The "George Batterson 1935 CW QSO Party" - Summary

The first George Batterson CW QSO Party has concluded and the results are in! The "GB" was introduced to honor George Batterson (W2GB), who along with Bruce Kelley and Linc Cundall formed the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) in 1952.

For those familiar with the AWA's popular '29 Bruce Kelley QSO Party (BK), the GB differs only by the style of transmitters permitted. Transmitter designs as well as the tubes used must have been available in 1935 or earlier and, unlike the BK, the use of crystal-controlled transmitters is not only permitted but encouraged! There are no restrictions on the type of receiver used.

It is anticipated that activity in the GB will continue to grow as more amateurs become aware of it. In spite of terribly poor propagation, the initial GB found 20 participants from both Canada and the USA, making trans-continental contacts on 20m and below. Some of the results and participant's comments are shown below.

One of the most enthusiastic operators was Jake, KC7WXD, near Reno, Nevada. Jake did not let having an output power of just 3 watts spoil his fun!

Jake, KC7WXD

A new convert to vintage radio activity, Jake constructed a beautiful Tri-Tet oscillator using an 802 and homebrew plug-in coil forms made on his 3D printer.

Transmitter details here

"I had a great time with the inaugural George Batterson 1935 QSO Party! One of the most enjoyable parts of these events is getting to research, plan, and build a vintage transmitter. It's a great opportunity to learn and connect with history. For the GB 1935 event I chose to build a 59 tube powered Tri-Tet transmitter from the 1935 ARRL Handbook. I later switched to the 802 tube (after some minor rewiring) as it was easier on my crystals. For the event, I made QSOs on 80, 40, and 20m. Despite the poor band condx, I had a great time with the new event this year! I got a total of 6 contacts:

 80m: WB2AWQ 

40m: VE7SL and WB2AWQ 

20m: VE7SL, VA7MM, and VE7CNF 

I am definitely looking forward to the next event!"

Have a listen to how Jake's 3W on 20m sounded here in VE7 land (the frequency changes are by me tuning the receiver).

Also down near Jake, was Howie, WB2AWQ in Reno, making 5 contacts on 80 / 40 with a MOPA, Hartley and a TNT GB combo. As much as I hunted for Howie, I never managed to catch him on either weekend.

"Hi Steve! First time in the George Batterson, was good! Yes I normally work you in all the various old tyme contests! But the GB took place the second weekend on the first two nights of Passover, then the first weekend I had family commitments. I ended up running some of my stuff from the BK weekend (had to put a 40M coil on my 211 rig) because I ran into severe issues trying to create a 35 style rig.  But I made a few contacts, one across the country in NC, the rest were sort of local. But band propagation wasn’t the greatest. Overall, the GB is fun, and I hope it is kept alive. Nice to have some different tubes, and of course, crystals to work with. Hoping to create a twin rail style rig using a pair of 10s and a 42 xtal driver. Will send pix when I do."

211B '29 Hartley at 25W - 40m

Original 1921 Hartley (80m) with 10s at 25W

Back in eastern Canada, Lou, VE3AWA held down the fort on 80 and 40, making 11 QSOs with his widely-admired TPTG P-P 210 transmitter as well as a TNT at 10W.

VE3AWA P-P 210s TPTG

Although the GB is not presently a 'contest', if it were, W8PU would have to be the top-dog when it came to QSO totals. Gary in Ohio made an impressive 18 contacts, working 90% of the active participants, in spite of the terrible propagation. Gary managed all 3 VE7s on 20m as well as snagging a rare 20m QSO with NE1S! 

W8PU's GB arsenal consisted of a MOPA (20W), Hartley (6W), Tri-Tet (10W) and a P-P 59 Jones Oscillator (12W).

W8PU's P-P 59 Jones

W8PU's 20m Hartley uses a 27. It sounds like a Collins!

Larry, NE1S in NH, put his 8W Tri-Tet to work, wringing out 5 contacts including VE3 on 80 and W8PU on 20. Unfortunately, tax time kept Larry restricted to just one weekend of the GB.

NE1S  160-20m Tri-Tet 

Larry's beautiful 'Old Buzzard' operating bench

Tom, WA9CW in WI, had great success with his 80m 6a6 P-P Jones crystal oscillator at 5W out. Working Ohio, Rhode Island, and North Carolina shows that nothing too elaborate is needed to have fun. It seems like the P-P Jones circuit was as popular in the GB as it was back in the 30s!

"Here is a pic of the Jones 6a6 Push-pull rig that I was using.  

