follow-
ing table according to the number of turns on
each:

Fig. 8. -THE Srx Con.s

No. 1 - 45 turns
No. 2 -18
No. 3 - 12
o.4 - 8
No. 5 - 6
No. 6 - 4

The "grid" or "tuning" coil is inserted in

binding pos ts Nos. 1 and 2 ; the " plate" or
" tickler" coil is inserted in binding posts os.
3 and 4. A given coil can be used as either
" grid " or "plate" coil, of course, but the fol-
lowing combinations are recommended:
Frequency Range in Kc. Grid Coil Plate Coil
1600- 3000 (190- 100 meters) No. 1 No. 3
3000- 5000 (100- 60 m.) No. 2 No. 4
4500-7000 (70-42 m.) No. 3 No. 4
6000- 11,000 (50-28 rn.) ~o. 4 No. 5
11 ,000- 16,000 (28- 18 m.) ~o. 6 No. 5

Operation of the Receiver

Fi11. 7. - T 1-m WrnING UNDERNEATH THE B.~SE
Each wire lws been lelleredfor easy identification. They A FTER the set is completed and the wir-
make connecl£ons a.sfollows: ing checked to make sure that it is exactly
1l : from Fahnestock clip holding one end of 'phones lo
plale post on amplifier lube socket. B: from" A-" clip lo as shown in Fig. 6, insert the pair of coils which
one side of R1. C: from" B" terminal of audio transformer covers the band between 3000 and 5000 kc.,
to rotor arm of Ra. D: from stator of Ra lo "B+" clip. fasten them tightly in the proper binding
E: from rotor of Ra to one side of C,. F: f rom" F" terminal
of audio transformer lo common ground post. G: from posts, and connect the "A " battery, head-
"Gnd." clip lo common post. fl: from other s ide of R, to phones, antenna and ground. The " A" bat-
common post. I: from other side of C, to common post. tery consists of the two No. 6 dry cells specified
J: from right-hand filament post on detector lube socket lo
common post. in the list of parts. Connect them in series;
 12 ~l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ HOW TO BECOME
LhaL is, with the positive post of one connected happens that the antenna takes so much
Lo Lhe negative post of the other, and the two energy from the seL that it cannot oscillate,
remaining terminals connected to Lhe clips on this usually resulting in " holes" in the dial
the receiver baseboard. Set the filament where no signals can be picked up. The way to
rlieosLat in the "off" position and insert the cure this is to use a slightly di:fl'erent length
Lubes in the sockets. Now turn up the rheostat antenna, or to put a small variable condenser
until Lhe tube filaments show a faint glow. in the lead-in, thus allomng t he antenna wave-
If Lhey do not light up (assuming you know length to be shifted. A 250-µµfd. (.00025 µfd. )
. Lhem Lo be good) you should check over your fixed condenser in the lead-in may be all that
filamen t " r:iring before going any further. is necessary.
After the tubes have lighted, the " B " battery Sometimes local broadcasting stations cause
may be connected. interference, especially when the lower-fre-
row Lurn the regeneration control knob un- quency coils are being used. A simple but
ti I Lhe seLgoes into oscillation. Most set build- effective cure for such interference is t he wave-
ers are familiar with this phenomenon, but Lrap. The trap is simply a coil and condenser
it is usually easily recognizable by a distinct which will tune to the frequency of the broad-
click, thud or hissing sound. As a test you cast station causing the trouble, and is in-
can touch your finger lightly to the stationary serted in the antenna lead-in. It acts as a
plates of the tuning condenser ; this will cause rejector circuit and prevents the unwanted
a very distinct click in the 'phones if t he set signal from getting to the receiver, although
is oscillating. · having no effect on signals of other frequencies.
The point where oscillation just begins is the The values shown in Fig. 9 will be effective
most sensitive operating point at that particu- over the entire broadcast band.
lar dial setting. If Lhe receiver " clicks " very A suitable antenna for this receiver would
strongly on going into oscillation, you should be 50 to 75 feet long, and as high and clear of
substitute a grid-leak of 1?1 or even 1 megohm swTounding objects as possible. The same pre-
for the 2 megohms specified. cautions as to insulators that you would apply
The tuning dial may now be slowly turned, Lo your broadcast antenna should also be
Lhe regeneration control knob being varied
simultaneously (if necessary) to keep the set Fig. .9. - H o w A \ VA vE-TnAP IS
just oscillating. A number of stations will prob- ADD E D TO THE SET T O ELIM IN ATE
BROADCAST I NT E R FEHE CE
a bly be heard. A little practice will make
L The trap is inserted in Lite antenna
tuning easy. Learn to tune slowly, for amateur lead-in as shown. Th e coil L may be 40
signals are so sh arp, usually, that iL is easy to [': turns of No. 22 d.c.c. w ire on a three-inch
skip right over them if the dial is Lurne<l form. Variable condenser C should be
.00035 µfd . or larger. Any coil-condenser
rapidly. combination which w i:tl lune to the f re-
Do not e:x-pect amateur signals Lo be loud. quency of the interjering station will be
satisfactory.
On the other hand, do not expect the weakest
ones Lo be the farthest away. SomeLimes the
most distinct signals are farther away than Lhe applied t o Lhis short-wave antenna. H owever,
weak ones. Listen for the district call (see Fig. if you ~wish you may use your transmitting
16) to get an idea of how far away the station antenna for this purpose, as is mentioned later. f
is - don't try to estimate distance by relative The ground lead should preferably be short - 'i
loudness. do the best you can with your particular con-
If the seL refuses to oscillate, no code signals ditions. A ground to a steam radiator or any
will be heard. It should oscillate easily, how- of the water piping is good. Do not use gas
ever, if the coils are made exactly as shown and pipes for grounds, as the j oints in these lines
Lhe tubes and batteries are good. It sometimes often are insulated, particularly at the meter.
A RADIO AMATEUR~!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!~ 13
Most of your listening
should be done with t he coils
covering the 1750-kc. and
3500-kc. amateur bands (the
first and second groups of
coils recommended in the
table at the end of the re-
ceiver description). Recep-
tion of amateur signals will
be most reliable in these two
bands; in addition, of course,
there is the opportunity to
pick up the stations broad-
casting code practice in the
1750-kc. band. Theo, too,
the transmitter which we are
how going to describe is de- Fig. 10. ~ A FnO NT Vrnw OF THE TRANSmi-m n
signed for use in the 1750-kc.
band, and you should become familiar with con- sends out a strong whistle, and t his whistle
ditions on that band so that when you are all is t he signal that goes for hundreds and even
ready to transmit you will know where to look t housands of miles. By star ting and stopping
for other amateur stations and the best times that whistle with a telegraph key we can spell
for picking them up. out the let ters of the alphabet in "code," and
Building the T ransmitter we then say we are sending.
The following material will be needed, the
.A.Nn now, you think, comes the hard brand name of each part being indicat ed.
part : building the transmitter. You are wrong. Other good makes of apparatus may be sub-
T he transmitter in this booklet is not only stituted, if desired, provided the same values
considerably easier to construct than the re- of capacity, resistance, etc., are used.
ceiver but it is just as easy to put into operation.
When you have built t he receiver your hardest C1- 500-µµfd. (.0005-µfd. ) receiving condenser with
dial; National EM-500
construction work is finished. C, - Same as C1
It may interest you t o know t hat the trans- C3 - .005-µfd . fixed mica condenser; Sangamo
mitter is simply a " high-powered" oscillating C, - 250-µµ l'd. (.00025-µfd. ) fixed mica condenser;
receiver. We have previously told you how to Sangamo
C, - .005-µfd. fixed mica condenser; Sangamo
keep your receiver on the edge of oscillation R1 - 50,000-ohm resistor ; l.R.C. MF-4
when receiving amateur signals. When t he Rt - 20-ohm center-tapped resistor; P ilo t
receiver is oscillating like that, it sends out F - Flashlight lamp and socket
a weak "whistle" on the air; it is actually a 1 4-prong lube socket; Pilot 213
miniature sending set. In the early days of 630inches of 231-inch bakelite tubing
fee t of No. 12 enameled antenna wire
broadcasting, when most receivers were of this 2 feet of covered bus bar, No. 14
type, it was quite a common thing to hear your 7 Fahnestock clips
neighbor's receiving set "whistling " ; it was 1 wooden baseboard, 7 x 14 inches
t he same thing, exactly. 1 T y pe '45 vacuum tube
1 telegraph key
Now, when we reaJly want a transmitter we M iscellaneous screws, lugs, etc.
increase the size of the tube and put more
voltage on it, and then adjust it so it will The first thing to do is to mount the parts.
oscillate all the time. The result is t hat it To help in doing this, we have marked every
14

