Sputnik Recollections Wanted for CQ Magazine

[g4tut]

Sputnik recollections wanted for CQ Magazine

October 4, 1957 saw the launch of the worlds first artificial earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik I.

The editor of CQ Magazine would like Radio Amateurs' recollections of that historic event for inclusion in the October issue.

CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU says:

The 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik is coming up in October, and we are currently working on our October issue. Many of you remember the launch well, and of course, hams were in the vanguard of listening for those beeps from above.

We'd like to collect a representative sampling of your first-hand recollections to weave into an article for our October issue. Plus, we'd like to hear if this experience had a significant impact on your choice of careers, etc. - in short, did listening for Sputnik change your life? If so, how?

Please respond as soon as possible by e-mail directly to a special mailbox we've set up at
sputnik@cq-amateur-radio.com



Many thanks in advance and 73,

Rich W2VU
CQ Magazine
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/





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Updated every day - 365 days per year

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[aa1mn]

For here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world.
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do ...

[va7aax]

i was unfortunate not to be in this world when the great Sputnik was launched . What frequency was Sputnik transmiting its pulses on? (i heard the "pulses" recorded by somebody on the 'net.

[w9gb]

Roy Welch, W0SL, provided these historical audio recordings of several "first" satellites as monitored at his station (then W5SLL).

Sputnik 1 was the Soviet Union's and the world's first orbiting satellite. The signals heard in this AMSAT recording are weak, over the horizon signals, recorded on a frequency of 20.007 MHz.

Other recordings were made with signals strong enough to permit hearing the oscillator feeding through during key up periods. These were made with the satellite in line of sight. The weaker signal recording is presented to show a time when the keying of the signal was interrupted and a steady carrier was transmitted. There are two such instances in this excerpt. WWV which was nearby in frequency shut down their transmitters with each pass on this evening.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/firstsat.html

Roy Welch and his three-year-old daughter would put the radio speaker in a window and then go outside and listen to the strong signals while they watched the third stage booster tumbling end over end like a bright pulsating star as it passed over in the evening sky.
Listen with them to this recording of Sputnik 1 (.WAV (113K)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/sputnik1.wav
or RealAudio (10K)).
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/Sputnik1-144.ra

This recording was made in Dallas, Texas on October 7, 1957 at 0457Z using a military surplus AN/FRR3A HF RTTY receiver.

Here is a strong signal from Sputnik 1 (.WAV (116K)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/sputnk1b.wav
or RealAudio (11K)).
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/Sputnk1b-144.ra

Here is a newspaper photograph (234K GIF)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/features/sounds/sputnik-photo.gif
of Roy playing Sputnik signals at the State Fair of Texas on October 9, 1957.

[K3UD]

Here is what I remember.

I was 7 at the time and really did not know anything about Sputnik. We had moved into a new suburban post war subdivision in late May and were getting to know our neighbors.

One evening our neighbor from across the street rang our doorbell at about 9PM. He talked to my father about Sputnik and the possibility of seeing it that evening. He also told us that you could hear it on TV. There was also some talk about how the Soviet's now had the upper hand and how atom bombs could be dropped from space.

That is what I remember even though I did not understand the meaning of what it meant.

In retrospect, Senator Lyndon Johnson said it best when he uttered....."Well, I for one do not want to go to bed by the light of a communist moon." I had no idea that he said this until I saw it the Tom Wolf's book 'The Right Stuff'. I think that line was also in the movie version.

73
George
K3UD

[W9WHE]

K3UD writes:

"....Senator Lyndon Johnson said it best when he uttered....."Well, I for one do not want to go to bed by the light of a communist moon."

Johnson was a democrat. Imagine what he would say if he heard Hillary Clinton's communist mussings! How democrats #have changed.

[KW0U]

Quote[/b] ]Johnson was a democrat. Imagine what he would say if he heard Hillary Clinton's communist mussings! How democrats have changed.

Yes, and the Republican party used to believe in democracy too...Jonathan, in an earlier thread you insisted that the US Constitution was the only ultimate law of the land and then ignored my post pointing out that Section 6 of said document says treaties take precedent over it. Instead you created straw men on the threat of treaties for gun control and ending trial by jury (hint, even if they existed no US government would ever sign treaties on these subjects, and no Senate would pass them).

