I remember as a young boy, riding with a forgotten member of our family out to Lawrenceville to pay our monthly payment on our house. Mrs. Gritzner lived in Lawrenceville. I specifically recall riding by that incredible field that had high telephone poles connected by what looked like miles of wire. I was told they were "short wave" antennas for sending and receiving radio signals to and from all around the world. I was transfixed. We had a short wave radio at home. It was a 1930's model Motorola, and I spent hours chasing stations from Berlin, London, and other exotic and very far away geographical locations. It was probably this early exposure to radio at the tender age of 11 or so that got me interested in a subject I still love today: Amateur radio and "Chasing DX" on the short wave bands.
SJBill said...- My Hallicrafters S-107 with a long wire antenna was tuned in to Radio Free Europe, Radio moscow and Rah-Deee-Oh Koo-Bah before and during the missile crisis. DXing was a great pastime. I also enjoyed listening to commercial radio stations all across our country. With the latest copy of White's Radio Log I would try all the AM band kilocycle settings to get all the 50000 watt powerhouse stations. Our clocks were always dead-on because I listened to WWV and the CHU Canada time signal stations. The AT&T station in the pic above was out on Lawrenceville -Pennington Road, about midway between the two towns, wasn't it? There were also a few pole farms out up and down the coast. One was by Barnegat Bay near Manahawkin. The service was very expensive, and you had to wait to get an available line. Bandwidth was very limited.
Tom Glover said...- WHEN I WAS IN THE ARMY OVER IN GERMANY IN 1956, IT COST $12. PER MINUTE TO MAKE A TRANS-OCEANIC CALL. ONE OF MY BUNK MATES WAS AN AMATEUR OPERATOR. HE SUCCEEDED IN PUTTING THROUGH A PHONE PATCH TO DOWNINGTOWN PA. I TALKED TO MY WIFE FOR 10 OR 15 MINUTES ON 40 METERS. THE HAM IN PENNSYLVANIA PICKED UP THE TAB FOR THE CALL FROM DOWNINGTOWN TO TRENTON. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS I BECAME A HAM IN LATER YEARS. "HAMS" ARE A SPECIAL BREED....ALWAYS THERE TO HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE. TOM GLOVER
- Noel said...
- Tom, To this day there is one pole remaining from one of the the antenna. It can be seen on Federal City Road. Noel Goeke
My Hallicrafters S-107 with a long wire antenna was tuned in to Radio Free Europe, Radion mOscow and Rah-Deee-Oh Koo-Bah before and during the missile crisis. DXing was a great passtime. I also enjoyed listening to commerfial radio stations all across our country. With the latest copy of White's Radio Log I would try all the AM band kilocycle setings to get all the 50000 watt powerhouse stations.
ReplyDeleteOur clocks were always dead-on because I listened to WWV and the CHU Canada time signal stations.
The AT&T station in the pic above was out on Lawrenceville -Pennington Road, about midway between the two towns, wasn't it?
There were also a few pole farms out up and down the coast. One was by Barnegat Bay near Manahawkin.
The service was very expensive, and you had to wait to get an available line. Bandwidth was very limited.
WHEN I WAS IN THE ARMY OVER IN GERMANY IN 1956, IT COST $12. PER MINUTE TO MAKE A TRANS-OCEANIC CALL. ONE OF MY BUNK MATES WAS AN AMATEUR OPERATOR. HE SUCCEEDED IN PUTTING THROUGH A PHONE PATCH TO DOWNINGTOWN PA. I TALKED TO MY WIFE FOR 10 OR 15 MINUTES ON 40 METERS. THE HAM IN PENNSYLVANIA PICKED UP THE TAB FOR THE CALL FROM DOWNINGTOWN TO TRENTON. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS I BECAME A HAM IN LATER YEARS. "HAMS" ARE A SPECIAL BREED....ALWAYS THERE TO HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.
ReplyDeleteTOM GLOVER
Tom, To this day there is one pole remaining from one of the the antenna. It can be seen on Federal City Road.
ReplyDeleteNoel Goeke
I was fortunate enough to live on Grayson Avenue in the Crescent section of Mercerville right across the street from Willis R. Carson, Retired Chief Engineer for the ATT Longlines (Lawrenceville). Knowing Bill was the most inspirational connection I made in my youth. He was an MIT Graduate and worked on developing radar for ships as a Chief Warrant Officer USN during WWII. He had a kilowatt transmitter in his attic (actually he could push it up to 5000 watts with little effort. He regularly communicated with his brothers in Maine. He was a personal friend of Franklyn D. Roosevelt. As a result of knowing Bill I became an Electronic Technician in the Navy and worked for a long time for RCA in such a capacity. I also learned to appreciate philosophy as Bill was the most intelligent man I ever met. God Bless Bill and Norah Carson, 183 Grayson Avenue.
ReplyDeleteWes Stillwagon