The Texas Historian, Volume 51, Number 4, March 1991 Page: 2
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ceived letters from the government
in April, 1917 demanding they get
off the air so there would be no in-
terference with military communica-
tions during World War I. The hams
may also have been urged to enlist to
operate radios; or, if their stations
were one of the better ones, they
may have been asked to convert them
to military use. Hams played an im-
portant role in World War I. One
authority has written:
There can be no question of the
importance of the part the radio
amateur played in the winning
of the war. The superiority of
Allied, and particularly Ameri-
can, communications was the
deciding factor in many
moments of close struggle
during the fighting on all
fronts.
At the end of World War I, Lub-
bock hams may have written to Con-
gress at the urgent request of Hiram
Percy Maxim, president of the
American Radio Relay League, to
protest the Alexander Bill which
would have kept hams off the air
permanently. Due in part to the huge
number of protest letters, and to
Maxim's diligent efforts, ham radio
operators were allowed back on the
air October 1, 1919.
Ham radio operators, returning
from the war with renewed enthusi-
asm, began setting up their equip-
ment at home. In fact many started
transmitting with equipment the
army had discarded. Current radio
ham, U. V. Blake, received his license
in 1930.
By this time, the Radio Act of 1912
had been expanded by the Radio Act
of 1927 which provided much more
extensive regulation. The first regu-
lation assigned hams to the 200 meter
band where they were not expected
to have much success distance-wise
nor, it was thought, would they have
the ability to bother others. Later
hams were given varying narrow
strips across several bands. Because
of these new rules, Blake did not ex-
perience the sometimes not-so-
friendly competition for air space
among the commercial interests, the
hams, and the military. These stricter
rules were maintained in the Com-
munication Act of 1934 which estab-
lished the Federal Communications
Commission.Rogers Orr.
"It has become the
rule rather than
the exception to
look to the hams
for dependable
communication in
times of crisis."
History, as far as hams were con-
cemed, repeated itself with the com-
ing of World War II for hams were
ordered off the air the day after Pearl
Harbor was bombed. As before, their
expertise was in great demand in the
military. Not surprisingly, thousands
of skilled amateurs contributed their
knowledge to the development of
secret radio devices, both in the gov-
ernment and in private laboratories.
"The prewar technical progress by
amateurs provided the keystone for
the development of modern military
communications."
To some Lubbock ham radio op-
erators, such as Rogers Orr, World
War II meant that their dream of
getting a license had to be delayed.
Ham operators were not allowed back
on the air until the fall of 1945. Many,
such as Rogers Orr who could now be
licensed, joined with older hams who
were anxious to transmit once again.
The group began meeting regularlyin late 1946 or early 1947, calling
themselves the South Plains Amateur
Radio Club. U. V. Blake, a past presi-
dent of the club, says that there were
fifteen or twenty members when the
group first organized. He also added
that both husbands and wives at-
tended the meetings for those wives
who were not hams played bridge
while the rest shared ham radio talk.
The group found it fun to connect
faces with familiar voices. From these
groups sprang the organization that
helped hams provide efficient emer-
gency communication. Lubbock
hams have maintained the standard
which earned the following compli-
ment concerning hams in general:
"It has become the rule rather than
the exception to look to the hams for
dependable communication in times
of crisis."
A Lubbock ice storm in the late
1940s felled so many power lines that
the gas company had no way of
communicating by telephone with
stations in Midland, Odessa and
elsewhere. At one point the gas
company asked ham radio operator
Homer Reece to contact someone in
Midland to tell him to shut off a very
important valve. Shortly thereafter
the gas company installed its own
radio equipment.
Ham radio operators were also of
help during the Lubbock tornado in
May of 1970. Sixteen-year-old Kay
Pergram, along with other ham radio
operators whose equipment was un-
damaged by the storm, did extensive2 / TEXAS HISTORIAN
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 51, Number 4, March 1991, periodical, March 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391549/m1/4/?q=waco+tornado&rotate=180: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.