North Florida Amateur Radio Society
W4IZ Jacksonville FL
nofars.net
Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
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NORTH FLORIDA AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY:
EARLY YEARS 1957-1969
By Billy Williams, N4UF
Ike began his second term as President and the Cold War ran hot. A few hundred American advisors were stationed in a faraway place called Vietnam. 1957 was a year of Sputniks and beatniks. The first artificial earth satellite, Sputnik I, launched the Space Age. Not much larger than a basketball and weighing 183 pounds, the Russian Sputnik took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth.
In 1957, future astronaut John Glenn set a speed record by flying a jet from California to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes. During the Spring, Elvis was #1 with “All Shook Up.” The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants started their final seasons before moving west. International Geophysical Year, timed to coincide with a high point of the eleven-year cycle of sunspot activity, was proclaimed by 67 nations.
US 1 was the main road into Florida and those going west traveled a narrow, cluttered US 90. Construction began in Jacksonville for an expressway system to connect the Fuller Warren (Gilmore Street) Bridge to what would become Interstates 10 and 95. Nationally, Ike’s Interstate Highway System began taking shape with the first stretch of I-70 opening in Missouri and Kansas.
Amplitude Modulation (AM) was king on the Amateur Radio phone bands. AM enthusiasts scorned experimenters who used SSB. They chided those who sounded like “duckywucks” on the air.
Commercial brands included Heath, Collins, Hammarlund, Hallicrafters and National. Equipment was big and heavy. Transceivers were rare. Small “transistorized” AM broadcast receivers started to appear, but 1957 ham gear contained no integrated circuits and very few transistors.
A dozen or so hams gathered at a backyard cookout on Chaseville Road (now University Blvd. North) in Spring 1957. One brought a reel-to-reel tape machine to play recordings he had made of revelers past conversations on the air. But poorly-regulated tape speed pushed one person, identity unknown, to remark they sure sounded "wacky."
The wacky sounding tape at the wing ding cookout led to formation of the “Wacky Wing Ding Society” as an alternative to the Jacksonville Amateur Radio Society (JARS), formed in 1946 when ham radio operation resumed after a suspension during World War II.
Most attending the cookout were JARS members but they wanted an informal alternative to the more rigidly structured JARS. The new group started an award, the Wacky Wing Ding Society certificate, for those contacting seven Jacksonville stations. Foreign operators only needed three contacts. It contained a large photo of Jacksonville’s downtown skyline and a motto--“a milliwatt of public service and good fellowship returns a kilowatt of satisfaction.”
Various members rotated hosting WWD meetings. After a year or two, interest waned. In early 1960, regular meetings began on the first and third Friday of each month in a downtown hair salon called Mike’s Harem at 33 W. Monroe St. with on-the-air club meetings on other Fridays on 21.375 Megacycles at 8PM. These on-the-air meetings were not WWD certificate nets and lasted only a few months.
An April meeting program presentation was on cubical quad antennas. The Wing Ding certificate was re-designed with a revised requirement of seven contacts with club members instead of seven Jacksonville stations. The WWD Award was announced in May 1960 CQ magazine.
WWD Field Day sites under consideration were Holiday Island in the St. Johns River under the Matthews Bridge, Alderman Park in Arlington and the Jacksonville Zoo.
JARS Field Day was planned at Gateway Shopping Center. Long distance telephone calls were costly so phone patches were popular. The May issue of “The Wing Dinger” included plans for a “hum-free phone patch.” The purpose of the group was described as being “to help serve the betterment of Amateur Radio, to be on call in the time of emergency, and to promote good fellowship.”
Three new committees were formed to be administered by an Activities Coordinator (K4YSP), a Publicity Coordinator (K4YJA) and an Emergency Coordinator (K4HFH). A roster in “The Wing Dinger” listed 21 members. Two are still members today--Carl Starnes, W4EAT and Howard Weinstein, K4CFI.
As 1960 progressed, the fortunes of Wacky Wing Ding Society fell. The second monthly meeting was eliminated and access to the downtown meeting place was lost. July and August meetings were called off “due to vacations that are being taken at this time and due to the fact that there just plain ain’t nothing doing in the club at this time.”
1961-63
In early 1961, the newsletter became “North Florida Amateur Radio Society News” The first issue stated “December should be a month to be remembered by this organization. It was during the month of December, 1960, that our club became ‘The North Florida Amateur Radio Society.’
"Your editor hopes that with this new name and with the new calls added to our roll, that we will begin 1961 with an all-out effort to make our club a success. During the year 1960, we performed as a group a total of one public service to our community; this being the Cerebral Palsy Telethon.
"We planned a field day which didn’t come off. We sent out far less certificates than we should have; we planned to build some form of radio equipment as a club project which we didn’t; we had one “social” event and changed the name of our club. When you look at a brief summary of our last year in black and white, it looks more black than white doesn’t it? The funny part of it is that we have only ourselves to blame. We certainly can’t blame our Activities Coordinator as he did more than did his part. We were supposed to follow through but we didn’t. No, we can’t blame anyone but ourselves. So much for the “heart and flowers” department.