piece of apparatus in t he top view, F ig. 12, t o of the 2;Y2-inch bakelite tubing, making its
correspond with the " labels" in t he diagram length 3;Y2 inches. Be careful to cut the tubing
of Fig. IL Fig. 10 gives a perspective view of the straight so that the ends will be true. Now draw
finished transmitter. a straight line the length of the tubing and mark
The oscillator tuning condenser, Ci. is two points 2;Y2 inches apart, placing them on the
fastened to t he baseboard at Lhe front edge, line so that the distances from each to the
as shown in Fig. 12, and the antenna tuning ends of the tubing are equal, and then drill
condenser, C2, is mounted beside it to t he left. through the tubing at these points with a Ys-
To the right of C1 are the tube socket, grid inch drill. Two 6-32 machine screws are placed
condenser C4, b"y-pass condenser C&, and the in the holes, with the heads inside the t ubing,
grid leak; '/!.1- To the r!.g4t of the tube socket is and fastened in place with nuts. These screws
the filam~nt center-tap resistor, R 2• The fila- form the terminals of the coil. N ow cut off a
ment posts. on the tube socket are connected to piece of the No. 12 enameled wire to make the
the outside terminals of R2 and from there to coil. A little over fourteen feet will be enough.
the Fahnestock clips on the edge of t he base- Scrape one end clean and bend it into a loop
board. The center terminal of R 2 is connected which will just fit around one of the screw
to a third clip and also t o one side of Ca and terminals, and fas ten it Lightly under the nut.
one side of Cs. The grid leak, R1, is furnished The other end of the wire should then be
with soft-drawn connection wires, one of which gripped firmly in a vise and the wire straight-
is fastened under the grid post of t he tube socket. ened out. Wind the coil by rotating the tube
The other is connected to the side of c. which in your hands, always keeping the wire tight,
connects Lo the Fahnestock clip at the front until 18 turns have been wound. When the last
of the board. The front terminal of C4 is turn has been put on, loop the loose end around
connected to the frame of the tuning condenser, the other terminal temporarily . The turns must
C1; and the stator plates of C1, the terminal for next be spaced to fill out Lhe distance between
which is on the hard rubber strip at the rear the two screws. This is done by winding a piece
of the condenser, are connected to the plate of fairly heavy waxed string between each
post on the tube socket. turn, also fastening the ends of the string to
When these wires are all in place it is time to the terminals. The string should be waxed to
begin making the coils. They are not at all keep it from absorbing moisture, which might
hard to make, and with a little care a very cause a power loss when the transmitter is
nice-appearing coil will result. The oscillator operating. If the right size of string is used
coil, Li. should be made first. Cut ofl' a piece (about half the diameter of the wire) the coil
will just t ake up the space between the two
terminals. When this has been done the left-
over end of the wire should be cut ofl' and the
new end cleaned and fastened under the nut.
Now hold the finished coil horizontally with
the terminals facing you and count off eight
turns from Lhe right. At this point scrape the
enamel off the wire for a distance of about a
half inch and Lin lhe scraped portion by heating
it with a hot soldering iron and running a little
solder on it. Be careful that none of the solder
gets on the adjacent turns. This is the tap on
+B the coil shown in Fig. 11. A piece of bus bar
Fig.11. - Tirn "ScHEMATrc" D1A Gl\AM OF THE should be soldered to it and, when the coil is
TRANSmTTER mounted in place, it is connected to the side of
A RAD I 0 AM ATE U R ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$ 15

C3 which goes to t he Fahnestock clip at the clips at the left of the baseboru·d , ,a nd the re-
rear right of the baseboard . maining terminal on the lamp; socket to the
The coil should be mounted a little above the other clip. ··1
board, using small blocks or short pieces of 'Ve are now almost ready to put the trans-
'

