This Webpage is dedicated
as a tribute in memory of:
Joseph F. Boza, Sr., W8MPY
who is now a
silent key (SK)
To W8MPY, Best of
73s, your son, Thomas A. Boza NE7X
W8MPY
Toledo Ohio 1936
Breting
12 receiver and homebrew 160 meter AM transmitter
Manufactured Amateur radio equipment was very
expensive and not relatively available back in the 1930s, so most amateur radio
operators built their own receivers and transmitters from piece parts. Only the
very wealthy could afford purchasing pre-assembled amateur radio equipment.
With that said, as you can see from the picture
above, W8MPY built his own transmitter. However he did purchased a Breting manufactured twelve
vacuum tube short-wave radio receiver, model 12 at the time this
particular picture was taken.
From the best that I can tell from the information I know, the above transmitter rack consisted of an open wire linked coupled antenna tuner (top shelf), a 210 tube RF amplifier stage (second shelf from top), a 47 tube crystal oscillator into a 46 tube driver stage (third shelf from the top), a power supply with A filament, B+ HV plate, and C- bias voltages (forth shelf from the top), and a plate audio modulator for AM (circuit unknown) (fifth shelf from the top). Its unknown what is on the bottom of the rack, most likely it’s a rack stabilizer of some kind. Back in those days, amateur radio operators added module sections “ala-cart” to their transmitter as time, parts availability and budgets allowed.
W8MPY – W8PCT
Henry (Hank) Sobb, W8PCT (SK), was one of W8MPY’s amateur radio friends. The two of them made numerous QSOs together using their 160 meter AM homebrew transmitters as pictured above.
Besides 160 meter AM, W8MPY was also very active in chasing DX on 40 meter CW. Contacts as far away as Hawaii and Germany are found in his original logbooks. In those days all CW was done using a straight key, no electronic keyers or computers to assist. W8MPY used a solid brass key, model R-63, manufactured by “Signal Electric Mfg Co.” of Memoninee, Michigan. I still have my dad’s original R-63 key in my shack today.
QSL Card
W8MPY at age 31
Written on the QSL card
is says:
·
Vy
73s (very best
regards) in the bottom left corner
·
Tnx (Thanks) under the word “QSL”
·
PM
135 (day time)
on: 3/7 1936
·
CW
signal (Morse
Code)
·
RST
599 (clear strong signal with pure DC tone quality)
·
In
2-way QSO with radio: W8NUO (James A. Ditmyer, 2541 Kress, Toledo, Ohio)
·
The
frequency or band in meters is not indicated on the QSL card. However W8MPY liked
40 meter CW, so I am assuming this was the band used for this QSO.
·
Transmitter: 47 tube (X=oscillator) into a 46 tube (D=driver) into a 210 tube (final RF
amplification).
·
Receiver:
"Super 7" I am assuming this meant seven tubes homebrew.
There is no indication
written on the QSL card of what the type of antenna was used. However I
remember when I was a kid my dad telling me that he liked Zepp antennas (open
ladder line fed dipoles). So I am assuming this is what he must have been using
since the antenna tuner in the above picture shows a link coupled antenna
tuner. I remember my dad telling me that his mom (my grandmother) complained to
him about the antenna wires strung up in the trees to the house. He was always
in a tug-of-war with his mother over the antennas. Sound familiar?
Callsign Change
When World War Two started, for security reasons in those troubled times, the US government canceled amateur radio licenses. My father was no exception and his license was revoked. Only under special situations where an amateur radio operator was assisting with military radio communications was the license retained. After the war ended my father married and started a family with his wife Clara (my mother). Together they raised three children, Joseph Jr., Maryanne, and Thomas (me). Between work and raising a family, there wasn’t much time for hobbies, so my father became inactive with amateur radio.
Even thou my father wasn’t licensed at that time, he still kept his Breting 12 short-wave receiver in the basement of our house. I remember when I was a young kid, maybe 12 years old, listening to the receiver for hours and hours. I was fascinated by hearing signals, voices and beeps from strange far away places. Today I still clearly remember talking with my dad on multiple occasions and him telling me about the magic of short-wave radio. He told me about all his past amateur radio experiences, all the transmitters he hand built and all the far away places he use that equipment to communicate with. I was so intrigued by his stories and the sounds that I heard on his Breting 12 receiver, that I also wanted to communicate with far way places. With all the excitement I was easily motivated to acquire my own amateur radio license, so I self-teach myself Morse code and study electronic radio theory manuals every chance I had. Shortly after my 15th birthday (1964) I took and passed my novice class license exam. Since my father was not licensed, my high school friend’s uncle, Keith Bailey, K8OMG (SK), gave the novice exam to me. Approximately three weeks after taking my novice exam I received the callsign: WN8NSH.
Not to be out-done by his son (me) and since all the children were now nearly fully grown, in 1965 my father studied the ARRL amateur radio license material and then drove to the Detroit Michigan Federal Communications Commission office and passed his General class amateur radio license exam. Being a past CW operator, he max-ed the 13 WPM CW test without a strain. A new callsign was then issued to him, WA8PYN. At that time there was no vanity callsign allocation program for him to reclaim his old callsign W8MPY.
Father and Son Amateur Radio Operators
We now had a father and son amateur radio family. In some ways this was great, and in other ways it wasn’t so good. Having a father who was a ham was a great asset for a high school kid. It was easy for him to justify to my mother why he needed to purchase that new radio. After all, the excuse he told my mother was that he was doing it for his son. Being a teenager and working part time jobs after school, I had little money to offer. So having a father as a ham with some disposable income was great! We often had a new receiver or transmitter popping into the shack following the local ham fest.
On the down side of this wonder situation, I remember arguing with my dad on who’s turn it was to operate, who’s turn it was to work that rare DX station, or getting kicked off the radio during a contest which I was participating in because my father had a schedule with a friend of his in 30 minutes.
However all-in-all, I would not trade any of the wonderful memories and experiences I shared with my father being ham radio buddies together. After all, if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be an amateur radio operator today. Thanks dad !!!
WA8PYN – Toledo Ohio (1971)
This is the last known picture taken of WA8PYN while at the operating position of his (our) amateur radio station. On September 7th, 1972, at age of 67, WA8PYN became a “Silent Key.”
(SK)
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