[BVARC] The Great Harvey Wells Caper - Part 1
Gary Sitton
gasitton at comcast.net
Fri Dec 31 10:12:45 CST 2021
OK, I'm stupid but why Harvey Wells? I actually have an
old H.W. Z-Match Balanced Tuner which I restored and plan
to use on a big loop whenever I get one up on my small lot.
I did get an O.O. notice in the '50s of severe chirp on 20
mtrs using a surplus ARC-5 transmitter. I just ditched the
rig and got a Heath Kit VFO which was much more stable.
Later while in CA as WB6NDY in the early '70s a nearly
Ham complained of my key click on 20 mtr CW. I fixed the
cathode keying circuit with a resistor and capacitor in my
restored old 90 watt transmitter and all was well.
73, Gary K5AMH
On 12/29/2021 10:09 AM, k5hm.ron--- via BVARC wrote:
>
> *The Great Harvey Wells Caper*
>
> *Part 1 – The Pink Ticket*
>
> It was April in New York City. I was on my way home from the regular
> weekly breakfast with the Queens County Bagel, Bowling and Spark Club.
>
> These were the halcyon days of kid-dom on the cusp of adulthood. I
> had my General Class ticket now for about two years. Got my
> acceptance letter from college and it was six months before anybody
> would hear of Sputnik. Life was good.
>
> As I walked home from the bus stop, I was thinking about getting on
> the air today and rolling up a few new states for my WAS. I needed
> South Dakota and my old buddy Ralph from the QCBB&SC said there were
> only three active hams in the whole state. I could see that South
> Dakota was going to be a real challenge.
>
> I climbed the front steps two at a time, walked through the front door
> and headed directly for my basement ham shack. I am halfway down the
> hall when I hear my old man say, “Where are you going?”
>
> Any kid who has reached the age of five, immediately recognizes the
> peril in that question. It’s not a question really, it more a
> combination of Red Alert, General Quarters and Take Cover simultaneously.
>
> I turned around to see the old man advancing toward me. He was upset.
> I tried to think of anything I did or failed to do in the last
> twenty-four hours. I aced my Physics quiz, took out the trash last
> night, and didn’t leave any wet towels in the bathroom, check, check,
> check.
>
> He was about two feet away when he stopped, thrust a letter in front
> of me and said, “What’s this?” His hand was shaking so much, I
> couldn’t read the envelope at first, but it looked very important.
> Eventually, the oscillation decayed enough for me to see better. It
> was one of those business window envelopes with no stamp. The top
> right-hand corner of the envelope contained the words, /U.S.
> Government Official Business!/
>
> The old man was really wound up; like a pressure cooker ready to
> explode. He’d lived his life avoiding entanglements with authority.
> He was 4-F for the draft in WWII, voted at least once in every
> election and was an associate member of the Police Benevolent
> Association. Any unexpected things that had to do with “Official
> Business” made him very nervous.
>
> Desperately, I tried to think of something that would get him in such
> a lather. I had gotten my draft card six weeks ago. Maybe this was
> the dreaded, “Greetings from Uncle Sam” letter. Then I noticed the
> return address, /Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC./
>
> I stopped breathing. The FCC! This was worse than getting drafted.
> Looking through the window of the envelope I could see the paper
> inside. A pink ticket!
>
> The envelope was torn open. At the top of the page, I could see the
> words, /Notice of Violation!/ He’d already read it and assumed the
> worst; a life sentence for me at Leavenworth. I was doomed!
>
> Flight was the only response I had. I grabbed the letter and ran for
> the basement. I read and re-read the notice several times. Cold
> sweat was dripping off me.
>
> The letter said that my signal had been observed operating at a
> frequency out of the band at such and such time and date. It demanded
> I explain what happened. That I take immediate steps to prevent this
> from happening in the future and that I report those steps to the FCC
> within 30 days. No wonder the old man was upset. Single handedly, I
> had brought the wrath of the entire federal government down on our home.
>
> I pulled out my log and started flipping pages; hoping this was a
> mistake. Some other guy with a similar call sign, maybe. The time in
> the letter was around 2 AM. Was the FCC really awake that late?