Fig. 12. - L ooK •NG DowN ON THE TuANSMITTE n

metal tubing to keep it clear. I t should be fas- mitter into operation, but before go.i ng about
tened down solidly with wood screws, and is this process we had better take up the question
placed as shown in Fig. 12, with the terminals of power supply.
facing C1. Connect the left-hand terminal to
the stator plates of C1 and the right-hand The Power Supply
terminal t o the frame of Ci, using short pieces '11Epower supply described here is quite
of bus bar or some of the left-over No. 12 wire. similar to the ones used in modern broadcast
The antenna coupling coil, Li, is wound in receivers having one or two Type '45 tubes in
the same way as the oscillator coil. It has only the last audio stage, as most of them do nowa-
12 turns, however. The tubing on which it is days. It is, in fact, assembled almost entirely
wound is 272 inches long, and the t erminals from replacement parts for broadcast sets,
are 1% inches apal't. It is mounted encl-to-end and consequently is relatively inexpensive.
to L1, as shown in Fig. 12, and as close to it as It furnishes both pla te and filament power for
possible. The distance between the ends of the t,be T ype '45 tube in our transmitter.
w indings should n ot be greater Lhan l YI! inches. The list of the necessary apparatus follows :
The right-hand Lermil}al is connected to the
T- Power transfor mer of type describ ed beJo,., ;
frame of C2 and the left-hand terminal to the Naliooal VSA
fl ashlight lamp socket . . ·The stator plates of L - Filter choke, 75-ma. or larger rating; Thordarson
C2 are connected to one of the· Fahnestock H.-105
16 ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ HOW TO BECOME
C- Dry electrolytic condenser with 500-volt rating,long as the transformer will deliver the voltages
double-section, 8 µfd. each ; Aerovox
SW - Double-pole single-throw switch
specified above. 1
1 mounting ring for condenser; Aerovox TBR
1 4-prong socket; Pilot 213
The filter choke, L, should be rated to carry
about 75 milliamperes, which is somewhat more l
5 feet of lamp cord with plug than t he transmitter will draw from the po:wer
3 feet of covered bus bar, No. 14 supply, and should have an inductance of 20 to
4 Fahnestock clips 30 henrys. Nearly all dealers carry chokes of
1 baseboard , 7 x 14 inches
1 Type '80 rectifier tube this size.
Miscellaneous screws, etc. Building the power-supply unit is no trouble
at all. The parts may be placed on the board in
The transformer should be one designed to any way you wish - t here is no need to be
work from the 110- or 115-volt a.c. lighting careful to make short direct connections, as we
circuit, and should have at least three sec- must in our receiver and transmitter. Of course
ondary windings: one for the plate voltage the wires should be well separated so there will
supply, which should deliver approximately be no danger of short-circuits and possible
700 volts and be tapped at the cent er so t hat damage to the rectifier tube or other apparatus,
350 volts can be obtained from each side, as but aside from that there is nothing to cause
indicated in Fig. 13; one which delivers 5 volts concern.
for lighting the :filament of the Type '80 rec- The connections for the power-supply uni t
tifier tube; and one which gives 2.5 volts to are shown in Fig. 13. The various parts referred
heat the filament of the Type '45 tube in the to in Fig. 13 are also indicated in Fig. 14. The
transmitter. Generally transformers of this double filter condenser, C, has two terminals on
type have another 2.5-volt winding which is t op; each of these is the positive terminal of a
needed in the broadcast receiver but which is condenser, while the metal can is t he negative
not used in our case. If your transformer is so terminal for both. Be careful in connecting the
equipped, use whichever one of t he 2.5-volt condenser in the circuit that you do not reverse
secondaries you wish and allow the other to these connections, because to do so probably
remain idJe. There are many dill'erent makes of will mean the destruction of t he rectifier tube.
such transformers readily obtainable from The can enclosing the condenser must be con-
r adio dealers. Not all of them look like the one nected to the center tap of the high-voltage
winding on t he transformer. The positive side
L of the plate voltage is taken from one filament
terminal on the rectifier tube socket - it does
not matter which one - and connects directly
to one of t he posts on top of t he condenser.
The other post becomes the positive terminal
of the output side, and the filter choke is
connected between the two posts. The two ou Ler
ends of the high-voltage winding are connected
§ 2;ss2 ?IL. to the plate and grid terminaJs of t he tube
Fig. 13. - T nE "ScBE~IAnc" D1Ac n .u1 ot· TUE PowE11 socket.
UNIT After finishing the wiring the unit may be
tested by plugging into a 110-volt a.c. socket
used in the power supply illustrated here, some and closing the switch. The rectifier tube fila-
1
being mounted in iron cases with the terminals ment should light, showing that its filament
brought out as flexible leads, others having connections are correct. After allowing the unit
I
nicely-finished cases with binding-po t termi- to run for a few minutes, open the switch and
nals, but t he appearance does not matter as short-circuit the output of the filter by placing
A RADIO AMATEUR ~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!I!~~~ 17
a piece of heavily_ insulated wire across the absorption of radio-frequency power by such
"plus" and "minus" terminals. There shou ld objects, which would reduce t he transmitting
be an appreciable spark if this is done immedi- range.
ately after opening t he switch,· showing that The to tal length of the antenna, from the
the filter is operating. Never make this lest with antenna posl on the transmjtter to its far end,

F1'.g. 14. - T im PowEn-SuPPLY UNI'l'

lhe switch closed; it is likely lo min the rectifier should not be less than 120 feet, and may be
lube. anything more than that up t o about 160 feet.
As a final caution, always be sum to have the Therefore you can use the length, between
current turned off when working around the those limits, t hat will best fit your local con-
power supply or when making adjustments to ditions. The best antenna will be one which
the transmitter which require handling of the runs in a straight line except for that portion
metal parts. Although tlie voltage is not great which must come down into the house to reach
enough to be seriously harmful Lo most people, t he transmitter. H owever, in these days of
it can cause an unpleasant shock. apartment houses and small back yards it is
almost impossible to have an ideaI installation,
The Transmitting Antenna so you must do the best you can. If a few bends
must be made in order to get the entire length
T nE antenna for our transmitter closely of wire s trung up, they may be made without
resembles the antennas used with broadcast fear of losing very much efficiency. Try to
receivers. It may b e suppor ted and insulated in avoid having the antenna "double back" upon
just the same way, b eing particularly carefu l itself, however , especially when the two parts
to have it well insulated from buildings or other will be close together, because this may reduce
objects. Of course, to gel the best results io your range.
transmitting, the antenna should be as high And now a few words about the ground con-
and as far away from all other objects as we nection. The "ground " may be t he water piping
can put it; then there wi ll be less chaoce of system in the house or an actual buried ground.
18

