DOUGLAS COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB NEWSLETTER Vol. 32, No. 10, October 2002 Articles and information for the News letter may be submitted up to the 20th of the month before the next meeting. Ken Blair, KCOGL, Editor 1711 West 19th Terrace Phone: 785-843-8826 Lawrence, KS 66046 e-mail: kc0gl@arrl.net This Newsletter is published monthly by the Douglas County Amateur Radio Club (DCARC). Rreprint permission is granted to other Amateur Radio-orientated publications for non-copyright material provided that credit is given to the author and source. Copyrightc articles require permission to use from the holder of the copyright. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the club or its officers. **************** UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITIES > > > > It's coming in October The DCARC Special Events Station At Nowhere, Kansas Saturday, October 12* In connection with the Baldwin Maple Leaf Festival Come join the fun! Drive south on Hwy 59, one mile past the Douglas-Franklin County line, turn east and drive until you reach the railroad crossing. Set-up time: 7:59 a.m. Everyone is invited to operate the station. Certificates will be available to those who send in a QSL with a SASE. See announcement in October QST under "Special Events" ______ * The actual date of the Maple Leaf Festival is October 19-20 but due to some conflicts the Special Events Station will operate on October 12. . . . . . . Baldwin Maple Leaf Festival October 19-20 The DOULAS COUNTY ARES group will be providing communications to the American Red Cross assisting in their efforts to provide first aid to the over 10,000 visitors to the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City on the 19th and 20th of October. Each ARES operator will be teamed with an ARC person to link them back to the Red Cross tent as well as provide a link to the EMT's assigned to the event as well as event organizers. All amateurs can be of help. Join us at 8 p.m. for Sunday night's ARES net (146.76) for more details on how you can help. . . . . . . DCARC Annual Christmas Banquet Wednesday, December 11, 2002 Details will appear later but mark the date on your calendar. . . . . . . Next License Class February 2003 Contact Bob Drake 842-5961 rdrake@ku.edu **************** REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE PROPOSED LIST OF OFFICERS AND MANAGERS FOR 2003 We, the Nominating Committee, certainly appreciate the cooperation We received in putting together this fine list of candidates for the DCARC. They are: President Bob Kidder, ABØQW Vice President Bill Musick, KCØNFL Secretary Warren Sunkel, KCØLXA Treasurer Rex Lockwood, WØFOG Program Manager Mark Randel, KCØNFS Emergency Coordinator Matt May, KC4WCG Activities Manager Linda Randel, KCØNFT Training Co-Managers Bob Drake, NØTFU, and Earl Schweppe, NØKYS Information Manager Matt Hilt, KØTOY Newsletter Editor Ken Blair, KCØGL -73, Wes, NØWU, for the N.C.: Bob, WBØAUQ, Bud, NØAPJ, and Ken, AF3RM. **************** PROGRAM FOR OCTOBER 9 A R E S Guest Speaker, Orlan Cook, WOOYH Kansas ARRL Section Manager The October program will be on the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and how the members of the DCARC fits into it. Orlan Cook, WØOYH, Kansas Section Manager, will be the guest presenter. --Jim Canaday, N6YR, Program Chair **************** AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT Jim Eckler, KCØIDF Well what a time we all had at the last meeting. Thanks to "Robert" Kidder, ABØQW for bringing that rather large book of "Robert's Rules" to the table and also for the fine job of presenting proposals to the membership. (Good job "Bob"). It looks like a great year is in store for us in 2003 with the folks that the Nominating Committee presented. Good show guys. I knew you could do it and in short time too! Linda Randel, KCØNFT, has already been at work planning activities. Earl Schweppe, NØKYS, and his grandson Justin, presented an "electrifying" program on Nikola Tesla. Thanks guys. Our Special Events Station at Nowhere, KS and the Christmas Banquet are next to think about. We are considering a catered dinner so we can eat and dance the night away. Linda offered to ring bells but I think a disk jockey would be better. Her arms would get awfully tired after a couple of hours. Bill Musick, KCØNFL is doing a fine job as Net Control and Linda Randel, KCØNFT, and Warren Sunkel, KCØLXA, are signed up next. I would like to give everyone a chance to try it so let me know if you are interested. I have a few