A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL:

Following the resumption of Amateur Radio activities after World War Iensued a thundering herd of advances in the state of the Amateur Radioart. Here are some highlights from that period.

April 1922 -- The first contact was made between California and Hawaii.September 1922 -- 1CCZ worked every US call district in one night, thefirst time that had ever been accomplished. November 1922 -- Anotherrecord-breaking relay was accomplished, from 1AW to 9AWM to Hawaiian6ZAC and back to 1AW in 4 minutes 18 seconds.

June 1923 -- The first expedition using Amateur Radio sailed. Theschooner Bowdoin (WNP) had Don Mix, 1TS, aboard as its operator. Thisand later Bowdoin expeditions were searching for the land mass that wasthought to exist at the North Pole. September 1923 -- VK2CM contactedZL4AA (a 1500 mile path), with VK2CM running 4 milliwatts on CW!November 1923 -- 1MO and 1XAM worked F8AB, the first transatlanticcontact. December 1923 -- 1EH made contacts with England, Italy, andHolland.

May 1924 -- The first contact was made between New Zealand andArgentina, a new DX record of 6400 miles. The same month saw the firstcontact between North and South America. July 1924 -- All previousshortwave work had required "experimental" licenses. After considerablegroundwork by the ARRL, the government allowed shortwave work by allamateurs, with band assignments of 1.5 to 2.0, 3.5 to 4.0, 7.0 to 8.0,14.0 to 16.0, and 56.0 to 64.0 MHz. September 1924 -- The firstconfirmed contact was made between California and New Zealand. December1924 -- The first daylight transcontinental signals were heard, fromConnecticut to California, as John Reinartz, 1QP, made experimentaltransmissions on the new 20 meter band.

April 1925 -- The first published article on the theory of shortwavepropagation appeared in QST, authored by John Reinartz, 1QP. Also inApril, the International Amateur Radio Union was formed at a conferencein Paris, and Hiram Percy Maxim was elected as its first president. May1925 -- The first contact was made between Australia and England,during daylight hours on 20 meters.

April 1926 -- The Worked All Continents award was first offered; itgarnered eight initial members.

May 1927 -- The first annual ARRL DX Contest was held.

March 1928 -- The 10 meter band was opened to Amateur Radio use.

These were just a few highlights from that wonderful era of advancementof the radio art by amateurs. Next week: On to the 1930s. -- AlBrogdon, W1AB

Source:

The ARRL Letter