Southington High School - Chronicle Yearbook (Southington, CT)

Page 29 text:

-'bf CHRONICLE 1+ a!ea'z'ctory Amateur Radio today is an estab- lished institution. The Army and Navy are seeking the cooperation of Ama- teurs in establishing communication reserves. The public depends on ama- teur radio in major emergencies and the countries of the world recognize it as one of the established branches of radio art. This development has taken place in the course of about thirty years. We first heard of amateur radio in this country in 1901. It was Marconi's discovery that messages could be sent without wires and his proof of it by transmitting the letter S , three dots, across the ocean that started the pio- neers of amateur radio to experiment with it. It has grown since then quite steadily through all the develop- ments of radio, from the first commu- nications by means of spark coils to the communications today by means of high powered transmitting tubes. One of the amateur's principal ser- vices to the public today is the re- ceiving and delivering of messages free of charge. This service was first begun about 1914 when Hiram Percy Maxim started the American Radio Relay League with headquarters at Hartford, Connecticut. The object of the league was to establish relay routes throughout the country by means of which an amateur in one part of the country could send a message to any other part of the country, even from coast to coast. Today it is possible to send a message to any part of the world. In some cases this can be done in a few hours. The aid of amateur operators, as teachers and operators, was requested by the United States government after the entrance of the United States into the World War and about 3,500 re- sponded to the call. They gave such worthy service during the war that it was only natural that after the war cordial relations should prevail be- tween the Army and Navy and the amateur. In 1924 when the United States dirigible Shenandoah made a tour of the country, amateurs provided continuous contact between the big ship and the ground. In 1924 both the Army and the Navy came to the League with proposals for amateur cooperation. The radio Naval Reserve and the Army-Amateur Net are the outgrowth of these proposals. One of the most brilliant examples of amateur cooperation with the Army was in january of 1930 when at the request of the War Department, League operators organized a commu- nication net for contact with the Arc- tic Patrol flight of the Army's First Pursuit group from Michigan to Spo- kane, Washington. Amateur stations all over the country cooperated to maintain communication with the ac- companying transport plane when it was in the air, and with the flight per- sonnel at the various stopping places. Amateur radio has played an essen- tial part in the military maneuvers of the Air Corps by organizing communi- cational nets. Since 1919 amateur radio has been the principal and in many cases the only, means of outside communication in more than twenty storm and Hood emergencies in this country. The most noteworthy were the Florida hurri- cane of 1926, the Mississippi and New England Hoods of 1927 and the Cali- fornia dam break and second Florida hurricane in 1928. During 1931 there were the New Zealand and Nicaraguar Page 'l wcntyfSeuen

Page 28 text:

stimulated, thus bringing about pro- gress and prosperity in other fields. Since 1903, when the Wright bro- thers fulfilled the centuries-old dream of man to fly like a bird, aviation has pressed forward in spectacular fashion. From that humble beginning of thirty years ago, when the Wrights flew for fifty-nine seconds, aviation has pro- gressed to the point where duration flights of over six hundred hours have been made. Oceans and continents have been spanned, the Poles have been crossed, and the world itself has been encircled in eight days. Magellan, on his historic voyage, took three years to encircle the globe. And yet, the greatest progress lies ahead. By the use of improved meth- ods and designs of construction, safer and more comfortable planes with greater speeds may be expected. Im- provements i'n airports and the per- fection of illuminated airways which employ the use of radio, give promise of safer and more rapid airlines which will keep punctual schedules. Even fog, hitherto the greatest enemy of all types of air travel, has been overcome by the use of the radio beam. Rocket planes and stratosphere airliners will operate at altitudes of about ten miles at tentatively estimated speeds of from five hundred to one thousand miles per hour. But the tremendous speed and cruis- ing range of airplanes and dirigibles would be of no avail if they did not serve some definite purposes for man- kind. With their great speed, the fu- ture airliners will draw countries -'bf CHRONICLE 10- closer together and will serve to cement bonds of good-will and better understanding between the nations. Trans-Atlantic service will soon bring the old world within a few hours of the new. Another side of aviation which will hold great interest for all of us in the near future is the development of the light-plane. With traffic congested as it is today, and progress in the light- plane field surging forward at an ever increasing pace, it will not be surpris- ing if the light-plane takes its place as a rapid and inexpensive means of transportation, especially for commut- ing and light delivery service between cities. The development of the autogyro in the last few years removes the neces- sity of having large flying fields for take-offs or landings. Progress has been made in developing a cheap, fool-proof light-plane and motor. Die- sel and steam engines, both of which use fuel oil and are very inexpensive to operate, have been successfully used in small planes. If the popularity of the light-plane increases as rapidly as it has thus far, it may not be long before Mrs. Jones of New York will drop over in her new sport-model autogyro to Mrs. Brown's in Boston for a few rubbers of bridge before luncheon. The invention of the airplane and the dirigible, along with their progress and their effect on civilization will un- questionably form one of the most ad- venturous and intriguing chapters in the history of the world. MMM Page 'Twenty-six

Page 30 text:

earthquakes and the Viking explo- sion disaster in Labrador, in which amateur radio played a major role in the rescue work. Amateurs have also cooperated in railroad emergencies. In 1924, 1925, and 1926, the League maintained an emergency network of some eigh'y stations for the benefit of a large east- ern railroad. Five times this network rendered assistance when the wires went down. Amateur cooperation with expedi- tions started in 1923 with MacMillan's trip to the Arctic. It was so successful that since then MacMillan has never made a trip without carrying a short- wave equipment and an amateur to operate it. Three of the four operators on the Byrd trip to the Antarctic were amateurs. , Amateurs contribute their services also to aviation. Their services were utilized by Bryd in both his Arctic and Antarctic trips, and Wilkins took an amateur operator on his flight to the polar regions north of the Ameri- can continent and also on his trip to the Antarctic. Amateur operators also provided services during the National Air Races at both Los Angeles and Cleveland when they installed and operated the necessary equipment for communica- tion between the judges' stand and the outlying pylons and furnished all de- tails of fouls, planes down, and posi- -1-bf CHRONICLE 10-. tions of the planes throughout the races. This aid was so successful that it will probably be sought by National Air Race officials in every future meet. These services of emergency relief, expeditionary contact, along with countless instances of other forms of public services, rendered without hope or expectation of material reward, have made amateur radio one of the integral parts of our national life. As we look back over this brief history of Amateur Radio, one can see that the spirit behind its development has been one of service, service to mankind wherever it is needed, and service rendered without hope of ma- terial reward. Members of the Board of Education, Mr. Superintendent, Mr. Principal, Members of the Faculty, Parents and Friends: As we, the Class of 1933, bid you farewell, we wish to thank you for the service you have given to us, in providing for us a High School edu- tion, a service which has been gener- ous and untiring in the face of great difficulties. Classmates :- As we say goodbye to each other and go out to meet the world, may we carry with us this ideal of faithful ser- vice to mankind, remembering always that the gift without the giver is bare. Farewell ! WW Page Twenty-eight