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XA from the US Signal Corps |
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Floyd E. Becker W6RJY via Tony Ricicky W2VRK <07. Dec. 2001>
Re: XAAP: "It was great to to go to the website to see my old card. I
had even forgotten that that particular design existed. When I returned home
with a long log of contacts, I had a better card printed. - I was a Lt. in the
Signal Corps. I had a team that installed the comm. equipment for Army Airways
Comm. Serv. (AACS) a unit of the Army Air Corps. As part of the installation we
had 3 curtain rhombics pointing to Rome and to Cairo. They were intended for
RTTY but the Rome ant. put a nice beam right over the States. I was able to
talk to my Aunt and Uncle in Sacramento, CA. All I had to do was put out a test
signal and it seemed like the whole band came back calling. A real let down
when I got home with my homebrew stuff. - I have copies of several of the
orders that let the military get on Ham radio after the war. The first was an
order dated 11 Sept. 1945 (another 9/11). It came from the Air Corps and as of
that date only authorized 112-115.5 mcs. (2 1/2 meters).The word didn't get to
us until 23 Oct. 45. The authorization came to my good friend, Capt. Charles
Peters, who headed up the AACS attachment. Others used XAAP but I was the lucky
guy who used it most. - I still am on the air and have an Army MARS net. But I
must hide my antenna in the attic. I have attached a copy of one of the orders.
-- Many of the restrictions listed in these orders were relaxed shortly after
the date shown. More frequencies and more power were allowed. "
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Re XAFQ: "XAFQ, a newcomer GI station in northern Italy, can be
QSLed to 350th Infantry Regiment APO 88, c/o PM New York City" (QST, June 1947,
p59)
Re XAAJ: The XA calls in Italy
were issued in 1946 by AMG (Allied Military Government). We were only allowed
to operate on 10 meters. Fortunately, 10 meters was wide open at that time, so
that it was quite easy to work into the U.S. At XAAJ, we used a BC-610
transmitter, doubling in the final from 20 meters, and a Hallicrafters SX-28
receiver. I designed the QSL card for XAAJ. It was printed in medium dark
blue.
<Bob Stein, W6NBI, ex-W2LWK, ex-XAAJ, E-Mail, Oct.
2003>
Re XADK:I was with the 977
Signal Bat'n stationed at Caeserta Italy in 1944-45. My call was XADK. That
xmtr we built then was a pair of 250th's in push-pull bread-board fashion;
modulated by two other big bottles. My call in the states then was W2JRP. I
became W2JB back in 1972 after I got back on the air after a 20 years' absence
in 1968. We erected a 2 section W8JK 20 meter array that put down quite a
signal in the states. In the spring of 1945 I was sent over the Athens , Greece
as part of the AMFOGE Mission (Allied Mission For the Observation of Greek
Elections). We had to set up BC-610 all over the country to prepare for the
election day. My call in Athens was XACR. We used a spare BC-610 and a dipole
there. I think it was in the Nov or Dec issue of the 1946 QST they had a
write-up on XADK with pictures of the Xmtr, Rcvr's etc.
<John Bugio
W2JB, ex-XADK, XACR, E-Mail, Oct.2003>
Re XAEX: The XA-- series of ham radio call signs probably began with
the end of WWII when the air waves again became available for amateur use. They
were authorized by the Theater Signal Officer acting for the Theater Commander
upon application by the would-be ham operator. The equipment could be either
military radio gear not in military use at the moment or gear that was
hand-assembled from parts. The object was to improve morale and recreation. The
end of the series probably was synonymous with the end of the occupation of the
given countries in which the radio equipment was located, at which time they
regained sovereignty over their own air waves and the issuance of their
national call signs.
I applied and was authorized the call sign, XAEX. My
mentor was 1st Lieutenant Ken Cushing, a radio engineer of Massachusetts who
held another XA-- call sign. A typical set-up was a military BC610 radio
transmitter and a Hallicrafter or Hammerlund receiver, but other configurations
were also in use. We used ham radio to connect with amateurs all over the
world, and many friendships evolved. Especially useful contacts were those in
the states who could connect our soldiers to their families back home.
Our
location was shown as Caserta, but we were actually located in CasaGiove just
north of Caserta. Although we had large antenna fields with big rhombics
available, our ham rig antennas were nothing fancy: just long wires. I did not
work ham radio again after I left Italy
<Bruce H. Robertson, E-Mail, Jan.
2006>