In either case the ground lead should be short - 95 on the dial scale. But we must know with
not more than 10 or 15 feet in length. If t he more exactness than this whether or not we
waler piping system is used, try to get a cold- are inside the band, because out-of-band opera-
water pipe, since these usually go direct to tion is one of the most odious o:ffenses an ama-
earth. Scrape or sandpaper the pipe until it is teur can commit. To make absolutely certain
bright and clean and use a good ground. clamp that the transmitter frequency is inside t he
for making t he connection. A low-resistance band, we make use of our receiver.
ground connection will aid greatly in making In your list ening on the 1750-kc. band you
the antenna an efficient radiator. If an outside probably have picked up many amateur sta-
ground is t o be used it may be made by driving tions, both 'phone and telegraph , which have
a metal rod into the earth to as great a depth made the general location of the band fairly
as possible. The rod should be at least three or clear. Probably also you have picked up some
four feet long, and greater length is desirable. of the police radio transmitters which are
Such a ground should always be made in nat u- located in many of the larger cit ies all over the
rally moist soil , because the resistance of very country. Most of these stations operate on a
dry soil is Loo great to allow the ground connec- frequency of 1712 kilocycles, which will be
tion Lo be effective. found near the top of the condenser scale with
coil No. 1 in the grid circuit. This frequency is
Tuning the Transmitter only 3 kc. away from the 1715-kc. limit of t he
band and is therefore an excellen t " marker,"
Tim design of the transmitter is such so that you know t hat if yolil' transmit ter fre-
that , if you have followed instructions care- quency is a little higher than t ha t of the police
fully in building it, tuning is a very simple stations (a little lower in wavelength) you will
maLLer. The only adjustments necessary are be inside the band. Pick up one of those st ations
those which determine the frequency of the on your receiver (they can be h eard operating
transmitter and the power taken by t he an- almost any night) and then set your receiver,
tenna. The frequency is fixed by the setting of with tbe detector oscilla ting, Lo a wavelength a
the oscillator condenser , Ci, and the power ou t- little shorter - somewhat beyond the point
put by the setting of the antenna tuning con- where you can no longer hear the carrier of the
denser, C2. police station, for instance.
F irst of all, of course, the power supply and Now disconnect the positive high-voltage
key should be connect ed to the transmit ter, wire between the power supply and transmitter
leaving ofl' t he antenna and ground for Lhe t ime and turn on the power, so t hat the filament
being. Close Lhe power switch, wait for t he tube lights. H old down the key and slowly t urn con-
filaments to become hot, and then press the denser Ci from maximum capacity downwards.
key. Now take a wooden lead pencil and Louch If your transmitter and receiver are close to
the pointed end to the stator plates of C1• A each other you will hear a distinct hum when
small spark will appear, indicating that the set C1 is tuned t o t he same frequency as that at
is oscillating. which the receiver is oscillating. The hum may
At this point it is necessary to find a setting not be loud but will be unmistakable, and
of C1 which wrn put the frequency of oscilla- usually is very "sharp," that is, it is tuned in
tion inside the limits of the 1750-kc. amateur and out very rapidly when Ci is varied. At t he
band (band A), preferably towards the low- loudest point the t ransmit ter is tuned to th e
frequency end. If you have been careful Lo same frequency as t he receiver, and the trans-
make oscillator coil L1 exactly as described and mi LLer frequency is t herefore inside the band.
are using the type of tuning condenser specified, If you cannot hear the hum, Lake ofl' the
this setting will be with the plates of C1 very key lead which goes to the Fahnestock clip
nearly fully interleaved, say between 85 and connecting to the center of the filament resistor,
A RADIO AMATEUR.~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!l!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I!!!!!!~· f9'

and temporarily place it in one of the filament- it is an easy maLler to make sure your trans-
connection clips. This usually will increase the mitter frequency is inside the band because
loudness of the hum, and after the frequency is you set it directly to a frequency which you
set the connection may be replaced. have already determined is within the band
Another simple method of making sure you Jirnits.
are inside the band may be used if your trans- Having set the transmitter frequency cor-
mitter is too far from the receiver to pick up rectly, the nexL step is that of tuning the an-
the hum as described above or if you cannot tenna circuit to it. It is for this purpose that the
identify any stations of known frequency near flashlight lamp is connected in the ground
the 1750-kc. band. Place the set of coils which lead. Connect the antenna and ground to the
covers the 3500-4000-kc. amateur band in your proper posts, turn C2 until the lamp glows at
receiver and determine the appro~ate limits maximum brilliancy, and the antenna circuit is
of the band by listening to the amateurs send- tuned to the transmitter. It's as simple as that!
ing there. Usually you will find lots of them, so For best results a short piece of wire should be
there will be little difficulty in finding where connected around the lamp base terminals
these approximate limits are. Now set your after you have completed your tuning, because
receiver at about the middle of the band, set the lamp takes a small amount of power that
condenser C1 in the transmitter at maximum, might as well be radiated.
and press the key (the positive high voltage
wire is connected in this case so the transmitter Arranging the Station
is oscillating at full strength). Slowly turn C1
down from maximum and a loud carrier wave IT 1s helpful to arrange the station neatly
will be heard in the receiver, indicating that the and keep paper, pencils, call books, eLc., where
second harmonic of the transmitter (the second they are always handy. Furthermore, it is just
harmonic is a double-frequency oscillation as easy to make a shipshape job of your station
generated by nearly all Lube oscillator circuits) as to have it "haywire." You do not want to
is tuned to the frequency at which the receiver have to apologize for the appearance of your
is set. The actual frequency of the transmitter station.
will be jlliit half that of the receiver, and there- Fig. 15 shows one effective way of laying out
fore the transmiLLer frequency will be inside the the station. Since the antenna lead-ins usually
1750-kc. band. Perhaps you may wonder why are brought into the house through a window,
you cannot set your receiver to a frequency in it is a good idea to have your operating table
the 1750-kc. band and then tune your trans- located near a window which is convenient for
mitter directly. This would be the best method this purpose. The receiver and transmitter
if it were not for the fact that the oscillations should not be too close to each other, or keying
set up by the transmitter ar e so strong that Lhey will produce loud clicks in the headphones
" block" the receiver - in other words, cause which are unpleasant to the ears. The power
the receiver to stop oscillating - and when the supply may be placed near the transmitter, but
receiver is not oscillating the signal is so broad care should be taken t hat the slight vibration
Lhat it is impossible lo tell accurately enough caused by humming of the power transformer
· just what the frequency is. is not passed on lo the sending set, because a
You will notice tha t in both these methods litt le vibralion may spoil the tone of lhe trans-
the receiver plays an important part. You must mitter. It is a good plan t o set the transmitter
therefore become familiar with the tuning of on a thick piece of felt or on rubber sponges
the receiver to such an ex1;ent that with a little which will absorb vibration and shocks.
listening you can tell , by reference to stations A good method of bringing the antenna wires
you are hearing, just about where the limits into the station is to cut a board about 4 inches
of the amateur bands are. Once you know this wide and the same length as lhe width of the
20 ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ HOW TO BECOME
window. Through this board are run small por- teurs prefer to have separate antennas for
celain insulating Lubes of the typ e used in house receiving and Lransmitting. On t he 1750-kc.
wiring, the transmitting antenna wire coming band, however, a long antenna is quite advan-
Lb.rough one and the receiving antenna wire tageous because of its greaLer pick-up. Changing
Lb.rough the oLher , if separaLe anLennas are over from r eceiving to LransmiLting is accom-
used. Only one Lube is necessary if the same plished b y the use of a small porcelain-base

Ji'ig. 15. - A N IDEAL STATION An11ANGI>M I>N T

The transmitter and power supply are placed on a small shel.f above lite operating table so they will be
out of Uw way allhou11h sti:ll conveniently lowted. The key is <II the right, well back on lhe table so that
the operator's elbow will be supported. Between the front edge of the table and the receiver plenty of room
is left for wrilin.q. Th e small sw i:tch at /he left side of the table is the antenna change-over switch.