Can we please stick to the topic at hand, which is the neat achievement of somebody on earth actually putting up an artificial satellite? In 1957 it was an amazing achievement, and should be honored.

[N7YA]

Quote[/b] (W9WHE @ July 30 2007,11:41)]K3UD writes:

"....Senator Lyndon Johnson said it best when he uttered....."Well, I for one do not want to go to bed by the light of a communist moon."

Johnson was a democrat. Imagine what he would say if he heard Hillary Clinton's communist mussings! How democrats #have changed.
::sigh:: why, why, why...

What are you talking about, the dems have completely transformed into republicans now anyway...so everyone should be happy. well, im done with both parties...there, its settled and further arguments or ranting on here shouldnt be neccessary.

Ok cool, back to ham radio now, please.

73...Adam, N7YA

[K8ASA]

I was with the Army Security Agency stationed in Ethiopia. We were assigned the task of continual monitoring of the Sputnick blip. Someone was positive that there were secret messages hidden in that blip(like the German condensed code of WWII) We burned a lot of tape but nothing changed. It was somewhat of an eerie sound comming from space. It also became quite boring as you can imagine. From our vantagepoint on a mountaintop, the signal was very strong.

John Stahl
K8ASA

[n9kpn]

See post below.
(Admins: Please delete this posting but leave the other one. This post was in error.)

[n9kpn]

Want to hear an interview about the first reception of Sputnik? #Hear the interview with Ken Piletic, W9ZMR, about how as an undergrad he recorded the first signals from Sputnik at the U of IL. #(He happened to be one of the few people that owned a tape recorder; a VM700, a 35 pound Reel to Reel.) #This group and #his recordings became the first confirmation of the parameters of Sputnik. #(Sputnik was on 20MC and 40MC; Hz was not in use back then!)

http://jollyrgr.livedigital.com/content/1643329


Here is an alternate link as I have received some comments stating there is a problem with the above link.
http://livedigital.com/-rBUACg....orial=1 (http://livedigital.com/-rBUACgOfsEbt1gAA-/content/1643329?no_editorial=1)

[ka7w]

Quote[/b] (g4tut @ July 30 2007,03:08)]Sputnik recollections wanted for CQ Magazine

October 4, 1957 saw the launch of the worlds first artificial earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik I.

The editor of CQ Magazine would like Radio Amateurs' recollections of that historic event for inclusion in the October issue.

CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU says:

The 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik is coming up in October, and we are currently working on our October issue. Many of you remember the launch well, and of course, hams were in the vanguard of listening for those beeps from above.

We'd like to collect a representative sampling of your first-hand recollections to weave into an article for our October issue. Plus, we'd like to hear if this experience had a significant impact on your choice of careers, etc. - in short, did listening for Sputnik change your life? If so, how?

Please respond as soon as possible by e-mail directly to a special mailbox we've set up at
sputnik@cq-amateur-radio.com



Many thanks in advance and 73,

Rich W2VU
CQ Magazine
http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/





Daily Amateur Radio News Service: (http://www.southgatearc.org/)
Updated every day - 365 days per year

Get our News Headlines for your Website:
http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/index.htm

Send us your news stories:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news.htm
I was on board the USS Taladega on that date. I was a Radioman and was tuning around when I heard the signal. I made a wire recording of the signal and sent it in and was famous for a few days http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

73 de KA7W

[W9AFB]

Quote[/b] (n9kpn @ July 30 2007,22:18)]Want to hear an interview about the first reception of Sputnik? Hear the interview with Ken Piletic, W9ZMR, about how as an undergrad he recorded the first signals from Sputnik at the U of IL. (He happened to be one of the few people that owned a tape recorder; a VM700, a 35 pound Reel to Reel.) This group and his recordings became the first confirmation of the parameters of Sputnik. (Sputnik was on 20MC and 40MC; Hz was not in use back then!)

http://jollyrgr.livedigital.com/ccl1869713/content/1643329
I'm sitting about a half mile from where that was recorded! Very neat!

This project sounds great. Keep of the good work.

[PR7CPK]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I am remember that longer, historic and nostalgic date October 4th, 1957 of launch of the first world satellite SPUTNIK I by the USSR. On that time I am been a RADIO OPERATOR of Brazilian Army. Was a memorable surprised for all the peoples of the world. For me, was an event never to be forgotten.