I think I could have made more GB qsos if both leads of my doublet had been hooked up. Didn't realize that I was operating with a crippled antenna till the party was over. Three GB QSOs and checked into the MI Traffic Net with the 6a6 Push-pull and a one legged antenna on 80M. That's a real testament to the little rig. I'll be ready on 40m and 80m with a good antenna  next year. Thanks to the organizers for a great qso party." 

WA9CW - 6A6 Jones P-P 80m xtal control

Bruce, WK3A in MD, put in an amazing performance with his Jones P-P oscillator using a 53. This workhorse design produced 12 QSOs between 80 and 40m and included the highlight of the GB for me ... working Bruce on 40m on weekend two when conditions were slightly better. I think Bruce must have a pretty good antenna and location!

"Thanks for the signal reports Steve. I put a great deal of time and effort into getting the most power out and good signal sound. 

Actually have a QRP wattmeter, so yes, the 80m output is 7 watts and the 40m output is 8 watts. Of course depends on xtal activity. I did fracture one xtal during the shake down, it was 7.071, a not useable spot anyhow due to Digi people there all the time. 

It uses a #53, as the power supply I built powers other 2.5v Hartley's and it has an adjustable slider power resistor to use it for 2 tube #27's or 1 tube #53 and keep the filaments at 2.5 v. It has two optimized tank coils for 80m and 40m. A series variable was put in place to find the correct wire turns and coupling, then a fixed mica cap added in series to make it plug and play on both bands.

Please find attached GB Log, total of 12 contacts. There could have been more but alas, again, some of the participants were not tuning around for the Xtal control guys.

I think it is time to "create" another TX, one for 20m. It would be great to get some east coast action for the west coast ops."

WK3A - Jones P-P using a 53 on 80 / 40m

W8KGI, Jim down in New Mexico had rough conditions and unfortunately managed only one GB contact. He converted his '29 MOPA to xtal-control just for the event, something that others may like to consider as well. His conversion info will be found here, towards the bottom of the page.

"I'm attaching my log for the recent George Batterson 1935 QSO Party - with all of one contact.  I spent several hours on the air both weekends, and the only contact I managed was with Steve, VE7SL on 20 meters on 4/13.  There were plenty of signals on both 20 and 40, but I heard only Steve working the GB. 

Honestly, this seems like just one more AWA-style event where contestants are limited to such low power that their signals just don't make it out west to New Mexico and beyond.  And limiting transmitters to 1935 or earlier and to 25 watts max of course cuts out rigs using slightly newer 6L6s and 807s which could easily generate at least 5 dB more output. 

For me, AWA events generate so few contacts that they really aren't worth the effort.  In this GB and the recent JR I made all of one contact each.  By contrast, in the last Classic Exchange I logged 49 contacts."

Please don't give up on the GB Jim. Conditions were particularly poor out west and hopefully there will be even more activity next time out.

N1EPJ, with operator Rob at the New England Wireless & Steam Museum, fired up an original, very old MOPA, putting RI into the log of five very happy GBers on 80m.

"N1EPJ, plans to use a crystal controlled set from Gil Johnson, W1DZ. This one has a UX-210 tube for the RF oscillator, and an RCA-247 pentode tube for the Crystal oscillator. Is this an XOPA? We modified it so that we can use commercial crystals. One of our volunteers recently made a power supply for it. We will try it for the first time soon."

More details here

KD8TUR, Dave in OH, made 3 QSOs with his Hartley.

"Hi Steve!   Really enjoyed the GB!  I only had a few QSOs, but I missed out on the first half.  I can send a pix of my trusty Hartley.  Tnx to you and Gary for trying to get this going, ( I know it is a lot of work.)  Hope the next one brings more Ops!!   Want to QSO wid you then!" 

KD8TUR 10 Hartley

KN4RRQ, Tom in VA, used his Hartley for 7 hard-earned 40m contacts. The 'four-holer' uses P-P parallel 27s in a unique design. Another highlight for me was working Tom on 40m.

Out west, three VE7s were active, hoping to encourage easterners to stay up later than usual!

VA7MM, Mark, ran his 10-Y TNT on 160 through 20m to snag 11 contacts. 

"VA7MM operated both weekends in the George Batterson QSO Party. Station equipment used included:

• TX: 1929 TNT Transmitter, Type 10-Y triode, 10W input, 3W RF output, regulated power supply.

• RX: Modern, Yaesu FT-817 portable.

• Peripherals:  Power/SWR meter, antenna tuner, band filters, T/R switch, keying interface, straight and electronic keying.

• Antenna: multi-band dipole at 100 feet above ground level.

It was exciting to start off the GB with a QSO on 20m with W8PU at the outset, thank you for the QSO.