anLenna is used for both transmitting and switch much like t he one on Lhe power supply
receiving. Th e boa rd is placed in the window except that it should be single-pole double-
fram e and t he sash closed down LighL upon it. tbrow. The antenna is connected t o the blade
The lead-in wires are then fairly well insulated, of the switch, t he antenna post on the receiver
even in wet weather , and the window can be to one of the switch jaws, and the antenna post
kept tightly shut. on the t ransmitter to the other switch jaw. The
The porcelain Lubes, incidentally, should be ground connecLion need not be changed over,
run through Lhe board at a slight downward although you may do so if you wish.
slant (with the " down " end on the outside) t o A lightning arrest er cannol be used on the
pre\' ent rain waLer from rlinning down t h e transmitting antenna. T o do so would allow a
antenna wires a nd into the house. considerable portion of the energy of the trans-
The transmitting antenna may also be used mitter to leak off. A switch is therefore neces-
for receiving if you wish , although ma ny ama- sary. A single-pole d ouble-throw lightning
A RADIO AMATEUR~!!!!!!""""'!!!!!!""""'!!!!!!""""'!l!!!li!!!!!!!!!l!!!ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""""'!!!!!!""""'!l!!!ll!!!!!!!!~.~ 21

switch is best, but one of the same type as used This keeps on until, we shall. say, you have
for the antenna change-over switch will serve. nothing more to say and are through talking
The switch should be screwed t o the window with him. In this case, after you have concl uded
frame at the point where the transmitting an- youT remarks, sent his call and then yours, you
tenna enters. The blade-connection of the send Lhe AR as before, inclicaling that that
switch is connected Lo the antenna; one of the particular call is finished, but, in addition,
jaw connections leads t o Lhe antenna post on follow it up with a signal which is used to
the set, and the other leads t o a ground indicate that the whole t ransmission is also
connection. concluded - in other words, that you have not
only finished that call, but have finished talking
Operating Procediire with him for the time being. This signal is
~ ARE now almost ready to apply for SK (- · · - · -) . After sending the AR and SK,
our licenses, but before taking t his :final step it send your own call again once. All this Lelis
is a good idea to learn just a little bit about whomever may be listening to you that you are
the formalities of calling and working another now through talking to WSBC, and will listen
station. for anybody else who wants to call you and
Amateur call signs in the Unit ed States are talk with you. For this reason it is a good idea
made up of the initial letter '' W '' followed by a Lo tune slowly over the band, after concluding
:figure to designate the district (refer to Fig. 16) such a transmission, and see if anyone is calling
and t hen a combination oft wo or three letters of you, before you start in trying to " land "
t he alphabet, for instance, WlAKZ, W3CDQ, another station.
W6EA, etc. It is possible, from the " district" ow as to the way lo use the call "CQ " . In
number, to ascertain t o some extent from what listening in with your receiver you have un-
part of the country the signal is being received. doubLedly heard many stations sending out the
The very first thing to learn about operating letters CQ (- · - · - - · - ) followed by DE
your station is how to call another stat ion. T he and then their own call. You may have won-
correct way to do this is to send the call letters dered what it meant. Well, it happens tha t
of the other station four or :five times, followed CQ is generally adopted by amateurs to indicate
by the letters DE, meaning "from," and fol- that they are willing to talk t o anyone. They
lowed by your own call letters several t imes. may not want Lo call any particular station
This may be repe~ted three or four times, after
which you should "sign off " by sending the
letters of the " finish sign," AR (- - · - ·),
meaning that you are now finished. sending that
particular call. If your station is WIAB and you
are calling W8BC, the call would be like this :
W8BC W8BC W8BC D E WlAB WIAB
WIAB AR. If W8BC heard you he would call
you back like this: WIAB WlAB W IAB DE
W8BC W8BC W8BC, but after finishing his
call would probably send the letter R ( · - ·)
meaning " OK - I received you " - and then Fig. 16. - U. S .. I NSPECTION DISTRICTS
s tart in on his talk with you. After :finishing
whatever remarks he had to make to you he but yet give other s tations on the air an indi-
would again send your call once or twice fol- cation of their willingness to engage in com-
lowed by DE and his call once or twice and then munication with someone. CQ is used for t his
send the letter K (- · - ) which is used Lo purpose.
indicate that you should go ahead. Let us say that you start in for an evening's
22 ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW TO BECOME
operating, and want to indicate to any other instance, means '·Stop sending " whether the
amateurs who may be listening that you are man who sends it speaks German, English,
ready to talk with some of them. You send out Spanish or Russian. Amateurs in America use
the letters CQ several times, just as you would the " Q" signals among each other because they
send some other call , follow it by DE, and then offer a short and convenient way of giving and
your own call repeated a few times. The signal requesting pertinent information.
K should follow, and you then turn off the If you give a "Q" signal and follow it by an
transmitter, and listen over the band on your interrogation mark ( · · - - · ·) it means that
receiver for somebody who may have heard you are asking the question indicated by the
you "CQing " and is now calling you. particular "Q" signal; if you give such a signal
On the other hand, if you hear some amateur without the interrogation mark, it means that
sending CQ, you know that he is willing to you are giving the answer belonging to Lhal
Lalk to anybody who happens to hear him, and signal.
you are justified in calling him when he has Now for amateur abbreviations. Some time
signed off after his CQ. ago we mentioned that you would hear many
A word about abbreviations and the "Q" abbreviations over the air which did not mean
signals is in order at this point. anything to you. All amateurs use them to a
All amateurs use at least some of the inter- greater or less extent. It is not expected that
nationally-adopted " Q" signals, and you should you will use them a great deal at fast ; don't
learn a few of the most-used ones if for no other even try to. A few abbreviations intelligently

Some Frequen tly - Used "Q" Signals

Abbre-
viation Question Answer
QRG \Vil! you tell me my exact wavelength in meters Your exact wave is ..... . .. .. meters (or ....... .
(or frequency in kilocycles)? kilocycles).
QRH What is your wavelength in meters (or fre- My wavelength is . . . . . . . . . . . . meters (or ..... . . .
quency in kilocycles) ? kilocycles).
QRJ Are my signals weak? Your signals arc too weak .
QRK Are my signals good ? Your signals are good.
QRM Are you being interfered with ? I am being interfered with.
QRN Are you tro ubled by atmospherics (static)? I am troubled by atmospherics.
QRQ Shall I send faster ? Send faster ( . ... . ... words per minute).
QRS Shall I send more slowly? Send more slowly ( .. .. ... . words per minute).
QRT Shall I stop sending? Stop sending.
QRU Have you anything for me? I have nothing for you.
QSA What is the strength of my signals? The strength of your signals is . . ... ... (1 to 5, 5 being
maximum signal strength ).
QSD Is my keying bud? Your keying is bad. Your signals are unreadable.

