Ham Radio – W6CF

 The CHRS / W6CF amateur radio station at KRE was once the very active station of James Maxwell, the West Coast Director of the American Radio Relay League, (or ARRL).  In honor of Jim’s achievements in amateur radio, and in honor of his memory, Trudy Maxwell bequeathed Jim’s entire station to us, along with his extensive library.

As the premiere historic radio organization, CHRS took the responsibility of honoring Jim by adopting his callsign and keeping his station active and operating as the CHRS station. Jim’s desk and trusty Kenwood transceiver are the most prominent part of the CHRS amateur radio station! W6CF operates CW and phone modes on the 20m, 15m, and 10m HF bands, and also the 2m and 70cm VHF and UHF bands. W6CF is in operation almost any day there is CHRS activity at the KRE building, and you are invited to come into the shack and take part.  Even if you do not have an amateur radio license, one of the CHRS licensed amateur operators will be glad to assist you and get you on the air as a guest operator.

W6CF uses some very interesting and coveted amateur radio equipment. Besides the top of the line vintage Kenwood transceiver, W6CF also uses lovingly restored vintage vacuum tube era amateur radio equipment from Collins, Johnson, Henry, Hallicrafters, National, Hammarlund, and others. The vintage equipment used as part of the W6CF amateur station is occasionally rotated to keep the antique gear working and to provide a unique operating experience for guests that may not have had the opportunity to actually use some of the best equipment ever made. Amateur radio operators who have never actually used vintage equipment frequently comment on the amazing performance and how much easier it is to operate than modern gear. Startled looks and wide smiles are very common at the W6CF operating desk, and we know Jim Maxwell would be very proud!

As a way of keeping the iconic W6CF callsign on the air, and reaching outside the four walls to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners all over the world as much as possible, the CHRS built W6CF/B, our 10 meter radio beacon. W6CF/B is on the air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year operating on 28.2045 MHz.  In the great CW tradition, the opening part of the repeated beacon string begins with “V V V”, the most widely sent CW character string and a respected attention getter.

We keep extra W6CF and W6CF/B QSL cards in the amateur radio station room, please stop in and take one. For more information about W6CF and CHRS / BARM amateur radio operations, please contact Paul Shinn, Amateur Radio Operations or John Staples, W6CF Trustee.

In July 1932 George Grammer published a series of landmark articles in QST about the design of the modern ham transmitter.   Very soon after that, Art Collins published his first ad in QST for the 32A transmitter, and soon after that the 32B, which followed almost exactly the schematics published by Grammer.