spots left. I think we need a vote on who was the best NCS for the year and award them a prize. Thanks everyone this is KCOIDF "out". ¯ **************** WBAUQ's WEB PICKS OF THE MONTH Bob Rainbolt, WBØAUQ Those who's interest has been whetted with Earl/NOKYS' Tesla experiments, check out this site for other interesting experiments. All insurance polices should be updated before proceeding..... http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/index.html If the spouse suggests your radio collection is getting out of hand, point he/she to this site for comparative purposes: http://www.qsl.net/vk2dym/radio/collection.htm Web Pick `O Month selected this Site of The Week for some neat and useful thoughts for designing your web page: http://www.qsl.net/ac4us/sotw.htm If you spend more time on the internet than radio, this site might be of use in keeping you up-to-date on local/national emergencies: http://www.emergencyemail.org/DefaultALT.asp This month's Site of Significant Historical Interest (shortwave station identifications, some fairly old, historical nonetheless). SWLers will love this one. Maybe listening to some of these interval signals will help id your unknown one. This guy has spent/is spending many hours recording transmissions and uploading. Deserves a listen... http://www.intervalsignals.net/ Happy Surfin' Bob/WBOAUQ ¯ **************** THE MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 DCARC MEETING Rex Lockwood, Secretary/Treasurer The meeting started at 7:05 p.m. The business meeting was first. The minutes of last month's meeting was accepted with the noted correction of Ken Olson, AF3RM as a member of the nominating committee. The nominating committee nominated the following for the 2003 offices: President: Bob Kidder, ABØQW Vice President: Bill Musick, KCØNFL Secretary: Warren Sunkel, KCØLXA reasurer: Rex Lockwood, WØFOG Activities Manager: Linda Randel, KCØNFT Emergency Coordinator: Matt May, KC4WCG Program Manger: Mark Randel, KCØNFS Training Managers: Bob Drake, NØTFU and Earl Schweppe, NØKYS Newsletter: Ken Blair, KCØGL Information Manger: Matt Hilt, KØTOY Bob Kidder, ABOQW, brought forward the proposals listed in last month's newsletter for club discussion and voting. Bud Waugh, NØAPJ, asked the question of accepting the four proposals as one block. After discussions and questions, a motion was made and seconded to accept them as one block. Then voted on, the proposals passed unanimously. The e-mail votes of Reid Crowe and Jim Canady were accepted. Other business: It was voted on to move the $300 received from Susan Shackleford into the repeater fund as The Dick Shackleford Memorial Repeater Fund. Terry and Melba Hoss were here for the final coordination of help for the MS150 September 21 and 22. They handed out the t-shirts and position assignments to those that had signed up to help. The General Class license training started with 7 individuals taking the class. Kevin Dobbs, KCØFSI, taking the class also joined the club. The classes continue every Monday at 6:30 p.m. until November 4th, when the class ends with a testing session for all license class levels. All interested in taking a test for any class license, notify Bob Drake, NØTFU. The 2002 DCARC Christmas Dinner. Still looking for where and how. Adam Kidder, KCØNFN, suggested a potluck at the fairgrounds building. Others suggested a catered event at the fairgrounds building. Ken Olson, Linda Randel and Matt May are checking into the cost of having it catered. By the conversation heard, it is leaning to a catered event at the fairgrounds. We will keep you posted. Upcoming events: Sunday, September 29, 2002 beginning at 1 p.m. There will be a tailgate, rocket launch (weather permitting), and picnic for all. DCARC will accept unsold items as donations for an auction at the end of the day. This event will be held at Paul and Nancy Stump's Critter Fox Farm, 259 north 1250 road, Berryton, Kansas. (The west side of Clinton Lake). "Nowhere" special events station is scheduled for October 12th. The Baldwin Maple Leaf Festival is scheduled for October 19th and 20th. Matt May, KC4WCG, is asking for radio support help during the Maple Leaf Festival. Individuals will be teamed with a Red Cross volunteer to patrol the streets and provide first aid if needed and radio support to emergency sites for fast response. See Matt for further information and to volunteer. The club reports were accepted and the meeting adjourned at 7:53 pm. Earl Schweppe then presented his program on Tesla. It was very informative and educational. And