reason than the fact that the license examina- used are all right, but just as very rapid sending
tion will probably ask you to give one of them. was given as the mark of a rank beginner in
These " Q " signals (see list) are internationally- a previous paragraph, so unwarranted abbre-
agreed-upon signals by which it is possible lo viating is another trade-mark of the beginner.
Lalk to some other radio operator even though Do not be afraid to spell out your words full
you do not know his language. "QRT", for length when you are starting.
A RADIO AMATEUR ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ 23
Some of the abbreviations used by amateurs F irst D istrict Supervisor of Radio, Customhouse,
Boston, Mass.
on the air are as follows: Second District Supervisor of Tladio, Suh-Treasury
ABT About G Good-night Bldg., Wall , Nassau and Pine Sts.,
AC Alternating Current GUD Good New York, N . Y.
AGN Again HAJ\11 Amateur T hird District Supervisor of Radio, Ft. McHenry,
AMP Ampere HI Laughter Baltimore, Md.
ANl Any HR Hear, here Fotirlh District Supervisor of Rad io, Post Office Bldg.,
BI By HV Have Atlanta, Ga.
BK Break, back TTW How Fifth District Supervisor of Radio, Customhouse,
BTR Better MG Motor-generator New Orleans, La.
CRD Card N l.L Nothlng Sixth District Supervisor of Radio, Customhouse,
CD Could Tl Number, near San Francisco, California.
CU L See you later 'W Now Seventh District Supervisor of Radio, Exchange Bldg. ,
DC Direct Current OB Old Boy Seattle, Washington.
D 1T Don't OM Old Man Eighth District Supervisor of Rad io, 29th F loor, D avid
DX Distance ow Old Woman Stott Bldg., Detroit, Michigan.
ES " &" P SE Please N inth District Supervisor of Radio, 2022 The Engi-
l"B Fine business, SED , SEZ Said, says neering B ldg., Chicago, Illinois.
excellent SKED Schedule
FM From TKS, TNX Thanks By looking at the map you can tell ·which
FR For TT That district you are in. If you live in the same ciLy
GA Go ahead U, U R You, your, ·you 're as the Supervisor for your district, you should
GB Good-bye VY Very go down to the building where he has his office
GE Good-evening X MTR Transmitter and apply personally for your applicaLion
GG Going YL Young lady
GM Good-morning 73 Best regards blanks. In this case, however, you will take your
examination right there at his office, so yo u
should not apply for your licenses under t hese
Getting Your Li.censes
conditions unless you are ready to pass the
T HERE remains now only one thing to be examination and have your code speed welI in
done before you can start on your amateur hand. Such a license, issued after you have
car eer , and that is the obtaining of your licenses personally appeared before t he Supervisor or
to own and operate an ama lew· transmitter. one of his assistants, is known as a First Class
No license of any kind is needed in order to amateur operator's license. It is good for two
operate your short-wave receiver, any more years and may be renewed at that t ime without
than you have t o have one to operate your re-examination .
broadcast receiver . Before you can send a It may be that you do not live in or near Lhe
single letter with your transmitter, however, city where the Supervisor is. If t his is so, wri Le
you must obtain two licenses from the United to him asking that you be sent the proper appli-
States government. One of these is a station cation blanks. You can do Lhis before you are
1.icense, for your transmitting apparatus, ancl actually ready to make out the examination
the other is your personal operator's license. papers, because you can take your time (wiLbin
These licenses clo not cost anything. The reason) about returning them. After you have
first thing to do towards getting them is to filled in the answers to t he various questions,
write to or call on your particular government and have sworn before a notary that you are
radio supervisor asking for application blanks capable of receiving at least ten '"ords per
for amateur station and operator's licenses. minute, the blanks may be mailed back t o Lhe
For the purpose of radio regulation, the Supervisor, and h e will issue you a Temporary
United States is divided into nine districts, operator 's license. Your temporary license is
as shown in F ig. 16. The address of the Super- good for one year, but iL is probable t hat be-
visor of Radio for each of these districts is as fore that year has passed, the Supervisor will
follows: notify you t hat he will be in your vicinity lo
24
examine you personally and issue you a first- The first thlng to do in preparing for the ex-
class license. amination is to learn how to draw a complete
There is no examination in connection with diagram of your transmitter and receiver and
the station license. A few questions arn asked explain their operation.
regarding your citizenship (aJjens may nol Let us begin with the receiver. You will find

International Regulations You Should Know

I. Internalional law requires that your transmitter emergency call, you are, of course, justified in trying to
send out signals of as cons tant frequency and as free get in touch with him , but if he answers some other
from harmonics as possible. station you should stop operating to avoid interfering.
In all cases. it is wise Lo continue Lo listen in on the
2. It is against the law to divulge t he contents of an y distress work.
messages ) 'OU may hear unless they are addressed to
you, or are broadcast or transmitted for the use of the 5. T he law requires tha t you use the minimu m
general public, or relate to distress ca lls. amount of power necessary lo insure satisfact ory com-
municat io n over an y given distance.
3. Radiograms relating to d istress calls hold pre- 6. United States amateurs, among themselves, may
cedence over all others. exchange messages of any kind , but internationally t heir
4. If you hear a distress signal (SOS) and have the messages must be in plain language and must relate lo
slightest reason to believe that your station is interfering the experiments in hand, or be confined to remarks of a
with it or with stations try ing to work it, stop sending personal character t hat would no t normally be t rans-
immediately. It is best t o play safe a nd stop send ing rniLtcd by way of a commercial telegraph, radio o.r
anyway. If you hear some other amateur sending out an cable company.

