Here are the questions from last months trivia test. The answers are at the bottom of the page. Editors Note: Do you wish to see future Nostalgia Quiz articles?? With only three respondents for the past two quizzes, it "appears" that interest is low, however there may be many of you taking part but not returning your answers. Talk to Bill, 576-3578 or your Editor, 634-5139 with your feedback. It is your club and your newsletter and we want to be sure we are bringing our members items of interest. Ross Hull is well known as a true pioneer of the VHF bands; instrumental in early development of the 5 metre band (before TV got those frequencies) and a little later on UHF (2 meters in those days). He died in 1938. What were the circumstances of his death? Now here's one that came up at the Inventors Club Breakfast on Saturday: Who became famous on the air for saying "No kids, no lids, no space cadets!" Morse Code was the only way to send signals in the early days of amateur radio. You may be surprised to learn that SOS was not the signal used by ships to indicate they were in distress. What was the first signal? "I think I'll open up an 807", would be a reference to what? In reality, what was an 807? Our fellow brothers over in "G" land had a different term for radio tubes than we did. What did they call them? The American Morse Code preceded the code amateurs use on the air today. It was primarily for wire circuits with sounders rather than a tone. What were the differences between it and the International Morse Code? The 6SN7 and the 6N7 tubes have identical electrical specifications. This was true for several other tubes with an 'S' in the second position. What did this S stand for? You either know the answer to this one or you'll have to search the back of old QSTs. a) What's a D104. b) There was a special version. What was special about it? Remember TV twin lead. Lots of us used it to feed open or folded dipole antennae. If you were short of cash you could make an SWR indicator to go with your feeder, from twin lead. Describe the two other items needed to make this indicator. In the days of spark transmitters, (before tubes) the incoming weak code signals had to be 'magnified' to operate some form of listening device. One method involved a small piece of glass tubing and a vibrator. What was this device called? On Oct. 5th, 1957 and for several days afterward what were hams all over the world listening to on 20.005 Mc? (that's Megacycles, which is what we had before Megahertz). Some old buildings appear to have 2 Metre verticals, with a glass ball in the center, spaced along their roof peak. a) What are these? b) Why did Ham operators try to keep their antenna below them? The Boy Scouts had three badges that led many young men into amateur radio. Name them. The first amateur microwave communication was accomplished on Nov. 15, 1945. a) What was the frequency used? b) What were the calls of the two Hams involved? What did Canadian Ted Rogers of CFRB fame contribute to Amateur Radio? Last month we asked what ARC stood for in a set of military radios. The SCR-522 set got a lot of hams onto the 2 Metre band. What did the SCR stand for? If one key part of your AM station was a Candle Stick, what were you referring to? Early loud speakers had 4 wires coming out of them. Two, of course, fed the voice coil, What did the other two wires do? What two Canadian coins a) have Morse on them? b)What is the Morse message? The Answers Here are the answers to Nostalgia Quiz #2. We had three sets of answers submitted this month. Your editor, Paul Cassel was the first to reply to the quiz with 13 correct. John Riddell (yes John, your ticket is safe) had the second with 15 correct, and Gord Hayward gave me his answers at the last meeting; with a score of 16.3. That makes Gord VE3EOS this month's winner. Ross Hull was electrocuted while testing a power supply for an amateur television station he was building. Do take care when working on any level of power! Amateur television in 1938; guess we were on the leading edge then. W2OY, Mike. This question was written before the movie Titanic came out, and was not specific to that ship. The answer I was looking for was SSS, but it is true that CQD was also used prior to and, for a while, at the same time as SOS - all depending on what nationality the operator was. So, I’m accepting either SSS or CQD. Obviously the various forms of distress signals were counter productive, and in 1903 and again in 1906, members of a wireless telegraphers congress put forward their signals for selection as a standard. Some of these were SSSDDD, CQD, NC, and SOE (which was modified to SOS). On a note of interest: in the wireless room scene in the movie Titanic, the background music had an SSS signal interwoven with the other notes, and in later messages the Titanic sent both the British CQD and the newly accepted international SOS. Having a beer. Amateur radio was gentleman’s hobby. It didn’t matter what your role in life, the amateur lived by a code of ethics. For that reason, the consumption of alcohol was rarely mentioned on the air. However, on a hot summer afternoon after putting up a new antenna you might have heard this barely disguised message. A power pentode, capable of about 20 watts output. A very popular ‘bottle’ shaped tube in its time. Valves. C = ditdit dit. F = ditdahdit. J = dahditdahdit. L = long dah. O = ditdit. P = ditditditditdit. Q = ditditdahdi. R = dit ditdit. X = ditdahditdit. Y = ditdit ditdit. Z = ditditdit dit. The ‘S’ stood for Single ended. The tubes without the ‘S’ had a grid cap on the top. a) A microphone very popular with hams. Many amateurs are still proud to display one. b) The special version had an eagle engraved on the back plate. Two low voltage pilot or flashlight bulbs. Of course there was a bit of solder and tape needed as well. One lamp showed forward RF, while the other indicated reverse RF. A Coherer. Fine iron filings were sealed in the glass tube. The incoming signals would make the particles stick together, permitting a DC voltage to pass through and operate a sounder. The vibrator (often a simple buzzer) shook the particles apart so they were ready for the next incoming pulse. Sputnik a) Lightening rods. b) The rods were supposed to attract lightening from other objects, hence if an antenna was lower it was supposed to be protected. Electrician, Signalers, and Radio Man. a) 5300 Mc. b) W6BMS and W2LGF He invented tubes with cathodes, thereby permitting the filament to be heated with alternating current. This eliminated the need for batteries to operate your radio. CFRB, by the way, stood for Canada’s Finest Rogers Batteryless. Before the Joint Army Navy designators came into being military radios were classified as SCR, which stood for Signal Corps Radio. Your microphone had been part of a telephone. You were referring to the tall, mostly black, stand which held a carbon microphone on the top. Before small but powerful magnets were invented the magnetic force in a loud speaker was created by running the high voltage through many turns of wire wound around an iron core. At the same time, this coil served as a filter choke for the B+ supply. a) The 1943 Victory 5 cent piece (which was copper alloy), and the 1945 Victory Nickel. b) We Win When We Work Willingly. Bill Graham VE3ETK, 91 Hillsborough Cr. Kitchener, ON N2E1J5 73 Bill VE3ETK wrgraham@sympatico.ca BACK TO MAIN MENU For more information email info@kwarc.org [ TOP ] © 1998 Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club Inc. Comments and bugs reports to webmaster@kwarc.org