"1961 is a new year. We have a new name, our publication is resuming, our club has new faces, and I hope a new inspiration. During this new year, if the opportunity arises to do a public service, I propose that we jump in with both feet. If we succeed, we will have the satisfaction of knowing that we helped our fellow man. I, for one, would like 1961 to be a red letter year for Amateur Radio."
In the early ’60s, the primary application of ham radio was long distance contact using frequencies below 30 MHz. Ten years later, a major shift in focus toward reliable short-range VHF communication was emerging.
Members continued to use “Wacky Wing Ding Society” as the personal (internal) club name. The North Florida Amateur Radio Society title was for external publicity and promotional purposes.
The Jacksonville Amateur Radio Society (JARS), formed shortly after World War II, was in a slump. The April JARS Beam newsletter said “for the benefit of all those brass pounders and mike swallowers who have noticed that something was missing but couldn’t quite place their finger on what it was, let me be the first to tell you. It was their copy of the BEAM. Yes, we confess, this is the first copy that has come off the mighty mimeograph machine in months. We hope to do better in the months to come, and we can too (with your help).
At the last regular meeting, we discovered that we only have 11 paid up members for the year of 1960. For a city that sports as many amateurs as Jacksonville, this average isn’t too inspiring. Lets all strive to call up our friends, talk about it on the air, send up smoke signals and/or otherwise let people know who the JARS are and what they do. Drag ‘em down to Peards and get the old ball rolling again. Our program for the meeting of April 6th will consist of a film entitled Challenge of Outer Space.”
In 1961, Jacksonville was expanding into subdivisions like University Park, Normandy Village, Mandarin and Cedar Hills. Interstate 95 was being completed to Dunn Ave. and I-10 came to an abrupt end at Cassat Ave.
Huge malls were still a few years away but shoppers increasingly migrated to shopping centers and away from downtown.
The first issue of the North Florida Amateur Radio Society News was mailed in February 1961. Walt, K4PJJ hosted the January meeting at his home on Chaseville Rd., site of the 1957 cookout.
Three new members signed up and elected were Bill, W4HLE (President); Gene, K4IRF (VP) and Gene, W4IEA (Sec-Treas). K4IRF was a weatherman for WFGA-TV Channel 12. A committee looked into acquiring a clubhouse in conjunction with JARS where meetings for both groups could be held. Ten years earlier, JARS was offered a building on city property for a clubhouse but costs were beyond the budget. JARS decided on city library meeting rooms and Peard Electronics store downtown instead. Again, a clubhouse turned out to be unfeasible.
By 1963, JARS was inactive. Except for a brief resurgence in the late 60s, it was gone for good. The NOFARS Wacky Wing Ding certificate program also faded away; not to be revived until the mid 70s.
The NOFARS roster in early 1963 listed 26 members. $2 annual dues plus a $1 initiation fee. Riverside Avenue Christian Church on the corner of Cherry St. became NOFARS first long-term meeting place.
Newsletters appeared sporadically during 1961 and 62. The first regular monthly NOFARS bulletin began in January 1963 with 36 issues distributed by the end of 1965. These bulletins had no title except for an occasional reference to NOFARS News.
Meeting activities ran from 7:30 until 10:30PM on the second Thursday of each month. Meetings sometimes included a 20 or 30 minute film about electronics or communications borrowed from the military or the telephone company where several NOFARS members worked.
In June, NOFARS sponsored “Operation Shopping Center.” The main location at Hemming Park downtown had three stations. City workers helped install antennas in palm trees. The Florida Times-Union published a news story and photo. Other stations operated at Arlington Plaza (in front of the Dad N Lad Shop), Cedar Hills Shopping Center and Roosevelt Mall (in front of Hoyt High Fidelity). 21 members participated.
Eighteen hams logged contacts totaling 1,872 points using five antennas and four stations at NOFARS 1963 Field Day at the Rudder Club in Orange Park. The top station made 163 contacts, mostly on CW.
Interference with television reception was a major problem for hams. With no cable TV and weak television signals in parts of town, many hams received complaints. Bill, W4CGG was Chairman of NOFARS TVI Committee. The NOFARS meeting location in the church basement was popular. 68 attended the August meeting and 41 ate at a dinner meeting at the Pancake House on Beach Blvd.
Thirty-eight enrolled in a novice study class series. FCC came to town to administer commercial and ham exams at the downtown Armory each April and October. NOFARS requested K4JAX as a club call in 1963 but FCC assigned WA4QCN instead.
1964-65
In early 1964, the Amateur Radio Emergency Corps (now ARES) of Duval County began a weekly net on 21.3 Megacycles at 9PM each Weds. Our Duval County Emergency Coordinator was John, W4GUJ.
The NOFARS WA4QCN 1964 Field Day was on a big lot owned by Bill, W4BHW on Townsend Rd. in SW Jax. A Duval County Callbook in January showed 583 hams. Hurricane Dora caused the September NOFARS meeting to be cancelled and left trees down and power off for weeks in some parts of town.
