15 December 18

Issue Date: December 15, 1964
City: Anchorage, AK
Quantity: 122,230,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforations:
 10 1/2 x 11 
Color: Red lilac
 
U.S. #1260 honors America’s amateur radio operators, of which there were about 250,000 in 1964. Issued on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Radio Relay League, it pictures a radio broadcast wave and radio dial. 
 
Amateur Radio Operators Provide Emergency Communication
On March 28, 1964, the largest earthquake in the history of the United States struck Alaska, greatly damaging Anchorage, Valdez, and the surrounding areas. The earthquake, which measured 8.3 or higher on the Richter scale, caused widespread destruction. In conjunction with the ensuing tsunami (tidal wave) it caused, the quake took 125 lives.
 
This U.S. postage stamp specifically honors the Amateur Radio Relay League for its important work during the devastating 1964 Alaska earthquake. In the aftermath of this natural disaster, amateur radio operators provided essential emergency communications, which greatly aided relief and rescue operations. Amateur radio operators, often referred to as “hams,” continue to serve during emergency situations, especially in places with such sparsely populated areas as Alaska.
 
Source … MysticStamp.com

11 Dec 18

Radius’ is a latin word that means spoke of a wheel, ray of light, radiate

Radicitus means … 1) at the root, 2) by the roots, utterly, completely

From Wikipedia

The term “radio” is derived from the Latin word “radius”, meaning “spoke of a wheel, beam of light, ray”. It was first applied to communications in 1881 when, at the suggestion of French scientist Ernest Mercadier, Alexander Graham Bell adopted “radiophone” (meaning “radiated sound”) as an alternate name for his photophone optical transmission system. However, this invention would not be widely adopted.

9 Dec 18

Jury – Rig  (also known as Jury Rigging) was first known to be used in 1788 and its origin is from sailing ships.

Jury… Meaning; To make use of any material at hand to make repair.

Rig… Meaning; To make repairs to the ships rigging

More at Wikipedia

From AC6V’s website:

jury-rig is based on one word “jury” which is a nautical sense meaning ‘makeshift; temporary’ and one word “rig” referring to a ship’s sails and masts. The first known example of this “jury” is the compound jury-mast, ‘a temporary mast put up to replace one that has been broken or lost’, attested since the early seventeenth century. A jury-rig, then, is ‘a temporary or makeshift rigging’, and the verb is used figuratively in the sense ‘to assemble or arrange hastily in a makeshift manner’. The origin of this word “jury” is not certain, but some scholars identify it with iuwere, a late Middle English word meaning ‘help; aid’, borrowed from the Old French ajurie

7 December 18

Version I — During World War II, Military Radio Techs used the term BoatAnchor as they  struggled with the huge, heavy, electronic equipments of the day — full of transformers, tubes etc. Also the US Navy frequently marked electronic gear with an anchor. After the war — tons of  the equipment appeared on the surplus market and was dubbed BoatAnchors due to the reasons above – one or both. 

Version II — After WWII a national magazine editor answered a query “As what to do with an  outdated heavy, large, surplus electronic instrument?” and answered “Tie a line to it and use it as a BoatAnchor” 

Version III To all those who expressed interest in the CQ magazine reference to boatanchors,  I found it after only an hour or two of skimming. And I also found that some of my recollections were a bit hazy after all those years. The original letter to the editor (not to the “Surplus Editor” as I incorrectly recalled) appeared on page 16 of the October 1956 issue of CQ and was as follows: Gentlemen: I recently acquired a “Signal Corps Wireless Set. No. 19 MK II Transceiver.” Are there  schematics or conversion data for this rig? Any info will be appreciated. David J. Wilke W3LSG Pottstown, Pennsylvania The editor replied: The only conversion we seem to have on the files here at CQ calls for 100 feet of 1″ Manila line, one end of which is to be tied securely around the MK II Transceiver. 

This then converts the unit into a fine anchor for a small boat. If any readers have better conversions we will be glad to hear about them. Ed. This letter apparently generated a lot of interest and in the February 1957 issue of CQ there  was a follow-up from CQ’s editor, another letter from W3LSG and several pictures. If I find  the time I will scan them and post links to them here. 

The expression “boatanchor” may have originated earlier than 1956, as Doug Hensley pointed out. I found no earlier references in amateur radio than these CQ’s, but there may be some. However, there was no reason to call amateur gear of that era “boatanchors” since almost all of it fit that description. It wasn’t till later when smaller, lighter gear became popular that there was reason to categorize some gear as boatanchors. And it is also interesting to me that a word originally used to denote something of little value, useful only to anchor a small boat, has taken on a more affectionate meaning. We love our “boatanchors”. Roger K6XQ

And then there is this one from a News Group. “The true determination is generally made by your spouse.  If you can walk in the front door with it, without your spouse asking “and what are you planning to do with that?”, it is not a boat anchor.  Boat anchors are brought in during the night or on long weekends. That is CLASSIC! 🙂

Source : AC6V’s website

6 Dec 18

Why Hams End A QSO With Dit Dit

In ye olden days, every time a train left the station, it would sound two short blasts from its whistle, warning everyone it was moving out. The old telegraph operators having been exposed to this practice, picked it up and would send two dits at the end of each telegraph message. This meant “GOODBYE”. So ham radio CW operators adopted the practice. It is still used worldwide today.

Source: AC6V’s website

3 December 18

27th of March 1964 a 9.2 earth quake hit Alaska at 0536 AST, for more information please click the links below…

Sources:  This is posted on the Fairbanks Radio Club Site…KL7KC, Fairbanks Alaska

This is a web based as well as a print news reporter from Alaska and is the best I read, especially some of the comments at the end… The Redoubt Reporter

More about the Earth Quake, Wikipedia

2 December 18

During the German occupation of Poland, the priest Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN was arrested by the Germans. The Germans believed his amateur radio activities were somehow involved in espionage and he was transferred to Auschwitz on May 28, 1941. After some prisoners escaped in 1941, the Germans ordered that 10 prisoners be killed in retribution. Fr. Kolbe was martyred when he volunteered to take the place of one of the condemned men. On October 10, 1982 he was canonized by Pope John Paul II as Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared a Martyr of charity. He is considered the Patron saint of Amateur radio operators.

Source … Amature Radio History Wikipedia World War 2 Section