[BVARC] The Great Harvey Wells Caper - Part 1

Bob H W5UQ at att.net
Fri Dec 31 14:56:28 CST 2021


  So where's the "rest of the story"?

Bob W5UQ

On 12/31/2021 1:39 PM, Rick Hiller via BVARC wrote:
> Just Chevy vs Ford.....
>
> Sent from my i-Thingamajig
>
> On Dec 31, 2021, at 10:12 AM, Gary Sitton via BVARC <bvarc at bvarc.org> 
> wrote:
>
>>    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>
>>>
>>> <image001.jpg><image002.jpg><image003.jpg>
>>>
>>> *Excelsior!*
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________________________
>>> Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
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