Edmilson Rodrigues do Ó, PR7CPK

[Kc8ljg]

I was only 10 years old when Sputnik was launched into outer space by the Russians. I remember the news on T.V. talking about it and our family all gathered around our old Sylvania T.V. listening to the different discussions about how it was viewed as being a great acomplishment. At the same time, i couldn't help but feel a little sad because the way the news about Sputnik was reported,it left me thinking that somehow we as Americans had failed by not becomming the first to send a satellite into space. I remember my family feeling that somehow this was a threat to peace. In school it was talked about in every class and in the school yard. But,with the passing of time the USA both caught and passed the world in space exploration. Whew! We've come a long way.

[wa0dth]

My recollection of the early satellites was when on scout camp outs, we would try to pick them out moving across the sky among the stars.
I remember especially the echo satellite which was very bright and easy to pick out.

[WB9UDJ]

As a teenager when Sputnik went up I vividly remember standing outside on those brisk evenings watching for the faint dot of light travel across the sky. #Sometimes I wonder if we really saw it but it was what everyone was doing. #Now I have stood out with my grandkids (both Hams) who are the same age now that I was 50 years ago and watch the ISS and Shuttle go across the sky. To them it is interesting but not as much as it was 50 years ago.

[w6jd]

The weekend after Sputnik was launched, Owen Garriott (W5LFL), myself and another Stanford Univ. undergrad, all working at the Stanford Radioscience Laboratory had an old Navy surplus trailer hauled onto a very muddy (I ruined a pair of shoes) vacant lot on the campus. We erected a "turnstile" (crossed dipole antenna), installed a Collins 51J reciever and chart recorder. By measuring the Faraday fading of HF signals launched from above the ionosphere it was possible to calculate electron content/density of the ionosphere.

At the time Owen was a grad student working on his PHD and I was an undergrad working part time for beer(?) money. Of course Owen got his PHD and went on to become an astronaut and the "first ham in space" on Skylab. I went on to a BS in math and spent most of my working life developing software for an experimental OTH radar.

[N4KC]

I was only 9 years old at the time, but my dad had an old surplus receiver and he let me listen to the Sputnik beacon. #I remember being frightened but fascinated. #We suspected that if the Russians could launch a satellite that passed over the U.S. between seven and eleven times a day, they could send other far more sinister things hurtling above our heads.

That old receiver and, to some extent, those wispy signals from Sputnik, led to my getting my Novice ticket when I was 13. #And that, in turn, led to a 25-year career in broadcasting.

Note that Sputnik led directly to a major historical achievement by the U.S.. #With the world convinced by that satellite that the Russians had surpassed the U.S. in the technology race—and the military one as well—President Dwight Eisenhower decided we had to do something spectacular to recapture the lead in the eyes of the world, friends and enemies alike. #Our own rockets were exploding on the launch pad, each a more spectacular failure than the last. #Then the president heard about an under-Arctic-ice mission by the USS Nautilus, the world’s first—and at that time the only—nuclear submarine. #Ike’s naval aide summoned Bill Anderson, the captain of the Nautilus at that time, to the White House and asked him what he could do with his ship that would help take attention away from Sputnik and convince the world that the U.S. had not fallen hopelessly behind. #That led to the daring and historic transit by Nautilus from the Pacific to the Atlantic, beneath the polar ice pack, and via the North Pole in August 1958. #That mission became headline news the world over and was recently declared to be one of mankind’s greatest adventures by Life Books.

I just had the pleasure of writing a book about that adventure with Captain Anderson. #Titled THE ICE DIARIES, it will be out next summer. #We are attempting to get together a ham radio operating event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the transit, hopefully to include operating from Historic Ship Nautilus and the Submarine Museum in New London, CT.

Don N4KC
www.n4kc.com
www.donkeith.com

[G4MJA]

I was 11 yrs old when Sputnik was launched & can remember my excitement vividly. My folks had always told me that space travel of any kind was impossible & I felt a sense of triumph over them - ok, so it wasn't a manned mission but I was sure, in time, that would follow. Listening to the 'bleeps' of Sputnik on BBC radio, to me, was magical.