Crystal Clear book
Locked
 
|
I just finished reading a book, CRYSTAL CLEAR, by Richard J. Thompson Jr. The
book presents the fascinating history of the World-War-II effort to provide crystal frequency control for military radios. This was critically important, because radios without crystal control drifted badly, which made net operation difficult and also made it impossible to assign closely-spaced radio channels. The book was announced in the New Book section of the June 2006 QST. The book's author had written a nice summary article on the same topic that appeared in the January 2004 QST. I make mention of the book here because I know that many members of the Elecraft list have long memories and share my fascination with radio's technical history. (Like Ron, AC7AC, I too remember Edward R. Murrow's reports from London during the Blitz.) I do not know Professor Thompson, and I have no vested interest in the sale of his book. 73, John, no8v _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In a message dated 6/12/07 6:34:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [hidden email]
writes: > because radios without crystal control drifted badly, which made net > operation > difficult and also made it impossible to assign closely-spaced radio > channels. > I don't think that was the reason for crystal control. The WW2 "ARC-5" HF sets were not crystal controlled, and they were used in net operations. Same for the BC-191/375 and ART-13 sets, and many others. I think the big reasons for crystal control was to eliminate the need for tuning either the receiver or transmitter, and to eliminate the need for a trained radio operator. The BC-611 walkie-talkie is the extreme example. 73 de Jim, N2EY ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by John Gibson
In a battle war situation - the last thing a
operator military person needs to have to do, is dial in an exact frequency. I suspect this was one reason for crystal control. Also in secure comms nets - periodic crystal changes, would make code book syncing net frequency very practical and reliable. By definition, in the military, all radio operators - where war fighters first. Does anyone remember Gabriel Heater? When I was a kid, out at my grandparents cottage south of Buffalo - everyone used to sit around the Philco radio - and listen to Gabriel Heater's news program, at that time about WWII. "..... and all the ship's at sea". 73, de Fred N3CSY ...just got a TH-F6A toy, should keep me busy, till K3 arrives :) ____________________________________________________________________________________ TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
Hi Fred,
Yes, I remember Gabriel Heater news; but the "all the ships at sea" was the tag line of gossip commentator Walter Winchell. Remember him? He also had the snappy code burst at the start of his broadcasts. Can you believe, Andy Rooney of CBS "60 minutes" was a reporter for "Stars and Stripes" newspaper in WW2? 73, Stuart K5KVH _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by Fred (FL)
On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:29:50 -0700 (PDT), Fred (FL) wrote:
>Does anyone remember Gabriel Heater? When I >was a kid, out at my grandparents cottage south >of Buffalo - everyone used to sit around the >Philco radio - and listen to Gabriel Heater's >news program, at that time about WWII. >"..... and all the ship's at sea". That was Walter "Windshield" (Winchell...<g>) : "Good evening Mister and Missus North and South America and all the ships at sea, let's go to press..." Gabriel Heatters's trademark was "Ah yes, there's good news tonight..." Or so I remember. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by Stuart Rohre
Stuart Rohre wrote:
> Hi Fred, > Yes, I remember Gabriel Heater news; but the "all the ships at sea" was > the tag line of gossip commentator Walter Winchell. Remember him? He > also had the snappy code burst at the start of his broadcasts. > > Can you believe, Andy Rooney of CBS "60 minutes" was a reporter for > "Stars and Stripes" newspaper in WW2? Andy Rooney reported in the S&S during our Vietnam adventure too. I remember his sort of opening line, "Ever thought about ..." When I'm in a CW contest, or we're in my truck and the repeater IDs, my wife will often say, "and all the ships at sea." She was born in 1945, and likely never heard Walter and I'm sure not Gabriel. Some things do stick around however, I'm told it's our culture. Often wondered what Walter sent, I do remember hearing it, didn't know the code then. Really cool Eric/Wayne K3 show last night at the NCCC meeting in San Carlos CA. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2007 CQP Oct 6-7 - www.cqp.org _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
At one time, Mosley offered a semi-automated rotor control box. It
announced in spoken English. When u pushed an "execute command" button it spoke the one word "GO" Repeated pushings produced "Go, go go go go..." etc. Wonderful way to psych self up at beginning of contest? Charles Harpole [hidden email] _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazines 2007 editors choice for best Web mailaward-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_pcmag_0507 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by Fred (FL)
Well, this has strayed way off the original post, and I do intend to