thanks to Justin Schweppe for all his help in making the presentation. We had 36 attendees sign in for the meeting, although it looked like we had 50 in attendance. ¯ Club funds September 17, 2002 Paid Ken Blair $59.72 for September Newsletter. Transferred $180 from Repeater fund to General fund for KU Antenna site rental. Transferred $300 from General fund to Repeater fund for Dick Shackleford Memorial Repeater Fund. General fund = 466.19 Repeater fund = 633.90 Total club fund = $1100.09 **************** FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY CLUB MEMBERSHIP AT SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 MEETING The following four recommendations, discussed during the 11 September meeting were discussed and approved by the membership: I. It is hereby recommended that DCARC transfer the cost of the repeater site rental from the General Fund to the Repeater Fund. Transfer of this budget item will be effective for the current and all future fiscal accounting periods. (In plain language - we want to pay for the repeater out of the repeater fund, this year and from now on.) II. It is hereby recommended that annual dues be raised by $5.00 for each category of membership. This will result in the following annual dues: Regular Membership $25.00; Family Membership $30.00; Senior Membership (65+) $20.00; Associate or Newsletter Only $15.00. This change would be effective immediately and would be applied to memberships beginning January 2003. (In plain language - Everyone will pay an additional $5.00 starting next calendar year. This could cause a net increase of approximately $325.00 per year, assuming the same number of members.) III. It is hereby recommended that 20% (twenty per cent) of all annual dues collected be set aside, under separate accounting, yet not separate accounts for the purpose of paying all DCARC repeater costs. Costs will be inclusive of, but not limited to: routine maintenance, emergency repairs, equipment replacement, and site rental. Expenditures from the repeater account are to follow normal approval procedures. (In plain language - We currently put 10% of our dues towards the repeater; about $145.00 this year. With the approval for dues increase and a change to 20% the repeater fund should receive about $325.00 next year. This will offset the repeater site rental and allow for growth of the fund to provide maintenance.) IV. It is hereby recommended that the Board of Directors, through its Treasurer, provide a standard format budget each calendar year. This budget shall be prepared and available for review during the November business meeting each year. Membership will vote on ratification of the budget during the December business meeting of each calendar year. This budget is to provide for the known expenses and payments of the club. Expenditures exceeding a 10% variance must be approved during a regular business meeting. The proposed budget shall be published in the December newsletter. (In plain language - The club should operate in a fiscally responsible manner; this includes utilizing a budget that meets the clubs needs. Moreover, the budget would allow for the efficient payment of regular bills; such as, insurance, repeater site rental, newsletter, etc. ¯ **************** DOUGLAS COUNTY ARES Matt May, KC4WCG Douglas County ARES ARRL Emergency Coordinator One hundred fifty mile bike rides and other fool things people do . . . Why do we want to participate in such a masochistic event? Why spend a whole weekend standing around a rest stop a parade of bikes and worn out people? There are plenty of answers, from wanting to support a good cause like the fight against MS (or whatever the cause might be) to the practice using the skills we have worked hard to develop. There are many, but let's expound on a few. First and maybe one of the best is that these types of events are great training for responding to disasters. Using a non-critical event like a bike ride to test equipment and capabilities is the best way to find out under real conditions if things work like you expect them to. Will that battery pack last a whole day or would it be a good idea to buy a AA pack for it as well. Maybe that remote location you thought you could work the repeater from REALLY needs a little beam to make the trip securely. These events offer a unique test environment and I suggest you use them to try out all your equipment in the field. When we are trying to support a 10 shelter operation is NOT the time to learn these lessons. Even things like knowing where you put that