Where it Began

[W8HDU]

The Heinz History Center and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum are located at 1212 Smallman Street in Pittsburgh's (Pennsylvania) historic Strip District, known for its retail food markets, unique shops, ethnic restaurants, and lively nightclubs.

Last year I had the chance to visit Pittsburgh, while attending the National Radio Club Convention. While on a tour of the Heinz History Center our group had the opportunity to see, in a private viewing area, the KDKA Transmitter.

Frank Conrad's home amateur station, (call sign 8XK), was a part of broadcasting, and ham radio that we often don't think about.

On October 16, 1920, the Westinghouse Company applied to the United States Department of Commerce for a license to begin a regular broadcasting service.

By telephone a few days later Westinghouse received permission to use the amateur call letters 8ZZ in case the formal and written license was not received by November 2. However, on October 27, formal notification arrived, and the station received the call letters KDKA (these were the same as those used in commercial shore stations).

The station was authorized to use 360 meters, giving them a clear channel away from amateur use.

Arrangements were made to have the Pittsburgh Post telephone the United States election results to Westinghouse as soon as they became available from the news wire services. Filling up the gaps would be a banjo player and some of those reliable old phonograph records that had been a major part of Conrad's private broadcasts.

The big night came and went without a hitch. To be on the safe side Frank Conrad was standing by at his own transmitter at Wilkinsburg, prepared to send out the returns from there if necessary. But it wasn't necessary.

The broadcast on election night began at 8 P. M. Eastern Standard Time and ran until after midnight. Donald Little and John Frazier were in charge of the technical side of the operation, and Leo Rosenberg of Westinghouse's publicity department read the bulletins as they came in.

So went the broadcast of Harding-Cox Presidential Election .... and below you can see what the might transmitter looked like. The next time you listen to a broadcast radio station, THIS is where it all began.


Additional Story

Additional Story

[a71an]

My friend, this is very interesting thread, I plan this year if things fo ok with my health to travel to Thailand and do expect their Radio club be open by Nov. I really like to operate from that club, I also like to give a number of visits to the old Pattaya markets to search for some historical radio equipment there.

Thank you again my friend and wishing you all of the best.

[W8HDU]

I wish you luck in finding some of that classic equipment.

My grandfather, who passed away in 1948, (and the original W8HDU), built his own transmitter. I have some of the parts, and a notebook of designs. He was a CW operator on 80 meters. I've always found it interesting that all his logs would say just "80 meters" on all his contacts. No mention of frequency. A typical logging might say "A71AN Rashed 80 meters 12 April 1932 8:00"

I've always had the desire to build something like what he may have used. I think it would be fun.

Hopefully you can find some of that classic equipment in Thailand. That would be real fun to restore and get on the air!

[a71an]

Originally Posted by W8HDU

I wish you luck in finding some of that classic equipment.

My grandfather, who passed away in 1948, (and the original W8HDU), built his own transmitter. I have some of the parts, and a notebook of designs. He was a CW operator on 80 meters. I've always found it interesting that all his logs would say just "80 meters" on all his contacts. No mention of frequency. A typical logging might say "A71AN Rashed 80 meters 12 April 1932 8:00"

I've always had the desire to build something like what he may have used. I think it would be fun.

Hopefully you can find some of that classic equipment in Thailand. That would be real fun to restore and get on the air!

Well my friend, I have to qsl for that, by the way my call sign was first given to some one who never knew what a ham radio call sign is, after I got it, all of my cards being going to his qsl info, that was in 1993, now of course, all the post routed to me directly.

So may there was such contact by A71AN at that period you have mentioned my friend))

By the way I was on the process of buying a Mamiya RZ67 from ebay, after compeleting the process, some thing went wrong with paypal and the system started give me error, I do not know what happen.

I been given photographic classes, all this week in Still Life, I will given other classes in Modren portrait starting next Sunday, I will try to get some of the books of our secoity expedtions and send you some of those to you qsl info which is in qrz.com

I had some colors slide and black & films 120 rolls to use on Mamiya RB67 by a friend this week, it is just too hot to do any out door photography these days.

I did no much of radio acitivites for the last one month, I was dreaming to have my antennas all up, now they are up I do not know why I do not like to touch the radios, might an evil eye already touched me))

My friend, why dont you join www.photo.net and let share your images there?

Wishing you all of the best my friend.

[W8HDU]

Rashed, thank you for your invitation to photo.net. With all due respects, I do not feel worthy to be a part of that community. I spent about an hour looking at the site, and truly there are most talented people on that site.

Then I found your gallery, and honest, I look at it with awe. Those are some of the most beautiful and interesting works I have seen in years.

The one picture that got my attention was in the "Photography Is Light" area, showing the lightning strike. That is my pot of gold, the one picture I have always wanted to get.

I can not tell you how many rolls of film I have wasted, with my Canon EOS Rebel-G on the tripod, at the start of a thunderstorm, waiting for a strike on the transmission tower a kilometer away. Many of night was spent waiting, with the shutter open for the typical 2 seconds when I thought the strike would occur.

I'll have to search my files and see if I have anything that merits opening an account and posting my work. Since I work in the broadcasting, most of my shots are more from the news perspective, rather than art. Yours are defiantly in the category of professional photography.

You have sparked my interest in getting back into photography. Perhaps in the coming weeks I can come up with something worthy to post!

Thank you very much for sharing that web site. I had no idea it existed.

[W8HDU]

I pulled my camera out of the closet, and tried some shots this evening. As I shoot film, I'll have to wait to see what comes out!

I tried shooting some of our sunset, a tube in a small AM transmitter, and a few other items. I used a Sigma 7.5-28mm lens and 400 speed.

[W8HDU]

Rashed,

We'll, your work motivated me to get out my camera and try a few shots. Since I shoot with film, these are actually scans of prints, developed by a 1 hour service, so the quality is not as good as original.

S_20090605a.jpg is a reflection off the walk in the garden after the rain. The pattern in the water is the fence on the other side of the Hosta plants. I don't know why it's washed out in the lower right. I rescanned it several times and it keeps doing that, although the print is clear.

S_20090605b.jpg is a roll of 8g copper wire. I make RF coils out of this stuff, and get it on the big spools to run through the machine that winds it. The reflections off the copper from the lights sort of caught my eye.

S_20090605c.jpg this is a 6AL11 tube in an AM transmitter which I have in my shop. 2.7 sec exposure. This is real grainy compared to the print, and looks unfocused. I tried rescanning, but it made it worse.

S_20090605d.jpg this is 9:25PM Eastern time looking on a direction toward your country, Rashed. Shot last night.

I guess I'll have to sell some ham equipment and get a digital body for my camera. I'm real disappointed in how the scanner made the prints looked, but I could be doing something wrong. The scanner was a cheap HP that I got for $50 and the only thing I use it for is photocopying letters. I could have the settings all messed up and not know it.

I better go back to video work.