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World Radio put Council Bluffs on the cutting edge of technology

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W0PV, Jan 14, 2019.

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  1. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    ..and Erika solders! :)
     
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  2. W8UBC

    W8UBC QRZ Member QRZ Page

    My dad bought me a Globe Scout 65A as my first transmitter in 1954. I worked over 175 countries and every state on 40 mtr cw and 15 mtr, AM phone with that rig. It was still operational in 1968.
    What a surprise to read this wonderful article. Thank you so very much!

    Tom Norris, W8UBC
    Iowa City, IA
     
    K0DD likes this.
  3. K0DD

    K0DD Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Yes she does! Pretty well too... My very first job in 1972 was making $2.30 an hour production soldering circuit cards packed with TTL Logic. My soldering station? A pretty blue Weller W-TCP. Several kVA lighter duty than that hot stick from 1959. HA

    Erika DD :eek:
     
    W1YW likes this.
  4. W7XTZ

    W7XTZ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Dave!!! U changed your picture, Mike w7xtz
     
  5. W0ICQ

    W0ICQ Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    While born in Omaha, I grew up at Kearney, Nebraska and while attending high school, I worked for a local electronics retailer, which also had a Radio Shack dealership. I can remember the boss telling customers from time to time, "We don't have that here. Your best bet would be to go to World Radio in Council Bluffs!"
     
  6. WA2BHS

    WA2BHS Ham Member QRZ Page

    Great Memories My Uncle "D" W5AMF from Hazlehurst, Ms provided me with a Globe Scout 40A which I used as a novice. I used it from N.J. as WN2PEX. Now it is nice to know the history of the company. "Never Underestimate An Old Man With A Ham Radio". Unknown Author
     
  7. K6HRU

    K6HRU Ham Member QRZ Page

    I had the pleasure of meeting Leo at the QCWA convention in Cleveland, Ohio cir. 1980. Leo found a room, at the hotel, with a piano and entertained us all evening. He was a great guy and we talked for hours. When I was in Omaha, I made a trip across the river to check-out WRL.

    Bruce Lent
    K6HRU
    Columbus, Ohio
     
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  8. K0SBV

    K0SBV Ham Member QRZ Page

    Great article. It brought back many fond memories. In September 1958, at age 12, I was living in South Omaha and my Dad KORVJ took me over to WRL for their Novice License classes, led by WRL Staffers Jim Noland WOAWX, George Haldak KOCYP, and Alan McMillan WOJJK. I got that Novice License in November later that year, and have been a licensed ham ever since. Two of the other students in that class, Carl Mann KOSBY and Ernie Wesolowski ex-KOSEG, have continued to be close friends of mine all these years. A few months after getting on the air with a Globe Scout 680A and Hallicrafters SX99, I had saved enough money to buy a second crystal for forty meters and rode my bicycle all the way (about 15 miles) from South Omaha to WRL in Council Bluffs to buy it. Unfortunately, I forgot that Iowa had a sales tax (Nebraska at the time did not), and I only had the sales price not the tax. Seeing my predicament, the counter guy told me that I could work out the difference. He handed me a broom to use in sweeping up the floor in the coffee break area. I then had to empty out the trash can from that room into the dumpster behind the store (that took a whole 10 minutes). Once that was done, I grabbed my new crystal, headed out the door, got on my bike and rode home.

    Carl "Skip" Dabelstein KOSBV
    Tucson, Arizona
     
    WA4KCN, KE0XQ, K0DD and 3 others like this.
  9. N0NB

    N0NB Ham Member QRZ Page

    I was pointed to this article after noting this morning on the 160m group that I've been perusing the 1957 issues of QST and saw that sometime around the middle of that year Hy-Gain apparently became its own entity separate from WRL. @K0IDT can likely shed some more light on this. As I understand it, Hy-Gain was its own company in Lincoln, NE for a number of years before Telex bought the company in the '70s or thereabouts. I recall back in the early '80s going up Cornhusker Highway in the northeast part of Lincoln and seeing their antenna test range just east of the highway.