instruction manual for that rig get tested during these events. Another simulation that is provided is learning how to work a busy net with real traffic. This is a skill that is truly nothing like the weekly nets we check into as the traffic is much heavier and needs to be dealt with in a more formal manner than what we pass to each other. Listen to the other hams whom have run a bunch of these and get a feel for how to announce yourself to the net and how to present your traffic. It also gives you a feel for how much traffic can be handled and also how overwhelming at times it can be (and how to deal with it). A large event like a bike ride covers many jurisdictions just like a large disaster and allows us to get to know our fellow hams in other cities/counties. Maybe you've heard their calls before, but at these events we often get to meet face to face. That really helps us to pass that traffic once we have a personal relationship with that other ham, so when you are working your way around the course and you cross another station stop for a minute and say "Hi" and introduce yourself. Be that ambassador this group needs to that other group and help get the big job done. And of course the event itself. We can provide that critical call for medical help or maybe just a request for more water cups at a rest stop, but the ability to provide those services is a huge help to the event itself and is VERY reassuring to the participants. I can tell you from having been on both sides of a 100+ mile ride that just seeing another "radio person" around the corner means that if you needed help it's not far away. There are as many reasons to help with events like this as there are hams involved. I trust that you see the value in helping and know that the skills and the services provided are well worth the time investment. Invest in your community, your hobby, your nation and most of all in yourself. See you out there. And don't forget the ARES net Sunday night, 8 p.m. local time on 146.76. 73, Matt, KC4WCG DG CO (B-1) ARES EC ¯ ************ A SLOPER ANTENNA FOR 160 METERS Vernon Gibbs, W4JTL The 160-meter CW contest was coming up. I had never been on 160, I didn't have an antenna that would load up on 160, so I decided to come up with one. I have had some success with half slopers so I decided that was the antenna to build. The half-sloper is 66' overall with a center-loaded coil. The antenna is fed with 50-ohm coax and at a height of 40' on my Rohn.-tower. The normal setup is used, the center conductor of the coax connected to the end of the wire and the shield of the coax is connected to the tower. The antenna slopes at about 45 degrees. (CLICK HERE FOR DIAGRAM) The half-sloper worked well on 160 Meters and I made contacts at the rate of better than one per minute. Everyone I called came back to me. However, remember this was a contest. The antenna was resonant at 1825 kHz and was 1.5:1 at 1800, and 1.5:1 at 1850. After the contest, I decided to try to use the antenna on other bands. I am using a TenTec ATU. The antenna loaded up well on the following bands: 3.5, 7, 14, 18, 21, 24, and 28 Mc. For some reason it would not work on 10 MHz. I got good reports on each of the bands, in fact on 7 MHz, I was told by several W5s that I was the loudest on the band. I made contacts in Europe and Asia without difficulty. By the way I use a Ten-Tec Omni VI Plus and run 100 watts. For the Amateur wanting to operate 160 Meters, this antenna is very good. It apparently has a low angle of radiation compared to a dipole. This is evident from the stations worked during the 160-meter contest back in December of last year. I worked stations in West Virginia, Arizona, Wyoming, Ontario, Iowa, Vermont, and many others with no difficulty at all, and I was using only 100 watts! The quarter-wave sloper is a "vertical"' with the feed point at the top rather than at the bottom. With the feed point. at the top of the -antenna, the current lobe, which is responsible for the radiation efficiency, is clear of all ground clutter and therefore works better. A true quarter-wave for 160 is approximately 130 ft. I didn't have that much room so I used a center-loaded quarter-wave. An air-wound coil would have better efficiency but I didn't have one at the time. I used an overall length of 66' with a center-loaded coil of 114 close-wound turns of #16 enamel wire on a 8" piece of PVC pipe. This is approximately a quarter-wave at 1900 kHz. The sloper uses the tower as one-half of the antenna. Connect the coax shield directly to the tower. Make sure this