Here are some interesting articles from the March 1923, March 1973, and March 1998 QST. To find and download the articles, go to http://www.arrl.org/arrl-periodicals-archive-search. Note that you do have to be an ARRL member to make use of this service…..Dan
March 1923: “Exploring 100 Meters.” This article describes some of the work going on to induce amateurs to operate on wavelengths of 100 meters and below. That’s 3 MHz and up, frequency-wise. That was “short wave” back in the day. Activities described included a 100-meter CQ Party and weekly “short-wave tests.”
The March 1923 issue also included a couple of other interesting articles:
- “What the Department of Commerce Things of our A.R.R.L. Voluntary Lid” is a compilation of letter extracts describing agreements between amateur and broadcast stations.
- 1XM, the radio station at the Massachusetts Institute of Techology is showcased in the “Who’s Who in Amateur Wireless” column.
March 1973: “Beginner and Novice: Tips on Ten.” In 50 years time, amateur radio has gone from its first steps into the shortwave region to operating on 10 meters. And, now that we’re headed towards the peak in the sunspot cycle, 10 meters will be plenty active again. In this article, Ed Tilton, W1HDQ, gives some great advice on the propagation modes that you can take advantage of on 10 meters and covers a wide variety of antennas that you can use for this band.
Another great article in this issue is “The W2FMI Ground-Mounted Short Vertical” by Jerry Sevick, W2FMI. In addition to writing the book on baluns and ununs, Sevick did quite a bit of work on short verticals. The example in the article is a 6-ft. vertical for 40 meters.
March 1998: There are a number of interesting articles in this issue, including:
- “What is Good Amateur Practice?” by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ. Specifically, K1ZZ addresses the issue of good amateur practice as it relates to band planning.
- “Helping New Hams Get Started” by Dennis Agosta, KB0RFA. This is a nice article on how to engage new hams.
- “Understanding UTC” by Gary L. Trice, K4xxx. This is a one-pager on what UTC is, and how to use it.
- “Make Your Own ‘Rubber Duckies'” by Paul Stump, N0LRF. Paul writes, “You can build a replacement antenna that delivers a lower SWR and more RF output than the one that came with your radio—and you can do it for $10 or less and a couple hours of fun!”