ASHLAND, MA PEBMIT NO.7 - Quarter Century Wireless Association

Bill Katz, WqPPH (L) receiving his award!
of the QCWA Chapter in northern California.
Bill Katz. WgPPH
I grew up in Wilmette, lllinois, in the years
prior to the great stock market crash in
1928. When I was I0 or 11, I put together a
receiver from a galena crystal, a cats'
whisker, and a telephone earpiece "bor-
rowed" from the phone company. One
evening I picked up KDKA in Pittsburgh. ln
great excitement I called my Dad in. He lis-
tened, and said, tapping his forehead, "l
believe it up here" but, tapping his chest
over his heart, "l don t believe it down
herel"
I learned Morse code around 1929 or
1930 as part of the requirements for a Boy
Scout merit badge. The bedroom of a next
door neighbor's son, also in the same scout
troop, faced mine. So we ran bell wire
across, hooked up a battery, a buzzer and a
crude key, and learned the alphabet suffi-
ciently to get those badges.
ln 1930 I entered New Trier High School
in Winnetka, and lo and behold they had a
ham radio club which I eventually joined. My
Elmer was a year ahead of me, Jim Ricks,
then W9DHH, who became a good friend,
and a frequent Ping Pong opponent. Jim,
now a Silent Key, obtained the call K9T0
and is known as the developer of the T0
Keyer, one of the first automatic keys. Under
his encouragement and tutelage, I passed
the code and theory exam and was licensed
as W9PPH in 1933. My first rig was "bread
board" with a crystal con-
trolled Haftley oscillator and a
pair of 210s in push-pull run-
ning 600 volts to the plates.
This fed a Zepp antenna
stretched between two trees
in our back yard. The ladder
line feeding the antenna wenl
through holes in the window.
My first receiver was a
National SW-3; I sure wish I
had that in my possession
n0w.
No VFO is those days.
You got a crystal, put out a
call on some set frequency,
and tuned around the band looking for a
response from some other crystal controlled
frequency.
My CW contacts were mostly on 40 meters,
with an output power of around 50 watts.
My first contact (l still have my logbook)
shows a response to my CQ from W9MVU in
nearby Evanston on January 6, 1 934. Next
day I worked W2CBT in New Jersey. The
ensuing days I worked many US stations,
and called many DX stations with no reply.
Finally, on February 20, I called and worked
VE3WD in Hamilton, Ontario, - my first out
of US contactl 0n March B I called and
worked CMl PW in Guanajay, Cuba.
I built an AM phone transmitter - a single
58 using suppressor grid modulation. My
first phone "DX" was on 160 meters to
W9GES in the neighboring town of
Kenilworth!
0f course, all ham activity stopped during
the war. After the war, we returned home in
1947 and purchased a new home in
Highland Park. I met Mike Bexter, W9FKC,
who became a friend and sort of second
Elmer. I retook the amateur exam and was
able to get my old call back, which l've had
ever since,
ln .1990 we sold the house - the kids
were grown and gone and moved into a
condo. That has confined me entirely to
mobiling still with a YAESU transceiver and a
4-foot bumper mounted antenna. An lCOM
2-6 meter transceiver and an lC0M hand-
held round out the equipment set,
Some time ago I called up the local Notlh
Shore Radio Club 2-meter repeater from my
car, entered the node for Las Vegas, and
after checking for anyone using it, put out a
call. "This is W9PPH near Chicago - anyone
listening?' Back came a reply from the
North Slope in Alaska. Here I am sitting in
my car, with 5 watts output, an 1B-inch
antenna, talking to the North Slope. WOW! I
know how it works but, "l believe it up here.
but I don't believe it down herel"
Joe LaManna, W6HPE
I was born in New York City but the family
moved to NJ when I was a baby. My interest
in radio started when reading a NY paper
which had a radio page - n0, n0 programs,
but schematics and information on building
crystal sets. That added to my interest when
I built an oatmeal box coil, slider and galena
crystal detector. The magazine, "Short Wave
Craft" led to a 1-tube SW receiver and a
stray copy of a 1920 QST led to ham radio.l
struggled with code for years and finally got
enough nerve to take and pass the test. I
was ticketed as W2HPE by the FCC - one of
the first calls by the FCC, which had been
FRC until 1934.
All of my ham gear, pre-war ll, was home
brew. Discarded battery radios were a good
source of pafts as AC radios were coming
on the market. My early activity was mainly
B0 meter CW with 5 meter and 2112 meler
fone.
I joined the US Naval Communications
Service in I937 as a Radioman, I served on
summer training cruises and was called to
active duty in 1940. My service was as a
radio operator on an aviation patrol
squadron and radio maintenance technician.
After attending Naval Air Technical Training
School, I transferred to a Naval Air Transport
Squadron, all stateside.
After movrng to California in 1955, I went
to work for Douglas Aircraft. Co., first, as a
technician, then as an electrical engineer on
aircraft and missiles.
This move required that my license be
reissued as W6HPE. I maintained contact
with one of my friends back in Ridgefield
Park, NJ, on .15 and 20 meters CW. Other
friends joined us through the years - from
Washington, Florida, Guatemala and
QCWA Journal . Summer 2OO9 . w\A/w,qcwa,org