is a good electrical connection. The center conductor of the coax connects to the quarter-wave wire that slopes toward the ground. The angle of the sloper in relation to ground seems to work best if it is at least 45 degrees. If you have a problem getting the VSWR low on the sloper, change the angle and see if that will help. Most people who have problems with the sloper have the feedpoint too close to the Yagi, and the interaction between the two is the culprit. To minimize interaction between the sloper and your Yagi, a distance equal to half the length of the Yagi boom should be between the Yagi and sloper. It is also a good practice to make the coax long enough so that you can wind a coil of 10 turns at the point of entry into your radio room. This will remove any RF that is on the outside of the coax shield. For the sloper to work, it must have radials above the feedpoint. These radials also perform the function of a "capacity hat." These radials are provided by your Yagi on top of your tower. The bigger the Yagi, the better your results will be. No, you can't use a Quad. I tried it and it just wouldn't work at all. The Sloper mimics a Discone antenna in some respects. The horizontal disc on top of a Discone is the radials for that antenna, while the vertical cone of the Discone is comparable to the sloping wire on the sloper. Take a look at some of the verticals on the market today - for example the Cushcraft R7. The four wires at the bottom of that antenna are the radials. The Cushcraft R7, and similar antennas, are in effect a sloper turned upside down. You will need at least one 8' ground rod at the base of the tower. Three are better. With an ATU, you can use the sloper on all bands except 30 Meters. However, the ATU doesn't change the VSWR on the coax so you will still have very high VSWR on all bands except 160 Meters. One of these days I am going to feed a sloper with 450-ohm ladder line and see what effect it has. You would need to use the ATU on all bands and the VSWR and losses in the ladder line are very low. I have read in the various radio magazines that the half-sloper is more or less omnidirectional with a very low vertical angle of radiation. Some indicate that the sloper has slight gain over a dipole.. I have put up several slopers over the years and have found that the sloper input impedance and the length of the sloping wire required for resonance and the antenna pattern all depend on the height of the tower, the angle between the sloper and the tower, the type of Yagi on the tower and, believe it or not, the direction the Yagi is pointing. Although this antenna is simple, it has brought very good results. I found it to be a hot antenna on 160 - hard to believe, but it works for me! -Worldradio, 31/5 ¯ **************** "IT CAN'T BE DONE" Ken Blair, KCØGL The more years we have behind us in amateur radio it seems we may be more inclined to respond to a question from a new ham by saying "it can't be done," or "it won't work." Sure, we know from experience that something didn't work for us, so we tell the new ham to take our word for it and save his time. Do you remember way back to your Novice days? If you asked six different hams a question you probably got six different answers and still didn't know what to do. It has been my philosophy to encourage newcomers to amateur radio to try things which may seem impossible to me. Let me give an example in the following story. Many years ago I encouraged a high school student to get into ham radio. He received his ticket and was enjoying the excitement of making contacts on his 3 watt Heathkit HW-7. A few weeks later he planned to go to Colorado with a youth group for some camping and hiking. On the evening before departing I was helping the group load up and ask him if he was planning to take his HW-7. I told him we could make a schedule and this way let the parents know that everyone was OK. He said "Do you really think you can hear me 600 miles away with only 3 watts?" I said, "Of course, no problem." It was great to see how excited he was when he thought we could make a contact. So later in the dark of night, he carefully took down his 40 meter antenna, rolled it up, and packed it neatly in a box along with his rig. I confess that I thought the chances were pretty slim that we would ever make a contact. Well, we made a schedule and I carried my outward optimism a bit further by inviting his dad over the evening of the schedule. At the scheduled time I carefully tuned around the prearranged frequency and ... wow! ... is it? ... could