find the book and read it, but ... speaking from a little battle experience: Fred (FL) wrote: > In a battle war situation - the last thing a > operator military person needs to have to do, > is dial in an exact frequency. Tactical radios -- the ones that are in the heat of combat -- were crystal controlled even in WW2. Other than those, in the US Vietnam Adventure, we had a lot of KWM-2A's for HF [big knob to change freq and our maint depot guys left the ham rocks in the bottom board and put our military crystals in the top board. A lifesaver for me at HS1FJ], AN/GRC-27's for Air to Ground stuff, and AN/TRC-24's for multi-channel radio relay stuff, none rock-bound. The 27's were channelized, but you could select the frequency for each channel [never really figured out how Art Collins and his guys did that, but it involved a lot of motors, gears, racks, and slugs :-) ], and everything else was selectable. Synthesized controls showed up in the AN/TRC-96, but rocks were still the staple for the AN/MRC-98 heavy mobile tropo. Now, it's all satellite stuff. Stability in WW2 was probably an issue, but passbands were wider then too, and voice was AM ... non-exact tuning was tolerable. In the 60's voice was SSB, tuning mattered, but then Art and his guys took care of that for us. For the record, I think I have destroyed 22 operational KWM2A's with thermite. We had two on every mission, we burned them up at the end. Tough job for a ham. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2007 CQP Oct 6-7 - www.cqp.org _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by John Gibson
In a message dated 6/12/07 11:47:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[hidden email] writes: > Can you believe, Andy Rooney of CBS "60 minutes" was a reporter for "Stars > and Stripes" newspaper in WW2? > Not hard to believe at all: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/rooney.asp Be sure to read the whole article. 73 de Jim, N2EY ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by John Gibson
In the early 90's, while employed as an engineer
for Uncle Sam, we had a contract with NA Rockwell, in Newport Beach, Calif. - for computer chips. Next door on their grounds, was an old Collins Radio facility. And they still left the old Collins tower and beam, outside on the Rockwell plant's front lawn. I wonder what they built there? Maybe the Rockwell ham radio club still used the tower? de Fred N3CSY ____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
|
|
In reply to this post by k6dgw
Walter Winchell was famous for the "code" spurts during the radio brodcast,
I remember them well. Couldn't copy code then, so I was "fooled". Trivia experts say the "radio" and "Telegraph" CW was "FAKE". Just Winchell working the key, not really sending anything. That and his "authoritative" or "official sounding" voice garnered many listeners before the days of television. 73, Sandy W5TVW ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Jensen" <[hidden email]> To: "Elecraft Reflector" <[hidden email]> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 12:27 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Crystal Clear book > Stuart Rohre wrote: >> Hi Fred, >> Yes, I remember Gabriel Heater news; but the "all the ships at sea" was >> the tag line of gossip commentator Walter Winchell. Remember him? He >> also had the snappy code burst at the start of his broadcasts. >> >> Can you believe, Andy Rooney of CBS "60 minutes" was a reporter for >> "Stars and Stripes" newspaper in WW2? > > Andy Rooney reported in the S&S during our Vietnam adventure too. I > remember his sort of opening line, "Ever thought about ..." When I'm in a > CW contest, or we're in my truck and the repeater IDs, my wife will often > say, "and all the ships at sea." She was born in 1945, and likely never > heard Walter and I'm sure not Gabriel. Some things do stick around > however, I'm told it's our culture. Often wondered what Walter sent, I do > remember hearing it, didn't know the code then. > > Really cool Eric/Wayne K3 show last night at the NCCC meeting in San > Carlos CA. > > 73, > > Fred K6DGW > - Northern California Contest Club > - CU in the 2007 CQP Oct 6-7 > - www.cqp.org > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: > 269.8.15/847 - Release Date: 6/12/2007 9:42 PM > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
OT Walter Winchell and BIG radios (WAS: Crystal Clear book)
|
|
In reply to this post by Phil Kane-2
You can hear recordings of Walter on line at:
http://www.archive.org/details/WWII_News_19450225_Walter_Winchell Or http://tinyurl.com/22kf83 There are Gabriel Heatter recording around but I don't know of any available for listening on-line. On another list I came across the answer to those of us who constantly mutter about the tiny radios on the market today. How about the 'colossus of radio' shown here? http://radiomagonline.com/features/radio_colossus_radio/ Or http://tinyurl.com/25frzf Yes, it's for real, in spite of the date shown on the article. And it's just a receiver! One was recently auctioned off as shown here: http://www.estesauctions.com/April282007page1.html Ya see, you can cut out one of these pictures and paste it on the wall, then ask your spouse whether they'd appreciate one of these in the house or perhaps a (relatively) tiny K3... Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:29:50 -0700 (PDT), Fred (FL) wrote: >Does anyone remember Gabriel Heater? When I >was a kid, out at my grandparents cottage south >of Buffalo - everyone used to sit around the >Philco radio - and listen to Gabriel Heater's >news program, at that time about WWII. >"..... and all the ship's at sea". That was Walter "Windshield" (Winchell...<g>) : "Good evening Mister and Missus North and South America and all the ships at sea, let's go to press..." Gabriel Heatters's trademark was "Ah yes, there's good news tonight..." Or so I remember. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
«
Return to Elecraft
|
1 view|%1 views
| Free forum by Nabble | Edit this page |