Jake, KC7WXD, with his crystal controlled 1935 TriTet was an easy QSO on 20m. Near the end of the first weekend, I squeaked in a 40m QSO with Howie, WB2AWQ, during rapidly declining band conditions.

Locally, QSOs with VE7CNF and VE7SL added to my log on the 160, 80, 40 and 20m bands. VA7MM wrapped up the GB with a total of eleven QSOs of which ten were on the first weekend and one on the second weekend.

Thank you for organizing this first event in memory of George Batterson, W2GB."

VA7MM's GB setup

Toby, VE7CNF, also managed 11 contacts on 160 through 20m using his unique MOPA. It's a Colpitt's Oscillator with P-P 45s putting about 4W into a P-P 45s power amplifier. DC input to the amplifier is 25W. It really sounds wonderful on all bands! 

KB0ROB, Harold in MN had 3 QSOs on 80m using his Colpitss MOPA. Although he managed contacts with NC and MD, I never did hear Harold or anyone else on 80 other than locals as conditions here were truly awful.

VE7SL's GB efforts were split into a weekend of crystal control and a weekend of the Hull Hartley. A total of 14 QSOs were made, 9 being on crystal control.The highlight for me was working recent arrival KC7WXD in NV on both 20 and 40, with his newly minted Tri-Tet and working Bruce, WK3A in MD with his little 53 Push Pull Jones on 40m.

For the crystal controlled weekend I used a P-P Jones with 6F6s at about 8W out on 80 and 40m. On 20m I used a Tri-Tet, also with a 6F6, at about 4W out. On weekend two, the Hull Hartley was used on 160-20m.

P-P Jones used 6F6s

Tri-Tet used a single 6F6 on 20m

I'm calling a 'success' for the first-ever GB '35, with 20 stations participating and 15 logs officially submitted. Thank you all for your interest and effort! With the first one under our belt and a few tweaks, the next one should be even more fun ... all of the changes and details for the next one can be found right here. 

Hooked Early

Originally published in 2015, one of my favorite memories.

                    ********************

courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

I still have a vivid memory of the day I discovered (and bought) my first QST magazine. It was in February, 1959, and I had recently turned 11 years of age.

It seems I was doomed from a very tender age and, as it turned out, there was little hope of recovery. 

It was a Friday night and I had gone with my parents, as we did every Friday night following dinner, to the Eaton's department store in downtown Vancouver.

courtesy: http://www.thespec.com/

Eaton's had a new and modern supermarket-style grocery store on their bottom floor which stayed open until 9PM. As my parents did the grocery shopping, I would take the escalator to the 4th floor magazine racks and on that particular night, spotted the fate-determining issue hiding beside the Popular Electronics, Radio-TV Experimenter, Electronics Illustrated, Radio News, White's Radio Log and other nefarious radio publications designed, in part, to lure the allowance money from the pockets of wide-eyed youngsters like myself, already beginning to show symptoms of the dreaded radio-bug.

I recall debating to spend my small allowance on the costlier QST (55 cents) or the cheaper (40 cents) Popular Electronics. I found the technical-looking cover too overpowering, bit-the-bullet, and shelled-out for the QST ... that extra 15 cents forever sealing my fate.

As I sat in the back seat of the car (a '53 Chevy Sedan), waiting for my parents to finish their grocery shopping, I browsed through the QST. In truth, I understood very little but was particularly captivated with the station photographs in Rod Newkirk's "How's DX" column. One photograph in particular has remained in my memory through all these years, that of a young-looking "HS1JN" at the operating position from his exotic location in Thailand, along with Newkirk's equally enchanting description ... powerful stuff for a young mind eager to soak-up all of this new 'radio' stuff. 

courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

HS1JN's homespun 40-watt sender and S-40 receiver function faithfully on 20 c.w. in Bangkok where the OM is an officer in the Royal Thai Navy's research lab. After warming up on a fast WAC, HS1JN now aims for WAS and DXCC honors.


A recent internet search turned up snippets of information about the young Naval Researcher, Jamnong Saowanna, now SK, who eventually rose to the rank of Captain in the Thai Navy and was later instrumental in legitimizing amateur radio in Thailand. Apparently, back then, ham radio in Thailand had been unsanctioned and not officially approved by the government. HS1JN's original QSL also shows up, in the collection of K8CX, shown below.

courtesy: http://hamgallery.com/qsl/

Note that it's the same card shown taped to the front panel of HS1JN's homebrew transmitter in 1959. The K8CX card, for a 15m CW QSO with W6FMK in 1969, shows that OM Jamnong was by then running 500 watts along with a Collins KWM-2 ... quite a step up, but not nearly as alluring as his 'homespun 40-watt sender' and Hallicrafters S-40 receiver. 