it be? ... yes, there he was! I'm sure the dad could not understand my utter amazement. Yes, I copied those dits and dahs and we had a FB QSO. Believe me, he really impressed the kids he was with. Had I seen his operating site I'm sure I would have said it would never work. The site was in a deep canyon with high mountains on all sides and an antenna hanging over tree limbs a few feet off the ground. Well, over the years my friend and I have had some good laughs over that episode. It was an experience neither one of us will ever forget. And guess what. At a meeting soon after his return I overheard him tell another new ham, "Hey, that might work. Give it a try." **************** THE WAYBACK MACHINE - ISSUE 8 By William Continelli, W2XOY (c) 2002 by William Continelli, W2XOY Used with permission. This is the 8th of a series of articles by Bill Continelli, W2XOY on the History of Amateur Radio. These articles first appeared in the Schenectady Museum Amateur Radio Association's Newsletter, "RF Musings" and appears here with the permision of the author. * * * Our Founding Fathers knew that the United States would have to enter into legal and binding agreements with foreign countries, thus in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, they gave the President the power to make treaties, with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. Over the years, the Supreme Court has ruled that provisions of a treaty are constitutional and legally binding, even if the exact same provisions contained in a law not covered by a treaty would not pass the constitutional test. Under the Radio Act of 1927, and the regulations issued by the Federal Radio Commission, amateurs were "in the catbird seat" (to use a popular phrase of the day). They had over 2700 kc of spectrum between 160 and 20 meters, plus another 15,000 kc at 5 meters. They had a Secretary of Commerce (Herbert Hoover) who was a strong proponent of amateur radio. Congress was supportive and sympathetic. Nothing could go wrong-or could it? Yes it could. An International Radiotelegraph Conference was scheduled for Washington, D.C., on October 4, 1927. Here, participants from 74 nations would gather to hammer out an international treaty covering the entire known radio spectrum. Once this treaty was accepted by the Senate, it would become Law, and supersede anything contained in the 1927 Act. Although amateurs could count on the full support of the U.S. Delegation, we had only one vote, the same as any of the other 73 participants. So how much support could we count on from the other countries? Sadly, not much. Democracy was still a foreign idea to most nations; many hovered in that gray area between Old World Monarchy and Fascism/Communism. Communications were a government monopoly. Individual private stations were feared; they could compete with the Government Stations, or they could be used in anti-government activities. This attitude was even present in the representatives from England and France. As for the other countries, many were blatantly anti-amateur radio. Germany, for example, stated that private stations could violate "the rights of the State." Switzerland was on the record against amateur radio. Japan would tolerate amateurs, however they would have to use "phantom" (i.e., non-radiating) antennas. In other words, you could have a transmitter, you just couldn't radiate a signal!!!! One proposal would only give amateurs frequencies below 13 meters (above 23 Mc). Fortunately, the ARRL and the International Amateur Radio Union (founded in 1925) were well aware of this hostility and had made detailed preparations. The IARU and the ARRL both had made presentations to the various delegations prior to the start of the conference. Support of the amateur community was also received from private radio interests and radio manufacturers. The ARRL and the IARU would both have delegates attending the conference. And so, after the opening session, which was addressed by President Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (who was also president of the Conference), the delegates divided themselves into subcommittees and began to work. England, the European country most favorable to amateur radio, made its first proposal: amateurs would be allowed the 150 to 200 meter band (1500 to 2000 kc) with a maximum power input of 10 watts. The ARRL/IARU delegates, K.B. Warner, H.P. Maxim and C.H. Stewart, as well as W.D. Terrell, who was Chief of the Radio Division in the Department of Commerce, indicated that this was unacceptable. The British