obtain station license-), your full name, age, its diagram in Fig. 6 and you should learn to
etc., and these are quickly answered. Yo u can draw iL this way. "Picture" diagrams are nol
fill all this out in five minutes and t hen lay iL accepted by the supervisor, as we have already
aside until you have wTitlen up your operator's slated.
license examination. The station license is good After you have learned to draw the diagram
for one year, at which time it may be renewed. of' yo ur receiver, you should learn to tell how iL
As with the Firs t Class operator 's license, functions. It may be you already know this, bul
application for r enewal should be sen t Lo Lhe in case you don't , ,~ve wilt describe it, briefly.
supervisor sixty (60) days before t he date of First, of course, the incoming signals are
expiration of t he old license. picked up on the aerial and pass through Lhc
For your operator's license, whether tem- condenser Cs to the detector tuning coil L,.
porary or firs t class, you will need to pass a This coil is tuned by means of t he variable
written examination. This examfoation is not condenser C1 to any particular frequency (wave-
difficult and will give you no trouble if you do length) within the range of the coil in use at
fo ur things: (1) learn to draw a complete the moment.
schematic diagram of your transmitter and Jn the meantime, Lhe tickler circuit (hi.) has
r eceiver, and explain briefly their opera Lion ; been adjusted to bring Lhe detector t ube (DET)
(2) fami(jarize yourself with t he summary of th e up Lo the point of oscillation, this adjustment
important international regulations which is in being controlled by Lhe vru·iable resistance RJ.
a table in this booklet; (3) learn a few of the Jf a 'phone signal is being received, RJ is
most-used " Q" signals, which we will (jst for turned so that Lhe detector tube is just outside
you; and (4) take your Lime and use yom head. lhc oscillation point. This adjustment has the
A RADIO AMATEUR ~~!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ 25
effect of increasing Lhe signal sLrength many your examination you will have done this many
Limes, before the signal is deLecLed. " D etection " Limes in acLual pracLice with your receiver , and
is effected in the detector t ube by the action of this will help you understand what we have
Lhe grid condenser C2 and the grid leak R 2 . just written.
The detected signal goes Lhrough the audio This audible whistle is passed on to the audio
amplifying transformer T where it is "stepped amplifying transformer T just as was the
up" slightly and passed on t o the audio am- 'phone signal mentioned above, and from t hen
plifier tube (AMP) which furLher amp}iies t he on is t reated in t he same manner.
audio sounds and passes Lhem on to the head- Now to explain t he operation of the trans-
phones. mit ter. In yom examinat ion paper you will have
IL may happen that insLead of receiving a Lo draw a diagram of Lhe power supply and show
' phone station, we are receiving a "con Liou- it hooked up to Lhe t ransmitter , so we have
ous wave" (or c.w.) code sLaLion. In t his case done it in Fig. 17, which you will recognize as
Lhe action of t he detector Lube is somewhat the transmitter of F ig. 11 hooked up to the
different than just described and you should be power supply in Fig. 13.
careful to explain that facL in yom examina- Let us start with Lhe operation of this power
tion. unit. Current from the 110-volt a.c. house
Let us go back for a moment Lo t he point circui t is supplied to the primary P of the
where we had the signal (whether it be 'phone Lransformer T. This t ransformer has t hree
or c.w.) tuned in by means of the coil L1 and secondary windings; St steps the 110 volts
Lhe variable condenser C1 and are ready to down to 5 volts, to supply t he filament of the
pass it on to the detector tube. Befor e, when recLifier tube R; S2 sLeps it down to 2.5 volts to
we were receiving 'phone signals, t he t ickler
circuit was adjusted Lo put the tube just on the
edge of oscillation - but not quite oscillating.
This time, however, we are receiving a c.w.
signal, and the tickler circuit should now be
adjusted so that t he detecLor tube is actually
oscjllating. (Here again, it is " on the edge" -
but where the 'phone adjustment was j ust
outside oscillation, the c.w. adjustment is just
in oscillation.) Having the tube in this oscil- FIL
laLing condit ion, the secondary t uning con-
r - --- - ---,
T I L 1 +

F ig. 17. - SCH EMATI C

DrA G llAM OF TH E
CoMPL BTE TRANSMIT -
'!' E R WI T H P OW ER
SUPPL Y C ONNECTED

denser C1 is t uned over t he scale, and t he be used t o heat t he filamen t of t he t ransmitter

oscillaLions generated within the deLector Lube tube lf, and Sa s Leps the 110 volts up to 350
will " beat " against the incoming signal oscilla~ volts on each side of the center t ap.
Lions, and will be detected as an audible signal The high-voltage alternating current from Sa
- usually a clear whistle. By the time you take is first run through the recLifier t ube R, is " rec-
26 4!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~ H 0 W T 0 BE C 0 ME
tined " into pulsating direct current, and then t he limits of band A is deter mined either by
goes t hrough the filter system (shown within listening in on the receiver, as described in
the dotted lines in F ig. 17) t o be smoothed out, " Tuning the T ransmitter", or by t he use of a
or filtered. The fil ter system is made up of the frequency-meter.
filter choke L and the two 8-µfd . condensers Drawing the diagrams of the transmitter and
associated with it. After passing through the receiver and explaining their operation will
rectmer t ube and the filter system our original probably be the hardest part of the examinat ion
" raw" alternating current has become smooth for the beginner. You shou Id , t herefore, be
direct current , or "pure d.c." as it is usually well prepared on this score and be sure to
referred to. know t he sizes of all pieces of apparatus used -
Now for the transmitter proper. As we have capacity of condensers, tur ns on coils, etc.
mentioned previously, this transmitter is, The remainder of the examination will prob-
fundamentally, simply an oscillating tube ably give you no particular difficul ty. Be sure
circuit. It oscillates because there is "feed- to study the summary of important int erna-
back " coupling from the plate circuit, back Lo tional regulations that you should know,
the grid cir cuit through Lhe coil L1. Obviously, shown herein. You would also be well advised
we want to be able Lo control the frequency at to send to the Federal Radio Commission,
which it operates. We accomplish this by the Washington, D . C., asking for a copy of t he
size and adj ustment of t he " t ank " circuit (in current U. S. amateur regula tions. The follow-
heavy black lines) composed of the condenser ing facts will prove helpful, too:
C1 and t he coil Li. C4 and Ri are the usual grid (a) The transmitter in this booklet is rated at
condenser and leak . approximately 15 watts input. ·
The small fixed condenser C3 serves to " by- (b) The transmitting antenna is a quar ter-
pass" the radio-frequency energy around t he wave working against ground (known as a
source of high-voltage supply - in other words, Marconi antenna system) and oper ates on its
provides a short path for the radio frequency fundamental frequency or wavelength (not on
from the center lap on Li to the filament center- a harmonic).
tap without making it necessary for it to go (c) The government does not require that
down t hrough the rectilier and filter syst em. you operate on any par ticular frequency so
Co provides a similar by-pass around t he key. long as you always keep within t he limits of t he
By closing the switch S W we apply the neces- amat eur band in which you are working.
sary voltages to the filament and (with the After you have t aken your exam, you will
key down) the plate of the tube H , which should probably wonder why you ever worried about it.
then st art osciJlating at a frequency deter- If it should happen t hat you " flunked " on your
mined by t he size of the coil L i and adjustment first try, you can always try again!
of the condenser Ci, Ci in this case being so
adjusted as to get the tank circuit oscillating Ge tting on the Air
somewhere wi thin the band of frequencies from
1715 to 2000 kc. Since most of the energy which A No now, after you have built your re-
the t ube is generating is concent rated in this ceiver and Lransmitter and put them in oper-
tank circuit, we couple our antenna coil Lz to ating condition, have obtained your licenses,
it, and t hen tune the antenna circuit to the and have learned something of the customs and
same frequency as the t ank circuit by adjust- practices of operating, you are ready to t ake
ing the condenser C2. T he lamp F serves to tell your final step - the step for which you have
us when the ant enna circuit is in tune with the worked through all these weeks - your first
t ank circuit and taking t he most power from it, actual operation on the air as an amateur.
the lamp being brightest then. Your station and operator 's licenses are dis-
T he adjustment of the tank circuit within played on the wall over your operating table,
A RADIO AMATEUR ~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ 27
and you sit down for the evening before your their operating room literally plastered with
receiver and light up the tubes. Tuning in on QSL cards from all over the world. A typical
the 1715-kc. band, let ns say, you hear some QSL card form is shown in Fig. 18.
station (not loo far away!) sending a "CQ" and Oh yes - don' t forget to keep a log of your
finally signing his own call. You turn on your station operation. For one thing, the United
transmitter, and call that station - somewhat States amateur regulations require you to do
shakily, no doubt. After making a reasonably this, but aside from that every worth-while
long call, you sign off and listen for him again. amateur keeps a neat log as a matter of pride.
Perhaps be does not come back. Too bad! - Your log should record all calls made by the
but don't be discouraged. While it has happened transmitter, calls of stations worked, time, fre-
that amateurs have worked the first station quency band and power of your transmitter,
they ever called, this experience is not the rule. and the name of the operator. Your log need
Try again. P erhaps you still fail to "connect," not be pretentious - many amateurs use cheap
and it may be that you will call all that evening notebooks with columns ruled off for the vari-
without working anybody. ous headings required. If you wish, however,
(Among other things, it is a good idea at this you can obtain specially designed log books
time to listen in on your receiver, and see if you from the American Radio Relay League, West
can hear your transmitter !) Hartford, Conn., at 40 cents each, or three for a
But you keep on calling the next night, and dollar.
soon there comes a time when you enjoy that
never-to-be-forgotten thrill of hearing the other And Now Good Liic k!
fellow call your station I And then you talk
with him, learn where he is, and hear him tell You are now a full-fledged amateur, and
you how good your signal is at his "shack" and ready to take your place in the amateur bands.
perhaps make a schedule to call him again the Do not t ry to hurry matters building your
nex"t night for another talk. So you start to learn station or operating it. Be a gentleman on
the thrill and pleasure that come from talking the air, and don' t be afraid to admit that you
to another fellow-being hundreds (even thou- are a beginner. If someone sends t oo fast for
sands) of miles away, from the privacy of your you, tell him so - don't give some lame excuse
own home, and with apparatus t hat you have such as "QRM " or "QRN"'. A genial request
constructed with your own hands. It is a thrill
that never wears off.
It is probable that one of the first things you
will be asked, when you begin working other
amateurs, is to " Pse send card, OM". What the
other fellow is referring to is a custom that has
grown to be a part of amateur radio, known
as t he exchanging of QSL (acknowledgment)
cards. Most amateurs have postcards printed
up with their call prominently displayed, and
other data on t heir set, leaving space of course,
to put the call of the amateur to whom they are
going to send the card. When you work some Fig. 18 - A TY P I CAL "QSL " C A RD