>
> I ran my thumb down the logbook pages slowly, hoping against hope.
> Yikes! There it was. At the alleged hour, I had been on the air.
> What could I do? “The old man was right, you’re going to Leavenworth
> “, said the voice in my head.
>
> That night I’d logged several calls to DX stations who were calling CQ
> on the other side of the 20-meter band edge. The last entry in the
> log that night was a guy in VK-land that I had finally managed to
> work. I was so excited I almost woke the old man out of a sound sleep
> to tell him. I must have strayed too close to the band edge!
>
> Maybe I’ll just throw myself on the mercy of the court. /“Your honor,
> I’m just a kid. I didn’t know I was committing a crime.” “I fell in
> with a bad crowd; they dared me to do it!”/
>
> In a panic, I called my old buddy Ralph on the land line. Ralph was a
> charter member of the QCBB&SC. He knew everything about ham radio.
> He had been a ham so long that he said Marconi was his Elmer.
>
> After an eternity of rings, he answered. Without giving him a chance
> to say hello, I unloaded on Ralph in one single breath. When I
> finally finished, Ralph calmed me down and assured me that I was not
> going to Leavenworth. “Yeah kid (everyone was a kid to Ralph), I got
> my first pink ticket in ’36”, he said softly, as if someone were
> listening.
>
> What a relief! My old buddy Ralph, the greatest Elmer of all time had
> gotten at least a couple pink tickets and he was still walking around
> a free man. There was a ray of hope for me!
>
> I could swear he was grinning on the other side of the phone. The
> voice in my head said, “Yeah, they’ll probably confiscate all your
> radio gear instead.”
>
> It was only two years earlier that I went to the FCC offices in
> Manhattan to take my General exam under the watchful eye of Lurch, the
> examiner. I still remember the big bullpen where the FCC guys worked.
> They were all dressed alike too; white shirts rolled up to the elbow,
> black ties and black pants. It was the official FCC uniform. I
> didn’t know what would be worse; just quietly going off to Leavenworth
> or having a squad of FCC men in black show up at my house in front of
> all the neighbors!
>
> “Listen kid”, he began; his voice had a way of piercing through the
> QRM in my head. “You just need an accurate marker for the band edge.
> A crystal calibrator. You can pick one up at Harrison Radio for about
> ten bucks.” I could hear Ralph take a deep breath. He’d been a chain
> smoker for twenty years, so his inhale had a signature wheeze, just
> like a good CW operator’s fist.
>
> Then he continued, “The dial markings on your VFO ain’t worth the
> plastic they’re printed on kid. So, when you are chasing DX, don’t
> get any closer than three kc to the band edge marker, no matter what.”
>
> “Hey Ralph”, I said “What about the letter I have to write? What
> should I say?” Ralph started in again, “Listen kid, just tell them the
> truth, you’ll be fine. See you later kid.” And then there was a click.
>
> I sat for a long time; thinking. The U.S. phone band ended at 14200
> KC. Most of the good DX was always just below that. We worked split
> back then, running full carrier double sideband AM, pushing as close
> to the band edge as we dared, calling for that rare station we needed.
>
> I wasn’t willing to give up a whole three kc of band, if I didn’t need
> to do it. Maybe I could just turn down the mike gain. Just listening
> to twenty meters some nights it was easy to see how everybody pushed
> the limit. Still, I was willing to do or say anything get back in the
> old man’s good graces and the FCC off my back! Finally, the
> beginnings of a diabolical plan began to form in my head. If I
> played my cards right, I would solve my FCC problem and then some.
>
> To be continued
>
> *Reporting from the Dark Side,*
>
> *Ron Litt, K5HM*
>
> 73,
>
> Ron, K5HM
>
> k5hm.ron at gmail.com <mailto:k5hm.ron at gmail.com>
>
> www.qrz.com/db/k5hm <http://www.qrz.com/db/k5hm>
>
> ARRL Logologo (2)smaller Prize
>
> * Excelsior!*
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
>
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