After absorbing as much as I could from my single copy of QST, I began making weekly visits to the downtown library via bus, every Saturday morning, as it was there that I discovered I could peruse their huge bound collection of QST magazines, and borrow the latest issues, just for the asking! As well, they had a stockpile of colorfully-covered Radio Amateur Handbooks that spanned the past two decades ... it couldn't get any better. 

It was at this time that I changed my listening interests from the international shortwave broadcasters and began listening to hams on my old General Electric tombstone, particularly on 20m phone on weekend nights, as the band would be open all night long ... monster Cycle 19 had just peaked and propagation was nothing short of amazing. 

Between the February QST and the old GE, I never really had a chance.

Catching Up With QSLs

It’s been sometime since I have posted some of my incoming QSLs as I've been waiting arrival of the last one of my 6m winter DX season cards to arrive, which it finally did yesterday!

Unfortunately the peak of Solar Cycle 25 arrived a little ahead of time, peaking in the early fall rather than later or in early winter which is much more favorable for higher F2 MUFs. Nevertheless, some interesting days were to be had if the propagation patterns were followed closely, particularly after a solar event. Hopefully we will see a second peak of the cycle later this fall as most cycles have a double peak … if it comes in this summer, it’s not going to be of much help for 6m fans.

I started the 2024 6m sporadic-E season with a confirmed DXCC total of 110 countries and hoped to add at least one or two new ones via chordal-hop E or via F2 in the fall. My hopes were indeed met but if the cycle had peaked a few weeks later, the fireworks would have been something much more exciting.

The summer chordal-hop E openings to Europe and possible new countries are rare and usually short-lived but I got fortunate on July 8th. My very rare 'CQ DX' on the non-domestic FT8 frequency of 50.323 brought an immediate reply from OH0Z in the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea for DXCC #111. His was the only signal heard for a long time as his many CQs went unanswered.

Other than a few JA openings that stretched further to South Korea and China, that was the extent of this summer's DX on 6m. It was one of the poorest in many years.

With the early October solar flux in the low 300s, the F2 MUF finally reached 50MHz here on the west coast allowing a QSO with Roberto, YS1RS to be easily completed. Although on FT8, signals were very loud on both ends and a CW or phone contact could have readily been made. Unfortunately, most stations on 6m are now reluctant to change mode in the middle of an opening (including me), as almost all of the good stuff is now firmly entrenched in the FT8 mode. Roberto was 6m DXCC #112. Roberto visited me about 15 years previously and I sent him back to El Salvador with all of the parts needed to build a Paraset and an Ameco AC-1 clone ... which he did. A Paraset to Paraset QSO should be next on our list!

The solar flux began to drop soon after, hitting the 150s at times, but began to pick up once again. 

The band continued to produce openings to South America, Japan and the east coast and on November 1st, XT2MD in Burkino Faso was worked with strong signals both ways ... DXCC #113

Soon after, the solar flux began to drop once again, hitting a low 130 before starting to slowly rise once more. One solar rotation after working XT2MD, the flux was back into the low 200s and a short opening to Africa produced DXCC #114 with C5T in The Gambia, demonstrating that November can produce good F2 MUFs without as much flux as in previous earlier fall months.

Other than a few good transcontinental openings into early December, it seemed like most of the fireworks were over as the flux retreated once again. Although there have been spotty openings into March of this year, so far nothing new has shown up. Is that it for Cycle 25? Time will tell.

One all time new DXCC on HF was recorded, earlier in May ... FT4GL on Glorieuses Island in the Indian Ocean northwest of Madagascar, was worked on both 15 and 20m, sadly on FT8 in spite of his strong CW-level signal.

FT4GL was overall DXCC #340 (including a few deleted entities)

A few earlier utility cards that I have not reported yet are shown below, proving there is still life beyond the ham bands and the challenge of QSLing is not yet dead!

JOHR 1287 kHz on Japan's northern Hokkaido Island

HBC (Hokkaido Broadcasting Company) are good QSLers

                                      

JG2XA University CW Sounding Beacon 5006 kHz / 8006 kHz

Akashvani (ex-All India Radio) 15050 kHz

Akashvani continues to be a reliable QSLer

Radio Taiwan is another reliable QSLer

NTSC, China's 'WWV', can often be heard
with its CW ident around dawn on 5.000 MHz.

Time to get busy listening again to see what's out there ... if the Sun ever stops messing things up!