then came up with a compromise position: amateurs would have the 150 meter band, as well as bands at 2.75, 3.66, 5.50, 11.00, 22.00, and 44 Mc. Except for the 1500-2000 kc segment, each band would be 100 kc wide. The total amateur allocations under the British proposal were 1100 kc, of which 900 kc was in the known usable spectrum below 15 Mc. This was a 60% reduction for American hams in the frequencies below 15 Mc, and a whopping 93% reduction when you counted our 4 to 5 meter band! Nevertheless, many delegates urged the U.S. and ARRL/IARU representatives to accept this proposal. They pointed out that it was far more generous than many countries were willing to give on their own. With the use of C.W. and crystal control, it was argued, there would be enough room for all amateurs. Many were afraid that if the British compromise wasn't accepted, a more restrictive amateur band plan would take it's place. The ARRL/IARU delegates had one thing in their corner, however; the strong support of Secretary Hoover and the American Delegation. With that, they found the strength to (carefully) carry on. They were diplomatic, but they were persistent. Maxim, Stewart, and Warner proceeded step by step. The 160 meter band was the first agreed on-1715 to 2000 kc. Next, it was decided that the remaining amateur bands would be at the 80-40-20 meter spots. How wide they would be was the next argument. On the 80 meter band, everyone was at a stalemate until it was suggested that the band could be 3500-4000 kc on a non-exclusive basis. This was accepted by all the delegates. Each country could decide for themselves how much of the 500 kc they would allocate to amateurs. Next on the agenda was 20 meters. The U.S. wanted 14,000 to 16,000 kc. There was no way any of the other delegates would agree. After much debate, the U.S. delegation realized that 400 kc was the maximum they were going to get, and acquiesced. With 160, 80, and 20 out of the way (and the U.S. assured of at least adequate domestic and international allocations) the subcommittee turned to 40. The American delegation wanted 7000 to 8000 kc; the most any other country was willing to offer was 7000 to 7200. Germany, in fact, put a high power station on 7200 kc in order to thwart a larger amateur allocation on 40 meters. Back and forth the debate went, the other delegates finally offered 225 kc. Maxim and Stewart felt they had played their last hand and wanted to accept the proposal. Warner, however, still pushed for 400 kc. More debate followed. Finally, the other delegates agreed to 300 kc. Additional bands were set up at 10 and 5 meters. When the dust had settled, the Conference had approved the following amateur bands: 1715-2000, 3500-4000, 7000-7300, 14,000-14,400, 28,000-30,000 and 56,000-60,000 kilocycles. This was a 37.5% reduction in the frequencies amateurs had under the U.S. regulations, however, it was a vast increase for the amateurs of most other countries. Furthermore, the frequencies approved by the Conference established amateur radio under international law -something which had not existed before. Given the circumstances, this was a major victory for amateur radio. Initially, there was some opposition by a minority of U.S. hams to the ratification of the Treaty. The ARRL and the vast majority of amateurs, however, supported it, knowing that a small loss in frequencies was insignificant in comparison to the international recognition now given to amateur radio. The Senate agreed and, on March 21, 1928, ratified the Treaty. As a postscript, Herbert Hoover, the Secretary of Commerce who had always supported amateur radio 100%, was elected President of the United States in November 1928. Although most remember his administration as coinciding with the onset of the Great Depression, it was also the time of the greatest growth in amateur radio history. From the 1929 total of 16,289 to the 1933 count of 41,555, amateur radio grew 255% in 4 years. Before his death at the age of ninety on October 20, 1964, Hoover would live to see his son, Herbert Hoover Jr., W6ZH, elected President of the ARRL, and see an amateur running for President of the United States (Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA/K3UIG). Whatever historians may think of his administration, hams will always remember him as a Friend to Amateur Radio. Next time, "The Wayback Machine" will begin to explore the battle over the VHF spectrum in the mid 40's. Did you ever wonder what happened to TV channel 1? "The Wayback Machine" will have the answers. ¯ **************** END