dist ant amateur, he may ask you (or you may

ask him) t o exchange cards, as noted above. Lo send slower will practically always get the
You then make out one of your cards, address desired result, and the amatelU' you are working
it to him, and mail it, usually receiving one of will think more of you for it.
his in return. Many amateurs have the walls of This booklet has necessarily been brief, but
we think this will give you a slart toward Lhat exam ination. the League publishes a pamphlet,
finest of hobbies, Amateur Radio ; and once "Passing the Government Examination for
the start is made, growth is rapid. Amateur Operator's License," which will be
The American Radio Relay League, at West sent postpaid for 20 cents. A callbook listing
Hartford, Connecticut, which publishes this amalem stations in the United States and
pamphlet, is a society of and for amateurs, and Canada, as well as most other countries of the
it will be more than glad to help you out with world, can be obtained from the A.R.R.L.
your problems. It may be that, later, you will Circulation Department, postpaid, for $1.
wish to become a member of the League. Most Be sure to specify t hat you want the am-
amateurs are members. Station ownership is aleul' callbook. A callbook listing United
not necessary to membership - you have only States amateurs only can be obtained from
to be interested in amateur radio. Dues are the Government Printing Office, Washing-
$2.50 a year (foreign $3 .00) and include a year 's ton, D. C., for 35 cents. Do not send stamps
subscription to the monthly magazine QST, or checks for Lhis, however, as the govern-
often referred to as the "amateur's bible". ment accepts only coin or money orders.
Every amateur reads QST; each month's issue And now-GOOD LUCK!
is filled with information on building the latest
types of short-wave receivers and t ransmitters, To Canadian R eaders
descriptions of amateur stations, and " ham "
news from all over the country. If you have IN GENERAi", the material given herein
never seen a copy on your newsstand, a sample will apply to Canadian amateurs as well as those
copy will be sent you on request. in the United States. The transmitter shown
It has been impossible to go into detail may be operated in Canada under Canadian
regarding amateur operating procedure, or to reguIations.
describe the history of the amateur, or Lo give Canadian amateurs wishing operators' li-
details of operating the set at the lower wave- censes must pass an examination before a r adio
lengths - the international bands. The League inspeclor in transmission and reception at a
has a 16-page pamphlet on amateur history speed of ten words per minute or more. They
which will prove interesting r eading, and will be must also pass a verbal examination in t he
sent to you for 10 cents if you wish a copy. Ask oper ation of amateur apparatus of usual lypes,
for "The Story of the A.R.R.L." AnoLher 10- must have a working knowledge of procedure,
cent pamphlet on the details and intricacies of and must have a Little operating ability prior
operating and amateur message-handling is to Laking the examination. The fee for ex-
known as "Rules and Regulations of the Com- amination as operator is 50 cents and is pay-
munications Department". If you really intend able to the radio inspector who examines the
to keep up your amateur work, however, the candidate.
best t hing to do would be to obtain a copy of The form for application for station license
"The Radio Amateur's H andbook," published may be obtained either from a local radio in-
for $1, by the A.R.R.L. This contains not only spector 's office or direct from the Department
the material listed in the two pamphlets above, of Marine and Fisheries, Radio Branch, Ottawa.
but has all the information you will need on This consists of a blank form with spaces for
building many types of amaleur short-wave details regarding the station equipment and the
receivers and transmitters, frequency meters, uses to which it is to be put. The applicant must
antenna systems, various kinds of power supply, also sign a declaration of secrecy which, as a
and a wealth of other material. Jt is the stand- matter of fact, is executed at the time of obtain-
ard amateur handbook. ing the operator's license. The annual fee for
For those who wish more detailed inform a Lion station licenses for amateur work in Canada
with respect Lo the amateur operat or's license is S2.50.
A RADIO AMATEUR~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~ 29
To Foreign Readers do Lhe nited SLates and Canada. Compl ete
information on amateur regulations in Lbeir
R EADERS of Lhis booklet in h.nglish- respective countries may be obtained by wri bing
speaking counLries outside the United States or the following :
Canada would be well advised to get in touch Austra lia The Wireless Institu te of Australia,
with the national amateur society for their Kelvin Hall, Collins Place, M el-
particular country before going ahead with the honrne.
building of a transmitter - although the re- Grea t Britain The Radio Society of Great Britain ,
ceiver shown in this booklet may be built any- 53 Victoria Street, London, S.\\I. 1.
N ew Zealand Tew Zealand Association of R adio
where in the world. The r eason for this is that T ransmit ters, Box 489, Wellington.
most other countries impose more severe re- South Africa South African R adio Relay League,
strictions on their transmitting amateurs than Bo.x 7028, J ohannesburg.

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