Barry Goldwater, K7UGA was running for President. He visited Jacksonville and had dinner with several NOFARS officers during the campaign. Newsletter editor W4BHW wrote “Let’s put an antenna on the White House, vote for Barry Goldwater.”
Fortunately, NOFARS fared better than K7UGA did in his campaign. Membership topped 50 for the first time. The 1965 Field Day at Ray Greene Park in Highlands produced a big increase in contacts.
Incentive Licensing was a controversial topic. FCC proposed creation of exclusive sub-bands for Amateur Extra and Advanced class operators. At the time, a General ticket allowed operation on all frequencies.
1966-67
In January, 1966 Volume I Number 1 of the Balanced Modulator was published. Editor Jesse Morris, W4MVB wrote “to start the new year, you might notice a change in the layout of the bulletin. You might also notice that it has a name this month. It is not necessarily a good name and the layout isn’t necessarily good either. It does represent what the editor thinks is appropriate. If you agree, it would be nice to know. If you disagree it would be nice to know. We could have a contest to see who could come up with the best name for our paper. If you have any ideas on the subject pass them along to this writer or to one of the club officers.”
Big news in 1966 was NOFARS new Field Day site. The city granted permission to use the Gator Bowl. Two stations made almost 1400 contacts from the press box. Beams adorned the top of the press box and wires hung from stadium light poles. Florida Governor Haydon Burns proclaimed Amateur Radio Week. NOFARS was the top scoring Florida group edging out Gainesville by 100 points. The weekly AREC net moved to 21.44 mcs.
A two-meter FM Duval County Emergency Net was called on 146.94 mc. at 8PM Weds. and 4PM Sunday.
An article in the Balanced Modulator complained about individuals who come to the meeting, sit in the back of the room and talk through presentations. “Certainly not every speaker is captivating nor is every subject engrossing but it seems to this writer that common courtesy should require silence if not attention!”
In early 1967, two important events: a new constitution was approved and NOFARS got a new club call--W4IZ. NOFARS assisted Goodwill Industries with communications during “Good Turn Day” in February. Boy Scouts collected 30,000 bags of donated items. Most communications were provided through portable and mobile VHF ham stations between Goodwill HQ on Lenox Ave. and semi trucks picking up bags. W4IZ was used for the first time at Field Day 1967 in the Gator Bowl.
The 10,660 point total was the highest of any Florida FD operation and was tops for the entire 4th call area in the two transmitter category.
NOFARS meetings moved to Civil Defense HQ on Market St. in September 1967.
1968-69
Incentive licensing was adopted by FCC to become effective in 1968. Novice license terms increased from one year to two. The AREC net moved to 28.690 Mc. Jacksonville and Duval County voters approved a consolidated government structure.
W4IZ again scored high in the 1968 Field Day in the Gator Bowl with 2,232 contacts. The new consolidated Jacksonville government began on October 1, 1968 and NOFARS members spread the word about Jacksonville’s new status as the largest city (in land area) in the U.S.
Two meter repeaters began to appear around the US as experimental projects. Until the late 60s, two meters was a simplex band which required bulky rigs and sophisticated antennas for effective operation. Few handheld units existed.
In 1969, a water tower near 41st and Pearl Sts. was identified as a possible site for a 146.34 MHz. two-meter repeater receiver. Favored locations for a companion 250-watt 146.76 MHz. transmitter/amplifier system included the top of a downtown building and a water tower near the Arlington Fire Station.
Amateur Television (ATV) was another experimental mode that gained popularity in NE Florida in 1969. An impressive 432 MHz ATV demo linked the 60 persons attending the March NOFARS meeting downtown to WB4GCMs station in Arlington.
Hollister Electronic Supply, Jacksonville’s first ham store, opened in October 1969 near 8th and Pearl Sts. Owner John Hollister, W4FWZ carried popular ham brands including Galaxy, Hallicrafters, Mosely and Hy-Gain.
Foremost Dairies donated an old home delivery truck to NOFARS. Members renovated and converted the refrigerated milk truck into a communications van. But after a few months, expenses for licensing, insurance and maintenance led to the van being “sold” for $1 to the city. Jax Civil Defense then assigned the truck back to NOFARS. The truck/van broke down numerous times--once while providing communications during a solar eclipse. It would disappear in 1970.
As the sixties ended, Amateur Radio began evolving away from mostly providing HF long distance communication toward an increasing emphasis on reliable local communications. FM repeaters still were experimental novelties but advancing technology and loosening of FCC repeater restrictions would soon accelerate the rise of the repeater as a mainstream application in Amateur Radio.
Orlando, Miami and Melbourne hosted the only Florida hamfests but hams in other cities, including Jacksonville, began to plan multi-day hamfests with major exhibitors in large buildings .
This article appeared during NOFARS Fifty Years series published during 2007-8 in the Balanced Modulator.
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Editor: Billy Williams, N4UF
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