    I never owned any WRL gear. I do own a few pieces of Lincoln made Hy-Gain gear--a Ham IV and CDE 45II rotators and an Explorer 14 yagi.
     
    KE0XQ likes this.
  10. K0DD

    K0DD Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Guys, Hy-Gain had always been its own entity. Yes there were some rather large dealers out there. Our family's company did quite a bit of business with Hy-Gain mid 70's. Honestly IMHO Telex really jacked up the antennas. They hired a new crop of Electrical Engineers circa 1980 or so. A friend had gone to school at Iowa State with them. The net result was circular filing all the original Big Long John Antenna designs that competed head to head for military contracts using their Monopole, Giant Rotors and Big HF Log Periodics. They made a really nice full sized 3 elm 40 at one time and competitive head to head with the likes of Telrex Laboratories' (not telex) 3-4-5&6 element 20-15-10 meter antennas. Hy-Gain, Telrex, and Sabre Communications out of Sioux City at one time had some stellar but very complex and expensive products.

    At our station we had an original 4elm 32' boom "Long John" series 20 meter with its heavy boom and steel mounting hardware et' all. It was on the Bertha's 44 foot low 20 mount. A very nice antenna. Henry KØIJN had an original 5 elem 15 meter long john on his Bertha also.

    Antennas such as the TH6, 204BA and 402BA were from their consumer products line as was the verticals, TH2,3, etc.... The NEW RENDITION of extremely pieced together New Long Johns the 205BA, 155BA and the 105BA... Were heavily tuned for Front to Back. The 205 and 155BA had very little forward gain. The cool thing was the 105BA was originally the 5 element 11 meter beam scaled directly down to 10 meters and was spectacular...

    Here's the Hygain History in a K'nutshell Andy's obit:

    Andrew A. Andros, W0LTE, SK: The co-founder of Hy-Gain, Andrew "Andy" Andros, W0LTE, of Houston, Texas, died January 23 2001. He was 76. Andy and his brother, Ted, W0URN, founded Hy-Gain Electronics in 1949 with $6, their dad's ladder and Ted's car. Andy Andros designed the company's TH-3 triband trap beam, which became an instant success. A succession of multiband beams and verticals followed. The Hy-Gain LP-13-30 log periodic antenna, designed for MARS and installed at military locations worldwide, also found its way to the rooftop of many embassies. At its height, Hy-Gain, which was headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, was a multi-million dollar corporation employing thousands. Hy-Gain, which had been owned by Telex, was purchased in 1999 by MFJ Enterprises.--Ted Andros, W0URN, The Houston Chronicle.
     
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  11. N0NB

    N0NB Ham Member QRZ Page

    Thanks for that, Erika.
     
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  12. W7UUU

    W7UUU Director, QRZ Forums Lifetime Member 133 QRZ HQ Staff Life Member QRZ Page

    Hi Mike! Nice to see you here on the Zed :)

    I changed my picture after someone crafted that awesome photo of "me" back in the 1920s, when I was in my late 30s :D:D

    Dave
    W7UUU

    W7UUU Old Time 1920s Radio QSL Image.png
     
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  13. K7JAN

    K7JAN QRZ Member

    Thank you for the great story, I mail ordered some of my very first radio parts and accessories from WRL
    was a great day when the WRL catalog arrived.

    Jim Noland, K7JAN
    Boise , ID
     
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  14. WA6MHZ

    WA6MHZ Ham Member QRZ Page

    I got to meet Leo in person back in the 90s. The Palm Springs Chapter of QCWA held a birthday party for him and I got to tell him of all the wonderful WRL and Galaxy products I had and how much I appreciated his contribution to Ham Radio!
    Think it was his 95th birthday or may 100th. I don't recall when he passed away, but it was the passing of one of the greatest of all Radio Hams! God Bless Leo!
     
  15. KE0XQ

    KE0XQ Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    He passed away in 2011.
     

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