de KPH
Yes, a holiday greeting card from the original KPH, Port Reyes CA. I don't have an exact date but I would guess late 50s or early 60s because it came from the estate of Roger Kaney (SK) who was W9AF when I knew him, but had been W9ZRU previously. Roger was a retired marine radio operator when I met him in the late 80s, and even then would "stand watch" at night with receivers monitoring the marine frequencies which were still active then. He showed me an article that predicted the end of shipboard Morse operation with great sadness, which of course came to pass along with the demise of the shore stations. KPH unlike most not only survived in a new form but has prospered since and is still kept on the air thanks to the dedicated volunteers of the Maritime Radio Historical Association who have devoted uncounted hours to that end since 1999. CLICK HERE to read more about the MRHA.
Before Roger's shipboard career began he spent a short time as an operator at KPH and was there over at least one Christmas, and got his "sine" included in the holiday card. Pretty cool!
Click the image to see the card in more detail.
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I know many of us who enjoy restoring and repairing vintage gear look forward to winter when there is less competition for time and energy, and a chance to really make a dent in our "to be fixed" piles. A couple of years ago I set time aside for "Heathkit Singlebander Week" and went through every one of them I had, with the result that they're all working ... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 01/19/2023
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Leo Meyerson had been in the ham radio retail and manufacturing business for over 25 years, and by 1970 he was ready to retire. His son took over the WRL distribution and retail business but the Galaxy Electronics manufacturing operation was sold to his long-time friend Andy Andros WØLTE, founder and president of Hy Gain Electronics in nearby Lincoln NE. The CB radio eleme... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 11/26/2022
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Most of the articles on this site are about hams, or ham radio. This one is not about a ham but about a man who built as much a reputation through HF radio as any ham on top of the BPL ever did. Don Taylor is one of those rugged independent-minded people who thrive on a lifestyle most of us couldn't even imagine - as a trapper in Canada's Yukon wildernes... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 10/31/2022
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Most radio fans know the history of KDKA but maybe not "the rest of the story".In November 1920 the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company began operation of a radio broadcasting station, KDKA, in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, often described as the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World." KDKA is generally considered to be the first commercially... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 09/09/2022
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The microwave network constructed by AT&T Long Lines and other telecommunications companies in the past 50 years were engineering masterpieces using state-of-the-art technologies and some were designed to withstand nuclear attack during that Cold War era. This is a non-hardened site on top of a mountain in upstate New York that existed long enough for graffiti taggers t... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 09/08/2022
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In 1917 a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. But he was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the books. They spoke Cakchiquel, a language without a Bible. He believed everyone should understand the Bible, so he started a linguistics school (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, known today as SIL) that trained people to do Bible ... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 07/02/2022
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Visitors to the Elgin National Historic area along the Fox River in Elgin Illinois may not realize they are at the site of a famous shortwave radio station - W9XAM - the time signal station operated by the Elgin Watch Company.Elgin was the only watch company maintaining an observatory that observed, recorded and broadcasted time from the stars correct to the hundredths of a second. Located a... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 05/09/2022
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The Mosley CM-1 receiver is quite well known and not especially hard to find in the US even though it was the only radio produced by the company that has been well-known for antennas since 1939. Or is it...?A full-page ad (advert for you on the other side of the pond) appeared in the RSGB Bulletin in 1963 for a nice looking and very capable SSB transmitter called the "Commando II&... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 04/15/2022
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DIY DEG - Homemade Droplet Energy Generator works!Producing electricity from flowing waterCategory: Technical
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/30/2022
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When I was first licensed in the 1960s in Nebraska, two groups of hams were commonly heard on the air before those with jobs got off work - other teens like me and the disabled hams. Some of my earliest Novice ham buddies were blind students at the Nebraska School for the Blind in Nebraska City, and there were many other visually-impaired hams, all of whom were exceptional operators, e... READ MORE
- Robert Nickels (ranickels), 03/21/2022
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